Closing out Summer and Bringing in Fall

For those who keep up with us regularly, sorry we've missed a couple of weeks! We've been on the go a lot, and have enjoyed doing a few last summer activities and then kicking off fall with football games. Last weekend, we went to Brewton (Tony's hometown) to visit his parents. Their home flooded on Memorial Day weekend, and they've spent all summer getting things back to normal. I know they would not want to do it over again, but the end result is very nice! Lots of new updates to the house. We also went to the beach for the day (Pensacola, close to Brewton). We all had a great weekend and can't wait to go back there for Christmas. The weekend before that, Tony took the kids to a bday party for a small group friend while I helped my close friend Huong shop for wedding dresses. I wish I could reveal a picture of the beautiful dress she picked out, but that doesn't seem right!

Here are the highlights that catch us up to this weekend. There are always lots of pictures when Nana is involved (thanks Nana!) and you can tell which ones are from her camera by the quality.



Lastly, here are some pictures from our relaxing weekend around Atlanta. We went to a friend/co-worker of Tony's house for a cookout and to watch football. Lots of Auburn fans there, so I allowed Tony to put both kids in AU clothes. Maybe that's why Georgia lost that day.

Parks, Grandparents and more...

Raegan has started back to dance at school. But she had to choose between Dance or Playball. She chose dance. I'm still holding out that she'll have some ball skills at some point but for now... she'll dance - and she's a good dancer! Below are shots from the morning of her first day going back to dance.



Last weekend, Raegan stayed with Grandad & Mimi at their house. Hudson had a weekend with our undivided attention. Raegan had fun with Grandad & Mimi. She got to go to a petting zoo, go to their church and ride in a convertible.



Raegan has started to like playing hide-and-seek in the house. She still seems to have trouble with some of the concepts of the game but she really liked hiding in the dryer.



Hannah and the kids went to another park in Smyrna. This time Raegan got to driver her tricycle all around.



Raegan also enjoyed climbing this tall climbing wall...



Hudson really liked the playground too. Hannah shot a nice video of Hudson sliding down this tunnel slide. I won't post the video... but just know it's cute.



How long will they stay loving and kind to each other like this?



One of the days during the week, Hannah and the kids made homemade playdough (I think)



For Labor Day weekend, we mixed in a few activities. The slideshow below captures some of that weekend.

First day of Preschool and weekend pics

Raegan's first official day of Preschool (at the JCCC daycare center) was today. They've been doing a slow transition, but today she was dropped off in the new building and will stay all day. We've been building up to it and trying to make it feel like a special day for her. She was so excited and was immediately greeted by two friends. They ran back to the reading area and Tony took this picture. We are so thankful for these sweet friends!
We spent a long weekend at the lake with our friends the McCants and the Smiths. Hudson and I came late after spending the night at my parents' house for Mom's birthday. Happy Birthday Mimi!! The Smiths are expecting their first child, and the McCants just had their 3rd. So between us and the McCants, we covered ages 0 (Micah at 8wks), 1, 2, 3, and 4! I think the Smiths got a great sampling of the next 4 years of their lives (haha). Needless to say, it wasn't exactly relaxing but we really enjoyed the company of our friends!

Hiking, Family Fun Day, The Lake...

We've done a few exciting things since the last real post. I attended the Willow Creek Leadership Conference and got to hear a lot of good speakers. I also got to mix with Chick-fil-A people that I don't usually work with.

Also, we played at the pool, completed a test hike at Kennesaw Mountain [in preparation for our Grand Canyon trip], had Family Fun Day at the kid's school, I had my team outing with work, and we went out to the Lake to see Nana & Papa.

The slide shows below narrates some of all of this.

Pictures!

We volunteered to be the subjects for a photography class last week, in exchange for free photos. The pictures were taken in a big house by the teaching photographer, along with about 10 students, all taking pictures. I didn't expect the kids to handle the paparazzi-like experience very well, but they both did great! Here are some of our favorites.

The Lake with the Cohen's

This weekend we went to the Lake and took our friends, the Cohen's. They have Drew & Tyler (who are the same ages as Raegan & Hudson) and also Molly (their golden retriever). I think we all had a great time!



I always take a ton a pictures but Brian actually took more than I did! It was exhausting to go through our pictures and then we were almost too wiped out to sort through Brian's 1000 pictures - although his are better quality. So this slideshow has pictures from both cameras. I think I got the chronology right. Enjoy the slideshow!

Braves game, B'day party & family gathering...

Since the last post, we have had a lot of fun doing different things. The slideshow below shows some of the things we have been doing (and captions to tell the story).

Independence Day supplement

We discovered a lot of pictures from Nana's camera that we missed from our Independence Day post. So I pulled some I liked and added to the slideshow below. There were too many cute ones of Hudson not to post these.

Independence Day 2010

We had a great Independence Day weekend at the Lake. Nana & Papa were of course there. And so were Jason & Mina along with their kids - Thomas, Ava & Piper. We did all of the Lake things and you can see a lot of pictures in the slideshow below.

First, you have to see this video. Raegan became more daring than usual. She did our homemade slip-n-slide and did the zipline for the first time! Part of it may have been Thomas & Ava being there. Another part of it is the self affirmation she has discovered in chanting "Go Raegan Go" from her fans as well as saying it herself.




Here is the slideshow from the weekend...

Pass!

Hudson did great at his hearing screening yesterday. The doctor gave us an overall "pass" which was great news! There was one test that measures the reflexes of his ear drum which we will need to retake in August when we go back for his speech evaluation. The doctor said that his ears look great, so maybe his speech is just delayed because of all the ear infections and fluid in his ears. Hudson kept a smile on his face for all the tests. I think he actually finds things in his ears to be humorous. Note to self.

This trip to Children's Healthcare made me extremely thankful for the health of our children. Seeing all the children with disabilities coming in for their rehabilitation made me remember that God has blessed us so greatly with health!