stone mountain

The Stone Mountain tradition was a favorite of the Miller family growing up. I still remember making the trek to the mountain with the aroma of Kentucky Fried Chicken & fixins' smelling up our car. Mom would spread out a quilt and we would run up and down the hill chasing eachother. I cartwheeled until I was dizzy. We often made the trip when grandma & grandpa Miller and cousins came to town. They too enjoyed the laser show as a popular Atlanta tradition.

Years have passed and some attractions at the mountain have changed. But, the wonder of wide open spaces continue to be a childhood favorite. It made my heart happy to see Miller enjoy Stone Mountain as much as I did as a child. He hamster rolled down the hill until I got nauseous watching him somersault his way down the slope.

 The Thrasher fam invited us to join them on the lawn for the evening. While we didn't dine on fried chicken, we enjoyed a relaxing picnic.  Both families left our smallest members at home. We love our special nights out with our first born. He likes to brag that it's just him enjoying us for the night. We had this threesome perfectly posed for a picture until M.C. Hammer's "You Can't Touch This" boomed through the sound system. Like clockwork, Miller jumped up tapping his foot and folding his arms like a little rapper...{where does he pick these moves up?}

Anna is quite the dancer. Before long, she was shaking her tush to the beat...lol!

 Jackson had some white boy moves like Miller too. They were up to some serious moving and grooving. It was hilarious to watch and they were laughing hysterically.  This series of photos brings me nothing but joy to see the contagious laughter!

 The Stone Mountain Express captured the boys attention. Their red shirts helped us spot them in the swarms of people at the mountain. They couldn't help but run toward the action near the foot of the mountain.

 They wildly waved to the train passengers.

 .As the sun set, we passed out Dollar Store glowsticks for the kiddos to enjoy. That made their night! Swirling, twirling and sword fighting were enjoyed by all.

The kids settled in for an amazing show on the mountain as the night grew dark. Miller cozied into me as he was all tuckered out. All the classics were still in place that I always remember, but with new technology the show was more engaging with projection images displayed over the carving. We plan on keeping this tradition alive for many summer to come!

street show

We decided on a low key fourth this year and stayed close to home as we packed in between events. Our block put on a street fireworks show & ice cream social for the kids to enjoy. Scooter riding Monkey toss, Frisbee and corn hole fun was had by all. If anything, staying close to home confirmed an underlying sadness that we're going to miss this place.

Gavin and Eliza Kate secured their spots close to the cones. Eventually word got out that we had an ice cream table set up and kids came from near and far to claim their treat. We served 50 cones by the time the evening was over. Of course, some kiddos snuck in and licked 2 cones.

It was hot. Seems to be a summer theme.

Little missy was one of the sneaky ones with two cones.

We can't peel Miller off bike riding this summer. He has a new found confidence now that he doesn't need training wheels. We're letting him stay up late riding each night to soak in every last minute with friends. Riding with sticky ice cream hands is a rite of passage for a boy in the summer.

Dylan secured his spot for the show early. Nothing like camping out under your driveway tent.

Sparklers for the older crowd. The boys like their hand held happy that screamed "Happy 4th of July"!

The kiddos were up way too late. I whisked Eliza Kate up to the comforts of her bed around 9:00 pm while the rest of our family still celebrated outside her window. Miller played for two more hours before calling it quits. When he asks you to go to bed you know you've extended his welcome. At dusk the you could hear the loud pops and whizzing on our block. A few illegal firecrackers made their way into the stash this year which made for an even better show.

I know the above picture looks like an ant attack on EK's face. This sugar addict had a personal helping of chocolate sprinkles with a spoon. They stuck to the sticky ice cream residue on her face like glitter...lol! Her sugar coma look is what signaled the end of her night. What started out as a low key fourth turned into a wonderful last event with neighbors.  Happy Birthday America!

hometown parade

A fourth first for our fam was attending our downtown Woodstock parade this morning. I've always wanted to go but we've had to juggle a morning nap right in the window of festivities. This year was our year to participate in our hometown celebration. Miller could hardly concentrate to fall asleep the night before after we decorated our wagon with stars and patriotic flair. In his five year old brain, he thought that we were decorating an actual parade float.

