Wylie's 4th Birthday

Ashley, the birthday boy's sister

Too cute with her sunglasses!

Rachel decided to push Ashley and Wylie (the birthday boy!)

Rachel is pushing Bennett, Ashley and Wylie now

Birthday boy decided to help Rachel

(This picture was right before he went inside and busted his lip!)

Rachel enjoying the swing

This evening, Rachel and I left the boys at home and went to Wylie's 4th birthday party. It was outside, which was hot and humid, but the kids didn't seem to mind. The theme was John Deere tractors, so most of the boys had on their John Deere t-shirts and there were 3 real tractor there for the kids to sit on. (I felt like I was at a John Deere convention.) There was a John Deere pinata and adorable birthday cake. The cutest thing was the goodie bag...it was a brown paper bag with a green bandana folded cutely so that it poked out and inside was a water gun and a CD with every country boy or tractor song imaginable. It was so cute and Rachel LOVED it! I admit, I loved it too...anything that I can sing along to. There were even some real songs, like "Thank God I'm a country boy" and "Country Road, take me home". And, of course "Dixie" and the Dukes of Hazzard theme song...Great stuff!

We had a great time, however, the birthday boy fell down inside (just as the party was starting)while running around with some of his friends (Rachel included) and landed face down on the hardwood floors. He had busted the inside of his bottom lip and it was bleeding. While Emily and John were trying to make it better, I guess it wore him out, because Wylie fell asleep and missed his party! We did the pinata and the birthday cake without him. Can you believe it? Emily said she would just get him a new cake tomorrow. So, we didn't get to see him open his presents...Oh well!

The Atlanta Zoo!

Rachel loved the cool playground

So did Bradley!

This thing was cool, it was like a standing swing!

Elle looks too pretty to play! :)

Just about to ride the choo-choo

WHEEEEEEEE!

The elephant habitat was being improved, but we still

loved seeing the 3 huge elephants!

Cute meerkats Elle and Sophie

Cute meerkats Rachel and Carter

Cute meerkats Lauren and Rachel

a huge rhino!

The kids lovin' on their nana/Pat

Gege and Papa with their two loves!

3 cool giraffes

the kids hangin' onto Willie B

the girls making silly faces

all the kids LOVED dippin' dots ice cream...

the adults thought it was gross!

At the "treehouse" the kids could sit in a bird nest;

here they are waiting for their mommy bird to feed them a worm!

a lovely bird at the tree house

Bradley riding on a leopard

Bradley is admiring the tall giraffe sign

Yesterday, we went to the Atlanta Zoo with gege, papa, Pat, Carter, Elle, Lauren and Sophia. It was very hot and humid, so we all sweated profusely!!! But, we had a GREAT time! The zoo not only has so many cool animals: lions, elephants, zebras, rhinocerous, gazelles, gorillas, warthogs, meerkats, flamingos, pandas, turtles, kangaroos, and many others I can't think of... But, it also has a really cool playground, a merry go round, a choo-choo train and a petting zoo. There was so much to see and do, we could have stayed there all day! We were there from about 11 to 3, but that included a LONG lunch. All the kids had a great time, even though Bradley pitched a fit for about an hour or more. He cried and yelled and was just plain ugly, but we weathered the storm. These days, he's learning so fast and is constantly fighting for control of a situation. He prefers to be in control all the time. But, he's smart enough to figure out that he doesn't always get it, however, it doesn't keep him from trying. :) Gotta love that strong personality! I'm sure he'll be a great and confident leader one day! Anyway, I took SO many pictures, so I tried to pick a nice assortment! Can't wait to go back with daddy...he didn't get to go since he was busy at work.

Award-Winning Zucchini

Proud gardener with her huge zucchini
Just gave the veggies a quick dip

The veggies are swimming around

Well, I'm not sure if our first ever garden veggies are "award-winning" or not, but we're certainly impressed! Nick gathered our first batch today and we have 4 HUGE zucchini (I think each one will feed a family of 10!) and one nice sized squash. The kids thought the veggies were great...Rachel wanted to wash each one in her pool and then dry it before taking it inside. Bradley mostly wanted to just play with them in the pool. We're so excited and can't wait to cook them!! :)

**By the way, we didn't do ANYTHING special to our garden...just planted it and watered it! Have NO idea why the Zucchini is so big!**

A fun day in Helen

Exploring the creek bank

Bradley got a little daring and started running in the water...

he liked it until he fell face first into the water and was completely drenched!

Sophia and Rachel enjoyed exploring more than anyone else

Rachel loves her older cousin, Sophia!

Bradley loved the sinking mud

Carter and Bradley decided to be "tough guys"

and try to push down this tree

Bradley's version of panning for gold:

scoop regular dirt off ground and put it in pan

The kids were having so much fun looking for

beautiful gems and jewels

Sophie was a natural

Rach was too

Bradley did his own thing...

A quick game of tag after ice cream

A carriage ride around Helen

Rachel keeping up with Lauren

Today we went with Gege to visit Pat, Jim, Carter, Lauren and Sophia in Helen. (Elle was with her other grandparents with an ear infection, so we missed seeing her.) Pat had rented a cabin for a few days and invited us to join them for the day. We arrived around 10am and stayed until about 5:00pm. We had a great time playing in the creek behind the cabin, exploring the woods, swimming in the hottub, eating ice cream in town, panning for gold and gems and taking a carriage ride around Helen. It was a very fun day and we were POOPED when we got home.