A feast of crabs

Nathan, Uncle Nathan, Tanner, Grandma Smith, and Grace. Uncle Nathan just cleaned up a huge pile of crab shells....we love our crabs.

haha....Grant tasting the chicken right off of the grill. He was not happy that I took this picture...hence the blurry hand swatting me away.
Isabella found the kitty's brush. She carried it around for quite some time.
Here is baby Kate. She is 5 months older than Isabella....and boy can she talk. She has so much personality, just like her parents.
Jenny, Mom and Grant eating crabs. Jenny (Grant's girlfriend who I just LOVE) made some really good deviled eggs and broccoli salad. Sometimes it's hard to eat other food when there are crabs around....but you gotta have something else to fill you up.

Friday evening we went to my mom's house to have crabs with our out of town relatives. Mom got a bushel of crabs, Grant made some chicken on the grill, and we all just chowed down. It's really nice to see our family from Florida (my mom's family....Aunt Mai Grace, Uncle Nathan, Aunt Jennifer, Baby Kate, and Grandma Smith). Last time I saw them was 3-5 years ago. We had a really nice time....but unfortunately, the crabs were really light, which was a bummer. But they were still good.

Sweet fairy princess

Cheese!
What a pretty fairy princess.
Mami and Isabella......such a lovely pair.
We had family from out of town over for dinner....Isabella was very mami clingy (surprise), so the fairy princess just sat on her royal throne (mami's lap) and observed all of the activity.

Isabella got a fairy princess dress from Kaia Uhlig yesterday....she LOVES it! I think she looks just beautiful. I hope she continues to love to play dress up. I loved it when I was little, and I think it'll be fun to play dress up together.

Beach with the Finnigans

Isabella's reaction after Brandon got her with a handfull of sand.
Sweet little Nathan.

Auntie Beebs came with us too. It's always so nice to have Grace with us.

Papi trying to get a kiss from the little surfer girl.
I love this picture of Nathan and Sommer. You can really see how much Nathan looks like his beautiful mommy.
Brandon after he got all washed up.

A group shot (minus me). We are all so white. Just think how beautiful/handsome we will all be when we are older....horray for sunblock!


My handsome hubby.
I LOVE this picture.....Brandon is just over joyed, and Sommer.....I don't know what she's thinking, but she is very expressive.

We went to Delaware Seashore State Park with the Finnigans for the day. The weather was perfect, and the water wasn't too cold. The kids were very well behaved. Brandon and Nathan LOVED the water....but poor little Isabella.....she wasn't too fond of it. I think the power of the waves scared her, can't say that I blame her. It was a long, but wonderful day. Hopefully we will make it back there before the summer ends.

Baltimore Zoo

An excited girl....ready to see the zoo!
Okay....so where are the real animals?
A sweet little birdie.

Papi helping Isabella across the lillypads...she was very excited about the "agua".
The prettiest turtle you ever did see.
Getting ready to brush the goats.
She really like the goats, but it took her a little bit to warm up to them. I think Papi like the goats more....he loved helping Isabella.
Isabella LOVED this monkey statue. I think her facial expression is hilarious....and she literally help that expression for a good 30 secs. It was like she was in a trance of some sort.

Not happy about Papi holding her. She wanted to walk around.
A white rhino.....it was beautiful. There where also zebras.....this was Isabella's favorite part of the zoo.
What a big girl, and so happy too.
About 5 minutes after we left, she was knocked out. I love how she fell asleep with her leg up.
Good night, sleeping beauty.

When Ronald had a week off for vacation in June, he and I took Isabella to the Baltimore Zoo. The whole way there she was talking about seeing the animals at the zoo....she was VERY excited. When we got there, she didn't stay in the stroller for long, she, being Miss Independent, wanted to walk around like a big girl and look at all the animals. After 4 hours of walking and seeing all the animals that were out, we went home. It was a lot of fun, and I really liked having that time to be just with my family. Isabella still talks about the zoo, she has such a good memory.

Homemade Funnel Cake

When Isabella and I woke up from our naps today, I really wanted a funnel cake (something I always crave when I'm pregnant). I found a recipe for funnel cake over a year ago, and have never tried, so I thought, what the heck....we'll see if it's any good. Well.....it is SO GOOD!!!!!!

Here's the recipe:

2 3/4 c. flour

1/2 c. sugar

2 eggs

2 c. milk

1/2 tsp. salt

2 1/4 tsp. baking powder

Mix the ingredients in order. Heat a pan with about 2 inches of oil in it until it's really hot. Pour in batter (I tried to make mine swirly) and fry it until each side is golden brown. When it's done, put it on a paper towel to absorb the grease and put powdered sugar on it (even though you really don't have to have it....the dough itself is really good too). Then CHOW DOWN! SO GOOD!

Baby clothes

She was running towards me with the shirt around her ankles....she is obsessed with seeing the "baby" (herself) on the camera.
This is as far as the shirt would come up. She was so proud of herself that she put it on without mami's help.

Isabella found an outfit for a baby and decided that she was going to put it on. She put the shirt on her legs, but she couldn't get it pulled up very far....she is so silly.

Father's Day Continued

I love this picture of Nathan and Isabella....my brother's all just adore her. Nathan calls her "cookie" sometimes, so Isabella calls him "Uncle Cookie"....but she came up with this, I swear. I always try to get her to say Uncle Nathan, but she insists on Uncle Cookie. I love when my husband smiles, I just fall in love with him all over again.

Ronald is VERY musically inclined, but can't read music worth anything. He has an amazing talent of being able to just sit down, pick up an instrument, and making some pretty good music. I love this about him.
Isabella at the old well in the back yard. I used to watch my Daddy kill and gut chickens on the block at the well. It might be gross, but I really loved helping him with the guts and watching the chickens flop around. What can I say....I'm a country girl.


I love this group shot of my siblings...every one (except Tanner...the stinker, and Isabella) is smiling. I love my siblings so much....we are all so close, and they are good to Isabella.

My Daddy just sent me a few pictures that he captured from Father's Day, and they were so good, so I just had to put them up here. (I LOVE my Dad's digital camera....someday we'll have a nice one like his...maybe.)