How is it already July 14th?!?!

Seriously, how is it already July 14th? It seems like yesterday was July 1. Needless to say I am a little behind in blogging, so here's what we've been up to.

The theme of the summer is "birthdays".... We've already celebrated 4 and still have two more to go. David's birthday was July 1st. We all celebrated with his favorite food, Mexican, and cupcakes made by the one and only Maddy.



Too excited about making cupcakes



Maddy's masterpiece... She wanted green frosting with sprinkles.



Daddy and Maddy blowing out candles

David's birthday celebration continued all weekend. Mimi and Poppi agreed to watch the girls for 4 nights while we went to Nashville for some grown-up time. We visited our best buds Ben and Elizabeth who live in Nashville. We played tennis, ate at great restaurants, went to the U2 concert at Vanderbilt, and partied at Taylor Swift's building. Seriously.

Our friends know someone that lives in the same building as Taylor Swift. That friend graciously hosted a 4th of July cookout at his building and we were invited. No sign of Taylor Swift but I kept looking for her, just in case... :-) It was a really swanky, nice building with amazing views of Nashville. But, can you believe it, I don't have any pictures. :-(  I took the camera but never got it out. Guess I felt like if I took pictures some undercover security guy might come out and escort me and my camera to a security office for questioning.

While we were gone Mimi celebrated her birthday on July 3rd. I told you we have a lot of birthday's to celebrate during the summer.

Our long weekend was wonderful and we were very eager to see the girls. There is nothing better than a hug from Maddy and Kate when you come home. Since then we've been swimming, playing with friends, and getting back into a routine.

But, I'll end this blog with the biggest news in our house... Grandaddy(aka my Dad) is going to London for the next several months to bid on a really exciting construction project. I won't go into a lot of detail about the project but I will say it's an amazing opportunity for him and our family. Should the company be awarded the project, Grandaddy and Nana will most likely relocate to London for a few years....

As excited and proud of him as I am, it has definitely caused me a little anxiety. I am a big time Daddy's girl and I already hate being 600 miles away from him so putting an ocean between us makes me nervous. But I see the silver lining in all of this... That's why I am already getting our passports in order. If they get this project I plan on spending a lot of time over there. Anyone who wants to tag along as our "nanny" should get their passports in order too. :-)

But seriously, I would appreciate it if you would keep my Dad, Allison, and the company in your prayers. It's a huge life changing opportunity that needs "divine direction." I'll update as needed here on the blog. Who knows "Bury Cute" could go international in the next year or so... :-) 



The birthday boy and his "ladies"...



I want a Barn.....

Seriously, I want an old barn...

Not to raise chickens, cows, or store a tractor in, but a barn to sell antiques and junk out of. Just like this....

Don't you just love the polka dot grain silo? And the hot pink bicycles out front? If you saw this from the side of the road wouldn't you stop and shop?  This is just one of the barns filled with antiques and flea market finds that I visited while in metro DC.

Every month the ladies at Flea Market Chicks hold a tag sale in the barn below, in Buckeystown MD (about 45 minutes from my dad's house).

It's so neat. The barn is two stories and has an adjacent building (shed) filled with furniture just waiting to be picked up and loved on by someone who still thinks it has potential. That's my favorite kind of furniture.

This is the only time I wish I had driven 12 hours to DC instead of fly. And isn't it ironic that most of time I visit DC, I drive. I could have filled my van up with all kinds of goodies just from this one building. Then I walked inside...

I couldn't get a very good picture because it was busy and filled to the ceiling with stuff. Just within the first two booths I could have bought a farmhouse table, patio dining set, and some really cool vintage metal lockers.

Then I walked upstairs. Even more great stuff. I have never been so inspired and frustrated all at the same time... :-)

Now the only downside is that it's an old barn, which means no air conditioning. I'll admit, it was kinda hot but I'd sweat it out any day to go back and shop there. I mean, who can't appreciate a beautiful crystal chandelier hung from the rafters of an old barn (no comment from any of the men that might read this blog)....

 As I mentioned at the beginning, these two barns are just tip of the iceberg when it comes to great junking and antiques in the metro DC area. So if anyone is interested in going on a road trip let me know... We just need an empty trailer, a babysitter, and cash. I know some people up there that would give us a place to sleep. :-)

Favorite Pictures from Granddaddy's Birthday

June 19th was Father's Day and Granddaddy's birthday. He could have chosen to do anything he wanted on his special day but he chose to stay at home and grill for his girls. These are a few of my favorite pictures from that day....

Maddy and Kate looking up at the "sprinkler"

Granddaddy loves to "build" things and his latest home project was the installation

of an outdoor shower below their deck. Seems kinda odd but the girls loved it.

The web album has complete pictures of the "shower".

 Seems like Granddaddy should be the one lying around under an umbrella, reading a book, but somehow Maddy ended up relaxing while he grilled lunch....

I love this picture... 

After lunch Granddaddy took the girls to the local park to play and ride the train. 

I wonder if this is the same look Maddy will have

 in 15 years when Kate is driving a real car?!?  

Yet another birthday cake that's not Maddy's but she figured 

out a way to make a wish and blow out the candles. 

And this is just cute...

None of these creatures belong on this couch.

But even Nana couldn't say no to that goofy grin. :-)

We had several more mini adventures during our visit so all of the pictures from our week in DC are included in the June web album below.

