Cheese

While waiting for the skylift they herd everyone by a photo op background. When you come back they've got your pictures waiting for inspection. For only $20 you get a 5x7, four wallets and two, count 'em, TWO souvenir picture keychains!! What a deal. Normally we wouldn't fall for these tourist shenanigans, but in one rare instance my eyes AND my mom's eyes are OPEN. You see, we're genetically inclined to close our eyes for pictures. Maybe dad's are closed, but it's difficult to tell with the Jack Nicholson shades.

Favorite Part of the Day?

Here we are in front of the giant pumpkin "tree" at Stone Mountain. We had a lovely day at the park with the grandparents. It was perfectly sunny and nice with only moderate crowd. We rode the train and the skylift as well as having lunch, funnel cakes, and popcorn. We also went to the Plantation and visited the petting zoo where we watched some goats butting heads. Hutch even got brave and petted a sheep! After all that, I asked Hutch [while he was perched on the potty at Chipotle] what his favorite part of the day was and he promptly replied, "Getting a toy!". Greenie bought him a toy car at the gift store on the top of Stone Mountain - those are the moments you cherish...

On a side note, I had my first psycho mother moment when Hutch suddenly vanished while we were waiting for Greenie to buy waters at the snack bar on top of the mountain. Greendaddy and I were standing there with Hutch and Maggie, I looked down and Hutch was GONE. I immediately began calling and looking for him. My yelling ramped up pretty quickly because there were lots and lots of people around and a couple different ways he could have gone. People started staring and as I entered the snack area I really yelled loudly, "HUTCH EZELL YOU COME HERE NOW!!" Greenie's head popped up over the little wall separating the line from the seating and she said cheerfully, "He's with me!". Whew. I could not believe he had left us with no notice and just trotted away to find Greenie. He could not see her from where we were! I was eyeing that kid on the leash that we saw on the skylift down and thinking....gotta get one of those....leash, that is.

No, I've got more important things to do

As we exited the plane (last, see previous post) we peeked into the cockpit. The co-pilot was still there and she invited Hutch to sit in the pilot's seat!! He refused saying, "No, we have to see Daddy, we have to rescue him!". Oh well, this is as close as I could get him to the pilot's seat. Maybe next time.

Chi-town

Brave Mommy took both children on the plane to see Daddy and Auntie Clare in Chicago last weekend. It's taken a week to recover and finally download the pitiful few pictures I have to document the trip! I got to be the last passenger off the plane both times. The first stewardess radioed to the desk in the airport "Yes, we have our last one, she's got two kids, one on her back (Maggie in the backpack thingy) and one walking." What she said wasn't rude or anything, but you could tell by her tone she was feeling sorry for me. Traveling with Hutch and Maggie was actually quite easy, they were the perfect companions.

Hutch was only a little freaked out by security in Atlanta. The security guy on the other side of the metal detector was not encouraging in the least...matter of fact he looked a little like 50 Cent. Hutch didn't like having to take off his shoes and he certainly did not agree with having to put his Thomas backpack of treasures through the magic machine that's like Superman because it can see inside your bag and make sure your toys are safe. He ended up sitting on the floor in tears on the other side of the metal detector while they searched my carry-on and I reassembled the stroller which had to be emptied and folded and sent through the magic machine that's like Superman because it can see inside and make sure the stroller is safe.

Maggie is awake in this picture, she's just looking down, probably at the mountain of fruity Cheerios we spilled on the floor. Hutch reveled in raising and lowering the window shade. Thank goodness it was just the three of us in the two seats. I'm sure we would have annoyed the crap out of any other human being. More to follow soon...Lee's home now so my computer time is less frequently interrupted with requests for water, and tv, and games, and "wipe me", and etc.

The Face

So this is the face (actually this is a close copy, the original had much more glare and crinkled nose) Maggie unleashed on me at Target last Saturday when I wouldn't allow her to "push" the cart while I was carrying her. Imagine a Superman type hold with her arms locked out in front gripping the cart with white knuckles. I passed the cart to mom and Maggie shot me the evil eye with puckered lips!

Maggie's First Birthday

Although Maggie's actual birthDATE isn't until tomorrow - today, Saturday, is the day last year that brought us our perfect little girl. It's been an eyeblink since that day. Maggie is almost walking and Hutch is really growing into his role as a super big brother. Just the other morning he climbed in bed with Maggie and gently pulled the covers up on her and patted her tummy before curling up next to her.

We celebrated today by grilling steaks and indulging in yummy chocolate cake. We purchased a "Complete Big Brother in a Box" for Maggie (as seen in picture above). Although it is Fisher-Price, it is NOT part of the slew of toys recently recalled. We marked the day with a lovely family photo on the front porch. Out of about a dozen pictures this is the best....again with the herding cats metaphor! Maybe I'll post some of the ones that didn't make the cut- Hutch has a wide repetoire of goofy faces!

A good time was had by all. Happy Birthday, Maggie! :)