what clothes??

Pretty much any day of the week, at some point during the day, you can find Elsie Anne outside in her PANTIES, body finger painting!!  We try getting a bathing suit on her, but sometimes she's just not having it:)

Her favorite part is washing it all off in the hose!!  She's already learned how to beat the Florida heat:)  Many days, I'm not far behind her... in my BATHING SUIT of course!!

Sunset!

This time of night is always gorgeous at my parent's house!  Elsie Anne has discovered the SUNSET, and always wants to watch the sun fall behind the trees in the distance.  It's a pretty amazing thing to watch how quickly it sets, but then, to watch it through her eyes, blows us away:)  "Good Night Sunshine, See you in the Morning!!"

Her new squinty eye smile is hilarious!  I don't know if we'll ever see her pretty green eyes in a picture again?!

Lately...

...we've been staying super busy with our new little buddy Tucker!!  I've been nannying him 5days/wk 8:30-3:30, for the last 4weeks!  And I must say, we couldn't have chosen a more chill and laid back precious baby boy!  He just goes right along with whatever Elsie Anne and I throw at him have planned, and only complains when he's tired or hungry!!  Who knew babies could be so perfect?!

We've been juggling playdates, lunches, and pool hopping the entire 6weeks we've been back!!  Elsie Anne's new favorite activity at home is PAINTING INSIDE...

... or PAINTING OUTSIDE...

...and our mutually favorite past time so far is the awesome SPLASH POOL!!  EA freaks out everytime I mention it:) 

Taking a well deserved Watermelon break!! 

These two cousins are best buds now!  It took a few WEEKS of warming up, but now they are inseperable!

I will slowly but surely try to catch up the last several weeks in Florida, and the last 2months we were in Breckenridge!  Thank you friends and family for urging me to continue, I've been having blog anxiety of not knowing where to start, which has kept me away from the computer all together!

Cousins & Popsicles!

 Uncle Jeff and Aunt Lorri's Saturday Night Cook-Out!

ENOUGH SAID:) 

AirBoat-ing!!

One of our family's favorite and most unique evening outings is the AIRBOAT!!  Its been years since I've been on the thing, so I was equally excited as Elsie Anne.  She had been a little sceptical in the weeks prior, but seeing her boy cousins get off the boat with huge grins, made her eager to try it out!!  Thatcher, Tullen & EA loading up the boat!!

FLYYYY-ING across the water!!  It is such a freeing feeling!

The ONLY, but MAJOR, downer of Lake Iamonia is the abundance of ALLIGATORS!!  See this guys EYES and NOSE sticking out of the water?  You can tell how long the gator is by looking at the distance between the two.  How ever many INCHES apart the they are, is how many FEET long, from tip to tail, the gator is!!  This one is about 11 FEET LONG.... yes, in our back yard!!!  Don't worry, we have our own EXTERMINATORS... my Dad and Brothers!!!

We road across the Lake about 2mi to a Landing & Biker Bar, which is about 25mi away by car!  The kids got RootBeers and the grown-ups enjoyed our own Cold Ones! 

Elsie Anne, Tullen and Thatcher hanging on the beach of the Landing!  Somehow they ended up playing waste deep in the water, even after I had just seen the gator?!  The water is really clear, and my Dad assures me that gators are just as scared of us, as we are them!  Who knows, maybe he was just trying to ease my mind?!

The 'Fish Camp Bar' full of Harley's and their owners!!!  Great place for people-watching:)

Back at the house, the kids cool off in the hose... and splash each other with their cups!!

Elsie Anne enjoyed her first airboat adventure... so I'm sure there will be more in our near future:)

The Fraser's in the South!!

THURSDAY

Jane, Andy, Dana & Liam arrived early afternoon!  We enjoyed an afternoon and evening playing on the patio!  Shawn and Liam playing on the Plasma Car:)

Liam loved the 'Roller Coaster'!!

Thatcher showed Elsie Anne how to ride his 4wheeler, and soon enough...

...she was at it ALL ON HER OWN!!

Papa (Andy) caught this awesome shot of EA swinging with her new Clifford the Dog, the Fraser Dog Clan got her!  She is in love with it and sleeps with it every night now!!

FRIDAY 8/12

Foggy morning on Lake Iamonia.  All the Fraser's experienced my Dad's(BigDaddy) airboat - catching alligators and all:)

We went to Pebble Hill Plantation and enjoyed the walking tour in the unbearable heat!!  We were all drenched in sweat, but had fun to learning about the history of the Plantation and Thomasville, GA!  Liam and Elsie Anne taking a little break in the 'Kitchen Garden'!!

