Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Lake week

On Friday we headed up to the lake for a week of fun and also because it was Bob's preference to spend his birthday at the lake. We have had a great week. We have learned that splitting the kids up during sleep times could cure some of the grouches in the morning.
We started the weekend off by hanging out with our wonderful marriage group from St. Lukes. We enjoyed boat rides and a good lunch!! At naps the Wiseman's clan came over for some fun in the sun! Campbell was able to influence James with his outdoor man ways!! For the rest of the week James kept the bushes watered well! Charlotte has offered to take him for a week of potty bootcamp..very tempting!
Below are some fun pictures.



















On our way out to eat dinner on the lake. The kids loved swimming in the middle of the lake!



































On the way home after dinner and swimming. My big camera is still broken so these are a little bit dark but you can see how beautiful the mountains look in the evening.

















On Monday we celebrated Bob's birthday! We also went to the North Georgia Mountain fair. This was our second year going.









There was plenty of wood workings and animals to see. This year there was Bengal tigers. The kids enjoyed shopping. It is amazing how many booths had wooden swords for James to play with. Luckily, we walked out with a wooden train for him and a handmade doll for Ansley. We explored an old school bus and schoolhouse. The schoolhouse had books and other fun artifacts. Unfortunately, as soon as the kids found out you couldn't touch the books and things they were on to the next place.










On Tuesday we took the kids to Babyland General. We let Ansley pick out an early birthday present.








Ansley held babies...








Tested each one out...








Made sure to not leave one inch of baby land undiscovered....








Glanced at the baby tree...








Finally found her baby...Ella Grace (Ella was the name she had named the baby before she found out it was a boy. When she found out it is a boy she told me I could name him).








This was how James spent his time. He wanted nothing to do with the dolls.








He did check out the babies that were moving up and down I the cabbage patch.









This was the only boy toy in the place. Luckily, it is soft!










On Wednesday, we explored Dillard. The kids got to feed goats and check out the stables.



























James made himself comfortable!








The one big scare we had was when Oscar disappeared for a little over an hour. The men were outside grilling and so James decided to go out with them and take Oscar potty. Then about 20 minutes later they all came back in with the food and no dog. For the next hour we visited all of the neighbors driveways, which is an adventure in the mountains, we drove up and down the major road, and hollered for him! After an hour we headed back to the house without the dog. Oscar has never runaway before so we were baffled. When we got home I went back to where he was seen last. After looking for a second he was stuck in sticker bush! Really we were looking for him for an hour and he had no want to bark or anything! He was literally 5 feet from the house. Panic turned to relief then to "are you kidding me."

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Art Barn

I have been wanting to go to the art barn since last summer. Today I learned why it is so booked!! Farmer Sue is amazing with the kids and has great animals. She introduced us to each animal, took us on a tractor ride, and gave the kids and art lesson in the barn. We got to spend the day with Addison and Avery!









The donkeys got tons of love. Such gentle animals.


This one loved the hugs.











Evidently this is a miniature cow?!?


James didn't get that the chicken likes to breathe!


Trying to get pecked in the face!























Ansley's chicken!


James' chicken


If you don't go anywhere else this summer go to the art Barn in Canton!!

First dentist trip

My tush was pushed into high gear this summer since Ansley is starting kindergarten this fall, so off to the dentist we went. Ansley had a horrible experience at my ex dentist office so this time I tried a kids place!! Children's dental zone is amazing!! I would gladly get my teeth cleaned there. They have turtles, TV's on the ceiling, toys everywhere, and wonderful staff! We went for Ansley and James ended up getting his teeth cleaned too. The Dentist came up to me after James and warned me that he my not remember the experience because he was glued to the TV the entire time!! They both came away with no cavities!!







Playing and cleaning

While Bob was off at a meeting on Saturday, the energetic kids and I searched for a place to burn off all their energy. We came upon a place called Catch Air. From the name and outside I figured it was a place like Monkey Joes. Was I wrong. It was ten times better!!! Catch air is a huge warehouse looking place. It has a couple bounce houses, to ball pits, obstacle courses, amazing slides, a cool swing tree, numerous balls and things to climb on. The best part of this place is there are not big kids jumping all over the little ones!! When birthday parties are being held characters come out to play. Of course Elmo was the first to come out and my kids ran the opposite direction. Strawberry shortcake won their heart! We spent almost two hours there and my kids were zombies!!













Sunday we continued to clean and rearrange the bedrooms. We still have a long way to go but it is getting better. Ansley is moving to the playroom, James is taking her room, and the new baby is getting James' room. Below are some pictures of the kids helping Bob clean out the garbage can.








Playdate with the West girls!

Today we went with Kristy, Claudia, Addison, and Avery to Catch Air. Tuesday's are bogo days!!! We even managed to get goldfish and juice boxes during story time. If I had only found this place early this summer. Here are a couple pictures.