The big ONE...

I know every post that is about one of my children always starts off with, “Where has the time gone”, or “I can’t believe how fast time is flying by”.  Well, I can’t help myself because it is true, my BABY turned ONE on August 2^nd.  I can’t believe it.  Now don’t get me wrong, I am super excited about moving on to our next phase of life, out of the baby stages and onto bigger and better things.  But he is my baby and time really does need to slow down a little! 

 Ok so rant over and onto my post.  Bryce’s birthday was on a Wednesday and we were headed to Florida the next Saturday (posts to follow) so we decided to celebrate on his actual birthday. We invited our community group, neighbors, and even Grammie and Papaw came down to celebrate with us!  

We went to party city that morning and Bryce picked out some Mickey mouse decorations and tried on some hats.  All our friends arrived and the kids played with balloons and we all enjoyed some mexican food.  

Our sweet Bryce is so full of life.  He is a ham.  He loves to smile and laugh and have a good time. He is wide open, full throttle, hard headed, super sweet, super smart, and just plain lovable.  He is an excellent eater weighing in at 25.9 lbs and is 39 inches long.  He is all boy, into everything and is persistent about things.  He knows what he wants and he goes after it.  He is talking a lot. Momma, Dada, Nilla, Chase, Leah, all done, go, night night, are a few of the words that he says the most.  He doesn't walk, he runs and he loves playing with his brother and sisters.  

It was a great day. We all had so much fun and we ended the evening with a little cake. Bryce wasn't so sure about the candle but he was ready to dig into the cake. 

Bryce seems to take after his Daddy with a sweet tooth.  He probably would have eaten the whole cake if I wouldn't have stopped him.  Happy Birthday to our sweet boy, he sure does make life an exciting adventure!   

Stone Mountain

I. HAVE. NEVER. BEEN. SO. EXHAUSTED. IN. MY. LIFE! With that said you know that our last camping trip was an action packed, super fun adventure.  This trip we were joined by Grammie and Papaw in Stone Mountain, GA and it has taken me almost three weeks to recover and write this blog post.

I don’t think we stopped moving the entire weekend.  Once we were settled in the kids took off with Kevin and Papaw on bikes down to the pool. 

Grammie was such a blessing and cooked us dinner each night at the campground that we enjoyed outside their campsite. 

Even though it was 90 degrees outside we had to have s’more’s so Kevin got us a nice fire going.

After dinner we made our first attempt at the laser show that is projected onto stone mountain.  Unfortunately due to lightning the show was cancelled but they did set off the fireworks that they had set up to go with the show. 

  Since we didn’t get to see the laser show we opted for some ice-cream.

Day two we ventured into stone mountain park to check out the attractions.  Grammie and Papaw joined us for a ride in the cable car up to the top of the mountain. 

 It was high, and beautiful! 

Kevin decided to hike down the mountain with Chase and Leah.  The rest of us took the cable car back down the mountain. 

Kevin was regretting his decision when he realized that the path down the mountain dumped them out way on the other side of the mountain.  Once they finally made it back into the park we took a break for lunch and then hopped on the train for a little ride. 

 All I had  heard about for two weeks up to this trip from Henley was how excited she was about the train.  And it was worth it, she loved it!  After the train ride I took Bryce, Grammie, and Papaw back to the campground and once Bryce was settled for a nap I headed back to have more fun with the big kids.  We cooled down with a little splash of water in Geyser Tower.  

Then we headed to the dinotorium for a little fun.

This was a really fun place for the kids (and it was air-conditioned).  Balls flying everywhere, really fun slides, and lots of places to climb. I unfortunately did not make it down the slide too easily.  Guess it wasn't meant for big booty's.  Friday night we made our second attempt at the laser show with epic fail number two when it started pouring down rain on us.  

Saturday we had a fun visit from some of the McMahan cousins that live in the Atlanta area.  We grilled some hot dog and burgers and had fun hanging out.  

Kevin had also rented a paddle boat and took the kids out for a little paddle in the lake. 

It was a short but fun visit and was so great to see everyone!  Grammie and Papaw stayed back at the campground while Bryce napped so Kevin and I could take the other kids back into stone mountain park for some more fun.  

We managed to get in a few holes of mini golf before it started to storm. 

It was cool to see the water run down the mountain.  Luckily the storm just lasted for a little of the afternoon and we were able to head back into the park for a ride on the duck boats.

Santa Clause was our driver and each of the kids got to the drive the boat as well.  

 And finally on Saturday night we were able to see the laser show.  

 I do have to say it was worth the wait and the three late nights attempting to see the show.  The kids all loved it as well.  On Sunday we packed up to head out but on our way home we made one last stop at Rick and Carolyn's house for some lunch and a play date.  Rick and Carolyn were Grammie and Papaws neighbors when they lived in Atlanta years and years ago and we are blessed that they are still friends to this day.  Their kids and families joined us and our kids had a blast!

 The adults enjoyed themselves as well.

It was a great way to end a super fun trip!