Stay/Play-cation 2011

I know a lot of people are "mad" at me for skipping the Flamingo Fling this year, but since Brett couldn't come anyway, I decided to have a "Stay/Play"-cation right here at home to enjoy some serious QT with my precious Jack-Bo.  And what a glorious week it has been!

First, Jack got a new haircut.  Then we went to Beck's birthday party and played with friends at Chik-Fil-A!

The next day Jack got to go on a boat for the first time and Mommy and Daddy got to catch up with old friends!  Jack loved driving the boat and floating in the water, and Daddy got to try out the tube!

On Monday Mommy took Jack to the zoo with Ms. Ann and Braeden.  After gymnastics, Mommy and Jack went to Menchie's for a special treat!  YUM!

 

On Tuesday we met with Jack's new preschool director to discuss how Mommy can be involved at The Day School.  Then we ate lunch at Chik-Fil-A before going to see Rio at the Dollar Theater.  It was Jack's first time in a movie!  He did awesome!

That night Aunt Christie came over and brought Jack cousin Logan's Geotraks train set, and Mommy stayed up until 2:47AM putting it together in Jack's room.  Jack thinks his trains are "awesome!"

On Wednesday we had a swim date with Ms. Mary and Rowan.  It was a beautiful morning for relaxing in the pool!  

 

That afternoon it rained a bit, so we were nervous about our plans for Stone Mountain, but we made it there in time to ride the train and play some mini-golf before eating dinner and finding a spot on the lawn.  Jack and Mommy wrestled and played together while we waited for the Lasershow to begin.  We didn't even care that our blanket was soaking wet from the ground!  Some nice people behind us gave Jack a light-up toy, and he kept "zapping" me with it.  I reacted like I was getting shocked and I would shake and fall over onto the ground.  Jack thought this was hysterical.  The Lasershow was really cool in "Mountain Vision," and we certainly recommend it to anyone!  I have to say that our Stone Mountain "date" was my favorite adventure from my Stay/Play-Cation!

Thursday was another fun day with friends.  It was also our first time at The Spraygrounds at Riverside Park.  What a perfect place to cool off in this summer heat!

 Then that evening we celebrated another friend's 2nd birthday at Chik-Fil-A.  Since it was raining, Egorka opened his present and the boys enjoyed some finger painting!  We eventually relocated to an indoor McDonald's playground where the fun continued!

Friday we met with our MMPMF group for a field trip to Fernbank.  Jack had a blast playing the "tree" drums and hanging out with his pals.  Then MJ ate lunch with us while his mom, Ms. Lisa, ran an errand.

Left to Right: MJ & Lisa, Braeden & Ann, Jack & Brooke.  Unfortunately, Beck and Jenn couldn't come. :(

 

After nap time, The Stokes family came over and we swam together until it was time to eat.  Then we went to Outback Steakhouse and had a delicious dinner with friends.  We ended the night with Wii bowling!

Today is Saturday, and it is the day before my final day of this wonderful Stay/Play-cation.  I am already sad about going back to work, but I know how lucky I am to have a great job and the benefits to enjoy so much time off.  Right now my boys are napping, and when they wake up we are going on a family bike ride to the park.  Tomorrow Jack and I are going to visit Grandma and Grandpa, and then Grandma and I are going to run some errands for Jack's birthday party.  It will be another full day, and all I can really say is I am SO BLESSED to be me!  

Thank you, Jack-Bo, for the most perfect Stay/Play-cation!  I could not have imagined a better time than this week with you. The hugs and kisses, snuggles, smiles and giggles made every moment magical.  I love you so much more than I can express with words.  I look forward to many more adventures with you!  

Love, Mommy

Don't July to Me!

'Cuz I ain't lyin' to you!  I don't have anything more creative to call this one, so that'll have to do!

4th of July weekend came with rain, and we were lucky to see fireworks at Capital City Club on the 3rd with some friends we hadn't seen in awhile. The fireworks were great, but they were also super loud b/c they were so close to where we were sitting on the golf course. Jack was a little scared of them, saying "No boom boom!" over and over again. Brett and I took turns walking around with him and talking to him about them. "Look at the colors, ooh I like the green. Which ones do you like? Did you see the pink? Wow, that one looks like a shooting star!" When it was all over Jack said, "Boom boom all done," and he seemed relieved. 

