happy 9 months!

Happy (one day belated) 9 Month Birthday Maddie!!

weekend trip to Bavaria

We took a quick weekend trip to Bavaria for Memorial Day. Helen, Georgia that is. We were lucky enough to spend a few days up there with Jims parents in their timeshare. The lodge was in a great location close enough to the town that we could walk but set away from the traffic and tourists. The nicest part of the entire weekend was the fact it was only 1.5 hours away from home!

We got there on Saturday and immediately packed up the stroller and walked into town for some lunch.

Here we are having lunch by the river. Although surrounded by toys, Maddie just wanted to eat this dirty menu. Yuck.

The Chattahoochee River runs right through downtown Helen and one of the main attractions there is tubing down the river (aka "shoot the hooch") for visitors. We watched tubers pass by all thru lunch and decided we had to do it. Jims parents agreed to watch Maddie for the afternoon while Jim and I tubed down the river. We had a blast. It wasnt exactly relaxing as we had to pay attention to rocks, limbs, etc to not get stuck... but it was a really fun adventure. We didnt have a camera with us but we did take a picture of others from the bridge.


Our resort had both an indoor and outdoor pool... yay!! Maddie got to show off her super cute swimsuit and have her very first swim! She wasn't quite sure what to make of it at first.

Once she realized it was like a huge bathtub and she could splash the water with her hands... it seemed more appealing.

She's ready to go snorkeling, but the flippers were a little big. She said she didnt mind just using them to chew on until next year.

Back at our lodge... our bedroom had a huge wall sized mirror. Maddie thought the baby girl in the mirror was hiiiilarious and loved playing with her. She would crawl right up to the mirror and giggle.



On Sunday we went to Dalohnega to take Jims parents to the Smith House. YUUMMMM. It was good. Maddie had her first taste of mashed potatoes and one of her alltime favorites - sweet potatoes.

Next up - Amicola Falls. The tallest cascading waterfall east of the Mississispppi. Cool, huh?

Grandpa, Jim, Maddie and I decided we would work off our lunch and hike up to the top of the falls. Notice the sign. It reads "Difficulty - Strenuous." My calves are still telling me just how strenuous it was. Maddie on the other hand says she feels great and isnt sure what we're complaning about.


Here are the guys and Maddie with the view of the Georgia Mountians behind them. You cant really see the mountains... but I promise they're there.


And back at the resort again.... Maddie had fun on the playground and swings.

First time on a slide.
Check out this smile... I think she likes the teeter totter...


Did I mention that Maddie is moving non-stop now? And for some reason she LOVES diving off the bed. Like swandive style. She has yet to actually fall, we're always holding onto her. Here she is forcing her way over the side. SCARY! She has no concept of gravity... yet.

And last, here she is giving the baby in the mirror a kiss goodnight!

here comes trouble

She is now Little Miss Mobile. We went from sitting quietly playing to THIS! Notice how dangerously close she is to the cable box and tivo? Those are just there on the floor until we finish painting and we can put them back into the entertainment center. Til then they're covered by pillows so she "doesnt see them." (hey, its worked so far)

back to normal

Laura jumped on a jet plane this afternoon and headed back to Baltimore. We miss her already.

On Sunday we took our neglected puppy and the baby to Stone Mountain for a nice long walk and then made a yummy dinner and just relaxed. This morning we hit the Flying Biscuit (because every time one of my family members comes to Atlanta - we have to take them to the Biscuit) and then spent a little more time on the front porch swing so Lo Lo could soak up all the Maddie she could get before she left. I have 100+ pictures of the weekend. I'll spare you all of them and just post a few of my favorites.

lo lo day two ... mlk national historic site

On our second day of adventure with Aunt Lo Lo we went to the MLK National Historic Site. Im embarassed to say that Ive lived in Atlanta for 7 years and had never been there. It was one of those things that I drove by every day... usually twice a day, and saw the tomb and the eternal flame, etc from the street so it just never occured to me to go there on a formal visit. Thats just one of the many great things about Laura - she likes doing that kind of stuff. So - we went on Saturday and Im so glad we did.

Martin Luther King Jr. was born and raised in Atlanta and it was somewhat of a home base for him throughout his life. He went to school here and preached at the Ebenezer Baptist Church (pictured above). Around his chilldhood neighborhood they've created a learning center and memorial to Dr. King that is really powerful. I don't think one can ever stop learning about the civil rights movement and it was amazing how so much of it happened just a few miles from my house.

Here is a picture of MLK Jr. and Coretta Scott Kings tombs.

And Laura and Maddie in front of the memorial sign.

And if you know Laura - you know she can't go anywhere without buying something for her nieces. Now Maddie has her very first book about the civil rights movement. :) It's pretty cute- its all about Rosa Parks. She said it tastes good.


I highly recommend visiting the site if you're ever in Atlanta. Its worth the trip and something you won't soon forget.

lo lo day one...

We're so lucky to have Aunt Laura (aka Lo Lo) here for the weekend. Maddie loves her Aunt Lo Lo and I've loved having some sister time and some one to help with Maddie while Jims gone for the weekend. I'm taking lots of pictures so I'll have to document her visit in daily installments.

Here we go.... Friday.

The weather has been amazing lately so we took advantage of it yesterday and took a nice long walk downtown. Maddie and I showed Lo her school and our other favorite spots around downtown. Lo has been here so many times now that she could (and has) find her way around town on her own but she humors us as we "show her around." We went to a childrens bookstore, a few toy stores and of course we had to hit up a local coffee shop for an ice coffee on the way home. Nana will be happy to know that Maddie got her ball she's been needing so badly... see pics below!

loading her up!

hanging out at our coffee shop

Maddie gazing lovingly at the ball Lo Lo got for her



You can see she LOVES her new ball

she also LOVES her feet

mmmm...

and one picture with mommy

We always have lots of fun when Lo Lo is here and this weekend is no exception... so check back tomorrow for more updates.

check me out

I couldn't believe it myself... I had to take a picture of it. She didnt quite pull herself up to this position but was pretty darn close. Once she was there she stood there for awhile on her own and played with my purse. She's already trying to rummage thru moms purse. She's crawling like crazy now and getting into EVERYTHING. I thought we'd have a little while before she started to pull herself up but I guess not!

too cute not to share

I had to share a few more pics from our Oregon trip. I told you I was battling blogger last night and just didnt have the patience to wrestle any more pictures into that post. In looking thru our pics again this evening I just couldn't resist posting a few more.

Did I mention we've already arranged for Harry and Maddie's marriage? We figure they'll both have the perfect inlaws and they'll make babies so cute that we might have to sheild our eyes. So, save the date... about 30 or so years from now.