We met friends an hour early to stake out our viewing post along the parade route. Our crowd kept growing as the morning wore on. Everything about this event reminded me of all the reasons we have loved Woodstock. The downtown area came alive and gave off the small town feeling. Of course, camping out on the railroad tracks & sipping cold lemonade in our red, white and blue topped off our southern celebration.

Kaylee & Eliza Kate entertained themselves sharing rocks like cute little sisters do.... little dawlin's in navy bows. The tracks made the perfect perch to watch all the fourth hoopla. Miller was running up and down the tracks wildly waving his flag in anticipation. He learned an important lesson being in the company of former servicemen that you never let the flag touch the ground out of respect. We're working on that one...

This was the best I could do getting my little firecrackers together. EK was so serious with all the parade action.

As 10:00 approached, we settled in nicely for the parade opening. We spotted Carter our former neighbor with his boy scout entourage in route chanting with his troop. Miller cheered him on starstruck like he was a celebrity.

Patriotic cuties securing the best parade vantage point. They actually took a seat for a photo op.

This was supposed to be our family picture:)

Little missy sipping lemonade from a stand. She knows how to be a lady of leisure at events like these. EK has perfected the art of taking a seat & relaxing in the lawn chair. Must be a girl thing to sit down for long periods of time.

The highlight of the parade for the kids was collecting all the candy, bottled water & ice pops thrown their way. Miller commented that it was like Halloween. We came home with necklaces, water bottles and bouncy balls in our bags. Since it was an election year, the souvenirs doubled as local candidates walked the streets.
See the princess in the background? We were corrected when she introduced herself as the tooth fairy. Even the tooth fairy came to town.

All the local servicemen were in route including military personal. We loved cheering them on for their service to our country.

Elbow, elbow...wrist, wrist...Eliza Kate perfected her beauty queen wave.

 

Happy Birthday America! We feel so blessed to live in our country.

cooling off

We are baking in Atlanta.. 100 degree temps {record high of all time 106F} the other day. It's scorching!...  As in legs sticking to the car seats, make up melting, take your breath away, suffocating heat. The only way to survive is to stay inside in the coolness or fully drench ourselves head to toe with water. This is how we spent our Saturday morning {outside of course} slathered in 55 plus sunscreen that left the pasty white zinc oxide residue all over these two munchkins.

We fully enjoyed Caden's blow up mega pool. Lots of splashing and water gun soaking cooled the young'ns down. We survived underneath the Down's shaded deck with misters spritzing the adults. Oh so cool;)

Pool time was interrupted by brief periods of cruising the grounds in style.

Eliza Kate found two floaty animal friends to entertain her in the water, while the boys used the other end of the pool to play wrestling. What is it about boy's and body contact? They learn this way of relating early on.

We loved our reunion with C man. These two were great buds from 3 year old preschool.

Superhero moves were tested out from running down Caden's hill and plunging into the deep waters below. 

Sometimes I worry that there aren't enough girlfriends in this missy's life. We'll saturate her with dolls the rest of the weekend, promise. Trying our best to beat the heat. Hoping for a break soon!

Aviation Adventures

Grandmama put in a request way back in the spring for me to be her co-pilot at Vacation Bible School this year. How could I refuse the opportunity to serve & work with such an awesome theme & partner? We were second grade pilots and flew the passengers from station to station. Our hangar door was a fun project to tackle together. We even planned out the additional touches to our Amelia Earhart aviation costumes. Sometimes, you have to dress in character to engage the kiddos more fully. Miller begged to come see our classroom each morning and witness our students arriving. Hugging dear grandmama was a request he put in on our morning drive each day. He's so proud of me in the teaching element & loved spotting me around the building.

