Vacation 2011

Clark Vacation 2011 took place in (drumroll please) Panama City, FL! and included a (surprise, surprise) triathlon race for Daddy! ;) Before we left, Andre demonstrated to Dad how to properly wear a bike helmet and clip racing shoes. "See Dad, to avoid eyecontact with the person on your left as to divert attention away from the fact that you are passing them, you want to make sure the helmet convers your left eye. Oh-and feel free to wear padded shorts instead of Toy Story underoos. Go get 'em Dad!"

We stayed at the host hotel-The Boardwalk and had an amazing view of the swim start. Here, Andre and Selah are enjoying their breakfast on the balcony while I try to pick Keenan out in the crowd. "See kids-he's the one in the wetsuit-wait-no-the swim cap-um well....lets go down to the beach and try to see him..."

"THERE HE IS!!" We caught him coming out of the ocean in record time and manage to snap a picture. He was well on his way to winning the whole event! or at least his division. He totally won The-Hottest-Father of 2 1/2 kids division. The prize? 3 sloppy kisses. :) "Andre? Did you see him? Where were you with the cow bell??"

Andre was slightly distracted by a cute brunette in a pink bikini. While his father ran by breathless, Andre was getting up the nerve to ask the pretty stranger, "What does your sign say?" (Probably the pre-school equivalent to the whats your sign? pick-up line...) She told him it said GO DADDY. and that reminded him of why he was standing there wit his cow bell in the first place...

GO DADDY GO! He rang with all of his might!!

A little late Andre.

Nevertheless, he was super proud of his Dad's finish at the Gulf Coast Triathlon. He once again demonstrated how to wear the event participant shirt. "Make sure you have a smug look on your face as if to say-didn't see me coming on your right did you?? it was the old helmet-over-the-left eye trick! HAHAHA!"

Those silly boys. While they were busy talking triathlons...Mommy and Selah enjoyed snuggling on the beach, eating snacks and playing a lot of games that ended in "ties" and lots of kissing. :)

With the race over, the family could now concentrate on more important things like digging a hole in the sand large enough to sit in....

...or contemplate the meaning of life over the sound of the crashing waves on the shore...

..or learn to fly a kite which is really cool until you've exhausted your length of string and find out that just standing there with a plastic handle in your hand watching a flap of plastic in the sky isn't all its cracked up to be.

At least we had the zero-entry pool to add to our list of fun things to do on vacation. Selah particularly loved the shower-It inspired her to bust out in a spontaneuos choreographed dance to Beyonce's Single Ladies. "All my single ladies...All my single ladies..."

As if THAT wasn't enough excitement for our family vacation, Selah braved the bungee jump at Pier Park just to show up her brother. She barely made the weight requirement and from the looks of the saggy diaper-she pooped her pants. But it was all in the name of fun and we were so proud of our daughter! :)

Although he had enjoyed the bungee in years past, Andre wasn't a big fan of it this year. He exciting vacation adventure of choice was the inflatable Slide of Doom that he mastered! weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

And of course we had to ride the carosel. Andre found the horse with the most orange on it (his favorite color) and Nanny volunteered to ride with him. You can see her hand waving over the horses head as if to say, "Hi" or "this is what this horse would look like with a mohawk" or "stop the ride I can't see!" Anyway-looks like fun!

This was our only family picture taken on the trip. I strategically placed my sons body between me and the camera lens to to hide my "is-she-pregnant-or-bloated-or-not-recovered- from-the-last-pregnancy-or-spent-to-much-time-at-the snack bar?-tummy"

Selah enjoyed her vacation and decided that she like these people who called themselves "Daddy" "Mommy" and "Andre". Plus she thought she looked pretty cute in her lime bikini and flowerdy bucket hat.

The boys finally realized the girls were right and that kissing wasn't such a bad vacation activity after all. In fact-they suggested adding a Swim, Bike, Run, Kiss event to the schedule next year. In which case the Clarks will rock the house! :)

But the girls will win.

Because...

Clark Baby 3 is a GIRL!!! Andre and Selah will get a new baby sister in November and the estrogen to testerone ratio in the house will shift dramatically. Girls will rule. If you ask Selah if she wants a sister she says, "see-ter" and if you Andre he say, "Yes! and a brother."

