Farewell to Summer...

Or at least we hope so! Our high, high, high temperatures finally broke today, but we definitely made the most of our warm weather last week. Meg, Berkeley, Susannah and I met in the park and walked downtown for some fun in the fountain. We love living and playing in downtown Greenville.  In fact, Susannah can even say, "Mama, go downtown!"

Just another morning...

Right after breakfast this morning Susannah requested a hair bow. I pulled the orange headband out of the not-often-used bow drawer and put it on her head. She oohhed and aahhhhed for just a few moments and then quickly found her necklace, bracelet, sunglasses and cell phone. I'm not sure where she learned that these are all important items, but she was ready for the day.  Gotta love this girl!!!

A Great Day at the Fair...

On Labor Day we traveled to the Upstate South Carolina State Fair and it was an experience. It was really more of a circus/fair and there were lots of animals which thrilled Susannah. We got there just in time for the tiger show. I am not sure who was more excited- Matt or Suz. There was not a lot of security or space between the tigers and us, but Matt assured me that it was safe. There is something about letting your baby get really close to a large jungle cat that just feels unwise...

This white tiger sat down on the disco ball while it rotated and the ringmaster played Eye of the Tiger on a boombox. Hilarious! There were also farm animals like cows, sheep, goats and pigs. Susannah LOVED all the animals but was not completely thrilled when a baby cow tried to eat her blue shoe.

Obviously we made it home safely and definitely will visit the fair again when our little shorty is tall enough to ride some rides.

C-L-E-M-S-O-N!!!

Today we soaked in ALL things Clemson and Susannah could not get enough of being on campus for game day! She put on her cheerleading outfit and even wore an orange bow in her hair. 

We loaded up our car with yummy Henry's Smokehouse BBQ and headed to Tigertown for some tailgating with our friends, the Barkers. In the car we practiced the cadence count and saying "Go Tigers." I figured we could save the "Boomer Sooner" for later, and all you Okies will be glad to know that she yells it without prompting, often in a very gruff and serious voice. She can also say "Oklahoma."

Susannah and Madeline took some wagon rides and I loved that they were in a red covered wagon. It seemed like a little piece of Oklahoma to me.

Pom poms were a HUGE hit! Susannah loved to shake them and yell "Go Tigers."

The Clemson band performed right by our tailgate which was a fun treat. In fact, we tailgated right through naptime and decided this game would be a great one to take Susannah inside the stadium.

About 3 minutes and 1 touchdown into the game, the Suz was out like a light. Notice the Tiger Paw painted on her cheek!!

Patting the "nice tiger" outside the stadium.

Walking back to the car on daddy's shoulders.

Finally some rest after a long and fantastic day! 

Susannah's First School Day!

Susannah started "school" yesterday at a church near our house. She and her buddy Ella Grace go on Fridays from 9-12 and although there were some serious tears at the beginning of the day, our girl got a great report card! Mommy enjoyed a little free time to run errands too!

Labor Day Fever

Just before we planned to leave for the first Clemson game of the season, Susannah came down with a fever! This was our first experience with a fever virus and Matt and I were pretty concerned. Our morning started out with beautiful weather and breakfast on the back porch. Everyone was loving our first fall Saturday. Somewhere between 9 and 10 am Suz started feeling icky. Sure enough, her fever was 102.5 and our baby-friendly tailgate seemed like the worst place to take a sick baby. We hated to miss seeing our friends and cheering on the tigers, but Susannah and I made the most of our day. Saturday also marked the first day Susannah has been able to keep a bow in her hair!!! Yea!!!

We dressed in Tiger colors...

And played with a very friendly Tiger...

Eventually she felt good enough to help clean out some cabinets!

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We ended our day with a trip to Hobby Lobby and a quick walk. The Tigers and the Sooners both won their openers, so we are more than happy to trade Susannah's fever for Football Season Fever.

Oooooo-klahoma!!!

During the last week of August, the Suz and I spent 10 fantastic and VERY HOT days in the great state of Oklahoma. We loved having time with Captain and Nana and spent lots of time feeding Rosie (the family schnauzer). In fact, in the picture below, Rosie is eating a cheerio that was between S's toes! Aunt Mana came from San Francisco and Ibby and Yuc (Luke) visited us almost every day. We also traveled to TX with Mia and stopped in Uncle Steve J's law office on the way. Susannah really enjoyed exploring Smith & Coleman and surprised us by identifying Aunt La-Ra in her junior high school photo!

The Captain basically let Susannah do whatever she wanted and took her exploring in his neighborhood. She saw lots of hummers and even touched a hummingbird nest Cap had saved for her.

Spending so much time in OK allowed us to see many friends and gave Susannah a chance to meet some new buddies too!

At Mia's we did LOTS of swimming. Aunt Mana and Ibby even got Suz to "jump" off the diving board.

Of course, no trip would be complete without a little musical farewell. Susannah was happy to provide that with her new flute. Now if only I could teach her to play "OKLAHOMA."