Av talking

 Mommy is chowing down in the background.  So attractive.  She didn't know daddy was taping Av. 

best friends

Caroline and Av enjoying the music at Jackson's b-day party.  Av had just gotten done putting out a fire.  

loving sisters

The top picture is Av's first day of school.

"school day"

Av started back to “school day” today. She was very excited. The first words out of her mouth when she woke up were, “school day today momma?” She loves it there so much. Of course this morning I had to fight with her to eat breakfast since she has not really had to all summer. Once I got her to eat a little we got her all dressed and took pictures. She looked so cute in her dress, new backpack and new princess lunch box. She was also excited because her best friend Caroline will be in after care with her this year so they will eat lunch together. She is now in the non-nappers aftercare. After playing all day I think I will have one tired Av on my hands. I hope in all the excitement of a new school day she does not have an accident. Anyone want to bet if she will or not????

Austin

Thursday when we arrived John picked us up and straight to Matt’s house we headed. Waiting for us there was a big group of our old friends. It was so nice to see everyone and so nice everyone took the time to come see us. Friday we got up and went out on the lake. It is one of the things I miss the most. The lake looks more like a river but it has big beautiful houses on it and the hills around it just make it very pretty. The Girls loved being on the boat. We docked the boat at Hula Hut and had a yummy lunch. That night we moved to Marci’s house to catch up with more friends. We stayed up way to late laughing and drinking wine there. On Saturday we met at my favorite breakfast place and had the best breakfast burritos. Every meal there is served with chips and salsa and breakfast is no exception, Av was in heaven. Saturday John, Matt, Andrea (Matt’s girlfriend) and Jeff took the girls swimming at a natural pool while I went up to see Trena’s twin girls. They are so sweet and special and cute. I cherished every minute I got to spend holding them and loving on them. Saturday night I met back up with everyone for dinner. We went to a restaurant where you could eat outside and there was this big open yard like thing that kids were playing in. Av took off to play with the other kids by herself and spent the whole dinner playing. She had no interest in eating with us. I was so proud of her. A month ago she would not have done that. She was running and really keeping up with the other kids. It is pretty neat to see her come out of her shell. The entire weekend the Girls were very good and loved being the center of attention. They stayed up late and went to bed easily. We had such a nice time laughing and catching up with everyone. We will forever miss Austin and our wonderful and special friends we made there. The flights home were uneventful. It was very nice to have John traveling with us. Made it much easier.

flights to Austin

Flying to Austin with the Girls was not fun. Nothing terrible happened but it still was not my idea of a good time. Angie dropped us off at the airport and I immediately got a skycap. If you ever need help at the airport I highly suggest one. They are VERY helpful. She helped me put the car seats in their bags, lugged them inside for me, took me straight to the counter, took my license and CC (to pay for the one bag we were checking), got our boarding passes, put all the tags on our luggage and made sure we had everything we needed. It was the best $5 I have ever spent. Everyone was very helpful in security and in general people were very helpful. The Girls were good, as good as could be expected. I do have to say that I will try to avoid the Atlanta airport from now on at all costs. We waited on the plane in Louisville to take off because ATL was too crowded. Then we waited on that ground at ATL for almost 30 minutes before finally getting to our gate. Then we waited another 20 minutes to take off. All that waiting was very hard for 2 girls that wanted to see their daddy. Av kept saying, “I want to see my dadda.” Like she had not seen him in days instead of the night before. I am sure everyone around us felt bad for her thinking her daddy was never around. On the second flight Av and I didn't have seats next to each other. There were two ladies sitting in seats across the aisle from each other and I needed one to move. One lady was very nice about it but the other barely looked at me. I felt like telling her it was either she moved or she would have to sit with my 3 year old the whole flight. Av had a whole backpack of stuff to entertain her but she was not interested. So a whole host of junk food did the trick. On both flights she got apple juice, then she had pretzels, peanuts, 2 things of airline cookies, french fries, a sucker and a whole thing of ticktacks. Camille was very tired but refused to fall asleep so she was fussy. I am sure the people around us loved us. We made it though and had a great weekend.

Austin here we come!

Tomorrow we are heading to Austin. I am so excited. It is where John and I met and we still have tons of really great friends there. We are going to see Matt and his new girlfriend, Jeff and Polly, Renae and Jeff, Trena and OB, Marci and Jason and Kristina and Rob. Trena and OB had twin girls a few months ago and I can’t wait to meet them as well. It will be so nice to see everyone. The last time we were in Austin was for Renae and Jeff’s wedding last March. Our girls have never been so it will be nice to introduce them to everyone. I will be flying with the Girls by myself. Should be interesting. My main concern about it was not the actual flying but getting the Girls, our bags (2 car seats, a pack and play, stroller and suitcase) and myself to the terminal after parking the car. My good friend Angie came to my rescue though and is going to drop us off. Now I am mainly worried about the connection in ATL. I will just stay calm and do what we can do. John will be waiting to pick us up when we arrive. He has a meeting for work so he has to go early tomorrow morning. Tomorrow night we are staying with Matt and he plans to have everyone over for a cookout at his house. Friday during the day we are going out on the lake (the lakes there are so pretty). Friday night we are staying with Marci and Jason and they are having everyone to their house. Saturday we will visit some of our favorite places. Back home on Sunday. Short and sweet and I can’t wait!