Up, Up and Away!

Week 23: Sorry for the delayed post....I got Halloween up and then forgot about the rest of the week! Once we finished all of the Halloween festivities, we switched gears to get ready for JB and Ashley's wedding! Ed and John Bay headed to Birmingham early Friday morning so that they could take Balba out to lunch to celebrate his birthday. Mary Virginia and I made our way to Birmingham by airplane! I love the fact that I didn't have to drive the 6 plus hours, but to quote Mary Virginia as we were sitting in the Charlotte Airport..."mom, it is dark and past bedtime, we could have been there if we had just driven." She was so excited to take her first flight, but by the time we got to Birmingham, she was over it! It will be a long time before she wants to fly again! We ran into a little trouble leaving Louisiana! Which I have since learned not to take the 6:30 Friday night Delta flight...it is usually delayed or canceled. Ours was delayed enough to make us miss our connector - along with everyone else on the flight - so we were rerouted to another airline, which meant we were Charlotte bound! MV was in good spirits the whole time, but the plane from Charlotte was full of Alabama and LSU fans which made for an interesting flight with a 6 year old! Most of the fans were well behaved and got a long surprisingly well...except for that one man in the back of the plane...

We had a great time visiting with friends and family in Birmingham and the wedding was amazing! My friend Becky did the flowers and they were beautiful (almost as pretty as the ones she did for our wedding)! The reception was held at a place that I have never heard of, Old Car Heaven. Check it out if you get a chance. I hope we have the chance to go back there sometime and actually look around - I would love to take my dad to look at all of the restored cars! The trip was way too quick - but we had fun visiting! I can't wait to be home again in a few weeks!

Halloween!

Let the Trick or Treating begin!

We started the festivities a day early....the kids wanted to go Trunk or Treating with our church. The church has purchased some property to build a new facility. They have somewhat of a pavilion in the middle of the property and this is where they have some of their gatherings. It was perfect for a night of Trunk or Treat! It was fun to see how creative everyone was with their cars and trucks and pumpkin carving. I am amazed at how much everyone decorated! The kids had a ball seeing their friends and getting a jump start on the candy!
Monday morning it was time for a little more Trunk or Treat...but at Mary Virginia's school! John Bay chose all of the decorations for the car and told me where to put them! We had fun hanging out at the school, meeting new friends and neighbors, and seeing all of the kids dressed up! John Bay had fun playing and handing out candy - he thought he was one of the big kids!

I guess he had a little too much candy!

Then we were ready for the big night! The girls from across the street went with Ed and the kids! I love how our neighborhood does trick or treat...everyone sits out in their driveways or on the sidewalks and then kids just go up and down the street (it felt like being back on a military base). If no one is outside, they don't ring the doorbell. It made things so easy for Bandit! Will have to remember this for the future - from now on, you will find me outside with my bucket of candy!

Now, what do we do with all of this candy!

Cowgirls Rule!

Here we are with our Cowgirl Party! I wouldn't have expected anything else from Mary Virginia!

I am going to brag...I did make this cake and I am very proud...it actually looks like a boot!
The S'mores were the hit of the party! John Bay and I made these. I have a feeling that we will be having these at all of our family functions from now on! Get ready, they are yummy!
This is how the spread looked...Cowgirl Cake, S'mores, Trail Mix, Haystacks, and Gold Nuggets! The kids loved it!
To go along with the bounce house, we had a pony corral. The kids could rope the "pony" with the hula hoop lasso! Also a hit, but the kids decided it was more fun to ride the sawhorse pony than to try to rope it. They wanted to lasso each other instead!

The kids had fun playing in the bounce house and dressing up like cowboys and cowgirls!

And then it was time for cake and snacks

and the pinata!

(MV had some success)

(John Bay, not so much luck!)

Time to eat candy!

It was such a fun party. The only thing missing was a real horse!

A Pirate Party

John Bay couldn't decide between a Pirate Party or a Superhero Party. Finally, he decided that he could be a pirate on his birthday and a superhero for halloween! The best of both worlds!

It was a cold, wet and windy day at the park with friends, but we had fun!

John Bay wanted to share his super sliding skills by running and sliding down the wet ramps!

After a little playtime with his buddies...it was time for cupcakes and snacks!

