Aahh-ahh-ahh-Cheerios!

Nolan has recently been 'sneezing his face off' and since his allergy medicines haven't been working to their full potential, we decided to have allergy tests done. His drs office does environmental tests and he did it with unbelievable ease. The results? He's allergic to mold, dust and dust mites, and several trees. With that said, I politely asked his dr to write me a prescription for maids weekly and new floors in my house. After she stopped laughing, we talked about allergy shots and she casually mentioned that WE would be administering the shots at home just about every other day for a year. After she picked me up off of the floor, she suggested an alternative. We are going with a different allergy medication for a while to see how it works and revisit the allergy shots at another time...NeVeR! He was a real champ throughout the whole appointment. 

Don't stop the beach

More beachy pictures from last week. Our old neighbors, the Turner's were there and we were so excited to spend some time with them. We miss our friends!

You cannot go on vacation and pass up the donuts!! Mmmmm, donut hut! We wish they had one of these babies in Woodstock. 

Todd 'caught' a dead horseshoe crab in the ocean and the boys used it to accentuate their sand castle. 

Shiloh kept snuggling up to Reed. It was so cute!

Bike rides are a HUGE part of our beach vacations. Thankfully, Reed was ready and willing to go a few miles with Todd and I, where Nolan was a bit more lazy this trip. One day, I biked a total of 20 miles! I wish there were more bike trails in our home area. 

The house we rent is right next to a nice natural area where there are many crazy critters. Usually, we were pretty good about cleaning up as to not attract the varmints to our decks. However, there were a few nights that we think a raccoon or two had a bit of fun with a football and Nolan's soccer ball. Too bad we didn't have some sort of video to capture the fun our friends had with the balls!

Beach babies

This past week was fall break 2014 for Cherokee county. This is the week we take our awesome yearly beach trip with Jammy and Grandy to Seagrove, Fla...the place we plan to visit again and again because it's such a great family friendly, laid back, beautiful area that's not all that busy. Todd, the boys and JnG shoved off on Sunday to get down there and get the house ready for my arrival on Tuesday. (Somebody has to stay back and work, ya know!)

These are the photos I was sent in my absence. 

After so much activity on the first day, they seemed relieved that it rained most of the day on Tuesday and they could rest a little. 

Then, as I was making my way down to the house on Tuesday evening, Todd told the boys I was in Florida. He said Reed ran to the balcony and said he wanted to wait there for me until I got there so he could give me a big hug! Awe, that kid has a heart of gold!

No one else stood a chance at snuggling with these two once I got there that night. We sat in the smallest chair in the den, but I got the biggest welcome!

Fall soccer has begun

As summer comes to an end and fall is awaiting, the boys fall soccer season has been set in motion. I love this time of year! Not only for their games, but everything else fall-ish; football, apple picking, crisp chilly nights, and bug-free days! This is the second game the boys have had so far, and they have gotten so much better than last season. I really think they took notes and watched the World Cup this past summer as if they were studying for their SATs. Let's just hope they continue with these study patterns through school!! Go wolfpack!

The second photo was actually timed perfectly. Nolan (blue shirt, orange shoes) scored a goal off of this kick! One of about 6 or 7 that day...we lost count. 

Trunk bunnies

This is what happens when we pack our car to go home and Polly is afraid she'll get left behind. Or Nolan for that matter...

Annnnnnd this is where she perches the whole ride home!

50th surprise-a-versary

Last night, Todd and I (and the boys, sorta) surprised Jammy and Grandy with a little party for their 50th wedding anniversary. If you know JnG at all, you know they know EVERYONE in Athens having lived there for so long and been involved in the high school community for 30 years. Suffice to say, it was quite difficult to whittle the guest list down to 30 people. I'm sure there are plenty of people that we forgot to invite, and for that, we're sorry but there was only room for so many!  I mean, we could have rented out Sanford Stadium to pack everyone in, but I'm afraid UGA wouldn't accept my library card for payment. Speaking of which, I still probably have some overdue books I need to return there!

We set the scene at Loco's, their favorite stomping grounds throughout the week because to them, it's like Cheers and they are the 'Norm'. I'm pretty sure everybody knows their name. 

When we got into town, I told them that I had to run to the 'store' and would be right back. A little while after I left,  Todd got a 'text' from me saying I met up with a friend and they could come meet me at Loco's and we could go to dinner from there. After that went off without a hitch, we had an awesome night. Everyone enjoyed hanging out in a relaxed setting and Larry and Jemmay were so surprised! We were very grateful that they allowed us to be part of their big day and really happy they didn't object to coming to Loco's for the 2nd time that day (they have a crowd that they meet up with just about every Saturday for lunch)! We love you Jammy and Grandy and cheers to plenty more years to come!!

Braves Labor Day

Part of the boys birthday gift was tickets to the Braves game and we took them today. It was a bit of a scorcher out there in the sun, but they got to meet Homer, King Midas beating his drum, pitch a few balls to the radar (hitting 40 mph at times), and come within a ear shot of Justin Upton. Oh, and it was Bobby Cox bobble head day, lucky us! Next time we need to be sure we're sitting in the shade, but it was a good time, even though the Braves got spanked 0-7. I guess that's why they play 149 games a season!

World Cup Party

I am so grateful that I only have to do one of these a year. I don't know how people have multiple kids with multiple birthdays on different days of the year. There is definitely someone out there that knows I can only handle so much! The boys wanted to have a soccer party for their birthday.  We were lucky enough to invite enough boys their age, with the same rambunctiousness, and had the whole Outdoor Y facility to ourselves. Old friends, new friends, neighbors and grandparents were in attendance and hopefully, everyone had fun despite the heat. (The boys were secretly hoping for rain because they love playing soccer in it!) I was bad with the picture taking this year, but I did get a couple of good ones. -- thanks to my buddy Erika for getting some more!-- I'm not sure what the final score of the USA v Brazil World Cup birthday match was, but all the boys were red faced and drenched in sweat!