Today

The Other Day:

I made a pie.
(and I have a burn on my hand to prove it)
Blackberries, Raspberries and Strawberries were on sale and I had some pre-made pie crusts to use up before our three week hiatus out of town...so I made a pie.
Nothing special but since I Made a Pie
I had to document it.

Today:
We hosted playgroup at the pool.
No pool pictures today.
(Please check out a previous Pool Day post because the pictures are about the same.)

After the pool Lauren went to Lea's house to play while Tyler opted to run some errands with me.
We went to Five Different Stores and Tyler was such a trooper.
When we finally got home he was eager to watch some TV.

Yo Gabba Gabba on the Tee Vee
and a strategically placed bag of carrots.

SUCKER!!
(see the above picture...he ate quite a few!)

When Daddy got home from work Tyler was Gabba Gabba'd out and ready to play.
Here's what happens when Tyler asks Daddy to play Barbies with him.
The Barbies throw a townhouse party.

Please notice the Barbie straddling the roof

and the one hanging from the chandelier
in front of Ken doing a handstand.

Testosterone and Barbies can only last so long before it's time to put on the "Punch Guy" Outfit and make Mincemeat out of Daddy.

Today was a Good Day!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to all you Dad's out there...biological or not.

We celebrated our Father's Day st Six Flags Over Georgia....in the sticky 90-something degree weather. WOW! It was hot, Hot and HOT but we still had a good time. We went with Frederick and Maria and their daughter Lea.

Lauren

Tyler
(someday I'll learn how to turn the pictures around)

Lea

Lea's in there somewhere.

Me and Maria

the trio

Unfortunately, there are no pictures of Matt on this Father's Day. That's a shame because he is The Best Father EVER! (I know a lot of people claim this but I'm actually being truthful!) We Love You Daddy!!!!

And since it's Father's Day, of course, I have to mention my own father.

I saw this poem recently (on the internet) and thought I'd post it even though it doesn't exactly capture the relationship I had with my Dad. For example, if I gave him roses he wouldn't know what to do with them (other than give them to my Mom to take care of) and like my husband he would have thought them to be a waste of money. =) But the last few lines are very true to my heart.
Happy Father's Day, Dad.

If roses grow in Heaven Lord
Please pick a bunch for me.
Place them in my father’s arms
and tell him they’re from me.
Tell him I love him and miss him,
and when he turns to smile,
Place a kiss upon his cheek
and hold him for a while.
Because remembering him is easy,
I do it everyday,
But there is an ache within my heart
That will never go away.

And like I said before...Happy Father's Day to all you fathers and father figures out there.

Baby, It's Hot Outside

When it gets this hot outside (May and June have been sizzling) we take our entertainment indoors.

Lauren had her dance recital.
She was a Rodeo Girl.
They tap danced to this song.
She wore a cowgirl hat on stage so don't give me any flack about her scraggly hair-do.
Tyler likes his naps on hot days.
He prefers to take them on the sofa despite all the commotion.

While Daddy installed the new heavy duty TV wall mount...

Tyler slept through the whole thing.

When he woke up he and Lauren did some Wii Yoga.

It's great for the body and the mind.

When they aren't playing at Lea's house, Lea is playing at ours.
We escape the heat with help from the sprinkler.

and then we "chill"

serious "chilling"

the Jeeps create a nice breeze in Rabbit Speed

the Jeeps aren't afraid of hills nor sprinklers

Eventually the heat wins and everyone naps.

I woke him up at 5:30pm.
How will he ever go to bed at 8 o'clock now?

Tilt your head sideways for this next one.
Since Tyler napped so long we all watched a Netflix-via the-Wii movie that night.

Annie (rated PG...don't tell!)
The only thing the kids took from this movie was Miss Hannigan's "Kill, Kill, Kill" line.
I hear it all the time now.
(maybe they aren't ready for PG movies)

Last night I coerced Mr. Mike to watch our kiddos while Matt and I joined some friends for the Wine About the Economy event in downtown Newnan. We had fun tasting different wines while checking out the local merchants. We ended the evening with a delicious dinner at Ten East Washington. My $75 coupon (I bought for only $9) from Restaurant.com made it even more enjoyable/affordable.

Today we went with Dave and Troy to see Toy Story 3 in 3-D!!
This was my first 3-D movie and it rocked!
Tyler loved it

and so did Lauren.

