Farewell to Georgia

I have to back up for a post to show some of the going away activities that we did the week before we moved. We enjoyed our time in Georgia so much and made some wonderful friendships. We used our last week in Georgia to say goodbye to the people and places we have come to love over the past year. On our last Sunday at our church, they held a Going Away reception for us. We were so honored, especially since we attended a very heavily military church where it is pretty commonplace for people to come and go. We loved having the chance to visit with our church family and say our goodbyes.

Maura and Mr. Benny, the children's minister. Maura loved Mr. Benny and she's going to miss him. She asked if Mr. Benny would be at our Kentucky church and I had to tell her no. She's learned so much from Mr. Benny this year--the fruits of the spirit, the apostles, and loads of great songs. Maurine and Tristan had a great visit together. Tristan is a social little guy and is always ready to charm the ladies with his sweet smiles.

Miss Maria and Tristan. He was passed around quite a bit this night and I think everyone who held him gave him a cookie. I have no idea how many cookies this child consumed that evening!! Maria is going to miss her little buddy. The girls, Heather, Irene, Me, Belinda and Maria. Such good friends!

Melissa lived just up the street from us in Georgia and she planned the whole reception for us. What a sweetie! She made us feel so loved! Maurine and I. We're going to miss Maurine and Buddy so much. They are such wise and loving people. We hope to see them someday soon, though, when they'll visit their children in Kentucky.

That same week, we attended a Hail and Farewell for Brent's battalion. I was so glad that it ended up being scheduled while we were still in GA. They held it at the new Infantry Museum at Fort Benning, so I was glad to get a peek at the museum before we had to leave. Look at my little boy. Do you think he'll be a soldier one day?? He couldn't peel his eyes away from that statue.

Tristan at dinner, "More peas please!" Maura at dinner. From time to time I think we're turning a corner on photographs and she gives me an adorable smile like this one.

The very next instant, I get a look like this one! Mom was able to join us at the Hail and Farewell. We said goodbye to Brent's battalion, 1-11th. I will miss being part of the army life. I made some good friends among the officer's wives and enjoyed the wives's coffee parties and all the fun that went along with that.

We met Brent for lunch one day when I had to take the car in to be serviced. Maura thinks wearing Daddy's hat is hilarious! Gosh, I love those two! We loved getting a chance to see Brent in the middle of his day.

Mom and I, exhausted from packing, and glad to take a lunch break! Tristan and Daddy.

OK, so the whole week was not all slave labor. We took Tuesday morning off to meet our friends Carolyn, Will and Walker at Monkey Joe's. We love this place--giant inflatables all under one roof. Maura and Will had a great time playing King of the Mountain together on this giant turtle. I kept waiting for one of them to take a knee to the head, but it thankfully never happened. Momma loves her big boy!

Will is just too cute. I wish my girl would smile this well for the camera!! Maura and Walker played Follow the Leader. We're going to miss our friends so much!

Here comes trouble! Grammy and Tristan were all tired out. We had lots of fun playing and we were glad to have a chance to visit with friends and visit Monkey Joe's all at the same time. I'm attempting to locate the cord that attaches our ebook to the computer. When I do, I'll post photos from the Wild Animal Safari we attended. Too much fun!!

Goodbye Georgia, Hello Kentucky!

Well, as most of you know, we're officially Kentuckians again!! We packed up on Friday and drove all day Saturday to get back to Kentucky! We're so glad to be home! We loved Georgia and all the wonderful people and experiences that we had there, but truly, there is no place like home! It was such a relief to roll up in front of our own house on Sunday with our moving truck to move our possessions back in and close this chapter of our lives. Our time in Georgia was truly unforgettable and I hope that we made some friends that we will keep for life. We will miss our church so much, but we also can't wait to get back to our Kentucky church too. It's really bittersweet, but it will be mostly sweet once we get back into the swing of things and life gets more normal. Brent is still in Georgia(he drove us up and unloaded us, then flew back to GA) so things are still a little topsy turvy. Also, unpacking the house will two small children has been no picnic, but I've had lots of help from my family and friends. I hope to have everything put back into place by the next time Brent mobilizes.(Ha ha, hilarious joke!) Here is the pictorial representation of the past week of moving. Keep in mind that I was too exhausted to photograph almost anything!The kids "helped" us clean out the cabinets. Tristan looks like he's up to no good! He's going to be that annoying little brother for sure!! Tristan "helped" Daddy disassemble the crib. "Look, Ma, I'm tough enough to eat nails!"

We had lots of help moving from our Georgia family. They showed up and started moving all our stuff out and we were done in no time! The kids loved playing on the couch cushions. Ella adopted Tristan and took "care" of him. What is more fun to a child than a completely empty house to run around in?
Last photos in the Georgia house the morning we left. Sweet Tristan always amazed by everything his sister does. Maura, ever the entertainer twirling and tweeting on her whistle. I was glad to have them burn off some energy before our long trip.

Maura got us loaded up and pulled that truck out! A glimpse into her future, perhaps?

