Handsome man

Though I thought it impossible, my Hams (aka Sammy) has gotten even cuter this week with the first official haircut.  His "do" was starting to resemble a mullet, not completely sure of which variety, but he was well on his way to a "little mully".  So, I took it upon myself to do the one thing I thought I'd never do:  cut my own child's hair.  Alas, I was bored, and the mullet was a-callin'.


Before (Easter pics of the little man on a hunt - see T&E's blog)

After (Sammy is an avid reader, especially of Dora)

Stand back girls!  Sammy is gonna put a hurtin' on this world.  

Great Urban Race

This past weekend, I did the Great Urban Race, which made its way back to Atlanta in 2011 - http://greaturbanrace.com/ - It's basically The Amazing Race, but just around Atlanta where you are given 12 clues and you try to complete them all as quickly as possible, but only using public transportation and your feet. Some of the clues involved taking pictures of yourself doing things in certain places as proof (see below), and the race spanned from Buckhead to Midtown.

You are also allowed a 'home base crew' that can help you with directions/googling/clue solving, etc. Thanks to my brother Thomas and the rest of the LBi crew for their help. It was through my company and we raised money for St. Jude's so it was worth it regardless. The time limit was 5 hours and I'm happy to say we (my partner Tad and I) made it in around 3 hours 50 minutes.

See the Facebook page for more details.

Here are some shots we took:

LBi had 3 teams: Tad and I (Vatican Warlock Assassins), Mary Ellen and Chelsea (Lean Mean Scavenger Machine) and Michael and Christina (Crop Dusters). Pre-Race.

Clue: Take a photo with both team members giving a high five to someone in uniform.

Clue: Take a photo of both team members with someone who has at least two visible tattoos.
Clue: Take a photo of both team members in from of LW Chocolatier in Buckhead feeding each other a treat.

Clue: One team member make a paper airplane and the other have it and in the middle of the designated target - if you don't get it within three tries, take a photo of both team members in front of the Chipotle sign looking sad.

Clue: take a photo of both team members in front of wherever this Eagle is (ending up being at the Federal Reserve building on 10th) doing what the Eagle is doing.It was a lot of fun, but we were very sore after... hope to do it next year too!

Spring training trip

We made our annual trek to Orlando week before last.  While we didn't get to see everyone and everything we wanted, we came really frappin close!

Braves game

Disney World

 Seaworld

 Anna was not happy with the volume of the show...

Mimi and Gampa time

Not pictured here would be the meals, which included steak, hibachi steak, bbq ribs and finally one night of home cookin!

seaweed salad eatin' kids!

Yep, it's true. Both of my picky eaters LOVE to eat seaweed salad. We took them out for sushi last night (they get fried rice, we get sushi) and Anna got mad at Sammy because he was getting too much of the seaweed.  Anna is also coming along nicely in her chopsticking abilities, and am being serious when I say that Sammy is on his way as well!

Long Time, No See

Hello everyone,

Needless to say, we have been very slack on blog postings... just a lot happening over the last few months and little time to document it... wanted to share a slew of pics we've captured over the past few months.

Enjoy!

Anna at the toy store - the maestro!

Ash and Anna reading Llama Llama Red Pajama, one of Anna's favorites!

Daddy got Anna a Spiderman shirt - she is a big fan!

Park went to NY for a work trip.

Super Sammy at the Aquarium!

More Sammy cuteness!

Anna watching her favorite movie: Beauty and the Beast - this is regular occurrence.

Nekkid

So it was just too perfect. Happened to have the camera rolling, and boom, there she was, naked as a jaybird.

Anna's One-Woman Show

We just let the camera roll. We're not sure what a 'Morning Does' or 'Mocking Does' is, but we found it extremely amusing. I think she may have a career on stage.

Sammy's Walking Evolution

Sammy started taking some steps recently, but he didn't just start walking. Sometimes you have to go through iterations to get it right. We've captured some video of Sammy's walking evolution. Enjoy!

Anna's trip to the Fire Station

A few weeks ago, Anna's daycare class went to visit the nearby fire station on Clifton Road. Daddy got to chaperone and we had a blast. The firefighters demonstrated putting on their gear (so the kids wouldn't be afraid whenever they may seen them), we got a tour of the trucks and EMS vehicle and we also took a tour of the station (sleeping quarters, kitchen and common area).

Anna's first trip to the station didn't fare so well, as she didn't want to get on or in any of the vehicles and generally was fussy according to her teachers. This time, I like to think Daddy being there made it a bit better. She was much more open to the experience and the teachers were happy to see her getting in the vehicles with the other kids. Here are some shots of her that day:

Sitting with some pals on a bench in front of the station. They made the t-shirts in class to wear to the station... Anna's room is the Laurel Room.

The demonstration: the firefighter was on his knees as to not intimidate the kiddos. One of the firefighters helping Anna into the firetruck... this was a big step for her... she loved it inside! One of Anna's teachers (Ms. Lisa) with the fire hat on - the kids loved it. All the kids loved the gadgets.. Anna, being one of the taller children, was able to touch the main water hose thingy.

Recent Happenings

Hello everyone! We know it's been a while since we posted, but we have been really busy with Ashley traveling on site visits for work to Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Tampa to name a few. That means a Daddy Day Care marathon, although I did tag along to L.A. for a nice vacation (separate post coming!). We've been busy with the kids with help from the Grandparents and family, so we wanted to put a few pictures of the past month or so:

Anna with her Cart-Cart (who is prone to give Anna cookies when asked - in fact, he's prone to give Anna anything when asked).

Anna, Ash and Omi at the zoo on the train!
Daddy and Sammy

Sammy is very close to walking (he's taken 4 unassisted steps - video to come). Here he is pushing his big sister in the shopping cart.

At the toddler park in Decatur - taking a ride in the wagon!

Violet came down and joined in the fun!

Our girl!

At the kids fountain at the Atlanta Botanical Garden.

Anna loves to slide down head first.

Up in Sky Valley at Paw Paw and Nonee's - here's Oliver getting a good Sammy head lick.

Anna feeding her little brother Spaghetti-Os...

...and the result.

We mini-celebrated Ash's birthday early!

Promise there will be more coming... we ARE still alive!