Brice's VERY creative version of London Bridge

My fur baby...5 months old

July...snuggled up!

September...the bed is getting smaller!

1st game

GrandPals//Heroes Day

Today was GrandPals//Heroes Day at Sam's school. It was extra special for us because Sam was selected out of all the 1st graders to read what he wrote about his hero - Papa! My daddy. He wrote:

My Hero

by Sam Whitley

My hero is my Papa. He helped the National Guard. He helped America good. He loves America a lot. And he helped me and he loves my family too.

I didn't tell Daddy exactly what Sam was doing, just that it was special and Daddy really shouldn't miss it. Well, needless to say, he was speechless and brought to tears when he heard Sam read that - in front of the entire school plus all the military and emergency response special guests.


His paper laying on the ground, he's reading over it one last time.


We practiced some over the weekend and Sam read loudly & clearly!

Fall ball

Sam has moved up to Mighty League so we're getting our feet wet by playing Fall ball. It's a little more laid back but they still keep score and the coaching is more serious. Sam's on the Black Team and all the boys are cute and having fun!

Black Rock Mountain State Park -- Labor Day weekend

Our long weekend at Black Rock was cut short by the tropical storm that came off the Gulf and crossed over N. Ga. In addition to that, Brian left Macon with a horrible sinus/head cold that did not get any better and totally wiped out Saturday - for him. Otherwise, the boys and I had a pretty good time. Saturday morning (while B felt ok) we made a quick visit to Goats on a Roof. As soon as we got back B went to bed and the boys and I went on a "critter exploration" in the (cold) stream that feeds Black Rock Lake. Since we were the only ones to show up we had a personal escort by a Ranger. The boys made fast friends with our campsite neighbors: Eli, Evan and Adaline. They rode bikes, played games and explored the woods. Brice had is first official bike crash complete with a torn shirt, torn up belly, and a nice black and blue hip bone..... Sunday, before we packed up, we went on a geocaching expedition and found several good caches. Despite our early departure we made as much fun as we could out of the roadtrip home. We stopped at Tallulah Gorge for a little peek....1,000 feet down! Then we stopped for supper at The Varsity in Athens. Sam thought it was the best hotdog he'd ever eaten. Classic Disney movies kept the boys entertained while Brian and listened to bluegrass as we drove home through the rain.

A brief moment when B felt good and showed off his juggling skills.

Goats on the roof!

Geocaching

Red Top Mountain State Park -- August

Lots of pictures, lots of fun! Our campsite was just up the hill from a small beach area on Lake Allatoona so we spent lots of time swimming. Ruby loved it! We visited Etowah Indian Mounds State Historic Site. It was SO hot but really pretty. After climbing up the mound we all wanted to jump in the Etowah River! Instead we went for ice cream! Later, that night we went to a blue grass concert at the state park's 1869 log cabin. Brice loved it! Before we packed up to leave, we went to the playground so Sam could get his baseball fix. This was a fun but all too short trip.