Independence Day...

I know I promised you photos of the spectacular Independence Day fireworks display of Country Club of the South, but this year, I decided to leave the camera behind and enjoy the show. Yep, that's right. I detached my right arm and looked at the world through my eyes instead of a viewfinder. I must say, it was liberating!

I did enjoy some pre-fireworks fun with Mason in the parking lot of the maintenance shop, though. As the men-folk were preparing the grill for burgers, dogs and any other kind of dead animal we could muster, Mason and I enjoyed some scooter time. These little Razor scooters are FAST!


Maybe a little too fast. The parking lot has a little bit of a slope to it, and the scooter can zip down it pretty quickly. Mason only fell and skinned his knee once, though.

After dinner, we all headed up to the clubhouse (how very Thurston Howell, III of us) to watch the fireworks. As usual, the Club put on a good show! Thankfully, the fire department was on hand to put out a small pine straw fire. We all got to see a real fire truck and firefighters in action! It was exciting! And, of course...at that point I had regretted leaving my right arm at the shop. So, all excitement and no photos. Lesson learned.

Meet the Neighbors (sorta)...

We moved into our new house last weekend! As we were moving our stuff in, some of the neighbor kids came over and helped us unload. Wow! I thought I was in an episode of "Leave it to Beaver." It was awesome. City folk don't know what they're missing out on in the 'burbs!

As luck would have it, the neighbors across the street have a 6-year old boy as well. Crazy good luck, right? Meet Micheal:

Micheal has two sisters – Madison and Christy. Micheal also has something I have always wanted – no, two things I have always wanted: power wheels. Of course, I'm too big for power wheels now, but at least Micheal was happy to share his awesomeness with Mason!

It was also good luck that Mason and Micheal get along! They were playing Forest Park Ranger in the cul-de-sac all afternoon...until the batteries died, anyway.


Pow, pow, power wheels!

Behind Mason is Pete, Micheal's dad. He's a very nice guy! I don't know many details about their family yet, but we have years to get to know them.


This is a good start for learning to drive a golf cart, right?

Photos of the house are coming, I promise! I may even take some while the boxes are still all over the place...kind of a before/after thing. We'll see. Unpacking is quite a task!

Philly Cheesesteak...

Heidi and I went on another adventurous road trip two weeks ago. This time, we traveled to Philadelphia for one of my oldest and dearest friend's wedding.

We stayed with Heidi's sister, Holly, the first night of the trip. I wanted to do something touristy that day since it was the only day I was going to be in Philly. Of course, when you're in Philly, you HAVE to have a cheesesteak. So, she brought us here: Dalessandro's.


It's an old-school dive where, it seems, the locals like to go. No tourists here (except us). This was the real-deal. The toppings for the cheesesteaks are on the counter: red chili paste, pickles, banana peppers and pickled green peppers. Yowza!

I'm still trying to figure out how they pass a health inspection with this method, but I didn't let it detour me from piling on the toppings...I decided on a combo of banana peppers and red chili paste. Just the right amount of flavor and heat. Yum!


There is no doubt about it: this sandwich was a BEAST! Heidi and I should have split one...it was enormous! I did manage to work my way through most of it, though. Yes, I did regret it.

I can now check off a genuine Philly cheesesteak from my food bucket list.

The Life of a GC Assistant...

It's very lucky for Brian that it's not sweltering outside in GA. This lovely getup is what he has to wear when they spray a highly toxic chemical on the course. Oh, how pretty the grass looks, though!

July 4th Plans...

We moved to the Atlanta area 4 years ago, and ever since then we have celebrated Independence Day where Brian works. The first year, Brian worked at the Atlanta Athletic Club. Mason was 3 years old and hob-knobbed with the rich kids by enjoying their carnival games, petting zoo and rides for free – suckers! It really IS about who you know in this world.

This year will be our third year celebrating at the Country Club of the South, but the first year that it's not Brian's weekend to work! Although he will spend some time working on Saturday, we will enjoy the day by having BBQ and watching the fireworks.

For the past 2 years, I have taken photos from this angle, but THIS year I'm looking for something different. I hope everyone has a fun and safe holiday!

Future Computer Geeks of America

Much like insects are drawn to light, there's something magnetic about the glow coming from a giant computer monitor. Bring up Yahoo! games and the glow becomes simply irresistible!

I have no qualms with raising a computer-literate child. Judge me, if you will, for plopping my 6-year old in front of an iMac to play a parquetry puzzle game online. I figure that feeding his mind with a computer game is more constructive than allowing him to sit in front of the television all summer watching SpongeBob reruns.

Little Chefs Academy

Mason's been invited to all kinds of birthday parties over the last few years from parties at the park, Chuckie Cheese, roller skating and bowling. Last weekend, he was invited to an alien-themed party at Little Chefs Academy. The children were going to be making green pizza and green cupcakes. Fun!


The kids learned the value of cleanliness, measuring and waiting your turn.



