The Big Ball, Take 2

Last Thanksgiving, Gram and Grandad surprised the boys and their cousins with a huge inflatable ball.  The ball is hollow inside, and meant for kids to climb into, and roll around in.  The boys loved it!! But they

tore it up wore it out in a hurry.  No worries--Grandad got the ball replaced for FREE, and this year, the kids get to do it all over again!  And they did!

Cole and Carter were visiting for Thanksgiving, so it was another jumbled up pile of boys rolling the ball all over the park.  They ran over each other, they ran away from whoever was in the ball, then they all piled inside and rolled and rolled and rolled, ending up in a tangle.  There was a lot of laughing and shrieking.

And a lot of energy spent.

LOTS of energy spent.

After a while, it was back home to a more sedate activity:  Making gingerbread houses.

Making gingerbread houses involved a degree of bickering, frustration, and annoyance.  So we cut it short.

But look how pretty they turned out!

Grandad is packing up the big ball and hopefully we will see it next year.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Snow Mountain Christmas

Thanksgiving week and the boys are on vacation.  So we spent a day going to Stone Mountain with Gram.  This time of the year, Stone Mountain moves into "Christmas Mode" with lots of shows, decorations, and a Christmas movie in their 4-D theater--a shortened version of the Polar Express.

And coming soon is SNOW Mountain, where the park creates piles of man-made snow and you can go sledding on it.  The boys want to go back for that!

I know I'm not exactly tall, but look--they are almost as big as me!  When did that happen?

In the background you can see the snow in the works!  (And the carving.)

Up to the top in the cable cars, then the usual running around on top of the mountain.

Having discovered the fence surrounding the viewing area, the boys love to go to it and stare out at the world below.

Sam needs a rest after all that.

  Oh, no!  Benny is sliding off the mountain!

Lunch was included with our tickets and we pigged out.  Now we're on our way to the Polar Express 4-D experience.

They have all kinds of holiday things tucked in around the park.

Because it was very warm and muggy, slushies were required.

After a little play time, a little shopping, and a ride in the train all the way around the mountain, it began to rain. Hard.  So we took off for home.  But first a quick picture of the pretty lights strung all over the buildings!

The Big TEN

 Benny, age 7.  Too cool for YOU, pal.

Benny's birthday!  And today he is TEN.  Double digits.  Fourth grade.  The whole nine yards.  He's a big kid now!

He wanted a family party at our house, and that's what he got.  After a dinner of Little Caeser's pizza (his current favorite,) we got down to business with presents and chocolate cake.  (Both are also favorites!)

I wonder what he wished for?

He asked for Legos this year and he got Legos!  Including a giant airport set he's been wanting for a long, long time.  He got to work straight away. He loves them and doesn't need a bit of help putting them together.  And I love to see them when he's done.

Happy Birthday, Benny!

Birthday!

Yesterday we had a birthday party for....well, ME.  The boys had been looking forward to it very much, and they were not disappointed.  (And of course, the same goes for me!)  We started off the evening by making these fun balloons.......

Benny made them and I helped a little.  (Sam was at soccer practice.)  Benny said, "we can use these as a centerpiece for the table because see the directions?  It says right here, "I make a great centerpiece!""  And it did. So there you have it!

Benny also took charge of decorating.  He did a fantastic job!

Like all great parties, there were good looking guys......

pizza.......

and CAKE!

And presents! Wonderful presents!

There were games, sticky plastic men we got to throw at the wall, pin the tail on the donkey, and time to relax and enjoy each other.

I felt very loved and very special.  Everyone was so thoughtful in so many ways, and made my bday a special event.

I have a great family and I'm very lucky!

Here's to another year!