Our Days Are Numbered...

After one night at home, you guessed it, the kids were ready to go again! Sunday night the girls went to Putt Putt with the Youth Group and Oney went to Sitties. Judson and I were preparing for a store meeting for the Munford Employees when Ally called in a panic. She was having an asthma attack! She was in a TOTAL panic state! This heat has really been hard on her this Summer. She had a small spell earlier in the week at camp so this time I was really scared. I jumped in the car and FLEW to Memphis with the breathing machine. Along the way I called Dr. Susan Aguillard, our pediatrician and family friend. She told me exactly what to do...she is such a GODSEND! I do not know what we would have done without her all these years! I mean really...who can text their Doctor for asthma attacks, staph infections, wasp stings, etc (those are all in the last month by the way)!!! I doctored Ally up and we raced to Munford to the meeting.

Tuesday, I took all three kids to see Dr. Susan for a "Back to School" checkup. They all got Hepatitis A shots and Abby got a tetanus shot. It always makes me feel good just to go see her every now and then for a good check over. For the most part, everyone is A OK! After the Doctor, we shopped for school supplies and uniforms. It is nice to check those things off of my list! It was also nice doing it early and avoiding the crowds.

Ally is playing on the high school golf team at TRA this year. Her golf game is a little rusty and we had lessons scheduled at Mirimichi for the week to bring her up to speed. After the asthma attack, she had to be indoors all week. Well guess what??? Mirimichi has an indoor Callaway training center. It is incredible...they roll a garage door up and you hit your ball from a climate controlled room and it goes outside!! Yes, Ally is rotten!!! Could you have imagined such when we were kids???

The girls are hard at work on their Student Council and really motivated since camp! I am so proud of them and the way they have stepped up into leadership roles. Checkout the website the created together...TRA Student Council .

Thursday night Abby had her annual back to school party. It was at the Thornton's pool which is really cool. She had a great time! We headed to the Lake for our "last hoorah" before school starts. It is just not the same once the school year begins. The kids have practice, parties, sleepovers, etc and want to be in Covington! Abby opted to stay home with Ginny so she could go to a friend's party tonight...we miss you Abby!

Well, I hear people moving around upstairs...I sure have enjoyed this morning of peace and quiet (I woke up at 4:00 am and couldn't sleep)! Time to start our day. Next week is another week of Doctor appointments, lessons, hemming pants, etc. Ally and Abby get their braces off!! I can't wait to see what they look like!

Souvenirs from Camp

Well, we are all finally under one roof.  The first picture is of the group of boys that were in Oney's cabin at Victory Ranch. The second is of the TRA kids in student council that went to camp. 

It is nice to all be at home in our own beds. The suitcases have all been unpacked and put back in the attic for awhile. Which means...Summer is coming to a close.  It is so weird how in May we are all SO ready for school to be out and for a "break" from the whole routine. Then by August, we are all SO ready for school to start and for a "routine" and some structure in our day.The kids brought home a couple of souvenirs from camp...an ungodly amount of dirty laundry and a staph infection!

Souvenirs

Yep...lucky me...I know that is what you are thinking! I had so much laundry to do that I kept a piece of paper in the utility room to make a mark each time I put a load in the washer over the weekend. Anyone want to guess how many loads I did...5....10...nope....16 LOADS! And I think I have given 12 betadine baths on the staph infected leg! The things you do...But, how soon it all passes...All of my laundry is done and the clothes and bags are put away. The staph is healing rapidly and we have moved on to preparing for back to school.

Welcome to Miami, Florida

As Judson and I were discussing sending all three kids off to camp for a week (the girls to Student Council Camp and Oney to Victory Ranch), I could just see the wheels turning in his head.  We have known all Summer that we would have the three of them in camp for a week in July. We never really stopped and thought about what we would do with ourselves while they were gone.  Of course, I could just be very happy staying at home and doing nothing (which of course means cleaning out closets, garage, and all kinds of other special projects).  Judson on the other hand, well he is not good at staying home or lighting anywhere for very long.  If we are in town, he goes to the store, everyday.  That is one of the negatives of owning your own business.  You never really feel like you are "off work". You carry it with you everywhere you go and everyday. So he started thinking...if Dana or I plan on relaxing while the kids are gone...we better go somewhere. Because he is a "points freak", which is a great thing, we have frequent flier miles stored up. He started searching for a "cheap" frequent flier ticket and an inexpensive hotel room. I agreed to go somewhere as long as he let me rest,  sleep in every morning, lay by a pool everyday, take an afternoon nap, and only leave the hotel for dinner each night.  Within a few hours of him mentioning we might do a quick getaway, the trip was booked! He said, pack your bags we are going to Miami! 

 

We dropped Oney off at Victory Ranch on Sunday and we got the girls off to camp early Monday morning. We flew out of Memphis right after that and landed in Miami shortly after lunch. Jan had been to Miami last fall to a Titans game and suggested a great hotel for us. We stayed on South Beach at The Gansevoort.  It was perfect for what we were looking for this trip. Great location, cool atmosphere, nice sized rooms, comfy beds, adult only pool on the rooftop, cold & fruity drinks, nice restaurants, etc.  Everything we needed for a low key, kid free, relaxing three night getaway.

