A Day at the Beach - Atlanta style

Summer is in full gear and the pisces and Florida girl in me is longing for the beach. Jimmy Buffet tunes are playing non stop in my head, I am craving fruity fru fru drinks and the sound of the surf. In another week or so, we will be there. But until then, we had a great weekend on the boat at Lake Lanier. Some friends invited us up to the north end on an island locally named "Treasure Island". I thought it would just be an afternoon of hanging with the friends on the lake. I had no idea we were in for a PARTAY! It was a blast! Not sure who had more fun, the kids or the grown-ups. :D We also met some Gator fans (few and far between here in Dawg country). The bond was instant and we took each other's cell phone #'s and promised to stay in touch. If nothing else, we now know that the happening spot to watch the Gator games is in Alpharetta. I will definitely be lining up a babysitter for a game or two in the fall. ;)



Sunday, we had a few friends over for dinner. The girls had a blast playing on the water table. Little Libby just wanted to sit in the water. :) Great friends, great food, great night.

What a great weekend!

Oh, Friday, I took the kids to the local outdoor water playground. Linzi was so excited to go. Once we got there, I claimed our little slab of cement (the chairs were taken) and laid out a few towels. Linzi grabbed her "pillow" and her pony, promptly laid down and went to SLEEP! She never even got wet! At least the big kids had fun. :)

Pillow Talk with Linzi

Linzi always starts the night off in her bed but at some point in the middle of the night, she ends up in our bed. She never really makes a fuss. She just gathers her blankie, favorite animal of the week and climbs in on my side. I LOVE waking up next to her and hearing her funny little comments in the morning. Some of our best "Linzi-isms" happen at this time. Here are just the last two days.

Yesterday, she sits up and looks down at my face intently. . .

Linzi: "Mommy, you need to wash your face."

Me: "Is something on my face?"

Linzi: "Yes, you have polka dots on your face."
(umm, that would be freckles and (gasp) my first age spot that has just come up the past few months. I have been telling hubby that I need to get it zapped, but I just haven't made the dermatologist appt. yet.)

Me: "Oh, those are mommy's freckles. They don't wash off."

Linzi: "EEEWWW! Well, you need to get them off your face mommy!"


Today as we are laying in bed I was wearing some light summer jammies and Linzi is wearing nothing but her panties (she still refuses to wear clothes at home, see past post Welcome to Ponyville):

Linzi: "We are not dressed for the north pole."

Me: laughing because I have NO IDEA where that came from "No, I guess not."

Linzi: "We need coats, gloves, and a hat. What else do we need?"

Me: "Umm, maybe some snowboots?"

Linzi: laughing "NOOOO! Those are for the rain mommy! We need to wear red."

Me: "Why do we need to wear red?"

Linzi: "Because Santa wears red and when it's cold, Santa comes. It's cold in the North Pole."

Makes perfect sense to me! So in Linzi's world, if we dress in our coats, gloves and a hat, make sure we are wearing red and go to the North Pole, where it is cold, we will see Santa. Because Santa comes when it is cold and he wears red.

Me: "What will we do in the North Pole?"

Linzi: "We will see Santa and make snow angels. Then we will go inside and be warm."

Sidenote: My favorite thing about Linzi climbing in our bed is that she has to feel me next to her at all times. Her legs or arms MUST be on top of me. Sometimes I feel a little pinned down, but I am not complaining. If I try to move them, she will put them right back. If I try to slide away, she will follow. It doesn't matter how deep her sleep is, she knows if I am not there. On the very rare night that she sleeps all the way through, I am always disappointed to wake up and not find her there.

Happy 60th Mom!!!

Today is my mom's 60th Birthday! Yes, I know, I have a very young mom!

Happy Birthday Mom! I am so thankful to have you and your friendship in my life. We can't wait to see you in a few weeks and we will have a proper celebration then.

I put together a video celebrating some of our random family moments from the past few years. I wish I could have included more, but I still have so many photos in boxes and on other disks.

We Love You!!! Have a great day! Hugs and Kisses!!!

Keep On Swimming

Linzi just completed her first session of swim lessons! She is a natural. She totally thinks she can swim, almost to the point of being over confident. Her only fear is putting her face underwater. She can swim for a little bit before she starts to gradually sink! Considering she has only had 8 lessons so far, I think she is doing great. Her favorite thing - to jump in. We now know she totally trusts us, because she doesn't even wait to see if we are ready. She just assumes we will catch her everytime.

Happy Father's Day

To my husband, the love of my life and the most incredible father any child could ever have. We love you!!!

Go Gators! Yes, we are total outcasts living in GA.

Daddy always reads the funniest stories.

Daddy's Princess, Always.

Welcome to Ponyville!

Almost three years later, and I still never cease to marvel at how perfectly Linzi fits and the little traits that we share. One more thing we share is our love of animals. Next to my children, animals are most precious to me. From the day she came home, Linzi has loved our pets and has never shown any fear of any animal. She is always kind and gentle and empathetic. But now, she has taken it one step further. Not only does she love animals, but she thinks she is a PONY!

Linzi has developed a passion (more like obsession!) for ponies! She loves all things ponies and is developing quite a collection. She also spends so much of her day pretending to BE a pony, that she forgets she is a little girl! She is almost always on all fours and clippity clops throught the house all the time. We have a lot of tile and she has the clippity clop sound down pat. It really does sound like a pony is trotting through our house! If I ask her to stand up, she stands up but holds her hands (I mean hooves) like a pony doing tricks. It has become such second nature to her, I have to REMIND her when we are out of the house to act like a little girl, not a pony! Walking in the mall on all fours (ewwww!) just isn't gonna happen with this momma.

As if all that is not enough of imagination overload, she WILL NOT wear clothes at home - because DUH! PONIES DON'T WEAR CLOTHES! :0 All those cute summer clothes are wasting away in the closet. At least she will wear her panties, but that is where she draws the line. I would post pics, but I don't want to exploit my little girl (umm, I mean my little pony). :)

Oh, and if you ask her what her name is, she'll tell you something like "Wind Whistler", "Shady", or "Lickety Split" or just plain "Pony".

I just LOVE her imagination. Never a dull moment! I just love this age.

A few favorite photos