White Water 2010 - The Tradition Lives On!

 

On Monday we went to White Water with my brother and the Woods. This is the second year that we have gone with the Woods (see this post for last year's White Water experience) . Both this year and last year we went on a week day thinking that it wouldn't be as crowded. Wrong! It was crowded last year and it was crowded on Monday. Nevertheless, we had fun playing in the sweat, urine and who knows what other bodily fluids that no doubt infest those overcrowded waters. We realized that we were the only adults there without kids, so we pretty much acted like we were 15 years younger than we are. We would create log jams in the slides and in the lazy river, snatch the lifeguards flotation devices, and come up with strange competitions. We had a blast and hopefully we can keep this tradition going for years to come. This means that the Woods will have to visit every summer, because the are moving to Thailand next month. That won't be a problem, will it guys?

4th in Florida

Over the 4th of July we went to Seagrove Florida. It is on the gulf and we were lucky enough not to see any tar balls on the beach, but the water was a lot more murky than usual. We went with my parents and my brother. My parents rented a 2 bedroom condo that was pretty much on the beach. Drake didn't really like the sand at first, but he warmed up to it. The water, however, was not an option. He ate a lot of cherries that day. Somehow he always ends up with red stuff around his mouth. I promise he doesn't bite. Jackson spent some time trying to build a sandcastle, but gave up rather easily.

 

We spent some time at the pool as well. Drake really likes goggles. Justin needed some time in the sun. He's a little pastey.

 

Jackson loves to make new friends. He has no qualms with walking right up to strangers and introducing himself. He walked right up to these older boys who had been sitting in the hot tub for awhile. He quickly engaged them in a conversation about Transformers. I often worry that people make fun of my little man who is so eager to befriend everyone he meets, but so far he has been well received by all. This is not a trait that he got from me or his father, but I suppose we should learn from him.

 

One evening we went into Destin to see a movie while my parents watched the boys. Then they met us at the mall where the boys rode a little train. Drake refused to sit down during the ride. It is a miracle that he didn't dive out one of the windows. Then we went to Burger King for dinner.

 

On the night of the 4th we went down to the beach to see the fireworks. Drake was beside himself with fear. He clung to me so tightly that I didn't even need to hold him. You can see how tightly he is closing his eyes while my mom was holding him. Drake and Jackson didn't last long, but at least we saw a few fireworks.

 

Here is James in his bed. Poor James had to deal with the screaming boys waking him up every morning.

 

Fun 4th. Thanks Mom and Dad!

Skydiving

While I was driving across country with James, Justin was jumping out of an airplane. Skydiving is something that he has always wanted to do and I told him he should go as a late birthday present to himself. He was a little disgruntled that he had to do it with a strange man strapped to his back. You can see in the pic below that Justin got the crazy shirtless guy as his tandem buddy. Next time he definitely wants to go solo. Here are some pics of Justin and the people he went with.

 

Some of our close friends bailed on him last minute (Ryan), but it didn't matter because either way he was going to be jumping out the plane with a stranger on his back anyway. I think Justin enjoyed it, though its always hard to tell how he really feels about things. I guess we'll know he liked it if he decides to go again.

Road Trip & St. Louis

This post is going to be proof of how terrible I am at remembering to take pictures. Though I did have enough pictures to make 4 collages, very few of these pictures are really worth looking at. Anyway, on June 23rd I flew out to Utah to help my little brother pack up his crap and move him across country back to Hotlanta. My parents rented a large penske truck which provided more than enough room for James' belongings so he put his dysfunctional motorcycle back their too, which was kind of a pain in the butt. This is what most of the trip looked like...

 

The first night we stopped just outside of Denver. The second night we made it to St. Louis where a good friend of mine, Ben, put us up for a couple of nights. I finally got to meet his very nice wife Megan. On Saturday they showed us all over St. Louis. We went to the Arch...

 

Some terrible pictures also taken at the Arch...

 

I wish I had taken more pictures. It wasn't until after we left town that I realized that Megan only made it into one of my pictures and even in that one you can barely see her. Sorry Megan. Next time, you and me, photo shoot. We went to a cool restaurant for a late lunch after the Arch (can't remember the name, but it was cool). That night we went to an art deco bowling alley where we met up with some of Ben and Megan's friends. I love bowling. Then we went to a cool little outdoor bar where I sipped on some nasty diet pepsi (Coke is it!) Then we headed over to a waffle house type joint where we had a super late dinner/early breakfast. Thanks Hegviks for the whirlwind tour of St. Louis!

 

James and I made it home before my boys went to bed on Sunday night. I was so happy to see them, but they were more interested in seeing their Uncle James. We are so glad to have him back home! Love you little Bro!

Goggles

 

Drake's 2nd Birthday!

 

Drake's birthday had a round theme with bubbles, balloons, and balls. He loves to play with balls. We had the party in Grandma Cersey's awesome backyard. The kids loved the bubbles and balls. Sadly, the balloons kept popping on the sharp blades of grass. Here are all the little friends that came to the party...

 

After playing for awhile Drake opened his presents. He got some cool Toy Story stuff, sporty toys, and a Cozy Coupe! I always wanted a cozy coupe as a kid, but never got one, so I requested it so that I could live vicariously through my kids.

 

In hindsight the red frosting probably wasn't the best idea, but the picture below in the middle is the best picture of Drake ever. It is so fitting. This is the little Dracula we know and love.

 

Justin's Birthday!

Okay, I am a terrible wife. I only took one picture on Justin's birthday. I'm just not good at remembering to take pictures! Anyway, for Justin's 32nd birthday I had a day full of surprises planned. His birthday fell on Memorial day which caused a few hitches as far as guest attendance was concerned, but all in all I think the day turned out to be nearly perfect. Justin didn't know about anything we were doing until we got to where we were going (at least I don't think he did). I hired a sitter to watch the boys for the day. Then around 9:15am Nicole and her brother Luke showed up at our house and we all piled into the car and headed to...Six Flags! This picture was taken in the parking lot of Six Flags.

 

There were two worries, one that it would be crowded and two that it would rain because both were predicted to be likely. However, it must have been that the rest of the would-be six flags guests had the same worries and stayed home because we pretty much walked onto every ride. The overcast morning made the heat more bearable, and it never did rain! Perfect! Then, at about 3:00pm we left the park and headed back towards our side of town. I had brought Justin and myself a change of clothes which we put on in a QT bathroom. Then we headed to...the movies where we saw Iron Man 2. Luke left us, but Jonny joined us. The movie was pretty good, for a sequel. After the movie we went across the street to...LongHorn's Steakhouse where we met up with Justin's entire family and my parents. Jess had gone and picked up our boys and brought them to dinner too. Thanks to Jess we had a room to ourselves, which was great because our kids were going nuts. Dinner was okay. Justin's food was overcooked, but he ended up getting a new plate so it worked out. I had the scallops, not my new favorite. Justin opened his gifts to find a lot of things on his wish list, which was perfect because people usually ignore his wish list requests because they can be kind of strange. Thanks to everyone who helped make the surprises work! When we left the restaurant it started pouring down rain, but it was too late to spoil our day. I had fun. I hope Justin did too. It is always a little difficult to tell what Justin is thinking and feeling, but he says he was surprised and that he liked his birthday, so I'll just have to take his word for it. Thanks to everyone who helped make the surprises work!