We checked in our room and headed straight to the adults only roof top pool. It was beautiful. We sat at the bar and ate a quick lunch.  We started off being very smart and split our order so that we didn't overindulge. We finally got situated in one of the round, wicker double chairs. We were there all of an hour an it started pouring down rain. Oh well, I had to go to the room and take a little nap...perfect! Judson ran to the store and bought some Diet Cokes and water for us to have in our room for the week.  Here is another picture of the pool.

 

We went to dinner Monday night at STK. It was fabulous! The food was superb and the atmosphere was great...not to mention it was about 60 degrees in there! Great choice, dear.

Tuesday we did the same routine. Pool, lunch, rain showers, nap, and awesome dinner. We went to dinner at the Blue Door Fish at the The Delano.  If you have ever read any love story, you have heard of the Delano in Miami, a really cool hotel. Once again, superb food and atmosphere. We sat outside that night and we ended up a little warm but the ambiance was perfect.  We ate entirely too much. The following is a picture of our appetizer, Crabavocat. We couldn't resist taking a picture in honor of Nancy McKenzie!

Delicious!

Taking silly pictures like the kiddos always do!

Wednesday guess what...pretty much the same deal. Judson is definitely a man of his word...we did NOTHING but eat, rest and soak up the sun. Oh, and we had lots of conversation without getting interrupted! Anyone with children know just how nearly impossible that becomes. We had dinner Wednesday night at Prime Italian.  We just THOUGHT we had been eating too much. After we finished our meal that night, I thought I was going to die. I have NEVER been so full. It was "to die for good"! We sat beside a neat couple that night and really enjoyed our conversation with them. We had a lot in common with them.

I know I will catch a little Hell over this next picture. The hotel lobby had these checkerboard tables setup. Believe it or not, every night when we came in from dinner, we sat down and played a game of checkers. Well, guess what? Judson beat me EVERY SINGLE TIME! Yep, my Grandmother would not be very proud of me for losing or Judson for not letting me win at least once!

The Winner...

Actually I am the winner...at least when it comes to the partner end of this deal! Judson may be the winner of checkers, but I am the winner when it comes to better halves! (Somebody may have to call 911 for him when he reads this part). Better yet, Judson STOP reading now! Seriously, I am so LUCKY to have a husband that SPOILS me rotten and loves me "fairly" unconditionally! He is always willing to take me to fabulous places, wants me to make time for myself as an individual and us as a couple, gives me freedoms that many other women never enjoy, takes care of me in sickness and well I haven't really had "health" yet, is everything a wife, mother, best friend, partner could ever ask for...I do not praise him openly enough. It is hard to believe that I found the perfect soulmate for me almost 24 years ago when I was just a baby myself!!! Thank you Lord for my Best Friend and Partner for life...I love you, Judson!

Fresh Summer Veggies

This is a shout out to my Sister for having the BEST garden in town! She has really gotten into the gardening in the last couple of years. The best thing about it...she SHARES unselfishly with my family! The above picture is our "first harvest of the year". We (she) calls the cherry tomatoes "candy" because we all eat them like they are candy.  We just keep them in a bowl on the kitchen and counter and every time we walk by we all grab a handful!

The above pictures show what was left the next morning!

 The garden was really starting to produce in these pictures. Look at those squash and zucchini! We love to eat those roasted in the oven with an onion and olive oil.

Look what Oney and I found when we went to pick Dassy's garden one day! The kids are great "pickers". Oney picked that monster zuchinni to feed to his rabbitt he has been trying to catch!

WOW!

Believe it or not...we ate every last one!

One of our favorite summertime meals...BLT's.

Another "Dassy" favorite...skillet potatoes. No she didn't grow the potatoes, she just created the recipe!

WATERSPORTS …Anyone?

I know that I have included SOME of these pictures in other posts maybe, but I thought I should dedicate one entire post (because I have 3000 pictures on my computer) to the cause! Everyone likes to show off their stuff…yes, even the overweight, overindulged, overgrown, Daddies!

Hats off to the Dads…and to the best puller in the world (ME)! Who else could get these three up behind one boat all at the same time???

DADS

One word comes to mind...HIT IT!!!

I wanted to HIT HIM!!!

The 3 Ring Circus...

And they are OFF...

They DID it...or should I say, I (Dana) DID it!

OOPS...not for long!

These are adorable, too…"MY" Boys…handsome, fun loving, charming and not a care in the world!

BOYS

Saving the best for last…THE Girls…stylish, impressive, talented, competitive, and gorgeous!

Did I mention the fact that Ally "Got back on the horse"! This was her first time to wake board this year since she broke her arm in February!

GIRLS

THE DOUBLE SKIING BUDDIES

Eric is pulling them both behind his boat, but Steven is skiing behind the wake of our boat!!!

Wanna see the Moms strut their stuff? Well, we would have to hire a photographer, a caretaker, a cook, a bartender, a lifeguard, a DJ, a maid, a trash collector, well you get the picture. The Moms are ALWAYS busy “doing” but I am going to try to get Katie, Kerry, Lori and I the next time we go…It will definitely be worth the wait!