Attack of the FIRE ANTS

We went to a Water Party at a friend's house on Wednesday.

Ms Dawn has the ultimate side lot to host the ultimate water party.

(except for the mound of FIRE ANTS which eventually and solely found Lauren)

We had so much fun right up until the very (fire-anty) end.

friends and fun and water-guns

ready for the water balloon toss

Lauren and her partner most definitely won the toss.

obviously the next two photos were not taken from my $25 (or so) camera

Thanks for the great pictures, Carey!

Tyler

Lauren

(about to get wet!)

This was the perfect afternoon for us 'stay-at-home' mom's.

The kids were occupied with each other and the water guns while us Mom's chatted in the shade.

Our perfect afternoon ended abruptly, however, when Lauren ran to me screaming and in obvious (break your Momma's heart) pain.

She had happened upon a mound of FIRE ANTS.

Having yet to be bitten by one I have only heard how excruciatingly painful they are.  (apparently they have the same venom as yellow jackets!)  I grabbed a towel and wiped the evil ants off her legs and then with help from the other Mom's packed up and headed home in 5 seconds flat.

Lauren yelled, cried, and moaned all the way home.

"I don't ever want to see another bug in my life"

"This is the worst day ever"

"I'd rather be on fire!"

When we got home I gave L a Benadryl and put her in a bath with Colloidal Oatmeal.  

After 20 minutes in the bath the pain started to subside.

(Tyler, such a sweet boy, never made a sound but sat quietly in the living room while I dealt with Lauren)

What a day!  What a day!

I hear the bites will start itching in a couple of days.

Here's what her legs looked like this morning.

(It's hard to tell from the picture but they were pretty blotchy and swollen and got progressively more so as the day went on.)

Aside from that, today was another day full of the usual shenanigans.

 I'm pretty sure Tyler is talking to the Fire Ants.

Don't come around here no more!

Why I do the Cooking!

Today I went out to dinner with friends

so Matt was on his own.

I had a veggie pasta dish prepped for him but Matt said, 

"I'm not feeling it."

Here's what he was feeling:

1/3 lb ground beef, grilled, topped with melted American and Pepperjack cheese, stacked with bacon, tomato and lettuce all hugged by a bun slathered with Wickles.

I'm back from dinner and the house still smells wonderful.

I do the cooking because if Matt did we'd eat mouth-watering meals but would all weigh 500 pounds.

Cars View of Cars 2

Oh the Nostalgia!
Last weekend we went with some friends to the drive-in theater.  I had no idea the Atlanta 'burbs near us even had a drive-in.  I remember going once or twice as a child but for the life of me I can't remember where it was.  (help me out fellow Springfield, Oregonians)

We packed a picnic dinner, snacks, juice boxes (a couple of adult beverages) and settled into our spot at the drive-in.

We loaded up the car with pillows and sleeping bags but brought lawn chairs for the adults.  Lauren even brought a friend.  

the gang

(Me & fam, Carey & fam, Denise & fam)

We had a great time.

I loved the movie (despite the bad reviews.)

It was a great experience and I can't wait to go back to the drive-in.

Tyler's First Sleepover

Thanks to our good friends Dave and Susan (well mostly Dave) Tyler enjoyed his first sleepover at a friend's house.  While Susan and I went to a Mom's only pool party, Dave offered (was offered by Susan?) to watch L and T for the night.  Lauren had no interest in spending the night at a boy's house (two boys actually) but Tyler really wanted to stay.

Tyler and Ian

partners in crime

(shown here in the cardboard "slammer")

I hear (because Lauren told me verbatim what went on) that Tyler did just fine until bedtime.  Mr. Dave had Lauren sleep in the living room (so I could easily pick her up and not wake the boys) and had Tyler sleepover in Ian's bedroom.  Apparently, Tyler really wanted to sleep near his sister so he threw a fit.  Lauren (my eyes and ears) said Tyler told Mr. Dave he wouldn't be his friend anymore if he didn't let him sleep in the living room.

Tyler and Ian asleep in Ian's bedroom.

(how cute: they have the same pillow pet)

(Hopefully Mr. Dave and Tyler can be 'friends' again one day.)

All was well the next morning.  Tyler and Ian enjoyed a good breakfast.

After I picked him up and we got home Tyler decided to throw another fit with me.  (I don't even remember what it was about.)  I did what Mr. Dave probably didn't.  I sent him to bed right away.  At 10am my boy took a 2 1/2 hour nap.  I'm thinking he partied and fitted pretty hard at his first sleepover and that just wiped him out.  Stay tuned for more Ian and Tyler sleepover adventures.  They will be in the same grade at the same school...hopefully the same class next year.

PS.  Thanks again (and Happy 30somethingth Birthday) Mr. Dave!!

PPS.  I may have overused my (parentheses) in this post.  (sorry)

I Love the Rain

After living in Oregon for the first 26 years of my life I never thought I would ever utter the words;

"I Love the Rain."

(but I do)

To clarify,  I love the Summer afternoon thunderstorms we get in Georgia.

As long as the thunder and lightening stay away we thoroughly enjoy ourselves.

(with temps still in the 80s...why not?!)

Just so you know, if there is any thunder and lightening both Lauren and Tyler will be in the house taking cover with hands held over their ears and eyes tightly shut.

Gotta go...my weather radio just went off with a Severe Thunderstorm Warning.

(secretly loving it!)

Ducks and Justin Beavers

Checkers is a favorite game in our house.
Our game happens to be the Oregon Civil War edition.
the Oregon Ducks vs. the Oregon State Beavers

I always have to be the Beavers because both of my children REFUSE.

