Georgia National Fair - 2019

We love the fair! After making it the last 3 years (click on 2016, 2017, 2018 - to see the cute kid age progression), the date totally slipped up on us and we nearly missed it this year.  I thought we could go Columbus Day, not realizing it closed down the day before Columbus Day (which makes no sense??) So Sunday morning we high-tailed it to Perry so we could get in on the last day. Fortunately the McLeods could meet up there, too, because it's not a Fair without JB's bestie!

The boys are big enough to ride a lot more rides this year.  They had armbands and stayed quite busy!  Sometimes their daddies joined them as well.

Maryn did not enjoy last year because of the face paint and costumes. Well, lo and behold our child actually asked to get her face painted this year!!  She looked adorable.

Although she did lose her mind when she saw some people in furry costumes.  She's such a quick thinker, and immediately opened her umbrella to block their view.

I won't even get into the total racket that is the Fair.  I swear, everywhere you turn there are places to spend money.  Takes a lot to get a frugal person like me to go along with it.  But as long as the kiddos have fun... :)

Wesley did not enjoy it so much, but it's to be expected with this age.  I think four is the magical age for the fair.  Before that it's just a lot of frustration for a two year old - all hot, confined, not able to run around.  Not able to ride much of anything, just watch your siblings have fun.  The emergency Paci had to be brought out multiple times that day.

Now, what Wesley really enjoyed: the animals!  He loved all the (stinky) livestock and the reptiles.

Oh, and the tractors.  We could have spent all morning just sitting on the tractors.

After we rode all the rides, played the games, ate our burgers and fries, and visited enough animals, it was time to leave. :( The boys have such a special friendship, and goodbyes are always so hard. But, the Fair comes back in 350 days!  And we'll be there!

Kindergarten Field Trip!

Kindergarten brings lots of "firsts", including first school fieldtrip and first time riding a bus!  Honestly the bus ride blew JB away. He's still talking about it. Especially how they didn't have to wear seatbelts (which I do not like to hear...)

Both the K and PreK classes headed to Green Acres Farm (a wonderful family owned farm that we first went to last year). The classes are small, so it was a very intimate trip. I took of a half day to attend, and Grammy came with us, too!  

The kids learned a lot of information about farming, even planting strawberries for the Spring.  The family encouraged them to come back around March to pick them. The whole process was fascinating, especially since the family plants 10s of thousands of those plants by hand around this time.

We learned more about peach trees, cotton and other general farming on a tractor ride around the perimeter.  The kids also got to play in the bouncy house, an obstacle course, a corn maze, AND play in the huge corn pit. That corn pit...it's always a favorite!  I've never seen dustier kids. :)

Quick lunch and the farm's homemade strawberry ice cream capped off the trip!  Such a fun day!

(Until their bus broke down and the kids got home 2 hours late, haha.  No one minded though.)

Celebrating TEN YEARS!

James and I celebrated ten years of marriage this September!  Honestly it felt like the anniversary got swept up (though of course not forgotten) in the excitement of birthdays, kids' birthday parties, one crazy month at work, then the Laurens County Handicapped Hunting Association's benefit dinner the actual night of our anniversary. (We celebrated by drinking Bud Lights and eating fried fish with 500 great folks, many wearing camo.) However, the things that we got caught up in are all the things I love most about our life that we're building (and what I am most proud of and grateful for!)

I can't believe it's been 10 years since our wedding day. True to life, it feels like a lifetime ago while also just yesterday.  I made videos about the day (ceremony and reception), and I still love to go back and watch these to remember the great time that we had.

And then the years that followed: one condo, then a house, a crazy dog, Jennie leaving consulting to join a client, couple of hard years praying for a baby, James starting a company, an MBA, a baby boy! a home sell/rental house, a baby girl! growing a company, a move to a new house in Middle Georgia (never in a million years would have predicted it), another baby boy!, and - last month - Jennie leaving her job and joining the company. Whirlwind.  I'm not even going to count all the cool places we visited along the way (Ireland, Scotland, London, Montreal, USVIs, BVIs, Hawaii, around 15 US states, multiple trips to the hippest city on the planet right now where we happened to start our adventure on September 26, 2009 - Waco, TX!)

Once this October rolled around and things settled down, we took some time to relax and celebrate - just the two of us - in Amelia Island, Florida.  Grammy and Gran Gran came to watch the kiddos, and our colleagues held down the fort at work.  We had a wonderful trip!  We did not over schedule our days, started each morning with a brisk walk on the beach, even did a few "non vacation-y" things that we don't get to do at home (e.g. go to the movies, get our flu shots, spend way too much money at Target, etc), but mostly just enjoyed each other's company as we talked about our 10 years of marriage and what we're most excited about in the years to come.  Work talk was relegated to visioning and planning discussions - nothing too tactical. Can't get much better than that. :)

A few pictures from our trip... mostly food, because the food was just that good!

Happy Anniversary, James!  Words cannot express what you, our family and our marriage means to me.  God has blessed us tremendously.

Love you more today than as a bride 10 years ago. Cheers to MANY MORE YEARS!!