Oliver's Fairy Godmother

Abby came down to spend 5 days with me this week while Ryan was out of town on business. We had such an amazing time!! Oliver was thrilled to have his "Aunt Bubba" around to make him laugh. (He can't really say Abby, it comes out sounding like "Bubbie," hence Aunt Bubba.) Oliver is so lucky because Abby really understands and takes seriously her role as auntie. She knows that it is her job to be the cooler, more fun, more energetic version of mom.

She offered to babysit Ollie while I went to a volunteer luncheon at Duke Botanical Gardens. It was a beautiful day so they came with me to the garden and went off to have a nice picnic and feed the ducks...or so I thought! When I tracked them down after the luncheon I discovered that they had actually climbed INTO the koi pond. Luckily for them all the staff and volunteers were otherwise engaged because that was definitely not proper "garden etiquette". Oliver was happily clutching a bag of Cheetos (forbidden by mom), covered in neon orange Cheeto-grease, and kicking his feet in the water.

You can't really tell from this picture that Abby and Oliver have climbed down inside the pool...it looks like they are just sitting on rocks, but that's because the very obvious wall of the pool is cropped out of the picture.

Another time, when we went to the Weaver Street Market, Abby offered to stay outside while I started shopping inside. Oliver loves jumping in puddles and I usually indulge this up to a point, but Abby clearly has a much higher tolerance for fun. When she finally brought Ollie inside he was completely wet and muddy and, according to Abby, had stomped the puddle dry! It was a really nice reminder to me that I can and should loosen up a little bit.

My dad came down for the weekend and we all went down to Wilmington for Friday and Saturday to go to the beach. My dad was the only one who went swimming but we all hung out on the beach (me looking and feeling like a beached whale) and Oliver played in the sand. It was so nice that Abby could chase after him so I could lie on the beach, read Lucky magazine, and do my beached whale thing. She is really creative and makes up fun little games for Oliver. They slid down the dunes and combed the beach for rocks and sticks. She taught him how to hop like a rabbit and prowl like a tiger which he found endlessly entertaining and I found very cute.

Now that Oliver has tasted forbidden fruit, a.k.a. Cheetos, he's pretty much hooked. I know that it's great that he's eating at all, but really, couldn't he have developed a passion for a less disgusting snack food (not to mention one that is loaded with artificial ingredients and has no nutritional value whatsoever.)

Here he is at a gas station on the way down to the beach. He said he wanted a "nack" (snack) and he quickly found his way to the Cheetos. I tried to veto this selection but was overruled by my Dad and Abby.