Stone Mountain

The boys

On top of the mountain

Walking down the mountain

We love trains!!

Colby conked out on the riverboat

Colby needs to work a little on his putting form

We decided to take a little overnight family trip up to Stone Mountain this weekend. We went up Friday morning and came back Saturday in time for Dalton's Saturday afternoon ballgame. The boys had never been, and it had been about 9 years since I had been and even longer for Shane. They had a made quite a few changes since my last visit and now seem to have a lot more activities for the kids. I think we did pretty much everything you could do with 2 little guys. We rode the train, played miniature golf, played around at the Great Barn, rode up to the top of the mountain, walked down the mountain, rode the riverboat, and watched the laser show. The boys did a lot better walking down the mountain than I thought they would. Dalton walked the entire way and Colby walked about half way. The other half he spent on Shane's shoulders. The boys had a great time and really enjoyed the laser show even though Dalton fell asleep about 3/4 of the way through it. He was just so worn out. We stayed in a hotel at Stone Mountain so we were just able to walk back to our room. I think this was the first time both boys had ever stayed in a hotel room so they thought being at a hotel was pretty special too. I just love my family and I was so happy we were all able to have some fun family time together. It was a really fun trip for us all.

"The Best Birthday Ever!!"

Today is Dalton's birthday. I can't believe my sweet, little boy is 5 years old today. The day that Dalton was born was actually Memorial Day five years ago as well. Time sure has flown by. Dalton has brought so much joy to our lives. We are so blessed to be able to be his parents. Even though his birthday is today, we celebrated it yesterday with our family. For his birthday we got him a wooden playset that Shane and I put together on Saturday. It is actually for both boys, but we figured this would be a good time to get it for them. It was a complete surprise for Dalton because he spent the night away from home the night before, then came back in time for the party. We had him walk outside with his eyes covered so he'd be surprised. He was so excited about it. Colby was too, of course, but he had a chance to try it out the night before. While Dalton was playing on the playset he exclaimed, "This is the best birthday ever!!" He really loved it. I love it too. I've already had a lot of fun playing on it myself. We had a metal swingset that someone gave us, but it always jumped up and down whenever the boys would swing on it. Happy Birthday, Dalton! We Love You!!

Water Day

Today was Dalton's last official day of school. Instead of having an end of the year party, his class had a water day where the kids could play in kiddie pools and slip and slides. It was such a beautiful morning and all the kids and adults too seemed to have a fun and relaxing time. Dalton was a little tentative about playing at first but after a little while he really got into the slip n slide and had a great time. I seriously need to go out and buy a slip n slide. We used to have one, but Dalton's idea of playing on one was just walking back and forth on it and trying not to fall. Now that he knows how to play on it, he would have a lot more fun with it. I think we had one back when I was pregnant with Colby, but I just couldn't demonstrate how to slide down it while being 7-9 months pregnant. Anyway, I'm sad that the school year is over for him, but I'm happy that we can relax more in the mornings and won't be rushing around so much trying to get ready to get to school on time.

Graduation Day

Today Dalton had his little graduation program from Pre-K. I can't believe my little boy, my oldest, is going to be in Kindergarten next year. I also can't believe he'll be 5 years old in just a few days, but I'll get back to that in another post. Dalton has had a really great year. We have really loved his teacher he had this year, and we'll really miss her a lot. I've been so impressed with how much Dalton has learned to read this year. He loves reading and surprises me with how much he can really sound out and read. The graduation program was really cute. Dalton surprisingly was really into it. He was really doing the motions with such flair. They sang 3 verses of I've Got Peace Like a River and I have to say he can do a great fountain. I wish I had a picture of it. He also took a bow after singing each song. It was too funny. He was being quite a ham. No one else was taking a bow either, which is probably why it was so funny. They also played a rousing little ditty with kazoos. Anyway, we are very proud of him.

Just Odd

So I've been thinking about various morning/afternoon children's shows that my kids watch or want to watch lately. There are some shows I don't mind my kids watching, some I don't let them watch and then others I'm just not sure about. One that is almost too weird for words is Yo Gabba Gabba that comes on Nicklelodeon. If you've never seen this show, it's like a bunch of alien/dinosaur muppets dancing around and trying to promote life lessons. It is just so weird. This must be what your world would be like if you were on an LSD or ecstasy trip. Whoa, man. It's just so over the top. It's one of those shows that I want to find a reason not to like it, but I really just can't, other than it being so odd. I mean, bring back Bugs Bunny and the Road Runner. They didn't have much of a message or a moral, but gosh they were funny. Anyway, Yo Gabba Gabba encourages kids to eat their food, to try to make new friends, to not bite your friends, etc. There is a song they sing that goes, "Don't, don't, don't bite your friends." They encourage you to bite your food but not your friends. Interesting tip. And to think someone out there actually got paid to come up with a song like this. If you've heard this song I bet it took all of about 30 seconds. There's one more song that I had to leave that I found on You Tube. It pretty much encapsulates all that is weird about this show. The green creature, Brobee, is eating his food singing There's a Party in My Tummy but doesn't eat the carrots and green beans. The beans and carrots get sad and want to go to the party. Shall I go on. Watch the clip and check it out, potheads! ;)

Yo! Gabba Gabba Party In My Tummy

Awana awards extravaganza

Last night our church had our annual Awana awards extravaganza where the kids were given their awards and then were able to go outside and play on some inflatables, go on pony rides, and eat some pizza. Dalton and Colby always absolutely love riding ponies, but Colby was just unusually infatuated with a little pony that was tied up by a tree. He wanted to hang out with the pony rather than play on the inflatables. Dalton had his first ever attempt at climbing a big rock wall. He was upset that he didn't make it all the way to the top, but I was just surprised that he actually tried it and made it about 1/3 of the way up.

Gone Fishin'

This weekend, Shane and I went on a fishing trip. We went down to the Keaton Beach area, which is just south of Perry, Florida, and did a little on shore fishing on the flats. I just love going although I only get the chance to go fishing with Shane about once a year. I especially love fishing on the gulf like we do because of all the crazy types of fish we end up catching. We were fishing for trout, but caught a lot more of other types of fish. I actually ended up catching the biggest trout which was about 18 inches long. I'm pretty sure this was the biggest fish I've ever caught. I was pumped about it. We didn't end up with all that many keepers, and I ended up getting pretty sunburned, but we really had a great time. Hopefully, though, pretty soon we're going to have us a fish fry. Yummy!