Zoo Atlanta Trip

I can't even tell you how many times I have driven through Atlanta on my way to Hinesville when I lived there in 2004 and again in 2009.  I had never actually stopped to see the sites and do all the touristy things. We went this past weekend primarily for the zoo and to see the panda cub, Po.  OMG, he was so cute!!! It sure took us a minute to find the pandas.  I told my mom that Jack Black better be there in person after all the walking we did. :) I know he was there when they announced the name. That would have been cool to see that.

Our trip was last Friday through Sunday and included me, Hannah, Autumn, Meagan (my sister), Emma (my niece), my mom, her BFF Jonna, and Jonna's granddaughter, Marianne. While the trip was fun, I would also say it was pretty tiring with four kids ages 6 and under (even though there were four adults!).  Hannah, Autumn, and I traveled about 1000 miles total! We went up to Clarksville Thursday, left for Atlanta Friday, came back to Clarksville on Sunday, and drove back to Millington on Tuesday. Whew! It was a great trip, but always nice to be home.  Now enjoy our adventure!

lounging at the hotel

in the elevator getting ready to go to the zoo!

first stop--the flamingos!

the zoo had cute little parks!

Pumba! What's funny is the meerkats were
nearby! ;)

Po the panda cub!! He sure likes to climb!

Mama Panda trying to get him down...he sure
was a defiant little thing!

trying to get her child under control (we've
all be there!)

Having fun in the hotel pool!

Marianne jumping to her Nonnie

This is what I did...felt nice :)

Emma and Autumn lounging

Girls coloring while we wait for pizza...it wasn't as peaceful
as it looks!

Meagan took this pic...all the Cozbys' "grandbeauties" :)

Autumn is intrigued by the storm we had
Saturday evening

Watching cartoons and having pizza...chinese the first night
and pizza the second, oh yeah!

And then McDonald's when the girls and I headed
back to Millington! We won't be eating out for a while :-p

A Great and Fun Visit!

Miss me? Yeah, I figured. ;) For four days I was in Clarksville visiting family. I went there for a friend's birthday party, the 4th, and my dad's birthday--just me and the kids.  Yep yep. But praise the Lord both trips to and from went very smooth. :)

After two years my parents were finally able to get a new liner on the pool and fill it up again! Both Autumn and Emma were in utero last time the pool was up and running. Nice they were able to actually see it in person this time. :)

We also had a birthday party to go to for my mom's friend's daughter.  Parker is only 10 months older than Hannah.  The party was at Chuck E Cheese, and I wasn't sure what to think about that. LOL But it was really fun and the kids of course loved it. Things were so crazy there we didn't even get a chance to get a pic with the birthday girl! :-/

We actually celebrated the 4th on the 3rd since there was a chance of storms, so we grilled out and shot off fireworks. The kids weren't too keen on the noise (or even the sparklers really), so after they were off at Grammie's spending the night we were able to enjoy it without anyone freaking out.

No, she did not set her foot on fire.

Emma the Brave

Looks like my mom's hair is on fire...or maybe it was!

Oooooooo.....aaaaaaah

Richard was also brave for holding a sparkler :)

The 5th was my dad's birthday and we just had cake and ice cream.  The girls made their papaw cards and I got him a Clint Eastwood movie.  There is no telling what movies my parents have and don't have since they raid the $5 bin at Wal-Mart somewhat often. :)

A proud papaw and his "grandbeauties" :)

Like I said before, the trip to and from went very smooth and uneventful.  It wasn't until I was actually in Clarksville, at my parents' house before I turned totally stupid.  I broke the driver side mirror of my truck. It was originally dangling from the wire and my dad put it back on with black tape (definitely better than duct tape you usually see on cars :-p).  It was dark at the time so I couldn't find the mirror itself but my dad found it the next day. Yeeeeaaaaah. Good going, B.J.  What is so pathetic about the whole thing is I have been up and down that driveway at least 8 million times and never did such a stupid thing. Fortunately, Ryan found a used mirror on Ebay for $50 and it should be here any day now.  Ugh.  Guess it could be a lot worse.