We had lots of help from our Kentucky church family on Sunday for unloading. We brought some of the yard toys in to keep the kids occupied because none of their real toys were unpacked!
On Memorial day we left the chaos that is our house to "picnic" in the kitchen at my parent's house. Maura was so happy to see her kitty, Thea. Tristan was so happy to see the kitty too. I just think this hand thing is so cute. He does it whenever he REALLY wants something, in this case the kitty.
We were so excited to see our new niece Alexandra. She is already four weeks old. What a cutie! She is truly a beautiful baby girl.
Lorie has been over a lot over the past week, but I've been too busy unpacking to really enjoy my niece, so it was nice to spend some time just sitting and holding her tonight. The house is back in some semblance of order, so Lorie and Alex came over for dinner. Maura and Tristan love seeing their new cousin too. Sweet kisses for baby Alex. Maura says she's "SOOOOOO cUUUte!"

Tristan tries hard to be gentle, but he's kind of like a tank. He accidentally hit her yesterday while petting her head. He's so interested in this little baby and he just stares and stares at her. The cousins took a fun stroller ride this evening. Alex looks like she's saying, "Get out of my space, you fatty!"
In other big news, Maura moved to a big girl bed when we moved back in. I've been promising her that she could move out of the crib when we moved home and she remembered. I've been really hesitant to move her, knowing that naps would probably disappear when she left the crib and that other discipline issues would surface. So far, though, she's done really well. We've only had a few problems with her staying in her bed. She's actually napped for the past three days in the bed too, which is a miracle. I think God knew that I needed some kid-free time to do some unpacking! She looks like such a big girl in her new bed!

As you can tell, she's super excited about her bed. I'm so proud of her and can't believe how quickly she's growing up!

Wild Animal Safari

On our last weekend in Georgia, we had quite an adventure. We went on safari--literally!! About 45 minutes from our home there is a place called Wild Animal Safari. I had heard a few people talk about it while we were here and we thought we'd give it a try before we left. I knew we'd have a small window of opportunity to try it out just after nap time and the kids weren't cooperative with naps that day, so we just packed up and headed out sans naps hoping for the best. I had no idea what to expect, and it was a little overwhelming, but we had a great time. Brace yourself for WAY too many pictures.

One of our friends knew we were going and advised us to rent one of the vans they have there. I'm such a cheapo, I would never have done it if I hadn't heard it from someone. Once we started through the park, the reason became VERY apparent. The animals all come and stick their heads in your car looking for food. They slobber all over EVERYTHING!! Maura was a LITTLE intimidated at first!! I don't think I've every been this close to large animals like this other than my horse and a calf we raised way back when I was a kid. These animals were "wild" animals that I'd only ever seen before in zoos. Tristan did not know what to think. I love this photo. That cow was reaching the LONGEST tongue I've ever seen towards Tristan and Brent snapped this just moments before Tristan turned and tried to escape the scary tongue! As you can tell, I'm completely oblivious to my son's peril!

A Hairy COO! I remember seeing them in Scotland! So cute! Here's a photo of our beautiful zebra van. Can you see how slimed and dirty it gets. The inside of this van was NASTY. IT was covered in dirt and looked like it had been slimed on for about ten years and never cleaned. We were glad of it, though. I can't imagine having all those beasts stick their heads in my nice, clean, leathered interior of my minivan!

Can you see the trepidation on this child's face. It's a wonder that this trip didn't give him nightmares! Brent got up close and personal with an American Bison. It was one massive creature and it managed to shove it's entire head into the van.

Whoa! Any A&M fans want us to mow this guy down? Thankfully those horns kept him from getting his whole head inside. These animals acted like they hadn't been fed in months, but I know that every single car that drove by them probably threw them some food.

I felt a lot sorry for the lions. It would seem like torture to sit there in the cage all day watching all those prey animals parade past and be unable to lift a paw! My girl joined me to meet a zony(a cross between a zebra and a pony).

When we later asked Maura what her favorite animal was from the safari, she said, "The teeny, tiny pig!" Great! We could have just visited a petting zoo for that and saved a WHOLE bunch O money! Tristan was really taking us places!

"Yeah, mom, I'm just cruising!" Tristan started getting really brave and wanting to feed them animals too. We started him out on the gentle little deer.

Easily the cutest thing I've seen in a long time. I LOVED the baby zebra and could just feel my voice rising several octaves as I talked to him!! Tristan was looking up, WAY UP, to see our next animal, the giraffe.

Maura went through the food QUICKLY! She was into fairness and wanted to throw a piece to every single animal she saw. This was one happy kid. It's a dream come true to see all these animals so close up.

My favorite animal of the day was the giraffe. These guys are truly gentle giants and were so magnificent close up. Yet another tongue protruding towards my poor sweet baby. He looks just as thrilled about this one as he did about the last, but at least this one is cool and blue!!


So gorgeous. I never thought I'd ever get to pet a giraffe, but they stuck their heads in the windows just like all the other animals.
Zebras have bristly manes. Whoa! They warned us that these guys could bite!
One happy family after our amazing adventure at the animal safari. That was definitely a once in a lifetime event! Afterwards, we drove to our friends Carolyn and Ben home for dinner. Look at my talented little guy. He's going to grow up to be a street performer and juggler!

The best shot of the day, even if it is blurry.This is what you get a millisecond later! Maura, Will and Adelaide had a great time playing together.

Heather, Carolyn, Walker and me. I'm going to miss these guys so much. They were some of the closest friends that I made in Columbus. We're definitely going to have to encourage them to visit. The kids enjoyed a picnic on the floor. So cute!! We had a great time with our friends and we're going to miss them so very much. It was a truly memorable day!