Pensacola: Memorial Day Weekend!

For Memorial Day Weekend, we headed down to Pensacola to get away from the Altanta rain, and have some well-deserved R&R. As Anna's daycare was closed all week so that they can prepare the facility for Anna's jump from infant to toddler, we decided to make a vacation out of it and go see Omi and Grampallen in Florida, as well as see and hang out with some old friends. Below are some shots of the weekend (thanks to Angie for several of these).

Anna very excited to be at the beach - and about her cute PJs!

Allen and I headed out to Ft. Pickens, which had been closed since Hurricane Ivan (you may remember Ivan from such times as why we didn't have our wedding in Pensacola in '04), and they re-opened the road which was slightly flooded. We walked out on the point and got a shot or two of the view. No one had been out there for 4+ years.

We went out to the Gulf and hung out on the beach for a couple days (where I got burnt to a crisp - re-application of sunscreen is very important - apparently). Here is Anna playing with her bucket - she got very sandy, after finally warming up to the idea of actually touching sand.

Daddy getting Anna used to the ocean... you can see that she wants Mama badly here, as sand was one thing, but getting used to the ocean may take a little bit.

Anna happy to be on land with her Grampallen!

Mama and Anna taking stroll on the beach in the similar suits - too cute!

We enjoyed a nice get together with Abby and her boys Sullivan and Jack, as well as Angie and Allen's friends Rosie and Pete. Here, Anna is eating crackers before we all sat down for some mean crab cakes.

And lucky for Ash and I, we got a night out to ourselves, so we walked around downtown (Palifox) and enjoyed the sights and sunset. Here is the beautiful Ash herself.

And a quick shot of the two of us.

And just to leave on a cute note, here is the FlufferNutter with bedhead!!!

Anna Changes Her Mind on Swinging

Anna has revealed to us on more than one occasion her thoughts (dislikes) of certain things... these things at one point or another have included eating vegetables, taking baths, swinging, being told not to play in the dishwasher, playing with a certain black and white ball, and other various odd dislikes.

We believe we have overcome the taking of baths for the time being, where, in an interesting turn of events, she seems to not want to get out of the tub now. We also feel the black and white ball has changed to a 'playable' status. The veggies look like they'll just have to wait (fruit wins out every time), and we're pretty sure she'll always want to play in the dishwasher.

We were unsure about the swinging... every time she would get near one, or we would place her in one, she would express her dislike in the forms of high-pitched screeching and general tear-laden drama. So, this Mother's Day, we decided to go for it again... and apparently, Anna felt giving Mommy the gift of having fun while swinging was the way to go. So, we now have a little girl who likes to swing (for the time being)! Here are shots of the happiness (Mommy and Daddy couldn't be happier either)! Enjoy.

Anna Cuteness

Wanted to share some recent Anna pics from the iPhone...

While Mama was away working on the Swine Flu (on a Sunday!), Daddy Daycare was in full effect, so naturally, we went to Arby's for some lunch due to Dadu's inability to cook really anything (and we were running errands). So this is Anna enjoying some Popcorn Chicken.

Look at those eyes!

And while Mama was also working crazy hours over the past week, Dadu got a chance to pick up Anna from Daycare (not the norm unfortunately!)... and of course, at red lights, Dadu just had to make sure Anna's little eyes were protected!

And of course, bath night is (finally) a fun night in the Fowlkes house... it took some doing, but Anna has come around... but we must prepare with a pre-bath mohawk!

So hopefully that gives you your daily Anna cuteness fix!

Back in Action

The house is feeling a little better these days, so I thought I'd share some more recent pics from Jep & Shelley's wedding in Gainesville, GA. Check over on T&E's blog from some more images... fun was had by all and it was great seeing the family.

Jep and Brinkley dancing.

Anna and Carter playing with the landscaping at the wedding site.

Fevers and Swine..s

This week has been a tough one. As I am coming off the worst days of being sick last week, Anna is in the middle of it, and Ashley is at the beginning. On top of that, Ash is investigating the Swine Flu outbreak cases and I am working from home and running Daddy Day Care as normal daycare rejects little girls with high temperatures.

Promise we will be back in action and have more fun posts soon!

Easter weekend with Omi and Grampallen

For Easter weekend and my mom's birthday, she and Allen headed up to 'lanter for a visit. These pictures are from their camera, so naturally, you will not find any in which my mom actually appears. They took Anna out for the day on Friday, while mommy and daddy worked away. Though they had to do a bit of rain dodging, they managed to have a wonderful day with Nanner.

