Atlanta Weekend

We took a weekend trip to Atlanta back in February on one of Drew's four day weekends.  Our agenda included the zoo, the children's museum and the aquarium.  The weather was perfect and it was a lot of fun.  Our first stop was the zoo on Friday.

This kangaroo was just too much for me.  I could just imagine it saying  "How YOU doin'".

The only reason we took this picture of the goats in the petting zoo was the middle one was the goat version of Roxie.  It had the same coloring, had short legs, a long body, and just looked kind of dopey trotting along.

This panda was so chill eating its bamboo.  We found out from a zoo worker

 that there are only three zoos in the U.S. that have pandas.

Of course one of Luke's favorite things was the train.  Say "choo choo"!

We have no idea why it's called Zoo Atlanta and not the other way around.

We spent one night in a hotel while we were there.  We stayed at Drury because we like all the perks and it didn't disappoint.  In addition to the regular perks of free snacks/soda, dinner, hot breakfast, cocktails and the pool, we got a free upgrade when we arrived.  The extra room was definitely appreciated!  We've already looked ahead to see if there are Drurys we can stay at on our trip to California and there are!  The free cocktails might be really useful after 10-12 hour rides alone with the kids for three days!

First thing in the morning we headed to the children's museum.  It and the aquarium were across the street from each other.  The museum was not what we expected and it was way too expensive for what you get.  Luke did have some fun, so I guess that's what's it's all about.

We headed to the aquarium early afternoon.  Big mistake.  We totally should have gone there first.  I have no idea what we were thinking.  It's the largest aquarium in the world and always super busy and it was Saturday.  To say that is was packed is an understatement.  It's an awesome place but it was hard to enjoy when you were shoulder-to-shoulder with people the entire time.  We also had our stroller because we couldn't find our front carrier when we got to Georgia.  Ugh, it makes me so claustrophobic just thinking about it again.  It is worth the experience and money though, but if we ever go again it will definitely be on a weekday morning.

(February 18-19, 2011)

Luke's Interests for the Moment

Luke is obviously at the age where discovery and learning are top priorities.  It's so fun to see him light up when he's doing something or learning something he really enjoys.  These interests of course change quite often but here are a few of his favorites from earlier this year. 

This boy LOVES puzzles.  He amazes us with how fast he puts them together.  My mom had bought him this puzzle of the United States for when he got a little older.  He asked to play with it back in February and the little stinker has most of the states memorized.  It's so funny what they decide to concentrate on and learn.

He likes to be in the kitchen helping me cook.  His attention span is still a little short so he just helps me in little spurts for now.  

We set our little laptop up so we could Skype with Nana and Papa.  Here he's trying to feed Nana Froot Loops through the screen.

He still loves the water and swimming

He started the hiding/fort stage that is mandatory for all boys

It's hard to tell what this picture is, but Luke became obsessed with traffic signals.  We let him push one when we were walking somewhere at some point.  After that experience, he would ask to stop and push every single button.  Almost every stoplight in Columbus has the "yellow boxes" so we were constantly hearing "I want to push the button, let me push the button" for months.  He was being a particularly good boy when Drew actually pulled over in a parking lot so they could get out and push the button.  I just had to try to get a picture.

As I said above, he loves water.  Even if it's just looking at a creek or lake, he's fascinated.  The excitement level is obviously kicked up a notch when he gets to play in the water.  Columbus had awesome parks so he was able to be around water a lot.

He has loved planes for a long time and talks about going back to the air show often.  He can see airplanes way off in the distance way before we can. 

Luke became very interested in Waffle House while we were in Georgia.  We have gone maybe two times in his life, but he started pointing out every sign for Waffle House wherever we went.  Imagine his excitement when there was a Waffle House booth at the air show!  He carried around the pencil they gave him for days.

Luke loves his tools and fixing things.  Here he's trying to fix Drew's toes.

And yes, he mentions Waffle House in the video.  Sorry it's sideways.

On a roadtrip, Luke needed to potty and the rest stop was closed.  So Drew taught him what boys do when this happens.  Luke asked to "pee pee on the grass" for weeks after this.

Baby Milestones

It goes without saying that kids grow fast.  The last few months have really flown by.  Here are a few things Levi was up to at about three months old. 

Taking baths in the tub and loving it, after being a bit surprised the first time.

Trying rice cereal for the first time and kind of digging it

Trying baby food for the first time and not minding it at all.  I think this boy's going to be a big eater like his brother.  I can't imagine how much food these boys will go through when they're teenagers.

Luke started wanting to help with Levi a little bit around the same time.

He started to smile and interact a little more

He started sitting up with support

He started grasping his toys

He was able to stay upright in his exersaucer and play

Laughing Boys

One perk of having kids is hearing their laughter.  There's nothing much better than that.  Luke has always been a pretty loud kid and has always laughed really easily and really hard.  Here's a video from February of him and Drew in the pool at a hotel.

Levi is a little more reserved so far but does give us sweet giggles when he feels like it.  Here's the first video we have of him laughing at Drew, also from February.

Getting Settled in Georgia

We arrived to Columbus, GA on December 29 and spent most of January getting settled.  I found my way to the grocery store, shopping center, and Target (priorities, right?).  I worked on my new role as a stay-at-home mom (I still am) and worked on getting Levi on a schedule somewhat.  Luke worked on getting used to being a big brother and learning what big brothers do.  I think Levi learned he was really stuck with us as his family.  Drew learned all about being in the Army (or something like that).  We learned to make Georgia feel like home as much as was possible. 

We found a great little Christian school pretty close to our home and decided to send Luke 2-3 days a week to keep him on a schedule, keep him socialized, etc.  They sent a folder home every weekend with "homework" in it.  I just had to take a picture of his first homework.

We took Luke to the Space Center here it town.  He loved to play on the simulators but he also got to see his first IMAX movie.  It was about the stars and it was set in Sesame Street.  Pretty cute stuff.

Luke still didn't want to make physical contact with Levi at this point.

We were driving around one of our first days in Columbus and saw this sign.  Awesome.

There is this cute little restaurant close to Columbus.  It's called The Farmhouse and it's in a little old house in the country.  It's real home cooking and only open on Fridays and Saturdays.  They also have animals and gardens on the property.  It's a really neat place to go.  One of the funnest things we've done in Georgia is finding interesting eateries.  I feel a future post about it all coming eventually.

A favorite place of ours became Callaway Gardens.  We first discovered it in January.  It was a little cold on our first trip but we went many times while in Georgia.  It's a huge nature reserve with lakes, a beach, trails, a butterfly house, and much more.  It was always free for military families and was a nice place to go to get away for a while.  They'll be future posts about it as well I'm sure.

When we found out we would be going to Georgia for a little while, we had a goal of getting out and doing  lots of things as a family.  It seemed like we were never able to get away in Colorado much due to Drew's job and we regret not experiencing a lot of things while there.  We knew Drew's schedule would be pretty easy and predictable at Ft. Benning so we really wanted to take advantage of some leisure time.  After settling in, we think we did a pretty good job in the months to follow of being adventurous in Georgia.

(January 2011)