We had pirate cakes, "walk the plank" cookies, fruit swords, Pirate's Booty (popcorn), and gold nuggets (gold fish). Be sure to check out JB's precious shirt that Allison made for him!

Then we played again! This time the boys decided to dress up in their pirate gear and jump on the play boat and give us their best "arrrrrg".

After a fun morning, we sent all the boys on their way with some pirate treasure and a new pirate sword!

And then it was time to do it again so that Mary Virginia and the girls across the street could help us celebrate!

It was too windy at the park to take a picture of all of the decorations, so maybe this will show you a little of what we did!

And then...time for more cupcakes!

A Week of Parties!

Week 22: Another crazy week in the lives of the Whatley family, but it was a week of fun and celebration! We started out the week with Girl Scouts. Mary Virginia was pinned with her Daisy pin on Tuesday! She was so excited to add a new treasure to her Girl Scout uniform! She also earned a few patches! (On a side note, thank you to everyone that made a purchase from the Fall Fundraiser - you are wonderful - she was excited to turn all of the orders in!) The girls saying the Girl Scout Pledge.

The Girl Scout Troop

And then the parties began...John Bay took cupcakes on Wednesday to celebrate his birthday - a little early, but then on Thursday he had a fall party at school (instead of a Halloween party). They were all told to dress wacky and of course, he wanted no part in this. He was happy in his birthday shirt and shorts while the rest of the class was dressed CRAZY! There were tutus, blue hair, mismatched clothes and so much more! Maybe next time he will want to dress up.

Mary Virginia had "Drug Free Week" at school this week. She dressed up each day - and was very excited not to wear her uniform! There was a red shirt day, camouflage day, school jersey day (the Auburn clothes did make an appearance), and jean day ("Be a "jean"ious, don't do drugs"). It was fun to see the kids all dressed up! She also had her first field trip on Friday! They went to the pumpkin patch. She was so excited, but not for the pumpkin patch, because she got to ride on a school bus! Typical kids!

Friday was also a big day for JB...His Birthday! After we had a yummy birthday breakfast of Micky Mouse pancakes, we headed to the park to set up for his birthday party, but he wanted to make a pit stop first. I asked him what he wanted for his birthday and he told me "all I want for my birthday is the cow jumped over the moon milk from Starbucks." I couldn't turn him down, so we made a quick stop! He is such a silly kid! We had a fun morning with friends at the playground (I will do another post with some party pictures - there are just too many for this post). Despite the freezing temperatures, the wind and the rain we had a great time!

By the afternoon, it was warm again and we headed out to the barn for Mary Virginia's riding lessons. This is how John Bay spends his time at the barn - climbing the stalls, yelling at the dogs and cats, and petting all of the horses!

Friday's lesson marked the 1 year point of MV riding horses! It was a big day for her too! She rode her favorite horse, Baily - and she jumped for the first time! I was so proud of her. She was not scared at all, she told me that all you have to do is hold on...like it was nothing! Something tells me that she is going to want bigger jumps very soon! (I think she ended up jumping 4 or 5 times)

And then on to the next party...Mary Virginia had a Cowgirl Party on Saturday (I will do another post for this later!) We had a great time celebrating with friends and neighbors! The kids loved the bounce in the backyard and all of our cowgirl fun!

It was such an overwhelming week that we waited for the family birthday celebrations and gifts until Sunday! After church we told the kids that they could pick any restaurant they wanted for the birthday lunch...they chose McDonald's. I should have known. We tried everything to get them to change their mind, so the other choice was Chick-fil-a..MV already knowing that they were closed and we wouldn't be able to go there. So the 3 and 6 year old birthday lunch was held at McDonald's! After a yummy, quick birthday meal we headed home to open the gift (a joint gift this year)! The kids got a trampoline - Mary Virginia has been asking for her very own "bounce house", so we thought this could be the next best thing!

We are embracing the Louisiana weather (warm all year long) and looking forward to many warm afternoons of playing in the backyard!
And then it was time for Trunk or Treat! Our church had their annual Trunk or Treat on Sunday night! We loved seeing our new friends and having a yummy dinner with a wonderful church family. We are so lucky to have found such a wonderful group of people! The kids were excited to dress up and start the warm up for Monday night Trick or Treating! (Look for our Halloween post coming up soon!)

