Total Eclipse of the Heart

It was more like a 97% eclipse of the sun.  It's been a couple weeks since I could turn on the t.v. or get on Facebook and not hear about the upcoming eclipse.  Many parts of the country, from the east coast to the west coast, experienced a total eclipse.  I took great care in making sure we had proper eye protection.  I'm glad I did!!  As cool as it was to watch the eclipse, my favorite part was experiencing it with my kiddos.  (PK is out-of-town.)

Tennessee Cousins

Sunita asked me if we would be able to get together with her family while we were visiting Georgia.  I had told Rachel to get dates on the calendar with her friends so we knew what we were doing while in Georgia and she did, so our time was limited.  I suggested that we meet in Chattanooga.  It worked out really well.  We met at the zoo and had a really nice time.

It was fun to see how much the kids had all grown.  It is hard to believe Max is starting college this fall.  Sunita and I took a long walk down memory lane.  It took the kids a while to get comfortable with each other, but I think they enjoyed their time together.

 

All the cousins minus Aaron who was at Scout camp.

Peri, Hannah, Marah, Rachel and Max

 

We thought it was silly that the zoo had an American crow on exhibit until we realized it could talk.  Then we were all amazed.  We must have stood at this one exhibit for about thirty minutes.  Ha!

 

I love that the three older kids are being so silly.

 

Going Back to GA

It has been a long year and we have missed our friends in Georgia.  The drive back to Georgia seemed to take forever.  We hit traffic in South Carolina and it didn't clear up until we got off at our exit in Marietta.  As we drove down the main road that leads to our Georgia house, I cried.  It was as if we had been away on a long vacation and had made it home. 

 

This is a picture of good ol' Georgia clay.  It is mucky and stains, but it makes me feel like I am home.



Tad, Sarah, Allison and Coleman were our first hosts.  We were so happy to arrive at their house.  We had never been overnight guests in their home before, so I wasn't sure if they would be able to put up with us, but they were excellent hosts and we couldn't have had a better visit.  They set the girls and I up in the basement and Aaron bunked with Coleman.  Tad works from home and his office is in the basement, so I was very thankful that he was willing to let us invade his space. 

The boys were actually gone to Scout camp for the majority of the time we stayed at their house.  Tad dropped them off for camp which was really nice because the girls and I wanted to attend
church.



 Sarah brought me coffee every morning and they were fine with us coming and going as we tried to keep up with a crazy schedule.  I was also able to sit with Sarah in the Media Center at her school one morning.  She set up a summer program to allow kids to come into the school library to check out books through the summer.

Sarah, Allison, Hannah and I took one day and went to the Yellow River Game Ranch.  It is kind of a cross between a petting zoo, farm and tacky tourist attraction. 

 

I love this picture of Sarah.  She was trying to get a good picture of the chipmunk because it had stuffed its little cheeks with peanuts.  I was waiting for it to run up her leg!!



We stopped by a Mexican restaurant in Marietta Square on our way back home where we had fun teasing Allison about our hunky waiter, Fernando.  Ha!

Hannah's favorite part was probably playing with their dog, Franky, and their cat, Bacon.