Our next big trip is next month. The girl and I are going back to Clarksville and then a bunch of us are going to the Atlanta Zoo to meet our friend, Po the Panda! :) Should be great fun!

Belated Birthday in Clarksville

 

L-R: Grammie, Hannah, me, Autumn, my mom
(Grendy), my sister Meagan, Emma

 We went to Clarksville last weekend and celebrated Hannah's birthday with family. A great time was had by all.  Hannah's "big" gift was a Power Wheels jeep from my dad, and she went 4-wheeling all over the yard. :) It has a passenger seat so Emma, Autumn, and Marianne had to restrain themselves and remember the art of sharing. Hannah wanted a polar bear cake, but I still had the pan from last year!  Hannah is already talking about having a black bear birthday next year. Oy.

All the pics were taken by Hannah's Nonna (my mom's BFF).



My mom made a mini version of Hannah's favorite bear
to go with her new American Girl doll (which you can
see behind her).



Hannah and Marianne are giddy about something :)



pondering what she will do with her life now that she
has passed the half-decade mark.



The cake!



"I wish...a polar bear will be our next president and
focus on conservation!"



"Slow down, Hannah!"



Weekend Visit



Air mattress bouncing first thing
in the morning

 This past weeked my mom, grandma, sister, and niece came to visit us for the weekend. They all stayed at our house...going from 4 to 8 people made things very busy and had to make sleeping arrangements just so to make sure we all got a few hours sleep. :-p We intended to go out and about shopping or what have you, but we all felt pretty lazy and mostly stayed at the house.  It was perfectly fine with me! :) Everything seemed so quiet after they left on Sunday. Hopefully within a month or so we ourselves will venture out to visit in Clarksville again.

Saturday was also my mom's birthday, and Hannah decided she needed a bear cake. I was glad to make use of the bear pan I had from Hannah's last birthday. :) We spent the rest of the weekend grazing on pizza and birthday cake. Yum!


A few more pics from the weekend:



Autumn pulling Emma in the wagon





Getting a story from Grendy





Meagan and Mom getting in their pics



All jammied up after their splash party in the tub



Grammie and Autumn bonding over
"Llama Llama Red Pajama"

Enjoying a late breakfast at
McDonald's before everyone left




Week in Review #14



A drawing from this week-
our family watching the
sunset :)

Monday - We started our bear unit which was fun! She wanted to start with the brown bear so we went over some basic facts and she glue together the first page of her bear book.  We also watched some videos on YouTube of brown bears catching salmon. That afternoon we played in the snow, mostly throwing snow at each other.  Ryan tried to rig a sled using cardboard and lids to plastic totes, but to no avail.

Tuesday - Autumn started unofficially homeschooling, I guess you could say.  I printed out some alphabet coloring pages and she scribbles on them and I go over the letters.  Hannah started on her second level of readers! One was about a seal who speeds in a green jeep--obvious the 'ee' and 'ea' sounds.

"holding the book like a teacher"

Wednesday - This became "pandie" day! :) Hannah put together the panda page for her book and we watched some panda videos online. So many people love posting their home movies of pandas at the zoo, but I preferred a more documentary type. I need to figure out some bear crafts to help flesh out this unit, but otherwise it's really fun!

Watching brown bears
fish for salmon

Thursday - Today we are officially halfway done with math!! Very exciting.  Hannah was quite proud of herself. Her math has two workbooks, 80 lessons each and we finished book 1 today!

Off on an adventure!

Friday - Today was quite mellow.  Hannah did handwriting, math, and readiing while Ryan and I straightened up the house to prepare for a visit from my mom, my grandma, sister, and our nice, Emma. (I will be posting about that later! ;D)

Just another reminder also to click the button at the top to help with my ranking! Hope everyone is having a great holiday weekend!