Atlanta 2013

I love that my children prefer fun family trips over big birthday parties.  Don't get me wrong, we've done our share of parties and they are fun.  I do love to decorate and I LOVE baking their cakes, but trips are great and seeing new experiences through their eyes never gets old.  This year for their birthdays, the boys chose to go to Atlanta to the World of Coca Cola and the Georgia Aquarium.  We also threw in the zoo.  Aubrey, of course, benefits from all of this.  We arrived on Saturday and headed straight to the zoo.  Atlanta really does have an awesome zoo!  There are tons of shaded paths, giant pandas, lions, tigers, elephants up close... and the weather could not have been more perfect!  On Sunday, we took our children on their very first subway ride on Atlanta's Marta.  I'm not sure which they loved more, the shuttle ride to the Marta station or the actual Marta itself.  Aubrey thought it was awesome not being in a booster seat!  Our first stop was to the World of Coca Cola where we took a tour back in time to see how the first coke was made, how it's bottled, and into the vault where the secret formula is hidden.  They never tell you the secret formula, but it is fun to go see the vault.  At the end, there is a huge room with coke flavors from all over the world.  You get a little cup and go around from fountain to fountain, sampling as many as you want.  Some were awesome, some were terrible (Africa and Europe weren't so great).  Talk about a sugar rush!  We all got to take home our own glass bottle.  From their, we walked next door to the absolute highlight of our trip, the Georgia Aquarium.  It was amazing!!!!  Just to see the Whale Shark made the trip worthwhile.  Andrew was in heaven!  We saw Beluga Whales, Rays, Eels, sharks, dolphins, and really cute baby Otters.  We were there for almost 4 hours!  There was a Dolphin show at the very end that was incredible, too.  It was the perfect weekend.  Next year they are campaigning to go to Disney World.  We'll see.  Davis will be 13, after all...

The baby rhino was adorable!  It kept running to catch up with the mommy.

Hanging out in a giant statue of a bird's nest.  Aubrey was pretending to be a baby bird.

Aubrey insisted I take her picture on this statue.  There were new baby gorillas in this exhibit.

Giant Panda, Aubrey's favorite.  She bought a little stuffed one.

Andrew's favorite, the Komodo Dragon.  Our zoo has one, too, but it's nowhere near this big...yet.

Tunnel in the Naked Mole Rat exhibit.  This is the only picture I was willing to take in there.  Yuck!!

My sweet babies.  I really do love vacations with them.

China exhibit, where Aubrey bought her panda.

Davis took this on the shuttle to the Marta station.  He does a good job!

First Marta ride!  They were so excited!

First stop- World of Coca Cola!

Coca Cola signs from all over.

Old fashioned soda shoppe.

The vault that holds the secret formula!!!

The Coca Cola Polar Bear!!

Not sure if he liked this sample or not.

Decisions, decisions...

...this one!  We all liked the ones from Latin America.

Drinking the "Real Thing" after they had tasted all the rest.

Next stop, the Georgia Aquarium, with the giant Whale Sharks.  There were 4 in all.

Beautiful, amazing creatures, along with a giant Manta Ray.

I loved the giant Jellyfish.

Gorgeous Beluga.

Going through the tunnel in the penguin exhibit...

...there was a little boy who kept trying to to backwards, but Aubrey set him straight (did you have any doubt?).

Waiting to touch the Mantas...

...everybody managed to touch one.  This was Andrew's first time since he's always been scared to, which is crazy since he loves them the most.

Touching the Sea Anemone.

Tropical fish. They were beautiful!  Andrew's Whale Shark needed to swim along with them.

Being silly.

Albino Alligator.  Andrew was fascinated!!  At this moment, the other one started swimming towards the glass.

Resting at the end of a very long day.

Reading with Aubrey

We love Aubrey's Kindergarten teacher.  Andrew had her last year and we are so blessed to have her again this year for Aubrey.  She does some really amazing things!  One of our favorites is Family Fun Fridays.  On the first Friday of each month, she invites the parents to come in and read with their child and she gives us a few tips on making reading easier and fun.  We both got to attend this one and Aubrey did a great job reading to us!  I am sure going to miss Kindergarten when we are done so I am going to hold on tight to this year.

