Untangling Life: Settle In and Get Comfortable

Settle in and get comfortable because this has the potential to be a long, long post. My game plan is to tackle it simply by uploading all the pictures I have taken. It is almost, however, to the point of no return (meaning: it's been so long since I've posted that it seems too much a chore to post again) but I will look past that and just take it one picture/story at a time. Seriously, bear with me.

Last week we took a trip to Montgomery, Alabama. Matt attended a TAPPI Conference and the kids and I VaCaTiOnEd!! Montgomery, is the capital city of Alabama and is a city of so much history. (i.e. The first capital of the Confederate States of America, the location of the Montgomery bus boycott (y'all ever heard of Rosa Parks?) and the finish line of the Selma to Montgomery marches.)) All that being said, upon driving around the downtown area, it was sad to see that it has hit some hard times. Restaurants were closed, parks and other attractions have been left unattended and unchecked. Of course, the suburbs of Montgomery offered the normal Red Robin type restaurants and fancy Outdoor Malls. I did find myself a dress from Ann Taylor Loft but I didn't find the "Montgomery, AL experience" I so hoped to find.

Below are some shots of Montgomery.

This is the view of the 3 elevators from the lobby/lounge area of the Embassy Suites.

Every day from 5:30pm to 7:30pm they have a "Manager's Reception." This literally means "free booze." While I enjoyed a glass of wine Tyler sucked down a Sprite and munched on some complimentary Goldfish crackers.

While Tyler enjoyed his Sprite, Daddy and Lauren (were "Those People" and) played on the elevator...going up and down and up and down and taking a picture along the way.

While Daddy worked the kids and I explored downtown Montgomery. I google searched Montgomery's TOP 10 restaurants and found the Montgomery Farmer's Market Cafe listed.

This place was Awesome. We had a Spectacularly Kid-Friendly Server. It was a local hangout full of railway workers and local folk who all knew each other and knew we stood out....And they were very welcoming about it!

(I LOVE restaurants such as these!)

and so does Lauren...

After lunch we braved the suffocating humidity and ventured to a downtown park.

(tilt your head to see Tyler in the tree house)

We could only handle so much of the humidity so we made some pit stops back to the hotel room. Here they are watching either Disney Channel or SpongeBob Square Pants

(let's hope for the former!!)

On our last day there. We took a Riverboat Dinner Cruise on the Alabama River. This was a lot of fun....especially for the kids.... After dinner was finished the captain/pilot/who-the-heck-is-driving-the-boat asked Lauren and Tyler if they would like to navigate.

Tyler was very specific as where to go....."that way."

Lauren went more for the "Titanic" smile shots

Towared the end of the cruise they had a second wind...

but that quickly turned into a "snuggle into bed" scenario.

And that concludes our Montgomery, Alabama recap.

When we arrived home we unpacked and then immediately headed over to Dave and Susan's house for a grill-out. (Sorry, no pictures from this event.) We had fun there and ate some great food but I recieved about 20 bug bites up and down my legs.

I'm just so sweet and irresistable, I suppose. (wink)

Wednesday was Emma's birthday party. Emma and Lauren went to Pre-school together at PTC First Baptist. She was so happy to see Emma again and absolutely had a great time...

as did Tyler!

Here's Lauren hitting the Pinata.

On Thursday we put on our lightweight clothes and headed out with Kylie and her family to Six Flags. It was about 95 degrees and 100% humidity but that didn't stop us from having a most

AWESOME

time.

I talked Tyler into wearing his Tennis Shoes instead of his usual Red Racecar Crocs...and he agreed.

I had to document this occasion with a couple photos.

Six Flags was FUN!

Here is just a teaser of the fun we had.

(from left to right: Tyler, Kaden, Kylie, Lauren, idk, idk)

that ride got CRAZY!

Kylie and Lauren

Six Flags was so much fun. We are planning on getting together with Kylie's family again and very soon.

Today, despite ME! being so tired from the previous day, the kids were up bright and early....

7am !

I dropped them off at their friend Lea's house while I did some shopping at Trader Joes in the city. When I came home I picked the kids up from Miss Maria's house and brought them home with me. (all two doors down) I'm so happy to report that they like to play the same games that Matt and I like to play.

i.e. Clean Up Your Toys

for fun (and without my suggestion) they found some old toothbrushes and started scrubbing down some of their sandbox toys.