Kayla got a wonderful box of gifts from her friend Ryan which she opened today on her birthday.  It included stickers, which she loves, and a DVD of My Little Pony, and a Build A Bear Unicorn with a beautiful rainbow colored  mane and tail.  She ripped into the gift and carried the unicorn around, showing it to Lucy, (her sister’s dog) and letting it see the entire house.

How very thoughtful of Ryan to send her cards and these gifts for Kayla’s birthday.  She can’t express what she is thinking, but I believe her face says it all.. and that is “Thank you to my friend Ryan…you made my day even better!!”

Well, our vacation is over!!  Well, it didn’t go as planned….we left for Edisto beach last Saturday, and we were told to evacuate on Monday, (due to Hurricane Florence),so we packed everything up and came home for a night’s rest.  Then we repacked and went to Hickory Knob State park to sit for the remainder of our week.  Today is Kayla’s birthday so the excitement is mounting! Despite the rain and wind due to the hurricane, we will celebrate 26 years of a rollercoaster ride, excitement is in the air!!!

So, here is our extra family member for the next week or so.  Kayla will keep a close watch on her activities while her “mom” is away. She will observe her from her perch at the kitchen window while Lucy is outside roaming in the yard.  Then she will rest while Lucy sleeps outside on the deck or on the back porch.  As you can see from the picture, they seem to enjoy one another’s company!!

Today is the big day for Kayla’s big sister to leave for a trip to another continent!!  She will see elephants, giraffes, and zebras.  Can you guess which continent will be visited?  Kayla will ask about Heather 20 or more times a day and will miss the surprises she brings.  However, she will NOT miss Lucy, her dog, because she will be staying with us! This could be a bit confusing since when we usually dog sit, Heather gets Lucy in a day or two!  We will all miss her, but we want her to have a safe, fun, and adventurous trip.

Today Cocky was the greeter today at our local BiLo store and Kayla actually signed “hello” as you can see in this picture.  She loves to shop with her mom and aunt together because we always have a great time figuring out the deals and trying to keep our coupons in order.  She occasionally tries to “sneak” in a can of Vegetarian baked beans, or a can of hair products, since those are some of her favorite things!  I have piled her lap up with boxes of cereal, packages of toilet paper, and other things since pushing her in the chair makes it difficult to pull a cart behind us.  We got new bags at the BiLo today because they are welcoming all the USC students back to town and were passing them out filled with goodies or “surprises” to Kayla.  The bags are useful for us because we hang them on the handles of the chair and fill them before unloading them at the register. We do what we have to do to get the job done!

Well, summer is winding down for most kids, but Kayla is still enjoying the water!!!  She signs “pull” for pool, since they both sound the same and off we go to change her clothes, tie up her hair and put sunblock on her face, and sunglasses and hat on her head.  Water has always been one of Kayla’s favorite activities.  She can stay in the pool for hours on end, just tossing plastic balls or kicking her feet like crazy!!  When she finally comes in, she is starving!!  She has about another 6 weeks to enjoy her time in the water, then she will start asking for Christmas decorations!!

Kayla received a stuffed wolf as a souvenir from her sister’s trip to Colorado.  She was happy to get a SURPRISE as she has come to expect one every time Heather comes in our house.  Is she just a tad spoiled by someone?  I’d say so!!!!