Reading with Daddy.

Reading with Mommy.

A little blurry.  We're so proud of all of our children and how well they're doing in school this year.  Aubrey is writing on a 1st grade level, Andrew is reading on a 2nd grade level and writing even higher, and Davis brought home 3 high A's and 2 high B's on his first middle school report card.  We have awesome children!!

Andrew's 7th birthday

In the midst of all the Boosterthon craziness yesterday, Andrew turned 7.  I can't believe he's 7!!  We started the day with a candle in his muffin (a tradition my mother started with me when I was little), went to school to run in Boosterthon, had cupcakes with his class (which met the silly nutritional guidelines), and ended with a Spider-Man cake he shared with Davis.  Happy Birthday to my sweet, smart boy!

Candle in the muffin...

...making a wish...

...blowing it out.

Wearing the birthday crown.  

Cupcakes with his class.

Thankful to be able to celebrate with him.

Sharing his new Legos he got that morning.

My Spider-Man cake.

Aubrey didn't want the Spider-Man cake so she made the leftovers into...

...a heavily iced castle.

My birthday boys!  I was so excited they wanted to share a cake this year!

Can't leave Aubrey out!

Blowing out their candles.

Yummm.  Ha!

Boosterthon!!!

It's finally here!!!  We've been getting ready for weeks!  They did great!  Both Andrew and Aubrey ran over 25 laps.  Andrew hurt his foot so he had to walk part of the way but Aubrey was determined and went as fast as her little legs could carry her.  Did I mention it was only 50 degrees outside when they ran?  It was cold but they were troopers!  I was a part of a great team and we worked very hard for the past 3 weeks.  It was worth it but I'm glad it's over!

Rings' Round-Up (Andrew is the 4th from the left).

Sweet girl ready to run.

Back of Andrew's shirt.  The teacher marks off a number each time the student completes a lap.

Two of my great friends & team members, Frances & Barbara.  I love them!!

Getting ready to run!

Aaaand they're off!  It was a little bright so Andrew is shielding his eyes.  The first lap was just a walk.

Check out the hair!!

Here he comes (3rd from the left with the jeans).

Aubrey waving as she gets ready to run by.  You may have to click on the picture to see her, the sun was right on her.

All done!  She did great!

Happy to be done!!  We had to take this super quick because they were getting to walk off the field.

Aubrey & our neighbor, Hayden.

Last picture of Mrs. Rings class.  I'm the room mom so I have more pictures of Andrew's class.

Walk to School Days

No, we don't really walk to school.  For Davis', we started about a mile down the road at Blockbuster at 6:45 in the morning.  It was sooo cold but very fun!  We had a police car and Carolina's mascot, Cocky, was even there.  Davis LOVES Cocky so he wanted to have his picture made with him.  The middle school where Davis is has over 1100 students and not quite half walked that morning.

For Andrew and Aubrey, we did a few laps around the bus loop.  Andrew hung back with Rick but our little social butterfly caught up with some friends.

Davis & Cocky

Addie, Aubrey, & Prezley

Boosterthon Pep Rally

It's that time of year again- Boosterthon!  It's our biggest fund raiser at the elementary school where the students raise money based on how many laps they run.  This is going to be Aubrey's first year to run and she is so excited!  Andrew was a little less than thrilled with the pep rally.  This year's theme is "Camp High Five."  Andrew's class is Rings' Round-Up and Aubrey's is Cook's Cool Campers.

Andrew's class

Aubrey's class

Less than thrilled.

Sort of doing an air guitar.

Aubrey (in green) doing her air guitar.

Rings' Round-Up

Okra Strut Parade

This was our first year to have someone in the Okra Strut Parade.  The Okra Strut is a big deal here, with a parade and a lots of vendors (not Okra vendors). The Dance Dept, where Aubrey dances, always has their dancers in the parade.  This year Aubrey got to ride in the float.  She had such a good time!

All ready to go.

Lining up.

Waiting with my sweet girl!

Giant Okra.

Riding on the float.

Aubrey & our neighbor, Hannah.