June Web Album

Potomac Riverboat Cruise

The Awakening Sculpture

By now most of you know that the girls and I went to DC last week. We were there for about a week and everyday we were there we went on some sort of adventure. Some of the places we went to were old and familiar to me but made new because I am now sharing them with my own children. And some of the places were new to me. We went to Washington Harbor and it was mix of new adventure and old adventure....

Washington Harbor was the starting point of our day long Potomac River adventure. The Harbor is new and has lots of cool places to eat and shop. What made it old and familiar is the famous sculpture, The Awakening. It was on display in East Potomac Park (I remember climbing on it as a child) but in 2008 it was sold and relocated to the new harbor. 

I think both Maddy and Kate were a little scared at first... I mean look at it. It's a sculpture of a huge metal giant coming out of the ground. Fear quickly turned into fascination and soon both girls were climbing all over it.



The Harbor is also home to the Peeps and Company store. Yes, I said Peeps, as in the delicious marshmallow chicks we all love or love to hate (depending on your taste for marshmallows). The whole store is filled with nothing but Peeps, Mike & Ikes, and Hot Tamales candy and official  merchandise. Anyone need a $20 Peeps water bottle?!?! Also, did you know that just as Buffalo wings come in varying degrees of "hotness" so do Hot Tamales?!? Crazy...

You may be wondering why would Peeps open a store in Washington DC? Every year the Washington Post newspaper holds a Peeps candy diorama contest.  The store displays some of the dioramas and it's walls are covered in Peep art. The picture at the bottom of this collage is just one of the dioramas entered in the Peep Show....

After Granddaddy purchased all of his girls a souvenir from the store we got back in the car and drove over to Old Town Alexandria to board a riverboat cruise of the Washington monuments. I've seen all of the monuments dozens of times before but never from a boat, plus we thought Maddy would love a boat ride.

The whole cruise took about 2 hours. An added bonus of the cruise was that we got to watch planes take off and land at Reagan National airport and we got a pretty good view of Granddaddy's latest building project, the future US Coast Guard headquarters. It was a nice way to spend a hot summer day. You know me, I took a ton of pictures so be sure to check out the web album below for more.

Web Album

Father's Day 2011

Last Thursday the girl's and I boarded a plane headed to Washington DC to surprise my Daddy, aka Grandaddy, for his birthday. His birthday fell on Father's Day this year so it was a double surprise. However, this meant David would be alone on Father's Day because he couldn't take a week off work at the last minute.

I know, I know, poor David alone on Father's Day. Don't worry too much, when he told guys at work that his wife and kids would be gone Father's Day weekend one coworker was jealous... As in "wait a minute, you got your wife and kids to leave you home alone on Father's Day?  That's awesome!" 

All joking aside, Maddy was worried about her Daddy not having a Father's Day party (as she called it) so last Wednesday we threw Daddy a surprise "Father's Day Dinner."  We picked up take out from David's favorite Mexican place and had all of his presents waiting for him when he came home from work. Every party has to have a theme and ours was "Ties" because Daddy wears a tie to work every day. Maddy and I made paper neck ties to wear at dinner and Maddy made her Daddy a very special neck tie card. It was the perfect Father's Day party!

And in case you are wondering...no we did not get David a tie for Father's Day. One of his gifts was this picture framed for his office.....

I think this would make a great advertisement for David's practice, but then again I may be biased. :-)

A lack of creativity...with a pinch of Cheeto dust and a girl with a tan!

I've recently taken some cute pictures of the girls but I've had a hard time sitting down to write a full blog post to go with them. Not sure why that is... I keep telling myself it's because I normally blog/write when Maddy is at school, now it's summer and she's home. I also keep telling myself it's because Kate is transitioning from baby who naps multiple times a day to a "one nap a day" toddler.

Both are valid reasons, but if I am honest with myself (and you) it's because I am in a creative rut... In other words, I am not feeling so creative right now. I've been "beating" myself up about it for a few weeks now, trying to fight it but I realized today that I need to stop fighting it. I need to stop worrying about it and just enjoy this time. I have no doubt that one day (soon) I'll wake up and my "mojo" will have returned and once again I'll feel compelled to blog/write lots (probably more than you'll care to read) but for now I am not going to force it... I am going to enjoy the summer, enjoy my girls, and blog/write when I feel like it.

But what about the pictures I mentioned earlier?!?

Do you honestly think I wouldn't share them... I know most of you are only interested in pictures.

I don't blame you, they are pretty cute. :-)

 Zack and Kate are sharing an afternoon snack of Cheetos.

Look how sweet and patient Zack is being. He's such a sweet dog.

And notice how the "cheeto dust" around Kate's mouth accentuates her red hair.

On the last night of swimming I took my good camera to snap pictures of Maddy jumping off the diving board. Unfortunately this is the only picture I took. Right after this picture a thunderstorm rolled in and class was canceled. Typical summer weather for middle Georgia....

And look how tan Maddy is! Who knew my girl could get a tan.

She certainly didn't inherit that from my side of the family...

Happy Birthday Poppi

Yesterday was Poppi's birthday. He says he's at an age where from now on he's going to count backwards, not forwards in regards to his age. So out of respect, I'll say he celebrated his 36th birthday yesterday. :-)

All of the local family got together for a birthday celebration last night. We had a good time but of course Maddy's favorite part was dessert. She could hardly wait for cake and ice cream. As you can tell by the pictures, Maddy and Kate made sure that Poppi had "zero" chance of blowing his own candles out. And that was perfectly fine with him. He was content holding them and watching "his girls" have fun! What a sweet Poppi my girls have. :-)