Buffalo Point

 The LAST week in June (2018) we finally got the time to pull off a few days camping trip on the Buffalo River. Maybe I should say that again.....the LAST WEEK IN JUNE!!!! Which wasn't the SMARTEST timing on our part since it was CRAZY hot and humid.

 The Buffalo River was pretty low this time of year as well, so with that and the air temperature, the water felt like a warm bath. Which sounds AMAZING except that it's nice to have some respite from the warm air sometimes.

The scenery was SO beautiful against the cliffs.

 There were a lot of little tadpoles swimming around so it was fun for the girls to grab some.

Then Everly joined in and found something "better"!!!! She ran up SO proud of herself and her catch.

Nothing like finding a....er......um......feminine product in the river.

 I decided to go the route of "WOW Everly. So neat. Can I 'keep that safe' so we can show Daddy?"

 The babies just loved floating in the water or laying down in the shallow end.

 If anyone knows me and water temperatures....this picture should PROVE how warm the water is. I would've not gotten in if it were cold. ha!

 Brooks caught a fish on the end of his pole and then handed it to Royce without him knowing the fish was already on it. He was so pleased. #parentingWIN

 (floating old lady photo bomber)

 Noooooooot quite sure what to think.

 Such a pretty looking fish too.....WHATEVER it is.

 Besides the water, the other winners were the hammocks Emerson and Camden brought to sleep in. We didn't need ANY other entertainment than these. Plus their little kissed faces eating pudding are so cute.

 Since the tents were too hot to nap in, Iley fell asleep in the hammock for her nap. Apparently she COULD breathe sleeping like that because she did indeed wake up after.

 Camden was REALLY picky who got to come in his hammock. Of course the "favorites" were let in.

I love this pictures of my mid-family girlies.

Let's just say a LOT of snuggles happened in those hammocks. Probably why I liked them so much. Good ol' Iley sucking her fingers.

 The campground had quite a few frogs......and poison ivy.....but let's focus on the frogs. 

Wynn sure is!

  Brooks took Camden, Emerson and Aleeya on a kayaking trip down the Buffalo. It was a whole morning thing. They would kayak, stop and fish, and then repeat.

 They SAW a lot of fish, I'm told. They didn't CATCH too many. But they did catch a few.

Buffalo Point could very well be one of if not THE favorite camping place I've been with the family. The location really was so beautiful and ideal.  

And where is Bronson in all these pictures? Oh well, he went to the beach with his buddy Brady and his family. His Mom, Stacie, spoiled Bronson and spoiled me with pictures to document his trip.

 Brady is an only child but they were meeting all his cousins there. All of his cousins are little kids. So when Brady was trying to decide who to invite to go with him to have someone to hang out with, Stacie told me his criteria was "who wouldn't get on Brady's nerves for a week and who could handle being around a ton of little kids." Of COURSE Bronson fit the bill. haha.

He DID in fact have little cousins hanging around him the whole time too. See?

 They even met up with another baseball buddy down there. He had a blast.

Falling Waters

We found a fantastic place to play about a hour away. It's called Falling Waters.

The water was a tad chilly so we were glad when Camden decided to be the first to jump and try it out for us.

Aleeya too! Depending on the rainfall sometimes the waterfall will cover the whole area. It hadn't rained much before so just that one spot had the water coming down.

Even I had to try it but this is the best shot taken as proof. :)

Everyone had jumped off (except Everly and the twins) and Brooks and Bronson wanted to jump off WITH the twins.

Let me zoom in a little so you can see Iley's face who was NOT happy even BEFORE Brooks was about to jump off. She knew what was coming her way.

My brave girls probably jumped off the most.

We went on a busier day so it was fun to find this little pool area down below where we were the only ones (except the grandma-aged lady that sat and watched us with a smile forever😀)

Belch ended up sitting on top of the floatie a lot because there was this one fish who kept nipping at people's feet if it came by this certain rock. Emerson, Camden and Brooks all got nipped at by this fish so Emerson spent the rest of the time trying to catch the fish.

I brought granola bars, drinks and peaches. Iley loved her peach and had the death grip on that thing whether she was above or below the water!

Fun fun spot. DEFINITELY will be going back again. 

PSC

What does PSC stand for?!?!?!

PALMETTO STEM CELL CLINIC OF COURSE!!!!!!

Brooks and a friend opened up a stem cell clinic in Greenwood, South Carolina in May. 

It's been in the works since January a LOT of work/research/designing has been put into this.

Here is Brooks trying out the ultrasound machine on Bronson's knee before he takes it to the clinic on opening day. Clearly the kid eating his spicey chips doesn't need any stem cell injections. :)

They even have a billboard on a highway. #legit

Seriously, go to their website. https://palmettostemcell.com It's pretty awesome...if NOTHING else to see Brooks' handsome pic under the "Our Team" tab. I always tease Brooks he has professional ants in his pants, but he's always wanted to own a clinic.

Brooks flies to South Carolina monthly to give free seminars about stem cell injections and made it in the paper this time.

I think what I'm MOST proud of is the feedback he is getting from patients he talks to on the phone or has seen at the clinic in the past. He even flat out will TELL people not to waste their money if he doesn't think they will help their particular situation. His honesty and integrity was even mentioned in the last review emailed in from a patient

Enough bragging (and thankfully Brooks doesn't know since he would probably tell me to delete it) but here is the Palmetto Stem Cell Clinic team on opening day.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TWINCESSES!

I just received our family 2017 Blogbook in the mail and the kids act like it's a new release. They actually CALL it to decide which order the kids get to read it. While reading Camden said, "You sure wrote long posts about the twins!" Well Camden.....here is another one, because MY BABIES TURNED TWO on May 23rd!

Let's start with Miss Wynn Mary.

