Flying in Poppy's airplane

08.26.2010

Well it didn't take much arm twisting for Sophia to get to ride in Poppy's airplane. The perfect day came along, and the perfect opportunity. Poppy had to take the plane to another airport about fifteen minutes away. CC loaded Bella in the van in order to pick us up while the plane was in the shop (nothing major needed repairing, don't worry). I thought Sophia might get scared and start fussing once we started taking off, this is no jet remember. But Poppy is an awesome pilot and it was smooth sailing.




About to board


Sophia ready to fly





when Sophia was less than a year old and flew she would have nothing to do with the headset. But she put these on for a little while and we could all talk. Thankfully the other pilots in the air could not hear her, because she got LOUD. That was when we discussed headset etiquette in small aircraft (ie, Poppy needs to be able to hear everything)


looks like a natural



Poppy navigating.


She looks a little tense here, but she was fine the whole time and asked lots of questions.


taking off


She decided to 'call' Abby in China and tell her what she was doing.





Thanks Poppy for the airplane ride...we LOVED it!

Toccoa, Georgia

08.22-24.2010

Our travels took us next to Uncle Henry and Aunt Sara's house. We had a great time visiting some very special people and introducing them to our girls


with Henry and Sara


David with his great aunt Martha Lou, who is ninety years old!


showing Sophia her birthday cards




we visited the VFW where there was a picture of David's late Grandfather. His grandfather served in World War II and won a purple heart when in France, his whole company was captured and executed. He survived by playing dead and waiting for rescue. It really is an amazing story that I cannot do justice here.


Bella 'lovin' on Sophia


Visiting David's great aunt and uncle, Dan and Emily


both girls loved talking on the phone...

Aunt Beth's house

08.21-22.2010

We traveled to the North Georgia mountains to Aunt Beth's house for a few days. Aunt Beth has a very sweet dog, Zoe, that Sophia was scared of most of the time, and Bella wanted to cuddle with all of the time. We have dubbed Bella, fearless thrill seeker, ut oh. Finally Sophia would build up some courage and pet Zoe, or at least walk by her and say 'hi' without freaking out and running to me (which happened often).
Sophia would say that she likes dogs, just like she likes ice cream: warm, meaning she doesn't really like ice cream or dogs. She likes the idea of things. But she does love chocolate, that's my girl. I digress....
We had a fabulous time with Aunt Beth and Grandma Pinnie


both girls enjoyed rocking in the little red rocker


Grandma Pinnie and Sophia, sometimes they would sit at the window and look for deer, which is not an uncommon site in this neck of the woods.


beautiful mountain views. Beth took us on a gorgeous drive





And to her local park, which was impressive. Bella points at the Geese.


Sophia and Aunt Beth on the 'train.'


Coker family on the swings


Sophia opted for the peace sign in this picture, she hasn't done this in a while. Such a Chinese thing to do, she has not forgotten her home!


precious pic: Beth and the girls


Beth pushing Bella


Beth with Zoe and Bella, Zoe is an incredibly well behaved dog.


She makes some funny faces


love this pic too...


Precious family

Visiting the Robinsons et al.

08.19-21.2010

We traveled north and visited David's aunt, uncle, cousins and their families.


Emma (L) and Jordan (R), took incredible care of our girls. Sophia and Bella loved every minute of it. Even though there is quite an age difference that did not bother anyone. Sophia hated to leave this place, and really hopes they get to come visit us at the beach!



Cuddle pic


Bella will not usually go to just anyone, but she went straight to both Jordan and Emma, from my arms, amazing.


Aunt Elaine is reading Sophia a childrens book that she wrote. It is quite incredible and should be published.


This was perhaps Sophia's favorite part: popsicles, inside the house, on the bed, while watching a movie. She has never done any of the aforementioned things before, ever. Special times.


We went to look at Emma's horse. Sophia would have none of it, she was S-CAR-ED! Bella, on the other hand, loved to pet the horse. Uncle Lamar (I really have no idea what he is to her, David's cousin's husband) was very patient with Sophia's fear. Again we had such a good time with family.



This is David's uncle Bobby, he loves children, and Bella loved him right back. She started walking a little more here.


Friends for life...

Thanks Robinsons, Bryants, and Camps for making our visit so fun. See you soon???

Florida's East Coast for a day

08.17.2010

We next traveled across the state of Florida to the East coast, to Grandma Pinnie's house. We stayed here just one full day and night and then took Grandma Pinnie with us up to Georgia.


Playing with a stash of toys Grandma had.


Bella preferred playing with the empty water bottles.


Grandma watched Sophia play with bouncy balls used to play Jacks, does anyone still play Jacks?


Exploring the back yard that is on a canal that leads into the intracoastal waterway. The mosquitoes ran us back inside pretty quick.


After naps we decided to go surfing. Granddaddy Johnson waxes his board, Sophia got to help a little bit.


She just loved letting the waves chase her. Bella meanwhile was up at the picnic table with Grandma Pinnie.


David wanted to try his hand at surfing. He has surfed before, but Granddaddy gave him a small refresher on the physics of it all and off they went. (Granddaddy has been surfing these waves since he was little).


Granddaddy went first.


There he is, my almost sixty-year-old dad, catching a wave.


Sophia was excited and cheered them on


Daddy gives it a go


storm clouds rolling in


wow, good job honey!


The storm clouds rolled in along with some lightening so we packed it it, and of course it never rained!

We had a short but incredibly sweet visit. Thanks dad for staying up late and talking about growing up, God, and rock-n-roll, among other things!