Fall at the Falls

Surprise for Sean

As an addendum to our trip to Atlanta, we battled rush hour and headed to Rome to surprise Sean at his high school's football game. We got to see him march & hear him play his trumpet. Sam enjoyed the opportunity to give the trumpet a blow too!

Fall break fun day

School's out, so we headed to out of town and to the big city.

Our first stop was Imagine It, the Atlanta Children's Museum. The boys came here a couple of summers ago and loved it. Jack has been asking to come back ever since.

Sam is obviously not interested in what that card has to say. The World of Coca-Cola was our next stop. The boys were so excited about the "Coke factory."

Ready for the 4D movie.

By far their favorite part was the tasting room.

Sam took full advantage of our once-in-a-lifetime open invitation to drink all he wanted. I'm pretty sure he drank a whole 20 oz worth of Coke.

Sam's first game day

We had some extra tickets to the Georgia vs. Vandy game and asked the boys if they'd like to join us, along with Josh's family at the game. Jack opted to play with his cousin Ian. Sam decided to root for the Dawgs.

The guys on gameday.

Ready for the fourth quarter.

His favorite part was probably playing with Sean's glasses. I think he liked the popcorn too!

Weekday Visitors

Grandmommy & Sean both had fall break the same week. They could have headed for the shore or trekked to the mountains. Thankfully, they decided to come and spend that week with us!

Grandaddy sharing a very long curly fry with Jack during lunch at school.

Jack's sweet teacher invited us to stay. Sean read a book to the class.

On Thursday, Sam skipped preK, and we all went shopping. These two were troopers. It was such a treat to have weekday visitors. While they were here the whole crew got to cheer on Sam & Jack at their soccer matches and visit the boys' Awana clubs. It was a fun, fun week!

Party for Pop

So thankful to celebrate this incredible guy we have affectionately named Pop.

Par for the course, we didn't have the appropriate number candles. So, the wrong numbers are better than no numbers, right? Especially if the numbers make you younger? Huh, dad?

Can you see what the boys gave Pop for his birthday? Battleship!

Maybe Dad's tricking us...

I'm sure you can't make it out, but #66's jersey says "GARRETT."

As Josh headed into the ER for a night shift, I took the boys to the local high school football game. I noticed a Raider with our last name. I pointed it out to the boys & asked Jack if he could make out the name. He read it & thought it was pretty cool. 

Sam had a different take: "Hey, maybe dad's tricking us! Maybe he's not at work. Maybe he's really playing for the Raiders!" 

Yes, Sam, probably so....

Spent

Can you tell where we spent our evening? As well as a small fortune?

School work snapshot

Check out the fourth line down from Jack's name & date.

Translation: "Girl who hates me" 

Hysterical!

Labor Day fun

Enjoying a ride on the train at Stone Mountain Park

Ready for the Laser Show with Sean.

All cozy before the show with Grandmommy.

No girls allowed?

Who doesn't love a good fireworks show?

Watch Mor Futbal

We had the opportunity to attend the Chick fil A Kickoff game this week. We had never taken both boys to a college football game before, but were thinking a game between two teams we don't really care a whole lot about would be a good chance to test the waters.

Sam tried his skill at the Fan Zone.

Jack did his best QB impression.

The free iced coffee samples weren't bad, in Jack's opinion. Sam, however, disagreed!

Doing our best impression of Rebel fans...Ole Miss is an SEC team, afterall!

The boys really enjoyed the tour of the Georgia Dome. Here are they are taking questions from the press in the media room.

Here they are showing a little excitement in the Press Box.

Finally, getting silly on the field!

Silly, but sweet boys!

My three favorite guys!

Josh with his name in lights. It went straight to his head!

A different point of view

To celebrate Sean's 14th birthday, we met family in Atlanta and enjoyed a different point of view.

Pre K

Then, this happened...on my birthday!

The Army fits his one qualification for future professions (you don't have to go to college.) 

First grade

So this happened...

He's upgraded his future profession to include inventor (as well as doctor, which has been on his mind for a while). He says he's going to be a pediatrician. I told him he'll be great at making little kids feel better. He's just looking forward to getting a skull & crossbones ring like his dad's.

MIA

So, I've been noticeably absent from the blog since late last year. In my defense, things have changed noticeably around here. The doors of Garrett Family Medicine opened on January 2, 2014, and we are officially self-employed. 

Sure, it's just seeing patients and helping them get better. While I didn't believe it would be that easy, I certainly didn't expect the learning curve ahead. 

While most things have settled down, it's still an adjustment for me. My responsibilities at the office are sometimes flexible and I really enjoy my time there because I truly believe we offer great care and really help people. Outside of that, it's hard to spring back into my role of full-time Mom. 

The balancing act is no joke. So, of course, the blog is one element that has taken a back seat. My hope is I'll be able to post date a bit and fill in some of the gaps, but the truth is when we're not working/managing the office, we're trying to enjoy this thing called life (whether I'm documenting it or not).

Thanks for being patient with me, friends. 

Great Outdoors

Friday afternoon we crossed family camping off the summer bucket list. It stormed off & on, so the camp site was wet & muddy. Probably even more perfect for a pair of excited, adventurous boys.

We made sure to create perfect s'mores, by any means necessary.

Nearby trails led to fun waterfall views & a thrill of exploration for Jack & Sam.

We capped off our night with Mad Libs by the fire, sparklers, bubbles & glow sticks. 

And despite the notice above, we managed to survive our adventure.