Halloween 2010

This is the first year we were going to attempt the Trick or Treating with Tate. We tried to pump him up as time drew near that his monkey costume was so cool and he had to wear it door to door to get some candy. He actually did it which I was surprised. He was such a cute little monkey!! We also carved a last minute pumpkin which was fun for Tate and daddy to do together and went to the new corn maze in Powell with Baby Cooper and Izzie. We had a great time this Halloween!!

Tate's first Trip to Disney - 2010

Spur of the moment is not my thing (ask my husband) but I just wanted a get away trip so bad this Fall before the new baby GIRL (yes GIRL!!) and before I got so pregnant I couldn't walk. We started researching into a short Disney trip and after some planning and good advice from others had a plane flight and trip booked before we knew it. It worked out good because this fell during my Veterns Day Hoilday so the only day I had to take off was Wed. We flew Alligient Air from Wed to Sun and this was the perfect amount of time away. Tate did great on his first plane ride and even sat in his own seat like a big boy. We were able to sit together both flights which helped ease mommy and daddy. We arrived in beautiful Florida with 80 degree weather. The Disney Express shuttled us to the Pop Century Resort and we got used to the shuttling around from here to there the rest of the week. Our hotel was pretty cool with three pools and lots of oversized items (playdough, three-wheel, Mickey Mouse, etc). We stayed in the 50s themed area. When we arrvied we had to take advantage of the warm weather not warm water and jump in for a swim. Swimming in November was awesome so we did again later in the week! We visited three theme parks: Magic Kingdom (the castle was magical), Animal Kingdom (loved the Safari ride), and Hollywood Studios (Mickey Mouse Clubhouse!!). I was amazed at all the rides we could ride with Tate. He did get a little scared on some of the dark, loud ones but overall did great! We got our picture with Tigger, Pooh, Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, and Pluto. I was surprised that we could find all the characters and so many Christmas lights were up already. At Hollywood Studios we were able to catch the Festival of Lights where the lights flicked on and off to Christmas Music. Two nights we visted the Downtown Disney area which was full of place to shop and eat. They had a LEGO store, a Ghirradelli (which I fell in love with their Hot Chocolate and free samples), and tons to Disney themed stores that were fun to look through. Our short trip was a success and it will be great to have these memories some day to look back upon.

Looking out of the plane with daddy...


Mickey's house ("take a picture"~Tate)...


The big castle...


Animal Kingdom...


Goofy and Pluto...


Festival of Lights at Hollywood Studios...

2 years ago...

2 years ago Tate Kelton Shular came into this world and his mommy and daddy had no idea how much we would/could love such a thing. This year was special because we now know that Tate will have a sibling on his next birthday so this is his last one as an only child. Travis and I decided to celebrate on his actual birthday by taking him to the Ripley's Aquarium. It was so fun. Tate loved all the big fish and surprisingly was not scared in the long tunnel. Afterwards, we walked the Gatlinburg strip and had to get a yummy caramel apple with nuts. Of course...Tate had to take a few bits himself. We had a great time together just the three of us.







Yummy Caramel Apple...



We decided to have the party on Sunday October 3rd outside and of course it was the coldest day so far in October. It had been having beautiful weather and of course the day of Tate's party the high was 60!! This brought back memories of last year. And to make the day even better we went to go get some balloons for the party and they ended up blowing out of the back of the car but Auntie Abs saved the day and surprised us with some more. What great family we have!! We had the party at the pavilion in our neighborhood and all the kids played and played on the play ground. We brought the fire pit over since it was so cold and many people gathered around the fire to stay warm. Carolyn and I made sport cookie pops and blue cupcakes. So...cute! Tate was such a big boy. He did so good opening his presents and showing off his new toys. He is such a loved little boy and I know that because so many people came out in this cold...cold weather!!





Look at all the cuties that showed up to celebrate with Tate...

#2 is on the way!

We found out on August 1st that we would be having another Shular baby come into this world. We were so excited that Tate will be a big brother. We decided not to tell anyone until we went to the doctor the first time which was August 26th. This was a hard secret to keep especially from out parents. I ordered a "big brother" shirt for Tate to wear and surprise our parents. The day we got the shirt in the mail we could'nt stand it anymore. We decided to tell Abbie first. I called and invited ourselves over for dinner...yum mom's lasagna! We get in the door she noticed the shirt first off. She was super excited! We went to moms next and she noticed the shirt as Tate was walking up the porch stairs. She couldn't believe it! We decided to pick some veggies from the garden so we called Gram and Pap to come over and pick some of the okra that was going bad. They came over and hung out for quite awhile before noticing the shirt and of course they were super excited too! Dad found out since he kept Tate at our house the night of our 10 year reunion and we continued to call other family and friends after that weekend since it came out at the reunion festivities. We are really excited to add another life to our family!

Smith Mountain Lake with the Streets

In the middle of July we decided to crash the Street vacation at Smith Mountain Lake. My Aunt and Uncle have a condo on the lake and everyone was gathering together. Tate rode his first jet ski very slowly between Travis and I. We ate good and had lots of fun. We visited the Smith Mountain Boat Dock because my Aunt kept talking about the "big" fish. WOW! These things were huge and there were so many. We had a great time feeding them lots of popcorn. The last night we were there we all got in the boat and rode to the Mexican place to eat. Glad we could crash the party!

See what I mean...Big and lots of them...

First trip to Dollywood

My Birthday fell on a Monday this year and Travis and I happened to be off for the July fourth holiday so we decided to do something fun for us and Tate. Tate has never been to Dollywood so we decided to make a day of it. I don't know who was more excited Travis or myself. One thing about parenthood that I love it showing your child new fun things in life. Well this day was full of them. When we got there we decided to go straight to the Country Fair. We rode the elephants and the tea cups together. What a blast! What I wasn't ready for was for Tate to ride some rides by himself...sounds absurd at 21 months! On the contrary Tate was able to ride the Bubble Bees and the Ducks all by himself...what a big boy! We also made our way up to the carousel and the last stop was the famous steam engine train. By this time in the day Tate was wore out and actually fell asleep on the train. What a great and memorable birthday!

North Myrtle Beach 2010

This year we decided to go to the beach in June. This worked out better with our busy work and summer schedule. The Stewarts were supposed to go with us but God had other plans so we still decided to find a place and go ourselves. Our reservations started on Sunday so we decided to drive to Greensboro to visit with Derick and Scarlett which worked out great for us. It cut the trip up and Ray and Carolyn were there too. Tate slept most of the trip to the beach and on the way home...something about the car that wears him and myself out. We stayed at Baywatch and had a one room place that was just right for us this year. It had lots of pools that Tate grew to love. He started jumping in by himself while we there. He was fearless. He also loved the sand and waves. Every morning we would go down to the beach and play in the ocean puddles. These were cold at first but the sun would warm them up throughout the day. Travis and/or I would follow Tate as he wandered down the beach. Around 11 or 11:30 Tate was spent and ready for a nap and a hotdog. He would eat and be out for 2-3 hours. Travis and I would take turns on nap duty (but I have to say...I got more beach time...thanks Trav). When he woke up we would go down for a couple more hours and end up in the pool. Every night we would find some good place to eat and yes Travis did talk me into seafood two nights. One of them we drove to Calabash and the other one was the buffet Travis has been talking about for months. I am so glad we went and got to make some Shular memories together!!