Oh Brother.

Selah's Birthday!

I can't BELIEVE my sweet baby girl is ONE! Where did this year go???

Selah was real proud of herself as she smiled in the camera...she had been practicing this for 12 months!

I think she nailed it.

For her birthday breakfast Selah got a huge helping of high fructose corn syrup in the form of a b-day cupcake. The first 364 days of her life were full of all-natural and organic foods-but we thought enough is enough- Give the girl some cake!!

She wasn't crazy about it but she thought Andre's creepy-look-in-the-camera was hilarious!

The birthday-cake trial run was almost a success. Although she didn't eat much of it and broke out in a rash later, at least we knew she wouldn't have a first birthday melt-down at the actual party.

She was ready. Bring it.

(A bizarre side note: I later finger swept this tiny picture of my sister when she was 4 out of Selah's mouth. Not sure what the symbolism means here-but it was weird.) When I texted my sister about the happening she didn't respond and the next day thought she dreamed the whole thing.

anyhoo...

The big P-A-R-T-Y day arrived and it was flowers flowers everywhere!! Auntie Amy (the same Amy whose picture I fished out of my daughters mouth earlier that week )made the adorable daisy cookie party favor buckets. The were a hit! (and they tasted even better than they looked!)

Daddy's contribution to the party (Besides being one of the two responsible parties for Selah's existence) was putting up a tire swing for all the party guests to enjoy. Andre tested it out and decided it was so much fun he would overlook dad's embarassing compression socks.

Selah's daisy dress was the perfect centerpiece for the flower party-but this was the only shot I could get of her with her headband on. Oh well- its her party she can accessorize if she wants to.

All the grandmothers were present. Mimi helped play with the grandkids while mom ran around getting ready. Karen was there to encourage Selah's fashionable side, "maybe try wearing a bow next time Selah". And Nanny helped calm Selah down with her "this little piggy" skills. That woman can play this little piggy like nobodys business!

GiGi, Selah's great-grandmother tried with all her might to hold her great-granddaughter knowing full well that there was only a couple of pounds difference between them. If Selah takes after GiGi-she won't get much bigger. :)

Selah's BFF Shiloh Goodwin was there to wish her a happy birthday. Shiloh is a professional bow model/smile coach and she is ALWAYS ready for the camera. (I'm pretty sure Selah has her tongue out AND is sporting a lazy-eye in this picture) Auntie Amy and Auntie Cha-Cha enjoyed holding the girls. :)

Auntie Cha-Cha provided the ever important first birthday crown for Selah to wear and she was clearly overcome with emotion.

As family and friends sang a loud and terribly off-key rendition of Happy Birthday, Selah was getting ready for her big moment. The moment she smiles that signature Selah smile and claps appreciatively at everyones attempt to sing to her...

AND THEN CAME THE TEARS!

"Selah this was NOT how we practiced it!" I screamed in humiliation. Just kidding I thought it was kind of cute and managed to snap a few pictures of the melt-down before rescuing her and giving her what she really wanted in the first place-a banana.

After the Birthday Cake Bruhaha, the more experienced kids dove right into the cake and icing. Selah's cousin Reese sampled the lime green icing and approved. (Selah has ANOTHER girl cousin due to make an appearance this June...)

The tire swing was a hit (Well done Dad.), and nobody got too messy from our Georgia Red Clay backyard.

Looks like Uncle Bryant and Erin may have noticed the weak knot at the top, but thankfully the swing didn't fall until the NEXT day. Looks like we avoided a complicated and akward family law suit. whew!

The Floyd family was also there to celebrate Selah day! "Uncle" Wendell (daddy's BFF) and "Aunt" Stacy brought their adorable offspring Bryce-who is right between Andre and Selah in age. We're just sure that Bryce and Andre will be workout partners in the future. Stacy runs a marathon every other day between her boot-camps, jewelry parties and otherwise being an incredible mommy. She can "run like a mother." :)

Although she is walking quite well, Selah's feet never touched the ground during her party. She was treated like princess and carried everywhere with snacks in hand. Daddy held his little muffin and wondered to himslef if that sailor's knot he tied the tire swing with would make it through the day (it wouldn't).

