Family Fun and Boys and Their Guns!

Last weekend Matty and I were thrilled to have An Jen Jen, Unca and Hudsey come to spend the weekend. It blew by way too fast as always but we tried to make the most of the time we had together. Especially An Jen Jen who never misses an opportunity to spoil Matty stinking rotten! She arrived with a haunted gingerbread house kit for us, matching tie-died shirts for the boys, a sprinkling of other items, and a pair of the most awesome foam air compression guns!

Saturday we met Jen's new friends and "Pieces of Me" business associates, Julie and Amy, for an early lunch. Then after completely raiding Julie's basement-boutique of discounted POM items from tunics, belts, messenger bags, blankets, pillows and purses, we put those compression guns to good use! Matty and Hudson must have shot those balls and rockets a hundred times over in the house and the backyard.

Dobbins Air Force base was hosting an air show that gorgeous afternoon and we got a pretty decent show for not having to leave the house. One formation of Blue Angels flew right over the house, directly above where we were sitting on the back deck! This picture was taken mere seconds after they blew overhead. Within seconds this smoke cloud was gone. I'm glad I managed to get even this!

Jen and Kevin had a charity fundraiser downtown Saturday night for World Water Relief so they stayed downtown for a little R &R and I got to keep Hudson and Matty. We had such fun with those guns, eating chili in my case and avoiding eating chili in theirs. After Matty was down for the count, Huddy and I curled up on the sofa in jammies and socks and watched "Jack." Most of the night was fun and relaxing until the two of us tried to walk Sugar and I let her off her leash too soon after coming inside. I had never in my life seen a cat jump 4 feet straight in the air before! To paraphrase Ben, now I've learned and I won't do that again.

Daddy O also happened to be in town working on a solar job in Kennesaw and while we didn't get too much time with him, we did manage to squeeze in a quick visit. Long enough for a big hug, a sussy from Mama O, a trip to the grocery store and Daddy O repairing our back gate. We'll take what we can get!

I'm just sad weekends like this filled with family and belly laughs have to go by so fast. It has me looking forward to the holidays around the corner and hopefully lots more fun to come.

Garden State of Mind

Two weekends ago, Matty and I finally were able to get ourselves up to New Jersey to see Ben for a long overdue visit. It had been a month since the three of us were under the same roof and it certainly was the sweetest reunion. Ben met us as deep into the airport as security would allow, and I am sure onlookers could see how happy we all were to hug each other once again! We spent our first day just soaking each other up! Ben showed us his job site and his progress so far. The factory is impressive, huge and was fun to see up close and personal. Sadly, his progress has been slow-going due to delays ever step along the way, as is typical. We should have been on the downward slope by now, but right now we just don't know when we can put this project, and this distance, behind us.

Saturday morning we went into Philadelphia which is only about 15-20 minutes or so from Ben's apartment. I'd never been before and was really getting excited to see Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell. I simply didn't realize what a tourist attraction Philly was. The line to see the Liberty Bell was hours long! And since there was no way we were waiting in line with Matty that long, I still have yet to see that iconic piece of American History. Independence Hall probably would have struck more of a patriotic chord had it not been covered up in scaffolding. What I managed to see was nice though!

Central Philly, for me, was really a site to behold. Not to get too "Star Spangled Banner" on you, but I was surprised how I felt transported back to another time. It was a perfect fall day, and the statues, historic buildings, cobblestone streets, geometric gardens and old brick homes all quietly spoke of a turning point in history. I could feel the passion of our forefathers and their hope for our country and I was filled with pride. The eternal flame and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier struck me most on our walk that morning: "Freedom is a light for which many men have died in darkness."

Perhaps a lesser-known American icon, Robert Morris, also caught my eye as we wandered through the Park. One of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, he was known as the "Financier of the Revolution." A prominent national association of bankers (RMA: the Robert Morris Association) named for him has a former president, who just happened to live in my house when I was growing up - so this pic is for Bop.

But don't think we spent the whole afternoon singing "God Bless America." We also blessed the Philly Cheesesteak, which I had never had before but was determined to have before I left. On Food Network they had done a piece on two rival Philly Cheesesteak establishments in Philly: Pat's and Geno's. They apparently have a famous rivalry, sit caddy-corner from each other in South Philly and daily have lines that wrap around city blocks. We opted for Pat's (because I'd been ordered by a coworker to go there). You have to know exactly what you want and how to order it when you get to the window, and if you screw up, they send you to the back of line. That was too much pressure for me, so I sent Ben while Matty and I waited hungrily. It was quite good I have to say. That is 'til Matty turned to my sandwich and said, "Mommy what is that?" I told him what it was and offered him a bite. He said, "no thank you, it looks like poopy." It might be awhile til my next one...

Play Date Pics

Here are a few of the oh-so-cute pictures Caroline took when Jake and Julianna came over to play on Saturday. 

Smoochy smoochy!

Julianna keeps her eye on the ball!

Matty and Mommy play catch. 

Jake thinks he is strong enough to push this tree over - he is very strong for his age, but thankfully the tree still stands. 

Ready, set...GO!

Thank heaven for bestest buddies!

Two Fun Weekends

Matty and I have spent the past two weekends hanging with Bop. One in Macon and one here at home. And a great time was had by all. Mostly we have just been relaxing and enjoying time together. But usually when Matty and I go to Macon we try to get in at least one fun toddler-friendly activity. And since the corn field maze we'd been planning for wasn't open just yet, we decided to go to Wesleyan College (where my grandmother was educated and the art school is named for my great Aunt Valeria). Wesleyan has a gorgeous campus and beside their equestrian center is a gorgeous little duck pond. This particular day the ducks had just been pretty well fed by another family, so mostly we just fed the fish and turtles. But it was a fun outing nonetheless.

This past weekend, Matty and I had an early morning playdate on Saturday with Caroline, Jake and Julianna. Then Daddy joined in the fun. Pics from our playdate to come as soon as I can steal them from Caroline! But Sunday morning Matty climbed onto his animal shelf and said "take my picture!" Well okay then, I'll never argue with that!

Sweet Matty "helping" with the laundry.