On the 4th we went bowling!  What more American way to spend a rainy day?  The Stokes Family joined us, and Jack and his best bud Braeden got to use the bumper lanes and the aiming ramp!  After that we just hung out at home and debated if we were going to venture out into the storm to see the Decatur fireworks with Grandma and Grandpa or just stay home.  Luckily we just stayed home b/c the Decatur fireworks were cancelled!  Jack went to bed early and Mommy and Daddy watched the NYC fireworks on TV. 

Later that week Jack's new swim vest arrived!  He can now move his arms freely and still be supported in the water, although he LOVES to swim underwater w/out the vest too!  Here is a picture of Daddy coming up for air after taking Jack-Bo for a dolphin ride!  That evening we met some new friends at the pool and jack showed off lots of his tricks for them.  He was jumping and floating and also letting Daddy throw him high up into the air!

On the 8th we finally got around to celebrating Father's Day with Grandpa and our June birthdays with the Olander and Hunt sides of the family.  We went to Benihana (Mommy's FAVORITE place), and splurged for a special dinner!  Grandma had a very yummy cookie cake made to celebrate all the dad's and the birthdays, and we feasted on that for a couple of days!  Here is a picture of Mommy and Jack-Bo at dinner!  Of course mommy is making a silly screaming face...as usual!

The following Monday Jack and I had a special date with Cousin Logan at the zoo! 

We did all our favorite things of course!

In the Petting Zoo, Gerald the Goat got a little hungry and decided to munch on Jack's hat! 

Jack didn't even seem to mind! 

Mommy and Logan climbed the rock wall at the zoo!  It was Mommy's first time, and she was scared!  But Jack and Logan cheered me on while Logan took some pics!  Here is a pic of each of us!

After the zoo Logan got to attend Jack's gymnastics class.  Then we played at Hammond Park for a little while before going back home to swim and eat dinner.  It was a really special day with cousin Logan!

This week Mommy is off of work and having a little "stay/play-cation" at home with Jack-Bo!  We have lots of adventures lined up, so check back soon to see more pics!

The Rest of June: Part 2

True love is when you post a pic of yourself that is less than flattering b/c the memory you made while taking it is worth so much more! That is how I feel about this moment with my sweet Jack-Bo. Mommy looks tired and rough, just waking up, and certainly not camera ready, but the fun we were having far outweighs my self-criticism.

Well, as always time gets away from me.  I know it is July, but I am still posting about June, so I'll try to make this one snappy!  The week after Father's Day camping, we didn't do too much; we swam and Jack cooked hot dogs, you know, normal stuff, but it was relatively low key...

...except for Jack's mad scooter skills!  Check out our boy on wheels!

The following weekend we went to the zoo with The McQuties (pronounce "McCuties" and think cute McQuilken cousins).  This was extra special b/c even though we live so close we don't get to see the girls as often as we'd like b/c of crazy schedules.  We had a really great time, so here is a collage of some of our fun!

And of course my favorite traditional picture on the Komodo Dragon statue...

The next day The McQ Zoo visited Centennial Olympic Park with friends, but they took pics with their camera, so I don't have them yet to post, but I am sure they were very cute.  Jack rode his scooter all over the bricks!  Then on Monday we went again, this time with Aunt Christie, Aunt Jen and all their boys.  Grandma even joined us for a little while on her lunch break!  Here is a pic of the kids during the fountain's water show, the only time they were all sitting still!

Later that afternoon, Jack had his last class of his very first Gymnastics session, so Mommy decided to take some pictures and video of course!  Here is Jack doing the "bear crawl."  Funny after our bear sighting!

Here is Jack climbing the ladder wall!  He was always the highest climber in the class! 

(Having some trouble with Blogger's video upload, so switching to YouTube.)

Here are some pics of Jack hanging on the bars and holding bean bags with his feet!