At the end of the day, Selah was eager to thank her mommy for the incredibly fun flower party. It was the BEST birthday she could remember. And despite the cake fiasco, mom assured her that this b-day was indeed less traumatic than her actual BIRTH day.

Happy First Birthday Muffin!

We love you!

Thanksgiving & Christmas 2010

The Crazy Clark Crew had a lot to be thankful for this year....including (but not limited to) SELAH!

It was her first Thanksgiving and once she discovered that Mommy's favorite holiday revolved around food she was thrilled! (see picture)













Andre of course was all too familiar with Thanksgiving and he decided to sit right down on a tree stump in Gigi's yard and think about all he was thankful for...

stumps, rocks, crackers, violins, bubble baths, juice-juice, saxaphones, books, harmonicas, froggie, mimi, puzzles, blues clues, spatulas, gee-tars, etc....

(all things he has actually included in bed-time prayers)












After Thanksgiving, mommy wanted to get the house ready for Christmas. So the stockings were hung by the chimney with care and Dad found the biggest artificial tree he could track down.

Little full. Lotta Sap.

After hours of light stringing and hanging of ornaments (Andre called them pornaments), I had to admit...

Its beautiful Clark! :)







So now there was really only one thing we had to do before Christmas and that was to visit Santa! For those of you who are unaware-Santa and Mrs. Claus live in Canton! So off we went-with visions of sugar plums dancing in our heads.

So it turns out that Mrs. Claus can't have sugar plums becaue she was recently diagnosed with diabetes. (Seriously she volunteered this information to my 2 1/2 year old! what the?)

Selah is equally confused.








Anyhoo.

Once Mrs. Claus stopped gabbing our ears off about her current health issues-we made it to Santa! (who by-the-way seems healthy as a reindeer)

Andre told him his only wish for Christmas: a candy cane. If you ask him what else he wanted he said, "to lick it." :)











With our mission accomplished we headed back towards the car when we realized Selah was missing. She had accidently gotten mixed up with the various decor. Oh no- I think she spotted Mrs. Claus again...The other toys have obviously learned to look in the opposite direction when she's approaching so they aren't noticed.

Don't worry Selah- we found you! :)






And then it 'twas here-the night before Christmas! And all through the house everyone was stirring-cookie batter to be exact.

Andre made Santa's favorite: oatmeal chocolate chip. (The next morning we would discover that Santa finished off his cookie and helped himself to almost the entire batch left in the kitchen!)












Andre and Selah each got to open just one present on Christmas Eve. Andre got a brand new Jesus Storybook Bible which he LOVES. He kept running around saying, "Andre's NEW Bible!"

Selah kept trying to follow him-looking for an opportunity to rip out a page...






Before the sun woke up on Christmas Day, The Clark Crew was up ripping through presents that Santa left. (and sweeping up crumbs of cookies left behind) Being a pro-Andre introduced Selah to the art of opening gifts...

TaDa! Selah got her very own musical purse (complete with lipstick rattle, a mirror, keys and a crinkly dollar bill). She was a bit underwhelmed.





But the gift of the year was definitley Andre's new guitar! Just like a real one-except no one has been able to "tune" it properly. Or maybe thats how its supposed to sound?! Anyway- Santa really shouldn't have bothered bringing any other gifts once Andre opened his "gee-tar". It never left his side the whole day...week...month...













In other exciting news- it seemed that Santa actually forgot a gift and came back to deliver it when we SPOTTED him in our backyard!! Yes. The actual-really-real Santa was at our house Christmas morning and we got to say hello and thank him for the presents!

"Wait Santa!, Andre cried out, "let me play you a song on my gee-tar!!!"











As if Christmas couldn't get any better-It SNOWED!! (weeks later we would all be SICK of it-but for Christmas it was magical.)

Andre and Daddy made the first of 3 snowmen. Andre loved it and when he woke up the next morning he said, "Lets go put a snowball on a carrot! " ;)

Christmas night Auntie Cha-Cha would help them make an even awesome-er snowman using Mr. Potato Head's facial features. The chocolate chip teeth kept falling out but it was still cool.

If only they could find the Mr. Potato Head tongue...they could make a silly snowman....













SELAH! :)

Merry Christmas and a Silly New Year to you!

Love, The Clarks