SATURDAY 8/13
We headed down to the Ochloknee River where my GrandParents live.  Their house is at the mouth of the River, which opens up into the Gulf of Mexico.  We took the Pontoon Boat out for a picnic ride and some fun on the beach:)  GeeGee, EA, Liam & Dana!

I love finding Horse Shoe Crabs - the are so prehistoric!  It was fun to tell EA that they are dinosaurs!!

Floating around in the tube! 

Nothing better than being on the water, under a bright blue sky... COMPLETE RELAXATION!!  Shawn and Dana having a little brother/sister bonding!!

GeeGee and Papa chillin' in the shade with the salty breeze blowing around, aaaahh!  Liam liked the boat ride, but we're not quite sure if the salt water or the heat gave him a rash from head to toe:(

Elsie Anne always takes a boat snooze!  Getting cozy with Memoo on the ride home:)

SUNDAY
We had a lovely chill day!  Went to the Trousdell Splash Pool and had a ball!  Wish I had better pics, but Andy & Dana were taking all of them!  Here's EA & Liam about to go down the slide:)

Elsie Anne enjoying her Daddy at the pool!

A relaxing night complete with a family cookout, made for a great ending to the first of many Strickland/Fraser gatherings!!  We're looking forward to Brad, Melissa, Brady, Logan & Adam to join us next time!

It was such a pleasure getting to show Shawn's family Tallahassee and our Southern traditions!!

Buena Vista Camping!!

We finally got the courage to go camping as a family!  Buena Vista became our target spot, as it is not quite 2hrs away, but is WARM!!!  It is southwest of Breck, and home to some of the best rafting on the Colorado River - not that we got to go rafting on this trip:)

The perfect potty stop!!  This is at the top of Hoosier Pass, right down the road from 'Elk Ridge Ranch', our wedding location!!  We shared this incredible view with our family and friends on one of the best days of my life, second only to the birth of Elsie Anne!

Dinner at a delicious restaraunt before setting up 'Camp'!!  This was the perfect spot to run around and even get to climb some rocks!!

The first stages of set up...

...and VOALA... the campsite at its finest!!  First time our family roasted marshmellows together, and definitely won't be the last!  There's just something about that outdoor bonding time:)

I had to let go on trying to keep this Princess clean:)  She loved the dusty dirt, and was soon covered from head to toe!!

Climbing in the trees!

Not too many pics, but plenty of memories from our first Fraser Camping trip!!  We all enjoyed ourselves, the outdoors, and the time we got to spend together:)

STRIDER Balance Bike!

This time, last summer, while we were at the Mountain Bike Nationals in Granby, we saw this little boy on a 'Balance Bike'... his dad told us he had just turned 2 and he was obsessed with this thing!  We couldn't believe our eyes at what this miniature person was doing!!  We decided we'd HAVE to get one for Elsie Anne when the time comes!!

Well, that time came in FULL FORCE, when her friend Lilly got one for her birthday!  Lilly didn't want anything to do with it at her party, so EA hopped on & rode all around the neighborhood!  Then a few days later, we played at Henry's house & he had just gotten one... thank goodness he also had a scooter that he was more interested in, because once EA got a hold of his bike, there was NO turn taking!  She absolutely melted into a puddle when I forced her off the bike to let Henry ride it - H saw the trauma it caused & quickly returned it to her:)  Our little buddy is such a LOVER!!

We had one more experience like the previous story & came to the conclusion: this purchase can NOT wait until we move to Florida, we have to get her a Balance Bike of her own, before she takes one of her friends' bikes home:)

We found a great deal at a Bike Shop in town, and she RODE out of the store with HER OWN STRIDER!!  She didN't get off that bike until an hour & a half later, when we were both starving for lunch!  She rode all around town... on the sidewalks, over the river on bridges, in the bumpy gravel parking lots, on the handicap ramps, up & down the curbs, in all the pot holes we could find...

She was a natural... I couldn't believe that MY 2YR OLD was doing the same thing the boy in Granby had done!!  This is in the first 5min of purchasing her STRIDER - up a steep hill on the bike path:)

I had to PROMISE her, to get her to nap, that we would go to the Bike Track when Daddy got home... and that is just what we did - packed up a bucket of beer, her bike & we were off!!

So proud of herself and the independence she has on her own Strider Bike!!

This video is her 3rd lap on the 'whoops' in the track!  She blows our mind with the control she has at all times!!

Yes, We should be a spokeswomen for this product!  We think every child should have one:)