Parkarazzi

Atlanta has been a great place to film movies for a while and as the engineering company in my building moved out, there were about 3 floors that became available in the office park where I work.  Two film production offices from Hollywood moved on in - the movies are being shot here and are in pre-production.

One is Neighborhood Watch starring Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn among others - directed by Akiva Schaffer (of Lonely Island fame).  And the other is Parental Guidance with Billy Crystal and Bette Midler.

Showcasing my TMZ-worthy paparazzi stylings (iPhone camera from my 4th floor window overlooking the parking lot), I snapped a few shots of the only stars I've seen - Vince Vaughn and the aforementioned Akiva Schaffer.  A lot of Cadillac Escalades and wardrobe trucks around, as well as some co-worker elevator rides with Ben Stiller.  No signs of Bette Midler yet.

Vince and his assistants

Director Akiva Schaffer

Sammy's 2nd birthday & other October events

My little man is TWO!  I seriously can't believe how quickly these things happen.  We celebrated with lots of friends and loved ones at a nearby playground.  Luckily the weather cooperated, though a bit chilly, so we were still able overload all the little ones on sugar.  Thanks to Aunt Eli, we have some photos of the event, since my camera battery was out (sigh).  There should be more pix to come from one of Sammy's friends' moms.  Stay tuned, and I'll post them on the soon-side.  

Daddy arranging the birthday hat and Maia focused on her cupcake.

Getting ready to sing!

Anna, Carter and Violet (it's sorta dark, but that's Alessandra and Sophie on the right - Sophie's birthday was this week, too)

A very modern goatee - he's so down

Little drummer boy loving his present from Cart Cart

Earlier this month, the Fowlkes clan had our annual outing to the Washington Farms pumpkin patch.  This is the most fun farm ever, complete with corn troughs, cow tractor trains, swings, giant rocking chairs, pig races, FOOD, funky slides, etc.  Needless to say, the kids napped WELL on the way home.  Aunt Eli put together an awesome slide show from the day.

Just a random pic of baby John.

Park and me in Boston Commons - Oh yeah! Mommy and Daddy get a vacay courtesy of your tax dollars!!!

Some recent photos of the kids

Where will Ashley be this week?

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Cookie Monster

Gwinnet Braves game

A Fowlkes-filled afternoon!  Though Anna did not appreciate the noise and we spent a considerable amount of the game in the restaurant, we managed to squeeze in some fun fowlkes family time.  The highlight was the moment that will be burned in my memory forever.  We're standing on a hillside and I, in a moment of true idiocy did not lock the stroller, and then turned away while talking.  All I remember is that in a split second, Elizabeth's face went white and she was suddenly running down the hill after Anna in her stroller.  More than worth note that Elizabeth is 9 months pregnant, no less.  Fortunately, there was a fence not too far down and Anna was unhurt after crashing into it.  Definitely one of those "I'm the worst mother in the world" moments.

The rest of the afternoon was smooth by comparison.  Here is one of the only pictures I took:  an incredibly sweet one of Cart Cart, Park and Anna.

More pix taken by Elizabeth-sorry, she was too busy to film the chase down the hill.

Photos by Anna

I would like to share a few selections from our budding photographer's portfolio.

more from LA-LA-land

Paradise-esque house where we stayed.

 I've never been so enamored with a staircase.

 Getty museum

 Extreme cuteness at the Getty

 Tickle Tickle!

 Aunt Leigh read to a very ecstatic Anna and Sammy.

 Anna's favorite finding on Venice Beach.

 Last night in town at Leigh's (Clayton, Jeffrey and Greg)

No June gloom here

As it is June 30th and I am determined NOT to have a whole month go by without a post, here is a little catch up from June.  So, yes, many of our nights are spent watching So You Think You Can Dance in this first summer month, but otherwise, I don't think I've sat in one place for longer than 10 minutes (with one fabulous exception -- there will be a mama in miami post).

June began with a blast! We took our brood on their first airplane trip to Los Angeles. I could probably fill a whole post with just that, but needless to say, we made it, and it wasn't actually all that bad (ask Park about changing Sammy in the "lavatory"). We went for the Austin Reunion 2012, celebrating Mimi's 90th (!!!) birthday, "Big" Allen's birthday, (quotes because "little" Allen is quite a bit taller than him) Jeffrey, Clayton and Allen's 18th birthday, and Jeffrey and Clayton's high school graduation.



Gorgious Leigh and her triplets Allen, Jeffrey and Clayton.

 Lovely ladies!  Mimi and Lynn

We finally met Emily!  Proud papa, Mark (aka Stubby)

 Anna was quite concerned with the cake allotments.

 The future...

Sammy had a blast opening and closing the door a million and four times.

Isn't my girl so sweet?

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!