(for some reason I can't ever let the Beavers beat the Ducks so my kids do a lot of winning)

Today Tyler counted the helmets he had jumped.

"Momma, I have 3 of your Justin Beavers."

I laughed and laughed.

She Loves Her Face

Lauren is growing out her bangs and they are finally long enough to pin back with a barrette.  She was a little skeptical when I pinned them back while playing hair salon today.  After she saw herself she said,

"I love looking at my face."  

 Now some may think this to be a bit conceited but I disagree. (c'mon, she's seven years old)

I LOVE that she LOVES her face.

Growing up, I was too insecure to love anything about my face...except for my big blue eyes, of course.

Lauren and "Taylor" show off the same 'do.

 I honestly, can't get enough of her face as well.

I love this girl!

In other news:  The world's best Daddy built the world's best fort in the basement this weekend.

The picture doesn't do it justice.  This was a BIG FORT.

 Today while Matt flew to Montreal, Canada for work, the kids and I went to a pajama movie party at Ian and Eric's house.  They watched Gnomeo and Juliet for about five minutes before running around playing "kissy face" (who taught them this game?!) and tearing up the house.

On the way home I snapped this picture of Tyler.  I'm not sure which was more dangerous;  letting him ride slouched down with the buckle around his face or me taking this picture of him while DRIVING.

Although it's covered up with the buckle...I love his face as well!

Best Dad in the World, hands down and eyes shut!

Being a good Dad is a hard job. (seriously)

Matt is so good, however, he can do it in his sleep.

(Lauren, 3-19-2004, 8 days old)

 (Tyler, 3-29-2006, 5 days old)

Happy Father's Day to the best Dad and Husband.

How did we get so lucky?

Words

I am impressed how well Lauren has learned to read and write in the first grade.  She really enjoys reading and writing letters, stories, lists etc.

For example, she wrote this via the Wii remote, to her good friend Lea who moved away last summer.

 She also wrote this and taped it to the garage door. 

And then she wrote this:  a list of BAD WORDS
(I wrote the first one because I'm extremely tired of hearing the kids say, "What the" (as in "What the" heck.)  They have no idea what "what the" means and I'm just done with it.)

 

Tyler took his cue from Lauren's list and wrote his own.  See below:

(I asked Tyler about "Talking Whale" and he told me that saying "ark ark ark" (like whales do?) is a bad word.  Who knew?!)

I love my (not so) foul-mouthed children with all my heart.

Trampoline

Is there anything more fun than a trampoline?!

 

We are thrilled the neighbors have one. 

T-shirts and face tattoos courtesy of this week's VBS.

(Vacation Bible School)

"DESTIN"ation Non-Vacation Part Two

Work Trip Part Two:
Gulf Coast TAPPI Conference
Seascape Resort
Miramar Beach, Florida

(There are a lot of pictures so I'll try to keep my commentary brief.)

Destin/Miramar Beach is only 2 hours from Monroeville, Alabama.  It was a pleasant drive.
We were unloaded and ready to go before we got the code to get into our room.  Waiting....

 Matt and Tyler finished unloading the car.  (You can see them below walking across the arrow.)

 Once inside I immediately took a picture from our 16th floor balcony.  Yes!  The Gulf is still there!

 While Daddy worked on his GP proposal L and T acted like super heroes in the kitchen...

Then we got ready to explore the beach (while Daddy still worked on the proposal.)

Night Time Sand Angels...

The next day while Matt attended his conference the kids and I walked a mile (literally) along the beach in the 90+ degree dripping wet sun to find our complimentary umbrella and chairs.  By the time we got there both kids were in tears and I was dripping sweat and cursing in my head.

Still, I took the obligatory "toes, sand, and water view" picture.

After we calmed down we really enjoyed ourselves on the beach.  I took turns taking each kid out to the big waves while the other built massive sand castles on the beach.

To clean the sand off we stopped at the pool on our way back to the condo.  Daddy was able to join us on this adventure.

sippin' on Water mixed with a Pink Lemonade Crystal Light packet

playing monkeys and penguins (don't ask)

The next day we got to participate in the family part of the TAPPI conference.

Pontoon boats were rented and we had a blast.  We drove? boated? navigated! out to crab island.

Lauren learned how to jump off the edge of the boat (and into the 3 feet of water.)

And a gazillion hermit crabs were caught, inspected, kept in a bucket for awhile and then thrown back out (of course.)

I was blown away at how many boats (mostly partying 20-somethings) were out there.  There were enough boats out there that I wasn't surprised when an Ice Cream selling Canoe came by. (There was also a "Hot Boiled Peanuts" canoe too.  I must confess that although I don't care for peanuts, I really like "Hot Boiled Peanuts" (pronounced: Hot Bowled PEAnuts)  

enjoying their ice-cream

 

It was a fun day in the sun.  I can tell Lauren and Tyler had a blast because this is what they looked like 5 minutes after we left the dock.

 

After a quick nap and shower we geared up once again for the TAPPI family pool party.

There was pizza, wings, soda, booze, and best of all PRIZES!

Matt won a cooler, I won a $10 gift card to Walmart

and Lauren and Tyler are proudly showing their loot.

pink pool lounge and a Nerf gun

 

Unfortunately, all work conferences and non-vacations must end. Sunday morning, Matt and I packed up our condo, loaded up the car and headed out.  The 5 hour drive home was pretty uneventful.  We did drive through an afternoon thundershower which rinsed off our vehicle.  It was pretty cool to see zero percent visibility (especially since Matt was driving.)

I'm already ready for the next vacation.  Pacific Northwest; get ready!