One of my favorite faces she makes caught on camera!
My little princess in her pj's.
Mommy trying to convey the concept of smelling flowers, though flowers with scent would probably help the process. Easter cupcake.....she still won't tear in like her baby brethren. It seems that, like daddy, she's "tidy".

Aquarium and Easter!

Last weekend, we decided to take advantage of our yearly pass to the Aquarium and take a trip to see the fishies! Anna loves to watch them swim around, and as she gets older, is starting to really give us a sense of her favorites... she loves the tropical fish area, as well as the glowing jellyfish. Here are a few shots from inside:

Anna and Mama checking out the sights

Anna finds a fish she likes!

Whale Shark!

And this past weekend, as we know was Passover/Easter. On Thursday, we went to a Seder with our neighbors/friends Lee and Felicia at a friend of their's house. It was a large group and we enjoyed really good food and really great company. Anna did pretty well, only outbursting a few times with 'BAH!' during the prayer reading.

And then on Sunday, it was Easter. Angie and Allen were in town, so we had a nice Easter breakfast, where Anna got some special treats, including a cake/icing/coconut egg thingy that she seemed to enjoy (eating and getting on her face). Here are a couple shots:

Easter breakfast

Eating the cake/icing/coconut/egg thingy.

And then Sunday afternoon we headed up to Nonna and Cart-Cart's for some fun in the park... we had a good time playing on the playground and Anna actually wore her sunglasses for a short time!

Random Anna Video!

Wanted to share a quick video of Anna over the last couple of months. In this clip, Anna walks with her Cart-Cart on the beach at St. George Island, shows her manners at the dinner table (with a little direction from Dad), and plays the best game in the world at that age (peek-a-boo).

Note: the peek-a-boo game had been happening for about 5 minutes before I got the camera, and ended about 10 minutes after I stopped recording. If you have kids, you know what I'm talking about.

Enjoy!

Orlando

Before Ash galavanted off to Spain for a week, we were in Orlando enjoying baseball and steaks (Dad, Thomas and I), as well as Theme Parks and the pool (Ash, Anna, Eli and Carter).

Wanted to share some photos of Braves Spring Training. My brother and I got many-a-batting practice home run ball, as well as some select autographs. The access to the players is really cool down there.

Here are some shots from the 1st day:

Dale Murphy's autograph! (he was on site as a goodwill ambassador for the Braves as well as a broadcaster for a few games - he mentioned to Thomas and I that broadcasting is tough because he runs out of things to say by the third inning!)

Chipper Jones autograph - Thomas scored this one on the first day - we used the batting practice home run balls for the signatures... just seemed appropriate!

Here is a shot of Frank Wren (Braves General Manager) - he was seated a couple rows in front of us for all three games - he chatted to the scouts that sit in that section, as well as took many notes about Braves and other teams' players. Coolest thing I saw out of him was when Braves prospect Jason Heyward leaped and caught a would-be home run ball at the fence, he looked back at the scout behind and simply said, 'Wow.' Love that stuff.

Pops and half of Thomas.

The view from our seats- only night game we saw.

We had an absolute blast and can't wait to do it again next year... hoping the Braves do as well as they have done this Spring!

Here are some shots from the rest of the trip:

Shot of all the balls Dad, Thomas and I collected over the 3-day span. We got Major League, Minor League, Carolina League, International League, and even an '08 All-Star Game one that the Mets hitters were knocking around. I guess the Yankees let them use them?!

Yunel Escobar's autograph.

Tom Glavine's autograph.

Here is Glavine in the act!

And a shot of some of the boys heading onto the field - the tall dude in the back is Derek Lowe.

Go Braves!

Seville (apparently pronounced seh-veee-yaaahhhhh)

Since my Spanish is nonexistant, I'll take everyone's word for it.

I'll give details later, since right now I'm way too tired. But I thought I'd share some pics of Seville!! Miss everyone!

'gator bait

This is a picture from one of our outings to the GA Aquarium that I meant to post ages ago.

These alligators seem to be particularly interested in something...something in a snack size, perhaps? Seriously, every single alligator in the tank made a circle around Nanner.....all the people at the exhibit were highly amused, less one or two.
And, well, that's m'girl ;) She's picking something special for the piranha - and yes, I did have to check the spelling on piranha to see where the h actually goes. I don't think I've ever had to write that one.

From snow to shorts weather

...naturally, Park and I both have colds. But here's a couple of pics of our house from the snow. Anna was sick, so we didn't really get her out in the snow - she would have HATED it, anyway. She only recently decided that grass was ok.

Splat!

Every now and then we find Anna banana in some funny sleep positions. This time we couldn't resist sneaking into her room and taking a little snap. Best news of all, she didn't wake up from the flash OR the snickering parents :)