The Beginning....

He did it!
He's officially in 3rd grade!



No tears, no worries....and no bath.
Whatever works!!!






We're so proud!

(photo by Coop, 3rd grader)

Over

Ahh, summer....I love it so.
I love the sun, the fun and just relaxing in the pool.




No way!
Did I hear you say that school starts tomorrow??



PLEEEAASSEE tell me you're kidding.


Afraid not little kid-
Next stop, 3rd grade!!

Jimmy B.

We're fans....I've written before about our love of Jimmy (and if I had ever tagged those posts, I could link to them now- rats) and how happy he makes Jon and me. We've passed that down to Cooper, who counts him among his favorites and knows quite a few of the songs by heart.

So, when we saw a Margaritaville restaurant down the block from our hotel in Niagara, we had to stop in for lunch. We've never been and wanted to take in the experience. The food was great and the atmosphere was family friendly and full of fun.

They employ "stilt people" to walk around and make balloon animals. She wasn't a freakish clown like in lots of places....just a regular girl on stilts making small talk and hats for kids.







Even Jon got into the festivities!


Anyhoo, we asked whether Jimmy had ever come to the restaurant and the answer was no. He has a habit of just showing up at times though and as we ate, we talked about how amazing it would be if he just happened to stop by while we were there.

And then we paid our bill and left.

The next day we checked out of our hotel and headed to our Day 4 destination. But as we drove by, we noticed a peculiar scene outside of Margaritaville.

Parrotheads.
There were about a dozen people standing outside the restaurant singing songs. So, we pulled over and I got out to assess the situation.
It was 11am.

The verdict?
Something was happening and although we weren't sure, we weren't taking any chances. We parked the car and joined the fun.

At 11:30, the restaurant opened and things seemed a bit different than the day before. We got a table and tried to look casual.



There were rumors...but we still weren't sure. So we decided to take an extended lunch.

About 2 hours later, Jon spied this guy from our seat and I ran to snap his pic.


Yup, that's Mac....Jimmy's BFF.
And then we knew!!!!
And we couldn't breathe, and our hearts were beating and we could hardly stand it.

And so we changed our plans and camped out at a table for the whole afternoon (along with some friendly Parrotheads from Toronto).

Cooper was a champ....


It took 5 milks, 2 orange sodas, a ring pop and a $7 Niagara Falls pocket knife but that kid was an angel- for 6 hours.

And it paid off!!!!

We were among 300 fans who "happened to be there" for a surprise concert.


We were beside ourselves!!


Can you see the excitement on Cooper's face??



It went from this....


To this....in a few hours, and we were a part of it all.


It's a day that we'll never forget!!

Thanks Jimmy- for making our vacation even more amazing!!

Before I forget... (thankful thursday)

The summer is fast coming to a close.....Cooper and Jon start school on Monday and that means we have precious little time until it's OVER.

I am thankful for the time that we've spent together as a family this summer.

I posted earlier that we had a great vacation, but I haven't been organized enough to capture some of our memories- tonight is my attempt.

We decided to drive to Niagara- it was much more economical and at the time seemed like a fabulous idea (sometimes things seem so much better than they actually are- ever noticed that??).

Our plan was to drive 1/2way, spend the night and complete the trip. There's not a ton between here and there.....except farmland, small towns, 2-lane roads and Johnstown, PA. So, that became our destination for Day 1.

And when we got there, the 1st thing on our list was to ride the "world's steepest incline plane". Hmmmm- very interesting!



Unfortunately, I have the world's biggest 'fraidy cats' in my family when it comes to heights!





But, I'm persistent. And we did it!



Not without a bit of a fuss though.....



Once we got to the top, things were much better.



I am thankful for playgrounds in unexpected places!



Somebody got over their fear pretty quickly.


And somebody else didn't!

Somebody even begged and pleaded to go back the next day.



How could we say no?



This time, no tears!
I am thankful for brave little kids who overcome their fears.

So long Johnstown.....



I cannot tell you how tempted I was to take a detour and look up Phil.
Jon was not as tempted.

Instead, we made our way north. And finally....we arrived!



We had a small hurdle to pass with the border agent.
Jon didn't quite understand that the questions he was asking were not because he was simply being chatty. He also neglected to stop at the stop sign right before the check in which prompted the agent to ask,

"Sir, do you intend to follow the REST of the laws in Canada?"
Oh. My. WORD.
I was convinced that we'd be detained- but somehow we made it through.

Day 2- Niagara!


It was really wonderful and Cooper was totally into it.


I am thankful to be able to give Cooper the same experiences that my parents gave me.



I'm thankful for family vacations, wonders of the world, disposable raincoats, kind border agents, and time exploring with the boys I love the most!

More vacation coming....
(I know you're on the edge of your seats!)

347,126,186

There are 31,556,926 seconds in each year.



As of today, we've been married for 347,126,186 seconds.
We sure have had a lot of fun together-

Happy Anniversary to the person who makes me laugh the most in the entire world.

Love you!!

Reunion

20 years ago I spent the majority of my time on my sorority hall at a little school in the middle of nowhere.

This weekend I spent the majority of my time in Alexandria with 4 of my sorority sisters and remembered those times fondly!

We stayed in a swanky hotel.





This hotel provides fish in case you aren't able to bring your pet with you on vacation. We had 2- this is Dora.


We ate yummy food....


with way too many calories!


We toasted a million times....


and attempted to use some of our college education to figure out how much we owed.

(suspiciously it looks like we may have played poker- but we didn't)

We laughed...so much


We laughed so hard it was hard to remain focused!!


We talked, remembered, sang songs, shared secrets, revealed dreams and traded advice for ALL sorts of ailments and issues. We promised not to wait so long to get together again- and I think we really mean it.

There is nothing like good friends....and these girls are the best.

I can't wait for our next trip-


Thanks for a wonderful weekend!
Hugs!!

Verse

For a while now, Cooper has been obsessed with sports teams....no particular team, just teams in general, although he does have some favorites.

And you know how when you're talking/reading about teams and their games- it's US vs. Canada or Redskins vs. Eagles?

I realized that Cooper thinks that vs. is the plural of verse. Because we'll be watching or talking about a game and he'll say- who did they verse or who are they versing? Or my favorite when he's playing a computer soccer game-

"Momma, who should I verse?"

I feel like we're coming upon the end of little kid-isms.....which makes me sad.




Like when he'd say ignoring instead of annoying. So, Savannah would be licking him and panting in his face and he'd yell in, "Momma, Savannah's ignoring me!!"

I LOVED that one!

Merry

We visited a little town in Canada that had a vintage merry-go-round by the sea. You could ride for 5 cents.



I loved the merry go-round when I was little....although sometimes the faces on the animals can be a bit creepy.



Cooper loved it...and thought it hilarious that we rode too.



What's not to love about a 5 cent merry go-round ride with a happy little kid?

Back!

We're home.

And despite what this picture may indicate....



We ALL had a fantastic vacation.
We loved seeing Niagara Falls and have many adventures to share.


Hope you had a super week- we're happy to be home and are trying to get back into the swing of actual life.
(rats!)