Well, I really can't stay
(but baby it's hot outside)
I've got to go away
(but baby it's hot outside)

This evening is going to be relaxing and very low-key.
Matt and I will play around with our new Direct TV we had installed the other day and then we will go to bed...by 10pm at the latest.

Stay cool, y'all.

Happy Father's Day tomorrow...we have 6 Flags of Fun planned.

Vacation Destination: Pensacola, Florida

Matt had a conference in Pensacola, Florida and the kids and I were free so we decided to tag along. (I sure love summer break because school sure gets in the way of many potential tag-a-long vacations!)

Before we left for Florida we hosted playgroup at the neighborhood pool. Lauren showed me her new trick...

now you see her...

...now you don't!

My girl is now going under water.
Swimming is so much fun now!

Tyler still uses a life jacket and floaties but he has fun as well.
Here's the latest "Tyler Smile."

Tyler and Daddy
(Matt crashed the playgroup)

Lauren and her friend Elissa (a.k.a. the girl with the curly hair.)

After playgroup we dried off and threw our wet swimsuits into the car and then we were off to Florida. Tyler was the navigator...just in case my Garmin Nuvi failed us.

"um guys, I think maybe we took a wrong turn"

After traveling through Georgia, Alabama and Florida we arrived safely in Pensacola. The conference was held at the Crowne Plaza. I've stayed at over-priced, wonderful hotels before but this one was just over-priced. I recommend other accommodations. (Crowne Plaza did not pay for my endorsement or lack thereof.)

With Matt safely tucked into his conference the kids and I took off for Pensacola Beach. We paid the $1 toll to cross the bridge.

At first I let them get close to the water. It was a scorcher of a day (90s and swimming in humidity.)

But then I started to discover some British Petroleum souvenirs in the sand.
(apparently they started washing up the evening before we got there)

so I made them back up from the shoreline

Before long, Tyler got too hot. After his one hundredth "I want to go back to the hotel," I loaded them up in the car, got them an ICEE and we took a scenic drive.




We saw shorebirds nesting and even baby birds flying all over the place. The speed limit was temporarily set at 20 mph due to all the babies/chicks? learning to fly. We also saw many yellow-vested people cleaning up oil from the beach thanks to the BP oil spill.

After we were all cooled off and sights were seen we headed to nearby Fort Pickens to explore. This fort was built in 1829 to defend Pensacola Bay.

L and T checked to see if the cannon was loaded.

Lauren is currently fascinated by cemeteries so she had me stop at this transplanted one to take a look.

At dinner that night, lemon-faced Lauren said this was the best day of her life. Wow!!
The next day while Matt attended meetings about the latest and greatest in the Pulp and Paper Industry the children and I checked out the Gulf Breeze Zoo.
We loved this zoo (although it was small and oh so HOT outside.) We bought some food nuggets and fed the animals in the petting zoo area. A llama actually sneezed white goo all over Lauren and we all had a laugh over this (well all of us but Lauren.) It still makes me chuckle to think about it!







I had planned to take the kids to the National Naval Aviation Museum after lunch but we were all worn out from the morning at the zoo and the humid hot elements. Instead we took a "rest" in the hotel room and then did some goofing around that we can only do in hotel rooms.

jumping on the beds

That night we had dinner at an awesome restaurant. The Fish House. If you are ever in Pensacola you must eat here! Matt had the grouper fish special and I had a couple of sushi rolls. My sushi was so good that I don't even remember what the kids ate. We sat outside and enjoyed the cooler evening air.

This morning as we checked out of the Crowne Plaza we asked the one and only friendly front desk employee where the best local-dive-breakfast-diner was. He steered us toward this joint. The Coffee Cup. We sat at the bar and had a great greasy breakfast. The waitresses were super sweet. "How you doin' hon? You want more coffee?" I love little diners!
On our way out of town we visited the National Naval Aviation Museum. This was AWESOME. Unfortunately, we had a couple of hard to entertain children. There was plenty for them to see and do but Matt and I agreed we could spend a whole day here just learning and experiencing. Here are a few snapshots from our visit:

Blue Angels

Next time we're in town we'll make sure we get to see the Blue Angels practice.

At first glance Pensacola, FL doesn't seem that exciting but after a closer look I really fell in love with the place and I can't wait to go back.