Lastly, here is Jack on the trampoline at the end of class doing the special Jumping game where each child is individually spotlighted.  Jack is especially good at taking his turn and then sitting right back down on the red edge of the trampoline. 

Jack really LOVES gymnastics, so we have enrolled him for the rest of summer and the fall!

On Mommy's Birthday Eve, we wet to El Azteca where we had the Mariachi Band serenade Jack!  He LOVES it when they sing to him, so it was well worth the tip we gave them.  He always looks so serious though; such a good little audience member!  Then my actual birthday was the last day of June, the 30th.  It was a wonderful day; you can read more about it and see a quick pic of the beautiful cake my work got for me on my other blog, The Zookeeper - Uncaged.  That night we went to GRandi and PaPa's for my special bday dinner of Teriyaki pork cutlets and green spaghetti with "balls," which is what Jack calls brussel sprouts.  The collage below has pics of Jack at El Azteca and one of me about to blow out my candles on the Coca-Cola cake GRandi made for me!

Dinner was excellent of course, but so was the fun we had beforehand playing basketball with Jack.  This last video is a little long, but if you just watch just the 1st few seconds you will already see Jack make a basket!  He had been doing this for about 20 minutes before we even started filming, so he was worn out and hungry for dinner, but he LOVES the game!  That's Mommy's Little Baller!

And so ends the month of June! 

The Rest of June: Part 1

So we've been pretty booked up here in The McQ Zoo, and I've not had much time for blogging, but I'm going to try to get back on track for July.  In the meantime, I thought I'd post some pics of the rest of June to give you a little taste of what we've been up to lately!  I am going to have to post in 2 parts though b/c half way through adding pics to this post I am having to stop and go make breakfast for Jack...

After SGI we had our MMPMF group pics taken by Lisa Rappa Photography.  It was a super hot and muggy day, and it was tough getting all the kids to pose together at the same time and all in good spirits, but for me the experience is all part of the adventure!  Overall it was a successful photo shoot, but I don't think any of us will plan pics in that sort of heat ever again.  To see more of the group pics and individual shots of Jack's friends, visit our Shutterfly share site My Mom Picked My Friends.

Beck, Braeden, MJ and Jack

Jack and Braeden are best buds!  In 15 years this is what they will look like checking out hot girls who walk by!

We continued our tradition of camping on Father's Day weekend, but this time we took The Stokes Family with us.  For the most part it was an amazing trip, but ironically, for the 2nd year in a row on the same weekend, we saw another black bear!  This time though, on Father's Day morning, the bear was about 400+ pounds and invaded our campsite, stealing a tote and dragging it across a creek about 50 yards up the mountain before coming back to sink his teeth into a cooler and munch on some grapes!  Ann watched the entire thing from her own family's tent while The McQ Zoo slept through the most terrifying part only about 8 feet away!  Finally, Ann realized she had her keys and she set off her car alarm, mildly startling the bear enough to send him back across the creek.  When The McQ Zoo awoke, the bear was about 15-20 feet away and hardly afraid, so Mr. McQ started yelling, and after a few more minutes Mr. Black Bear retreated S-L-O-W-L-Y back up the mountainside, deciding he'd worn out his welcome for now.  It didn't take us long to pack up and head home after that!  We may be reconsidering our camping location in the future!

The Daddies and their boys!

 Some of the beauty:

the waterfall we visited on our creek hike and the sun shining through the trees at our site...

Jack is great at helping with the fire!

Jack and Braeden had a blast on the 4-wheelers!

Tug was happy to find another willing lap!

Jack and Braeden are silly boys!  They LOVED camping together!

Della loved swimming and playing fetch in the creek!

But all that swimming made her sleepy!  She even slept through the bear invasion!

Jack likes to cook his own dinner!

Silly Jack-Bo!

Okay, and since maybe you are wondering where am I in all this fun, I'll post one pic of me...

And to conclude Part 1 of my "The Rest of June" post,

here is "THE" Cooler, that will forever be a memento to our camping/bear sighting adventure!

Mr. Black Bear sunk his teeth and claws into this cooler!

'Til next time...and remember..."Only YOU can prevent forest fires!"