Let The Birthday Celebrations Begin!

Week 21: Ed's Birthday Week! We had a fun week celebrating Ed's birthday! It was also a week of sick kiddos! Thankfully we are well now!

The kids helped plan for Ed's birthday dinner...they wanted "Ed's favorite food", tacos, and since his favorite color is green, we of course had to come up with green food - broccoli, salad, and mint oreo pie! What a crazy meal, but fun and memorable!

Mary Virginia had a good week at school. The Red Barn came this week. As much time as we spend at the barn and around animals - it was shocking to pull into the parking lot of the school and see a pony and cow grazing in the grass! The kids were able to go through this portable barn and play with ducklings, chicks, dogs, a cow, and the class favorite, the pony. I know I am missing some animals, but I think you get the picture! (I just wish I had pictures to post!)

We were all well by the weekend and it was time to show these tiger fans how to tailgate! We had a pregame lunch with some friends close to the stadium. I am not sure that the LSU fans knew what to do with us! Our friends live near campus, so we just set up our tailgate in the front yard...I don't think their neighbors expected to see a tent with Auburn gear, lots of orange, corn hole and more! (We had many strange looks and a few comments.) We had a great time with friends - too bad we couldn't pull our tigers through.

Just a quick note...we were so excited this week to meet a new friend. The Skippers welcomed their precious little boy on Monday. We were able to visit with them for a few minutes on Sunday and he is adorable and big sister is precious as always!

Look out...next week is all about BIRTHDAYS! (I may have to have multiple posts if I am not too exhausted!)

New Orleans Bound

Week 20: The kids made their first trip to New Orleans this week! We decided to take the kids to the aquarium even though they are happy enough going to the "Fish Store" (also known as Bass Pro Shop, which they think is the aquarium). It is always so much fun to watch their faces as they experience new places and try new things! Of course, as soon as we made it to New Orleans, everyone was "starving". In the spirit of giving the kids a whole day of new experiences...we ate lunch at Bubba Gump Shrimp Company. They thought it was so funny...all of the signs, the pictures, the boat gear, and the ping pong paddles. I think they were most excited that their lunches came in paper shrimp boats! We were able to sit outside and enjoy the cooler Louisiana weather (I think it was about 80 degrees). John Bay loved playing with the license plates to get our waiter's attention!

After a walk down Decatur Street and then along the river, we arrived at the Aquarium of the Americas. We loved all of the exhibits, but I will try to touch on a few of our favorites...

I wish I could have gotten a picture of the kids walking through the tunnel where the fish were swimming around you...they couldn't stop long enough to pose for a picture! Maybe we can try again next time.

The Amazon experience:

Even more than looking at the animals and the anaconda....the kids loved running through the rain forest more than looking around. They climbed all over the rocks and around the waterfall.

My personal favorite was the penguins. It is like they knew what was going on...as you stepped up to watch the penguins they would look at you, dive in and then swim up to the glass to see you! They were coming up to visit MV...

Before arriving at the Aquarium, I was most excited about seeing the new parakeet exhibit, where you can walk in with feeding seats and the birds will land on you and eat from your hand. Before walking in MV let me know she was not interested in feeding them and after walking in, they both couldn't wait to get out...they both said that the birds made too much noise - it was just too loud, but it was amazing!

And then there were the touch pools - MV and Ed played with the stingrays! JB didn't like getting wet...
Then it was time for the sharks...

There was a 400,000 gallon Gulf of Mexico Exhibit, where we saw sharks, red snapper, tuna, tarpon, sea turtles, sting rays and so much more! I think this was the most relaxing area - to just sit and watch...

It was a full, fun day...what goes better with that than beignets! While waiting for our beignets, the kids were treated with another experience and I don't mean the street performers in Jackson Square...the "Occupy Wall Street" protest passed by - I don't think the kids had a clue what was going on, except that they got to see policemen on horses!

After a long wait in line and even longer wait for our treats...

John Bay wanted nothing to do with the beignets - he was good with chocolate milk!

Mary Virginia on the other hand loved it all!

We all loved our day in New Orleans and we can't wait to take the kids back!