Independence Day Weekend

We started our Independence Day celebrations on the 3rd. We discovered last year that a church near us has a patriotic concert and then fireworks - not on the 4th. So we decided to go enjoy that again this year. My mom and dad were spending the night at our house, so they were able to join us. The concert by The Georgia Symphony was wonderful! And then we went back to our car to pull out the chairs to watch the fireworks show. However there was a different kind of fireworks show going on a little bit away - lightning! So no sooner had we gotten the chairs out of the car, we put them back in the car and all piled in the van to watch the fireworks. They put on a nice display!Since the fireworks can be pretty loud, Heidi prefers to watch them with ear muffs on.Emma and I watched over the car for a little while.Not only was it a wonderful concert and a good fireworks show, but once we got out of the parking lot (about 25 minutes) it only took us 10 minutes to get home! :-)

My parents spent the night at our house so Jason and I could get up early and go run The Peachtree Road Race. For those who don't know, it's a 10K (6.2 mile) road race down Peachtree Street in Atlanta. It's been going on for 42 years now, I think. 60,000 people signed up to do it this year. It has become a tradition for us and whether we're in shape for it or not, we sign up and go do it. This year we were feeling in decent shape for it, however we had not been training in the heat. And BOY was it warm and humid that morning. We did it, but found it rather difficult. Here I am sporting the race shirt that everyone gets for finishing; and Rachel is wearing a "finishing" sticker that Jason picked up in the finish area. It's as big as she is!After some yummy bagels and a 2 hour nap (for me), we decided to go out for dinner and ponder what to do about fireworks. It was turning in to a rainy/stormy evening. We thought about going to another local fireworks show, but the weather just looked too wet. So we decided to come home and see what we could find on TV. Heidi was very interested in seeing more fireworks. We were able to see a downtown Atlanta display, A Capitol Fourth from DC, and a great show in NY! I think the mission of more fireworks was accomplished.

Summer Fun

Summer officially starts tomorrow, but the girls have been out of school for 3+ weeks. So we're trying to have some Summer Fun!

The water table...Scootering...Playing around the house...At the park...Heidi has learned to pump on the swing so now she doesn't need someone to push her. Hooray!!!

Memorial Day Weekend

More often than not, for the last 15 or so years, Jason and I have traveled to the St. Louis area for a boomerang tournament over Memorial Day weekend. The tournament is on Sunday so we have Friday & Saturday to travel there. We left Friday afternoon and were able to make a quick stop at a friend's house in Nashville. We ate dinner in Nashville and then spent the night in Clarkesville, TN. We stayed at a hotel with an indoor pool, so we were able to get in some late night swimming once we arrived.

Saturday morning we hit the road and didnt' travel too far before getting to the Kentucky Dam. We have stopped there many times as an interesting place to look around and stretch. The neatest thing (in my opinion) is that they have a lock between the lake and the river. It is SO COOL to watch a big boat go through the lock. Unfortunately they are doing lots of construction around the Dam right now and you can't see the lock at all. But the girls enjoyed climbing on the rocks along the edge of the river, watching the fishermen, and seeing the boats (all small ones).After viewing the Dam, we drove over to the other side where we knew there was a beach. However we saw signs for a craft show and decided to walk around the craft show rather than get everyone gritty with sand. We introduced the girls to funnel cake, but they didn't seem interested in it - so Jason and I HAD to eat it all by ourselves. (Maybe it's an acquired taste???) One of the vendors was a gentleman selling handmade furniture. He was not selling this chair, but it certainly was a great place for pictures! Quite a giant chair! He had a ladder for people to use to get up in it.After the Dam, we pretty much hit the road to Waterloo, IL. We had a great evening visiting with the boomerang throwers from around the country. We stayed at Chicago Bob's house, which we have for most of the years we've been. Although this year was quite different in that his lovely wife Angela had just passed away 2 weeks prior from ALS. She was a tremendous woman, a fabulous mom, and a great friend. So while it was hard, it was good too. We had very late nights looking at pictures, remembering, and telling stories.

