Charleston, South Carolina USS Yorktown

Group shot before the tour.

Ellie, Paul, and I had a mid-week whirlwind trip down to South Carolina for two days.

Paul had a job interview...YAY!! and so we packed our bags and headed down. A 7-hour drive.

We were very excited to have time to get some history in...we did pull Ellie out of school after all!

Ellie is getting better at her camera skills...I am only pretending to know anything about this aircraft carrier...Paul is an expert!

It was totally cool to see how these navy boys lived back in WWII...even the details of their sinks,

clothes (these were for the women),

Here is the chapel!

The top had all the airplanes on it...it's so HUGE!! The view of Charleston was amazing!

We also looked at a small submarine...yikes! it was tight quarters in there!

Here is Ellie outside the submarine. She loved it and said "I don't do claustrophobia"!

Paul looked at the camera!!! He must've been in hog heaven (he is a military history major, after all!!)

Ellie's photo shoot part 2

So my sister-in-law, Coleen just got a new camera and volunteered to do a photo shoot for Ellie's birthday and I wanted to post some of my favorite shots!! I think they are amazing!
Here is the pose that we see most often at home...her favorite series right now is Fablehaven.

Ellie's photo shoot part 1

This is Ellie with her cousin, Charlie...he is 18 months old. He is just as sweet as he looks!


The pictures were taken in our hometown, Lexington, VA. It is so beautiful this time of year!



This one is definitely professional looking, but Coleen is just talented!!







I think she looks hilarious here!! She definitely inherited some of my goofiness!!

My absolute favorite shot...What a clever pose!!


Look at those spring colors...I love that her outfit matches the tree and sky perfectly!



Surely there is a poem to write for this picture...


She sure is getting to be grown-up!!

ELLIE IS ELEVEN!!

so my baby is eleven! boy, do I feel OLD!! I uploaded these pictures in order and now they are backwards...I am too lazy to redo it so let's start from the end...

A new game for her fancy video game system...I don't even know how to turn the thing on!

Blowing out the candles...we made it easy on her (just 2 candles)

Of course Ellie chose German chocolate cake...she and I both LOVE it!!

I insisted on one last picture of Ellie at age 10...the night before the big birthday...

Showing off all her new wares...
Ellie is VERY comfortable at Target...it's my favorite store!

Ellie giving a big smile for the camera!!Ellie's amazing photography skills...typical Paul shot...he refuses to smile for cameras!!

Ellie showing off her new "snap" bracelet at the restaurant!