Let's all go...down to the river!

Or actually, to the lake - the title here is just a little reminder to myself of my great grandmother, MurMur, who used to sing that song to us each time we crossed the river bridge in Macon. Anyway, this week, Austin's sister and her family visited and stayed here for their vacation. They spend a week each year up on Lake Sinclair, and we visit with them at least once. This year, Annah decided she wanted to try her hand at fishing.

Now keep in mind that Annah is very prissy, so actually TOUCHING the fish wasn't something she wanted to do. But she managed to catch two of them....nobody else can claim that! In fact, she's the only one that caught anything at all! And I have to admit that Annah has a very unique way of fishing.....

Best Friends

Annah frequently talks about her best friends; normally her little circle of "best friends" contains Mommy, Jonathan, Tatum (her little friend from school), and Bella. (I'm pretty sure I've mentioned Bella before - she's our half pit bull/half boxer mix that we rescued from animal control a year ago.) Today, Annah and best friend Bella planted themselves in the recliner, so I had to snap a photo to show off this close relationship.

You have to understand this dog...she came within a hair's breath of getting put to sleep; we literally rescued her from death's door. She spent the first couple of days as a yard dog, and Annah immediately loved her. As the days wore on, Austin (non dog-over that he is) actually suggested that we bring her inside, and she's been here ever since. She's excellent as a house dog; she was already house trained, already knew some tricks, and best of all, she let Jonathan and Annah climb on her back and ride her like a horse the first time they saw her. She's big and she's loud though, and she thinks she's a little lap dog - watch out if you come in our house, because she's probably going to jump on you, and may even knock you down. But she's just so GOOD with my children, especially Annah (you can frequently find her piled up in Annah's bed with her at night!). And she will protect us to the death - I have no doubts about that.

Anyway, they're so fun together....and best friends definately describes them.

Busier than a one legged man.....

It's been a while since I posted...almost a month. Wow...that never happens. Things have been busy though, so I'm going to give myself a break and just try to get back in the habit of writing more frequently. Let's see...where to start bringing things up to speed.

I left Milledgeville on May 30 for C.H.A.M.P.S. Instructor training. (That's Choosing Healthy Activities and Methods Promoting Safety, for you civilians out there!) It was held in Stockbridge, GA near the Georgia Sheriff's Association office, and was a two week training. That meant two weeks in a motel...kind of nice actually. It was quiet in the evenings; something I'm not used to. When the homework/studying was finished, I could turn on the TV and watch whatever I wanted, or nothing at all if I didn't want to. On the weekend between my two weeks of training, the family came up and we made another journey to Zoo Atlanta.

The zoo is always fun, but it was certainly hot. I didn't take nearly as many pictures as last visit, but got some good ones. Annah's favorite animal, of course, is the elephant. Matthew's is the monkey, and Jonathan's is the giraffe (at least this time!), so I took pictures of each of them with their favorite animal in the background....plus a few others.

After the zoo, we picnic'd in the van (it was actually very cool parked in the shade, and everyone ate well for once), then headed to a miniature golf course I'd found online in Conyers, GA. The name of it was Sherwood Family Fun, and it definately was! We played a round of minature golf, and Austin, Matthew, and Jonathan rode the go-carts. Annah wasn't quite big enough, and besides, I was a bit too nervous for her to ride anyway - she's such a delicate little thing and gets upset easily - so she and I watched from the sidelines. I was a tad nervous for everyone else too, as we saw someone crash as we were walking up to the go-carts...but I let them do it anyway!

After a big day out, the kids were anxious to get back to "mommy's motel" and go swimming, but when we arrived (after navigating some horrendous traffic!), the pool was empty! Turns out that they drain it once a month or so to give it a good cleaning, and that Saturday was the scheduled day. No worries though...Sunday morning brought about some fun in the pool (not fun in the sun, since the pool was indoors!).

After a morning of swimming, the family packed up and headed back to Milledgeville, and I got ready for another week of class. It really was an interesting course, and I met a lot of fun people from all over the state. We had our final presentations on Thursday, and all but one person made it. Thursday night we had a class get-together at Joe's Crab Shack, where everyone was allowed to order whatever they wanted. (Let me definately recommend the steampot if you ever get a chance to visit Joe's!) However, after an evening of great food and great company, I started having some pain and contractions, and headed off to the hospital, just to get checked out.

My contractions were showing up on the monitor, but they weren't hard enough to do anything. After deciding that I was probably just dehydrated, I was released and headed back to the motel for a few hours of sleep. I did manage to get a 26 week photo Thursday morning, although it's a really pitiful one.

I finished up my class on Friday morning, and headed back to Milledgeville. I picked the kids up from daycare and my mom brought Matthew back home, and we settled in for some Mommy time together.

The next afternoon, I filled up some water balloons and we went outside to play in the sprinkler (since the grass was freshly cut, I figured it could stand some water to help it grow!).

After the weekend, it was back to the old grindstone, and I had to get back to work and start preparing for Jr. Deputy Camp. So not a whole lot to report, but hey...the weekend is coming up!