Atlanta trip!

We drove to Atlanta last week for my dad's birthday. We had a great time. We went down a day earlier than the rest of the extended family so that we could visit the Georgia Aquarium. We had a great time!

Ivy dancing for Uncle Craig and Daddy while we waited for the aquarium to open.

Once inside, we started with the rays - Ivy didn't want to touch one, but she liked watching them.

Next came the jelly fish tank. Ivy seemed to like them a lot.

Another tank full of pretty sea creatures...

Walking through the tunnel under the really big tank. This fish was a grouper. The aquarium man said he estimated it to weigh about 200 pounds and it wasn't one of the biggest groupers they have!

The large viewing window looking into the big tank. I could have sat there all day. This aquarium has 4 whale sharks - 2 males, 2 females. It was so beautiful - I've never seen so many fish - they are just amazing!

Ivy touching a sea anemone (sp?). Ivy touched several of these...maybe she wasn't as apprehensive because they didn't move??

Friday night, after the aquarium, we went out to dinner to celebrate my dad and his brother's 60th birthday. They wanted to go to Longhorn Steakhouse. This is Ivy waiting outside.

The birthday boys!! Colby is on the left, the "younger" twin. My dad, Jimmy is on the right. My dad is older by 5 minutes.

Saturday morning, we met my Dad and Uncle at Cracker Barrel for breakfast. Ivy really liked the hashbrown casserole.

Saturday afternoon we made a trip to the Ikea store in Atlanta. I've always heard great things about Ikea, but I've never been to a store before. I was overwhelmed at all that they had. And at how HUGE that store is.

And Saturday night, we went to an Atlanta Braves game. Ivy did much better than I thought she would. She actually had her own seat, so we had a little extra room for her to stand and move around. This is her doing the "tomahawk chop". She thought that was fun.

We got home late Sunday afternoon. We had a great time in Atlanta. We got to see Uncles and cousins that we haven't seen in a couple of years. I hope we go back again soon!

First off, I have to say "hello" to my Aunt Betty. My mom finally sent her the link to this blog. So now we have another family member checking in to see how Ivy is growing...

For those of you that read the last post, you know that Ivy got stung by a bee beside her left eye. You can see from the picture that it was a little swollen - not bad though.

I can't remember what morning this was, but Ivy had gotten up at 5:30 that morning!! She usually sleeps until 7:00 at the earliest. I think I snapped this picture at about 9:00 - she was so tired that she was laying on the kitchen floor!

We went to the Farmer's Market for Watermelon Day. Ivy wore one of her watermelon outfits (the one that I didn't mind getting soaked in watermelon juice!). We got to meet the Watermelon Queen and of course eat some watermelon.

Richard's 4x4 Club took some of their trucks to a local truck show so we went along to enjoy some of the warm weather and let Ivy play in some of the trucks. I think she liked this Hummer the best - it had LOTS of buttons to push. Ivy thought the cb was a phone...

Here is Ivy standing in front of a 54" tire. It is almost twice her size!!!

And finally, here are Richard's grandparents, Pop Pop and Grammy. Pop Pop was celebrating his 91st birthday! Happy Birthday Pop Pop!!

How can it be August already??

We (me and my mom) started out the month of August by driving to Hickory for the day. My Aunt was being surprised with a retirement party. Ivy had a great time, but I was worn out by the end of the day!

This is Ivy sitting in her Great-Great-Grandmother's rocking chair...

Ivy with my Aunt Betty and her husband Ray. Happy Retirement Aunt Betty!

Yummm...Eating some yogurt...

This is okra from two times of picking it...Sunday night and then again on Monday just before dinner. Our okra is still doing really well, as you can see :)

Ivy got a new (used) play house tonight. We found it on craigslist. She went with us to pick it up and didn't understand that when we left that the house was coming home with us. She was so upset, but as you can see, she cheered right up as soon as we got it unloaded...

The previous owners warned us about all the batteries we would go through with the house having a door bell. Ivy tried it out A LOT!!! The door bell is a big hit!

Such a classic "Ivy moment". She could not get enough of this house!

This is a video of Ivy playing in her new play house (sorry it's a little long)...

I let Ivy play until almost 8:00 because she was having so much fun. But 8:00 is her bed time and she was in desperate need of a bath, so this is what happened when I told her it was time to get ready for bed...

Almost forgot!! Ivy got stung by a bee today! We came up the front steps and Ivy has some toys on the front porch... I turned for just a second to look at the dogs and all of a sudden Ivy started screaming. When I turned to look at her, she was rubbing her face, right by her left eye. I rushed right over to her and the stinger was still there, but no bee. So , I got the stinger out and ran in and called the pediatrician. They said to give her Benedryl (which I didn't have) and then just watch her. Nothing really happened. Her eye is a little puffy and seemed tender to the touch. But I'm glad she didn't show any signs of a major bee sting allergy. I've never had to deal with this before, so I had no idea what to do. I just hope it doesn't happen again!! It was heartbreaking to see her in such distress... I would ask her if she was okay and she would say "nooo" and start bawling all over again!

Animal noises...

Richard took a half-day off work on Friday. We built Ivy a "fort" out of chairs and an old sheet. She really enjoyed playing in it.

Here is Ivy (in her fort) doing some of the animal sounds she knows. She always gets so shy when I get out the video camera - either that or she tries to grab it from me!!