Scoop. It's okay if you get a little flour on the counter and even on YOU.


Tap, sweep then put it in the bowl.


Dump it in to the mixing bowl. How many cups did we need, again?


The food coloring wasn't mixed in with the dough. The yeast, itself, was soaked in the food coloring, so the green color didn't stain the kids' hands! Cool, very cool.

I have to admit that, even though it was fun for the kids to make the green pizza, it doesn't look very appetizing.


I think we could put pepperoni on apple pie and Mason would eat it.


The kids didn't seem to notice that the crust was a lovely shade of mold. Gross.


There was even green alien juice. I'm not sure which part of the alien this juice came from, but I'm not sure I don't want to know.


After pizza, it was time for dessert! The kids iced their own cupcakes...


...complete with green icing...


...M&M's, gummy worms and chocolate sprinkles.

Will work for food!

The House...

We've had an exciting last few weeks here in Atlanta! Mason finished up swimming lessons, we visited my sister and put an offer in on an amazing house. Curious about the interior? Check it out here: (click me)

Fun With Water (part 3):

Last weekend, while Brian fished and did guy things in northern Georgia, Mason and I headed to Daleville, Alabama to visit Tiffani and Athena. Guess what?! They only live 2 hours from Panama City! Perhaps living in the boondocks isn't ALL bad.


The kids had fun playing in the surf while Tiffani and I chatted it up under the umbrellas. The waves were unusually high and due to a posted double-red flag, the kids were not to be any deeper than knee high in the water. We can't have children drifting off to see, now can we?


I really think they enjoyed having the waves splash over them...


...it just doesn't get any better than a hot day and cool salt water!


Athena is headed off to Colorado to spend time with her Nina so Tiffani can study for her board exams. Don't tell her that I think she's crazy for choosing surgery (which puts her in school for another 800 years). School was never my gig, though. I'm so proud of the sacrifices she has made and teaching Athena to never give up on something you want. Go get 'em sis!

Blueberry Pickin' Alabama Style...

Tiffani and I spied this pick-your-own blueberry patch on the way to Panama City on Friday. By the time we had come back to it in the early evening, the adorable old man let us know that the mosquitoes would likely carry us away if we were outside picking blueberries during that time of the evening. Since we knew the mosquitoes were likely to carry away the small children before moving on to larger prey, we decided to swing by in the morning (yes, on our way to Panama City...again).

A lot of things pleasantly surprised me about Alabama: the first being the abundance of fresh produce. It makes sense, though. It's warmer year-round in the South, making it easier to grow delicious fruits like these giant blueberries.


Secondly: despite the fact that Atlanta is only a mere 4 hours from Daleville, it was significantly hotter. Holy cow was it hot. As you can tell, the kids were miserable.


We each took a gallon bucket to place our little gems into. I'm not sure ALL of the blueberries landed IN the buckets. I'm sure one or two or five or twenty fell out of the bushes directly into our mouths. Weird, right? It's almost like the bushes were throwing them at us!


Okay, so little fingers were putting the blueberries into their mouths.


I guess it's not considered "work" if they are having fun, right?


...and reaping the fruits of their labor. Oh man are those babies delicious!


I don't think I have ever seen that many blueberries in my life!


Handfuls (and mouthfuls) of them! In less than an hour, we had picked a full gallon of plump, sweet blueberries.

Guess how many pounds of blueberries are in a gallon...go ahead, guess.

A gallon of blueberries weighs just over 7 lbs. CRAZY! What's even crazier still is that for 7 lbs. of pick-your-own blueberries, Tiffani and I paid only $10.50. Pie anyone?

Fun With Water (part 2):

Swim lessons are in full swing this summer. Mason had his first lesson on Monday and there were only 2 other students in the class. The next two lessons were rescheduled due to "contamination" in the pool. I didn't ask questions...I'm sure I don't want to know.

The weather forecast for Thursday did not look promising for outdoor swim lessons, but we headed toward the pool anyway. Lucky for Mason, the other two students dropped out of the class! So, he's getting private swim lessons for the price of a class. Yes!!!


He caught me taking his photo. Hey there!


Streamlining your body to go through the water quickly is one of the first techniques Jason taught. Mason looks like he could use a cheeseburger, or two, in this photo. I really do feed him...really!


Just checkin' to make sure you're still back there, buddy.


Floating isn't really a real-world situation kind of technique, but it certainly makes you more comfortable in deep water. He floated on his own for a few seconds before he realized Jason's hands weren't there. Sneaky!


Learnin' the freestyle swim.


Take a deep breath! It's time to put your face in the water!


Swim lesson complete for the day! Jason let Mason choose 2 things he wanted to do for the very end of the lesson. Jumping into the water was one of them. He really caught some air!

Stay tuned...more water fun to come! Mason and I are headed to Alabama for the weekend to visit Tiffani and we are goin' to the beach! Yes!