  All the decorations in the hallways were vintage and true to theme. It was a busy & meaningful week! My favorite memory of the week is of my mom purchasing a children's bible for a girl in our group that didn't own one at home. Such a meaningful morning to watch my mom complete the inside cover of the Bible and present it to the little girl as a gift.

Both Miller and Eliza Kate got to attend the preschool version of "flying camp" as Miller named it. He was wow'ed by the events of the week and came home with the cutest little airplane keepsakes & travel crafts. They even dressed the preschoolers up as pilots with a fancy airplane prop to capture the memory. The moms took home an adorable keepsake frame from their week at VBS. In true Miller fashion, he met two new friends in his class that he talked non-stop about at home. I love his gregarious nature. Most of all, I love how he listened during chapel time and retold the bible stories at night to us. His teacher's engaged him and taught rich spiritual truths.

On family night, we met up at the fields of Johnsons Ferry for an old fashioned picnic. 1940's music was playing & Poppy was in his element. The kids enjoyed games on the lawn like hoola hooping, water melon seed spittin' {that's how we say it in the south}, and wheel barrow racing. It was hot...Miller couldn't resist stirring up dust clouds on the baseball field with friends. His navy crocs were a pale shade of brown. He was caked with a thin layer of brown dirt. See the dust cloud following him in the above picture? boys!

The potato sack racing really made you feel like you were taking a time travel trip back to the deep south in the 40's & 50's. Even the picnic had a vintage feel to it. Sometimes I wish that we could all live in those simpler times where kids played games until dark and neighbors socialized on front porches sipping lemonade:) Churches had picnics on the grounds every Sunday with banana puddin' {another southernism)...

I love sharing in all of the simple times of togetherness with our family.

We love being together.
Eliza Kate lounged in her pink lawn chair like a little lady of leisure. Two spoons were used to enjoy her ice cream sundae.

We socialized all evening, people watched at sunset & watched the kids run in circles on the fields {creating dust clouds} of course.

Poppy helped Miller scoop even bigger bites from his rock frozen ice cream. Shoveling with plastic spoons proved challenging.

They turned it into a game as these two usually do.

Miller proudly showing off his dirty, stinky feet while downing a Sprite. This is a beverage he has requested at special events like these, recently. I'm hoping we don't get asked regularly for sodas.

This was a much needed night together as we sent Grandmama on her mission trip Friday morning. She's taking this VBS flight on the road across the world. We're praying for you on the next big adventure next week!

street play

We are relishing in all the outside fun this summer right outside of our door. We have  "new kids on the block", Sadly, Grant moved down the road at the beginning of the month...but Jack moved in and is one week older than Miller. A new friendship has taken hold, and these two are outside on most afternoons riding bikes and scooters.  Jack's mom commented that she could have moved him into a cardboard box on our street and he would still have been over the moon with all the action outside. She said they didn't know all they were missing out on in their last neighborhood;) We are blessed with old fashioned block playing here. I have a feeling this only sets us up for future disappointment in our next house....Praying we can find friends on our next adventure. One thing is for sure, it's made the house hunt challenging.

Miss Maddie can only handle short periods of play with so many boys.  The other girls were absent on this day.

Eliza Kate discovered the thrill of Gavin's ride on truck. It crawls along very slowly. The perfect steering trainer for future Escalade driving.

No.Words.

Three year old Gavin took our missy on a date. He maneuvers the Escalade like a pro. EK sits with her belt on so I was confident in her chauffeur.

Even Miller boards the slowly moving Dodge for a spin.

Most kids venture out after dinner. That's really the only time of day they can handle the heat. Some of the crew survived until 9:30 the other evening for an impromptu street fireworks display in their jammies.  Soaking up our last days on Islandora. Oh, how you've made our lives rich with friendships!