Recently she's been the accessory to escape. Wynn can open ANYTHING. Doorknobs, granola bar packages, the latch to the back gate.....anything. 

For THIS reason we HAVE to put Wynn to bed first. You see we turned the door knob backwards so the lock was towards us in the hallway because Wynn kept opening it.

Then once she's asleep we stick Iley in. BUT......and here's the BIG BUT.....if you put Iley in first and lock the door, Wynn can unlock it from the outside and keep letting Iley out......as Grandma found out firsthand. The order of bedtime-sticking-down MUST be followed!!!

Wynn also is my breakfast cleaner-upper. ANY bowl of oatmeal or cereal left out WILL be finished (and spilled) by Wynn. I found her going to TOWN on the platter of cinnamon rolls I left out. When she saw me coming she just grabbed as many as she could in her hands and started jamming them in her mouth. #carbissues

THIS picture fits Wynn and my relationship during a poopy diaper change. I KID YOU NOT!

Wynn kind of is the silent boss sometimes. Mostly because she keeps her head more level maybe? Well they've had these special blankets they can't sleep without that my Mom made when they were born. They have their names on them and one is pink and one is purple. Well Wynn has TAKEN over Iley's. She even holds it up and says, "I-wah" (Iley) but STILL doesn't give it up. Iley used to get mad over it but with so many nights having Wynn switch the blankets after I put them to bed I think Iley just realized she gets Wynn's purple blanket now.

Miss Iley May LOVES to communicate and feel like we understand each other. If I ask her to wake up Papi, or go get a diaper or go find shoes she just runs so fast and comes back triumpant afterward.

Along with the communication comes the tattling. She tells on Wynn when she's getting into something. If I don't follow her to see what Wynn is doing Iley gets REALLY mad and loud waving me to follow her.

Yes, this face has a temper and can get REALLY mad. It's pretty funny to all of us. 

The girls LOVE swimming.....probably more than anything. I told the OTHER kids that if they even SAY the word "floatie" (the babies call it "fah-fah") around the babies I will give that child vinegar because the twins will CRY if we don't take them then. Well when Iley wants to go she will go in my room and round up my swimsuit, my flipflops, her swimsuit and her swim diaper and plop them on my lap. Then yell "AGUA!!!!!!"

TRYING to explain to her the van is gone and we can't go doesn't go over very well with Iley the Insistant. 

She ALSO usually doesn't like to be up tall like this, so here is a rare photo on our walk home from church (it's a block a way).

Separately these girls are funny and clearly Smith-children. But TOGETHER.....they REALLY can do anything. It's funny/not-funny seeing their little fingers working together to open spice contatiners and Nutella. (They moved chairs over, climbed up and opened the container)

I mentioned Wynn can open the backgate. As much as I HATE that, the GOOD NEWS is, the twins rarely go anywhere without the other. So at LEAST my neighbor finds TWO wandering kids together. Right? 

(Wynn with pink bow)

And not only THAT but TWO girls in bright red peacoats is DEFINITELY better than one! 💕😍

(Iley giving QUITE the crusty)

I've KINDA created monsters because when I pick a onesie for a girl the other one (usually Iley) will run to find the MATCHING one for her sister. So obviously if there is only ONE green mermaid skirt the OTHER one will run and grab the green mermaid undies to still match.

(Poor Iley's face)

These two are GIGGLY little things.....and I MEAN that. Even today they came out from naptime (because I don't get them out right away, they stay in and happily play/terrorize their room) they came out chasing each other, squealing and giggling.

Now add in DAD to the equation and there's ALWAYS giggling.

They BOTH still love to sit on someone's lap at the same time. They ARE getting bigger now though so it's a tad crowded but I don't mind.....except when I'm in church and my legs are so spread out so each baby can have a leg and I'm trying to keep my skirt situated. I feel like a teenage boy sitting there most of the time.

There's a LOT of hugs between these two, "besos" and even a handshake Emerson taught them where they give a high five, then knuckles then a "cabeza" (head) bump to each other. (Wynn cheesing it)

Iley is a master climber so for a while there Wynn was in a portacrib while Iley was in a toddler bed because she kept climbing out of her crib it didn't do us any good to put her in one. Some nights I would STILL find Iley had climbed into WYNN'S crib to sleep together.

I SAY that Iley is quite the climber and YES, she learned how to climb up the back fence first (since Wynn went through it instead), but all it takes is one time seeing your twin do it and you all of a sudden can too! I HATE it when they both climb up here but you should hear them when their siblings are playing in the driveway and the twins are up here like this yelling, "GUYS! GUYS!"

In April I finally gave in and put Wynn in her own bed like Iley. They are so cute sleeping in their beds by each other calling "Night Night" before bed. Or I hear their feet run from one bed to the other to wake up her twin in the morning.

It's crazy thinking I have two TWO year olds. I ordered some "Two" dresses for their birthdays from China off ebay and they came like this. haha! Whatever.

I don't think there's anything that melts my heart MORE than seeing these girls hold hands. Besides Ring Around the Rosies hand holding (which they LOVE to play), they will hold hands in parking lots or when I say, "hold manos" for pictures......like this one that turns me into an ABSOLUTE PUDDLE!

Here's another one for good measure.

(Iley-left, Wynn-right)

These fun, giggly, interactive things are just the best. Little siblings always bother you sometimes but it turns out the twinados are always immune from that. EVERYONE dotes and spoils them. (Emerson took them outside one Sunday and took this sweet picture....Wynn on left)

Wynn and Iley obviously make my house messier, displace every shoe to try on in the house, will use markers on anything and think running away from me is funny when we get out of the car....but OH, how I thank my Heavenly Father for them every night.....every one of my kids! 

Happy TWO years to the family favs.