The Growing Caldwell Family

I was happy to see Aaron and the kids when I made it back to Atlanta and we finished off our vacation with dinner at Copeland's!

During our beach trip I received word that a dear friend of mine had passed away. She was sick and in ICU for weeks and simply wasn't getting any better. Her liver and kidneys were failing and all the other complications she suffered from that caused her great suffering. We were friends since my freshman year in high school. The kind of friends who took crazy beach trips together, stood in one another's weddings, traveled to Europe and I had always envisioned would celebrate turning 40 together.  Her life had lots of struggles and we lived far apart, so as the mom of two little ones it was easy to rely only on Facebook for updates and glimpses into her life. I wish now I had made a bigger effort to  really stay in touch. If I had, I might have known that all the painful things that happened to her were just too much and she turned to alcohol too often for comfort. I never imagined that I would lose a friend like this at this stage in my life.  I feel blessed that I was a

On the last day of the trip the kids went on a pirate cruise! I think they had a blast and really enjoyed it! Charlie is constantly finding something like a sword and asking me to duel!

We wanted to get some pictures while we were at the beach and a family friend who happens to be named Natalie came over to take the pictures. Here are some of the cute, but sort of random shots we took. I just love these pictures of Pops and Charlie with the hat! I love them both so much and love the special times they get to spend together. Caught them both sitting at the same time-no easy feat! In the natural mode-running wild! So precious! Pretty Livy with Pops My big girl looking so pretty. After the photo shoot Natalie and her daughter, Mia went to dinner with us. It was great to catch up on their life in Florida and let the girls play. Dinner and Barbies. There could be no greater joy. Mia was Sissy's first friend and they had such a good time together at dinner. They both kept wanting the other to be their cousin!

We had a rainy day, so we headed to Silver Sands to do some shopping. We snapped a few pictures since we were all dressed and looking good. After shopping we headed to have shrimp at Floyd's before some fireworks. The fireworks were something that dad heard about and were a real treat!

The kids love going to the pool with Pops. He holds them on a "surfboard"and moves them around like a motor boat. Sissy perfected her cannonball! This hibiscus was so pretty by the pool. We headed out to build a sand castle. Livy looking so big! They were proud of their creation!