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 :)

Anna's First Birthday Party!

NEW PHOTOS POSTED (see bottom)!

Yesterday, we celebrated Anna's 1st Birthday! Because her b-day falls on February 29, we've decided that we're going to celebrate the big day on the closest Saturday until she's able to have a say-so of her own!

We had a great time at the house with family, and captured some video that we want to share. She had a great time, as did the rest of us, so enjoy the show!!

Here are some shots of the birthday girl herself on the big day!

Mishbucha

A new word for me: mishbucha - meaning extended family. My cousin of some flavor through my mom, Harry, and his wife, Sherry, stopped in for a visit Tuesday night from Louisville, and selected our very own Annabanana for his half past seven project. Inspired by a similar project that was mentioned on NPR, Harry and some pals take a photo at 7:30 pm every day. So after a faboo dinner at Figo, Harry made this little snap.

If I did this correctly, then you can click the picture and see the larger view and other half past seven pictures.

We had a great time visiting with this pair. We only met for the first time at a family reunion in San Diego about 8 years ago. The reunion was to celebrate the 60th wedding anniversary of my grandmother's cousin, Sydel, to her wonderful husband, Sam. Sydel sadly passed on, but here is a hilarious pic of Sam with my mom's cousin's husband on an earlier 7:30 pic.

For those of you who don't know, my mom was an only child, so most of my relatives on that side are cousins. Well, needless to say, we met this side of the family and totally fell in love. Here's a great picture of Harry and Sherry that I stole from their website (see link to the right "Ramblings of an Incontinent mind!"). Their son lives very close to my mom in Pensacola, so they've been able to visit a bunch over the years on their way to see their gorgeous grandbaby.

Tiny dancer

OK, the sound is awful, but it's so cute I couldn't resist. I'm sure dadoo will take some professional grade video, but in the meantime, here's my tiny dancer!

Lukas' 1st birthday party

My friend Lenee's son just had his first birthday, and Anna was among the honored attendees. We learned that Anna likes hotdogs and Brunswick stew that day. She had some cupcake, but it's not like we didn't know already that cupcake would go over very very well.

There was much cuteness to be witnessed, especially when Lukas decided he didn't want his hands to be covered in icing anymore!

Piglet!

I don't think I was quite prepared for our little fluffernutter to have mommy's appetite! Thanks to Auntie Eli, we have photographic evidence.

Breaking News! Anna walks!

So, it seemed like just an ordinary night at the Fowlkes house... Thursday, dinner, food in hair, diaper changes, etc.

And then...it happened. Anna decided that today, Feburary 5th, around 7pm, she wanted to go for her first REAL walk. Her official and widely observed first steps occurred on Super Bowl Sunday, but this is her first stroll!!

After the initial shock and pride, we grabbed the video camera and caught our daughter walking...quite a moment for her and her parents. Decided to leave the soundtrack as is so you can hear Mama and Dadu's reactions.

Enjoy! We sure did.

St. George mementos

We celebrated the freezing temperatures in Atlanta and MLK holiday by getting out of Atlanta and heading to warm and sunny Florida. St. George Island, although not totally sunny and warm, was beautiful and just what the doctor ordered. We lounged around, played on the beach and generally had a great time with the fam.

Anna trying to start her career in photography by taking the camera from mommy.

Carter pulling Anna around the living room - too bad we couldn't get this on video, as Anna was laughing her hiney off! She LOVES her cousin!
And here we have Thomas and Park taking a house oyster shot. Yes, there was an oyster in the shot.
And here we see Thomas and Park regretting that decision.

Later games included can you eat 10 crackers in a minute? Uh, no is the answer.

Copyright Violations

So, I've been caught.

Twice now (Facebook and YouTube) my video of Anna Behind the Scenes at the mall after visiting Santa has been taken down due to a copyright violation of the song 'Foggy Mountain Breakdown' by Flatt & Scruggs.

Now, on YouTube, you can say 'well I am not making any money off this, it's a video of my daughter at the mall, it's a home video, no harm intended, sorry' and they'll usually let you keep it up. Facebook does not give you that option.

And neither does Flatt & Scruggs.. these guys are serious about protecting their music. Anyways, I re-edited the Anna behind the scenes video to another song, which hasn't hunted me down and informed me I've violated anything a this point.

All I know is, Anna is really cute, and the video could have no music and all would be fine, but it just adds that little something.

Blogspot has not notified me of anything yet, which is cool, but I may get a notice, so in that case, here is the video with new music.

Visitor from Nebraska

Last weekend my friend Grace escaped the bitter Nebraska winter for an Atlanta respite. We didn't see the sun once, but considering the weather was ~40 degrees warmer, I think it was OK. Grace is a friend from Malawi attending school in Nebraska. YIKES. Can you even imagine that transfer?

So we took her for a little tour of indoor Atlanta. Hopefully, we can bring her back in the spring for some actual southern sun...

Grace showing us how it's done in Malawi!

Outside of the aquarium with wee Carter.
Inside the tunnel!

Now this picture would be farther away if my arms were longer!

Anna Behind The Scenes!

As promised, the 'behind the scenes' footage of Anna at Phipps, following her first meeting with Santa, has arrived. She seemed to really like the mall..... uh-oh.

Enjoy!!