Vacation (part 1 of 2)

After a long week at a trial out of town where I averaged 4 hours of sleep per night I got home last Thursday night exhausted and in much need of a break!  I begrudgingly went to work on Friday in an attempt to get through the pile of mail that had accumulated over 4 days of being gone and to review and sign the 800 letters my staff had generated for me.  I planned to leave at 3 to go home and pack but instead walked out at 6 satisfied that I had gotten through enough of the piles on my desk to leave for vacation and not walk back into the office for a week!

Thankfully mom was keeping the boys that day so she volunteered to bathe and feed them and then bring them home in time to go to bed.  I therefore rushed home from the office to pack us all up so we could leave early the next morning to head to Birmingham.

Goal Accomplished…We were in Birmingham by lunch time on Saturday.  We spent the afternoon swimming with G and Deeda in their pool and just playing at their house.  Deeda and Albi played golf in the scorching heat and G and I got last minute stuff ready for the trip to the lake. 

  

(popsicle brain freeze!)

The boys slept great that night which is not always the case when they are not in their own beds.  We all woke up rested and ready to get back in the car to drive 2 more hours to the lake.  We arrived well before lunch, changed into swimsuits, covered everyone in sunscreen and began the “lake experience!”

I have a million pictures from the vacation and will try to just post some of my favorites but let me first say Mac was extremely brave and was willing to jump off the dock diving board, ride the jet skis, and get pulled behind the boat on the poparazzi, the lulu, the screamer and the tube.  I saw him do a full 360 in the air after flying off the lulu and my sister in law said sheer panic crossed my face.  Mac popped right up out of the water at least 20 feet away from where Albi fell with a huge smile on his face saying “Uncle Shaw let’s go again and this time go a little faster!”

 

I think Copeland had as good of a time at the lake as the rest of us.  He loved wearing his floatie and swimming in the lake, but riding the boat appeared to be his all time favorite.  He would hang his head off the side like he was a dog and let the wind blow in his face.  On the last day he even got to go on a short ride on the jet ski!  (Don’t worry mom we didn’t go to fast and both Madeline and I were holding his life jacket tight!)  

A few more pictures and stories to come but for now I better get back to work.  the downfall of being out of the office for a week is the massive amount of catch up work I now have to do!  This will be a late night working but a week off with the boys is well worth it.  Plus a late productive night tonight will make my Monday at the office much better…I hope!

4th Birthday Party

I’ve been MIA for over a week due to work (see post Overworked) and then a family vacation which we are still in the middle of.  More on the family vacation soon, but first I want to finish Mac’s birthday week.

His party was the Saturday after his real birthday.  For many many reasons I was VERY happy that we had planned an indoor party this year.  In the past we have had a water wonderland in my mom’s yard.  It was always fun, but it was a lot of work and it was VERY hot!  A few months ago a friend told me that the local pet store has a party room that you can rent for birthday parties.  I knew immediately that this was perfect for my animal loving Mac!  I went to Petland and learned that for a small fee we could rent the party room, bring in any food and drinks that we wanted and Mac could pick out up to 10 animals to be brought in the room for the kids to play with.  PERFECT!  Party booked, invitations and thank you notes designed by my favorite paper designer Emily O. Holmes, and cupcake toppers and tags ordered from Etsy.

 

   

The morning of the party started with not just a little, but record breaking rainfall in Pensacola.  We got over 13 inches in less than 24 hours.  To say the streets were flooded was an understatement.  Albi was telling me that we needed to consider cancelling the party, but I knew Mac would be devastated and there was no other weekend for which to reschedule.  G and Deeda were on their way from Birmingham and Nana and Granddaddy had come in town the day before.  I heard from a few close friends throughout the day who promised to be there even if they had to swim.  I didn’t care if the party was all family and one or two friends…we were having it!

We got to Petland early so Mac could pick out the animals he wanted to come in the party room.  He immediately told the “party helper” that he was not picking any spiders or hamsters because his mommy would not like that…he was right!  While he picked his animals I set up!

Despite the weather the friends slowly trickled in and by 3:20 the room was full of people.  I have a feeling everyone was tired of being stuck in the house with their kids so they were willing to brave the flooded streets just to get out of the house! 

Mac with his grandmothers (Gigi, G, and Yaya) and great grandmother (Nana).

 

Everyone had to sit in a circle and listen to the “rules” to know what to do when the animals came in.  Copeland wanted to sit in the middle of the circle!  This was the beginning of the party and the friends kept slipping in wet but happy one by one until the room was full of kids! 

 

    

(Mac with his grandfathers (Papou and Deeda) and his great grandfather (Granddaddy Fred)).

I have to admit I was very skeptical about a birthday party at a pet store.  I kept thinking about how loud it was going to be with 20+ kids, their parents, siblings and various animals crammed in a party room.  I was also worried about dirt and germs.  This may sound silly coming form a mom of two boys but boys or no boys I can’t stand super loud, chaotic messiness.  I also have to admit that Albi and I are not the best animal people in the world.  We like “other people’s” pets but neither of us are pushing to get a pet of our own.  Mac definitely gets his love obsession with animals from the Swindle (Albi’s mom’s) side of the family!  The thought of being in a room with animals, food and lots of kids made me nervous panicked.  The party sounded a lot like unorganized chaos!

I was pleasantly surprised.  This was the quietest boy birthday party I have been to…ever.  This had a lot to with the animals.  One of the “rules” was to use quiet voices to keep from scaring the animals.  Also the kids couldn’t run around wild because they were too busy sitting in the circle waiting to hold each new animal.  Although I brought hand sanitizer with me, Petland had a huge thing of it on the wall and the kids had to use it between each animal that was brought in the room (another “rule”). 

I was shocked at how well they all listened, stayed relatively quiet, sat in the circle, and constantly used the hand sanitizer.  Lizards, snakes, birds, cats, bunnies, dogs, etc - Petland we will be back!