It’s no secret to those closest to me that I wasn’t mourning my time away from Charlie. Turns out, though, that watching Mimi and Poppy drive away with her was actually pretty sad. No doubt she will be wonderfully cared for in their capable hands…but I find myself missing the little bursts of “words” and babbling that I thought I needed a break from.

My driver’s license ordeal was only further complicated when we discovered that my emergency backup passport is actually expired and has my maiden name on it….I won’t bore you with the long story but it involves Charlie’s first visit to a police station and my first official police report. We are hoping that the paperwork I have (along with my other forms of identification) will have me safe and sound on that flight to Hawaii tomorrow afternoon. I’m leaving you (yes, I promise this is it) with these pictures of two future best friends.

I’ll just leave that one to your imagination. The brighter side of the day was that Charlie’s friend Kate came to play and the three girls had a ball! Charlie went down the slide for only the second time in history and “toddled” the length of the playroom multiple, multiple times. We even called Daddy on speakerphone so that Kelly could tell him, “Move cross the street!” Here’s hoping that Kelly, Charlie, and Kate have lots more playdates to look forward to. 😉

Mimi and Poppy will be here tomorrow to pick Charlie up and take her back to their house for the length of our trip to Hawaii. While re-packing all of her gear tonight I realized (with the help of Charlie as she pulled everything out of my wallet) that my driver’s license is nowhere to be found. No worries–my passport is on the way via UPS Next Day Air–but a scary snafu none the less. After Charlie leaves Ms. Marla and Mommy have some girltime and pedicures to look forward to, and then it’s off to Honolulu on Sunday.

We were determined to get more shots of the girls in their matching tees. What a couple of cuties!!

Kelly is going to have a baby brother in less than 6 weeks, and his new nursery is so beautiful. Today when Ms. Marla was showing me all of Baby Ryan’s sweet little clothes we unearthed a “vintage” Halloween costume. Ms. Marla’s Mommy made it for her other grandson Drew when he was a baby!

You know what happened next….

We were so tickled to find out that we’d both purchased the same Valentine’s Day tee from Target, so on went the “twinkie” tees this morning….

Ms. Marla got a new camera for Christmas and the pictures are so sharp I just HAD to share them ASAP. It’s safe to say that Charlie and Kelly have hit it off yet again. This is the first time we’ve visited that the two of them have truly “played” together, and it has been a ball watching them so far this week. Kelly was so excited to have “tubbies” with Charlie–in her words, “We get to swim like mermaids!”

Look at this toddler!!! Here we have some pics of Charlie caught mid-walk. She’s really moving now!

Remember the pink penguin? Up to this point in her life, Charlie really hasn’t attached herself to a “lovey”…we’ve tried various stuffed animals and blankets, but she just never seemed interested. This penguin appears to be another story. For whatever reason, she loves the thing. Tonight, as I was reading she and the penguin a story, she randomly and repeatedly squealed with glee and hugged and kissed our feathered friend. I think the penguin must come to Texas with us. How could I leave something (or someone) that produces such a huge reaction?? Now comes the hard part: finding room in my already overstuffed suitcases. *Sigh*Well, all, that’s it for now. We are off bright and early Tuesday morning. By the time you are perusing your morning blogroll, we’ll be nestled into a booth having some blueberry pancakes with Mimi and Poppy. After that, our next stop will be 4 days with Charlie’s very good friend Kelly and her Mommy, Ms. Marla. Have a good February! I will think of you, as I read about teenage vampires and sip mai tai’s by the pool. Aloha!!