Why, Georgia?

Why, Georgia? This is the title of my favorite John Mayer song. The lyrics talk about driving down 85 and it's the kinda morning that lasts all afternoon. It ends with if I could go anywhere, then why, Georgia, why?

Well, to see Mamie and Pops, of course! Bennett has only visited in my tummy, so it was time. We headed out before the July 4th crowd and actually hit no traffic. We stopped at a rest area for lunch and a little recreation after B took a short nap.

Here is the crew at lunch time

The girls and daddy running off some energy

Bennett and I playing on the mat

How big is Bennett? So Big!

He keeps it up for a while after you ask:)

Playing with sunglasses

While Bennett was napping on July 4th, the rest of the crew headed to watch a parade in the neighborhood. Here they are with Mamie and Ruthie .

The girls could join the parade, but they were a little hesitant.

A fire truck came!

I stayed home with Bennett again the next morning while the crew went to Fernbank to see a new exhibit.

Here is Carly spinning a wheel of some kind.

Joiner with Mamie and Pops

Carly

Stomping the "fish" in a water exhibit

I don't know what we are here

Carly the mermaid

Joiner the mermaid

Bennett was there, but we didn't take too many pictures. Here he is after a particularly yummy dinner of Chinese Chicken salad and watermelon! He had to be hosed off:)

It was a great visit and the girls are headed up for their first visit sans us very soon. We had great food, went to the pool, the market, visited family, and even got to catch up with a couple of college/ childhood pals. Thankfully uncle Robert was able to see us for a day when he was off.

We stopped at another rest area for lunch on the way home. Unfortunately, as soon as we started to eat, Andy got stung on the hand by a yellow jacket and his handed swelled immediately. Then it started pouring! So I haul everyone under the shelter and we waited out the storm. Andy took an enormous amount of Benadryl and sat in the back to sleep. I put in a movie for the girls and was nervous about B. He slept a really long time (for him, not much of a car sleeper anymore) in the morning and I wasn't sure he would sleep for the last 2 hours. However, after Daddy fell asleep against the door, he slumped over to the same side and slept the same way. It was so cute. If I could have taken a picture without killing us all or waking everyone up, I would have. Alas, you will have to imagine it:)

Thanks Mamie, Pops, Robert, and Ruthie for a great visit!

Bird Watching

We have two bird feeders by the kitchen windows. These are very popular restaurants for our feathered friends. We really haven't filled them in a year because it takes so much seed and time. Andy filled them both about a week ago and the birds must have put out a "tweet" or been on Facebook because the feeders were full in about an hour.

Bennett loves to sit and watch all the action. If he is lucky, the house wrens will start to fight and make a big fuss. Look at his little face!

He heard the camera and looked over at me

I am trying to get a shot with him and the birds. Look hard to the left and you can kind of see the robins.

Cannon Ball!

The girls have done an amazing job at swimming lessons! In just 3 short weeks, they are now jumping off the diving board and swimming to the side, unassisted!

Here they are waiting to jump!

Joiner was nervous to walk out on the board alone. Here is another coach helping her out.
Carly had no such fears!

Swimming to the side

Joiner in mid-air!

It is really amazing to watch how they have grown! Joiner went off the board on her own yesterday and Carly goes repeatedly!

I'll Toast To That!

After countless hours of call, pager interruptions, black weekends, and late night EEGs, today marked the end to 9 years of Medical school, Residency, and Fellowship!

We have July to enjoy being together and then Andy begins a great opportunity in town. I am not allowed to say anything about it in case someone stalks our family. We are really proud of Andy and excited for this new adventure!

Father's Day

We celebrated Father's Day on Saturday with a trip to Andy's favorite deli in town. It is too hard for us to do lunch on Sunday's with my work schedule.

Carly waiting on her food. You can see Andy getting the drinks on the right.

Mr B anxiously waiting on his grilled cheese. He wouldn't even look at me!

Joiner with her drink

Andy and Joiner.
We still made a special breakfast of cheese danish and eggs for Father's Day.

I tried to add a picture of Andy with the red plate, but it didn't load. Oh, well. Happy Father's Day to 3 to the dad of the 3 luckiest kids!

Swimming Lessons

We joined the neighborhood pool this summer. They have free swimming lessons that we jumped on! The girls have had swimming lessons, but they just aren't in the pool enough normally to get really comfortable. They started the day after their Dance Recital so Mamie, Pops, and Robert were still in town.

The girls waiting on their coach, Ellen

Swimming with Ellen and the other little girl in their group, Avery. It is just the 3, so it is almost like a private lesson.

Meanwhile, Mr Be was stunning all the babes with his sweet body! Check out the little girl on the left. She just stared at him!

I forgot his sun shirt and hat that day so he was coated in sun screen literally from his head to his toes. He is a little confused about the shorts. Look how chunky he is! How is he the 8%?

So cute!

Practicing with the kick boards.

The girls have done really great. The lessons are 4 days/ week at 11:10am and they are over tomorrow. It is amazing how far they have come!

Dance Recital

The girls had their first dance recital at the Steven's Center downtown on June 14th. It was the most professional thing I have ever been to. The girls were so excited and asked me to braid their hair to make it curly. Here is Joiner with her curly hair.

Carly with her curly hair

I didn't take my camera to the dress rehearsal so I don't have any pictures of them on the stage.

Mamie, Pops, Robert, Gigi, Margaret, Caga, and Miriam all came to the show. We took up a whole row! Here we are before the show and before Caga and Miriam got there.

I didn't take my camera to the dress rehearsal, so I don't have any pictures of them on stage. Mamie has this awesome zoom on her camera and has some great pictures. I will post them when I get them. The girls did such a great job! Here are some of us after the show. It was 3 HOURS long, so some people had to head home earlier. We left Mr. B with a sitter so he wasn't there. Joiner is on the left, Carly on the right.

With some of their school friends who also were in their dance class. Carly on the left and Joiner on the right.