Twinkle Star

Abby has been honing her talents as a vocalist lately. We are not sure where she got her skills, but we are glad she does better than her mommy and daddy. When she sings sans the mic, she will do the hand motions. Please enjoy Abby's version of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star."

***Warning: Steve does maek a cameo appearance in this one. For those who know him, it's a classic Steve moment. You have been officially warned. ***

Fourth of July Fun

We had a busy but fun Fourth of July Weekend. We headed across the mountain on Friday to shoot fireworks with Tom, Ethan, Aleigh, and Mathew. Abby had loads of fun playing with her cousins and shooting the "up and downs" with them.

The Puckett girls must stay together! Abby and Aleigh played
supervisors while the boys shot fireworks. Mathew was excited to
shoot off bottle rockets and help with the bigger ones later on in the evening.


Ethan was fired up all evening.
He was great at entertaining Abby with
his bottle rocket skills.

Though Abby didn't get to play with fire,

she did get to pick out her favorites for Daddy
to shoot off for her. These huge sparklers were
second only to the artillary shells that we shot
after the sun went down.



Watching the bottle rocket zoom!


Then, it was time for a light all-American
snack before dinner. Though you can't tell from the
look on her face, she loved the corn dog and ketchup.

I didn't bring out the camera for the greater Piedmont area display put on by Uncle Tom, Daddy, Mathew, and Ethan. You will have to trust me that we had a blast (no pun intended). Abby loved the colors and bright lights (and staying up late). We had the traditional Tom Puckett Breakfast Feast the next morning before heading back to Asheville that afternoon. Once home, we quickly unpacked and headed over to Russ and Stephanie's for a cookout. We enjoyed meeting Steph's parents, and, of course, Abs loved playing with Sophie and William. After dinner, we all loaded up to watch Asheville's fireworks display. We parked behind the Lowe's shopping center, which had a great view. Again, I did not get the camera out for the big blasts. It was really beautiful. Abby, though, was getting tired and was just as excited about the plane circling the area than the beautiful fireworks exploding in front of her.

Abby and Sophie sat at a safe distance. . .


while the guys checked out the cliff where we were set up.
The drop-off was scary, but the view was perfect.

Just Beachy, Part Two

Though we would be totally fine being beach bums the entire week, we did venture out some from the beach house. Abby took her first ferry ride from South Port to Fort Fisher to check out the aquarium and have lunch at one of our favorite restaurants, Big Daddy's on Kure Beach. We also had a blast going for seafood with the family.

After all the travels last summer,
Abby is an old pro at being comfy on a long haul.



She also made herself right at home one at the beach house.
Here she is watching Playhouse Disney from a prime
spot in the living room.



This is her first taste of steamed shrimp at our
favorite Holden Beach eatery, The Provision Company.
Their motto is Good Food. Good People. Good view. Bad Parking
(P.S. She LOVES the shrimp as much as we do!!)


She checks the tide schedule while waiting for the ferry.


On the big boat with Mimi headed toward Fort Fisher.


She loved the wind blowing through her hair.


She made sure that her pink dragon (aka her
new best friend) got to see the sights as well.


Can you spot the friendly turtle we saw at the aquarium?



This is another friend we found just hanging out.
Abby thought he was funny.
We got to see an albino alligator as well, but the
pictures did not turn out as good. Luna was
rescued right after Hurricane Katrina from just
outside of New Orleans. No albino gator nests have been
found in that area since the hurricane.



Abs loved petting the horseshoe crab, which we were
surprised to find out is a member of the arachnid family.
Abby just thought he was funny, no matter his family. :)


Abby and Mimi check out the reef exhibit. Abby recognized
many of the fish from Finding Nemo and was
excited to "meet" them face to face.



Abby and I got to watch a battle for the centuries between
these two guys. I'm pretty sure they were napping
between punches.



Though Abby was getting tired by the end of the tour,
she brightened up when she saw Nemo and Dory swimming
around. She couldn't stop giggling, especially when Dory would
swim off and re-apprear out of the other side of the tank.


Our favorite activity, though, was hanging out with
Lauren and Megan. The girls had so much fun. Abby
is still crying everyday to go back the beach house to
play with them.

Just Beachy, Part One

We made our yearly pilgrimage to Holden Beach, NC this year with family. We had a wonderful time doing everything from riding a ferry to riding a wave. She could not get enough of the ocean and would often take off running for it before we realized what was going on. Even when a wave would catch her off guard and hit her in the face, she would come back laughing. There was only once she got a little scared after one pushed her down, but she was fine after a minute and wanting more. I'll make a couple of posts for all the pictures.

Abby still begs to go to the beach house with Lauren and Megan.

Wouldn't you? This is the view from the balcony outside our room.




One of her favorite things was to sit in the surf with Daddy
and "catch" waves.


She also loved exploring the sand too.



and digging for buried treasure.


Megan always made sure her outfit was coordinated for a
day at the beach. She was a little shy at first, but
finally got the hang of the waves. ( I didn't get
a picture of her riding on Steve's back in the waves...
good stuff.)

Lauren could always come up with a fun plan for
digging!! She loved the waves as much as Abby. We had
so much fun jumping waves!!

She loved the sand between her fingers, for a while....
then it was a mad dash to the ocean to wash her hands!!


Abby and Daddy playing land developers on the shore.


Here is the fruit of their labor one day.
Unfortunately, they built in a flood plain and
we didn't have to worry about he dry mote after high tide.


Abby was great about keeping the ever-draining mote
full of water.

Our little beach bum


And her beach bum parents.



After a hard day on the beach, the girls could be found
together playing OR , as seen here, on Mimi and Bamps's
bed watching Tinker. (Bamps now has "Tinker" memorized.)

In the next past, I'll put some pictures up of our activities away from the surf, such as the aquarium and Abby's first ferry ride!!