Water Park

Today Lani and I went to the Auburn Water Park with the church group. I can not even begin to tell you how much FUN we had! Ella stayed home with G.G. and Grandy while Lani and I got to spend some wonderful time together. The weather was perfect - little overcast so it was not too hot. We did the lazy river, the kid area (which had a small slide), the wave pool, and most exciting, the BIG slides! Lani had fun in the wave pool with her floaties and little tube on. She loved just hanging out going up and down with the big waves. The lazy river she said was her favorite! We made our way to the big slides and she was going to watch me and a couple of our friends come down. Lani loves the water and is not afraid of hardly anything. But, she does not like to be thrown underwater or splashed right in the face. After we came down and she saw we didn't go under, she decided she would try it. So up she climbed the stairs with my friend Robbie while I waited below to take her picture. Lani loved the slide and I got her to do it one more time. I was so proud of her!

Today was honestly one of the best days I have had in awhile. I just really enjoyed my time with Lani. It's always nice to have that one on one time with your children.

Nettie and Lani The younger kids with sweet Amelia and Margaret

Finishing the fence and Undershepherd Gathering!

I basically finished pressure washing the fence on all the visibly sides (sorry neighbor, you still have to look at the gray fence on the back side) Hopefully tomorrow I can stain it or put a water sealer on it to keep a better color in the future. Not sure what I will use, but check back for the finished product!

Tonight we went out to the Cantey's house for our Undershepherd get together...We took our big water slide which was put through the true test! I am impressed with it...It handled at least 10 kids going up and down it for over 2 hours! Not a single tear was shed amazingly...Still have about 4 more years of use though to make the cost justified!

We had a good group for a fun evening with Hamburgers and Hotdogs to eat. Lindsay and Robbie went to Sam's this morning at 7:30 am to get all the fixins...but they forgot to eat breakfast they had talked about all week...I think Lindsay was too excited about the fudgesicles she bought!

Lani got a splinter in her big toe...check it out...I think it hurt!

VBS Recap, New Jeep and a turtle

Lindsay will come back later and upate this blog with a recap on Vacation Bible School at our church, Eastwood Presbyterian! Till then I will tell you about the turtle and the jeep.

Mr. Allen bought a new 4 door Jeep Wrangler. It is red and quite nice! He has had three BMW's over the past few years with his last two being the 3 series convertible. So it will be a big change for him! So far I think they like having a Jeep, especially now enjoying it with their new Mountain Home in Blue Ridge Georgia. (nice place check it out...Amazing Grace Lodge).

Mr. Allen took us all for a ride around the neighborhood...while we were out we stopped by GG and Grandy's house. This is where we saw the turtle..or terrapin we were told. Lani wanted to keep it, but once she saw her new Tony Little Therepudic pillow GG and Grandy bought her off of HSN, we were able to leave the poor creature alone! Speaking of the pillow...I am trying it out. I will let you all know if it is a good pillow or not!

Dinner with Big Mama!

We went to go and eat with Big Mama tonight (Thursday)! She lives over in Grove Park at the Oak Grove Inn...It was a fun evening! I hope we can do this every month...We had two choices for dinner that night. You could have Shrimp and grits or cheeseburger. Lindsay had the shrimp and grits and I had a bit of both! We will make sure we do not go back on Shrimp and Grits night...Look at the beautiful sunset as we were leaving!

Another big event that evening was Me (Robert) buying an ab lounger....Just wait and see!!

Dinner and a Movie

Well we were fortunate enough to have a free night for a date....Mrs. Allen kept the girls this afternoon after VBS so that Lindsay could get some things done around the house and so we could enjoy the evening. Lindsay was able to get alot accomplished...She even mowed the yard! At 5 today she treated herself to a manicure and a pedicure and then we met at a new Japanese Restaurant on the Atlanta Highway...It was a small joint in a shopping strip...It was clean, but we must confess it was not our favorite. We still choose Miyako for the food and the fact they cook in front of you, and The Street Cafe over next to Panera on Vaughn Rd. Always fun to try something new though. I had Chicken Teriyaki and she had the vegetable teriyaki so that we could split the chicken and save a dollar! Thats my girl! Our bill was around $27 for 2. Not such a great deal....

After the dinner we went to see Get Smart (for free I might add). It was fun...Lindsay laughed and I enjoyed it as well!

This little video shows Lindsay laughing... I love to hear it!

Blueberries, Dollar Tree, a Clean Fence + a Party!

Three fun things we did on Saturday + a party!

1. Lindsay really wanted to go and pick blueberries that morning...I was so tempted (for a second) to resist the idea, but I am glad we went. We made it out the door pretty fast that morning, but for some reason a 15-20 minute car ride to the berry farm ended up taking one hour! I know that we stopped at burger king for a nutritious breakfast, but from there we are not quite sure where we went and why it took us so long. Once we arrived, one hour later, we were greeted with the disappointing news that due to drought, blueberries were in limited supply! Now if you have been before, you know that picking blueberries is fun when you can rake them into the bucket, not when you have to reach through the bush, or pull the top branches down to reach the ones the shorter customers passed up...Despite the news and one child (Lani) that became hot and tired rather quickly (it was hot), we had a good time and picked a bucket and half! Ella ate two buckets worth (luckily they did not weigh her as she was leaving)...she was not picky...she ate them from the ground and ones that were green and a few good ones too! Hey, she was happy!!



2. Dollar Tree you say? - This is a great place to take a child for a "surprise" for acting good, or for helping with something. Just a small reward. I am not sure that Lani did either that day, but as we drove by, I could not help but want to go in and buy her whatever she wanted for $1 or less. For Lani, We ended up with a princess folder and a princess stamp + ink pad kit. For you parents out there that may think that was great idea, stay away from the princess stamp + ink pad kit. Once it is on the skin, it stays for a while! Ella's dollar tree choice - a package of plastic leis. This was actually a fitting choice as later that night we had a Laua party with our neighborhood, sturbridge. More on that later.

I have some exciting video footage from the Dollar Tree, but I am still trying to figure out how to get it off my phone...maybe later! This is just a test to see how video works from back when Lani was learning to walk...

3. Clean Fence - Did you know that you can pressure wash a wood fence and make that grey color go away? I had heard that before, but I guess I did not realize how well it would work and how much satisfaction I would get from doing this. Check out the difference below. I was quoted $300 one time by someone to do this for me...After starting it I was trying to figure out how to get someone to pay me to do this for them. It was amazing. I know that seems like over kill, but it was...Just be warned...once you start there is no going back. If it is not much fun for you, you still have to finish. There is that much of a difference with the final product!

4. Sturbridge Laua - I was not, not looking forward to going to this, but once I got there the feeling of extreme boredom set in...May have just been a bad attitude, but at the end of the day it was really not that bad. I mean come on...Average age of 70, a DJ, pool, limbo, hula hoops and hot dogs. Did I mention Lindsay's Blueberry pineapple dessert? I did not eat it that night, but I polished it off the next day! Some neighbors down the street from us were there with their kids as well....It was nice to chat with them. I found out that he is a US Marshal... Not bad to have around. Might hear some interesting stories during future Sturbridge functions.

Sorry, No Pictures. They would be too exciting!

It was a busy day. it was fun!

Take Care!

Robert