The boomerang tournament itself was rough. I should have brought a kite rather than boomerangs. It was SOOOOO windy! But it was a fun day and a great weekend. We left Monday morning and drove ALL THE WAY home. We hadn't done that since having kids, but they all traveled quite well. We are blessed to have good travelers - and portable DVD players.

Sister's Day

So we almost always go out to lunch after church on Sunday. It's just become a routine/habit/tradition - whatever you want to call it. And my parents often join us - so it's a great time to visit with them. Sometimes one of the adults will have a specific idea on where we should go or where we shouldn't go that week. But more often than not, Heidi weighs in her opinion and that's often where we go. Emma is generally pretty agreeable to wherever. And Rachel doesn't have the words to weigh in yet - but they are coming fast and furious so I'm guessing it's only a matter of months before she'll be able to convincingly give her input. We may have to start taking turns like we do for picking movies to watch in the car on trips!

However, on Mother's Day, a month or so ago, Heidi was a little disappointed to find out that Grammy and I were going to decide where to have lunch. So when Father's Day rolled around this past weekend, she apparently started lobbying Jason Saturday night as to where we might eat lunch on Sunday. She knew that it would be Papa & Daddy's decision.

So Sunday morning as I was getting her ready for church, she asks, "Is there a Sister's Day?" Not realizing exactly where she was headed with this, I told her "no, why?" To which she said, "So I can pick where we go (for lunch)." :-)

Trying to Keep Up

Rachel is 20+ months old now, but she has to think she's 4 just like Heidi. She is trying her best to keep up with, do all the same things, etc. This can be good and bad (the party that "bad" applies to varies). Like she thinks she can drink out of a water bottle just like the rest of us do - however she's not really that good at it yet - thus, I had a very wet driver's seat one day this week ("bad" for mom).

She likes playing with Heidi - seems like a love/hate relationship at times, but I guess that's just how it goes with siblings. This last week they were both on the trampoline while I was loading the car to head to the soccer field. I was just coming back in to the garage when Heidi meets me on the stairs... "Mom, I hit my lip and Rachel hit her head." I looked at her lip and it was a little puffy, but not bleeding. Then I go check on Rachel, who is still on the trampoline crying a little and I see this...A bruise that had popped up right away and was nice and purple.

I asked Heidi, "Now tell me what happened, again?" Heidi says, "well, we were playing ring a round the rosy, pocket full of posy, ashes ashes, we all do our silly trick and I hit my lip and she hit her head." That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

I couldn't resist including this picture. Check out the curls this girl is getting!!!Finally, she likes wearing this hat (thanks cousin Lindsay!). Sometimes she'll try putting it on by herself. And when she does, this is often how it ends up. Cute as can be!!!

Circus Carnival

A few weeks ago we attended the Shriner's Circus & Carnival again. We went last year and enjoyed it so much we wanted to go again. This years Circus had fewer animals and acrobats, but the girls seemed to enjoy it anyway.And thankfully, the clowns were not as big of an issue this year (last year Heidi was petrified of the clowns) - Heidi even asked several of them to autograph our program! I wish I'd gotten her picture with one.

After the Circus we walked around the carnival midway. Emma and Rachel and I took in the petting zoo. Rachel kept her distance from the animals, but Emma was right up at the fence.Heidi enjoyed riding on a motorcycle.And Jason rode the carousel with Emma and Heidi. (Rachel was too small for any of the rides - maybe next year.)It was a fun time. They really do a great job and it's all for a great cause! If you live in the area, I'd really encourage you to check it out next Spring!

Spring Soccer

Emma has been playing soccer again this Spring in a local church league. Her team name this time is the "Blue Dolphins!" She has improved a little since the Fall, in that she participates in more of the drills at practice and she has kicked the ball in games several times. But she doesn't seem to have any desire to get in to the mix of going after the ball.She really likes being a "Blue Dolphin." Yesterday, after her game I wanted to change her in to play clothes. But she said, "no, I don't want to be me. I want to still be a Blue Dolphin." :-)However, I think we may give something else a try in the Fall. We have signed Heidi up for soccer in the Fall, so stay tuned...