Allister rolling her eyes

Down on the Farm

The Sweetwater Valley Dairy Farm, that is. Allister's Nanny and Pops Lowery and Cousin Maya were in East TN this last weekend, so we spent about a day and a half with them in Cleveland. It wouldn't have been complete with out a tour of a nearby dairy farm. My 7 year-old niece, immediately declared it "stinky" but we had a good time anyway--and bought some cheese and stuff. Maya was awesome with Allister, the ultimate big sis (she's got 2 little bros). When recalling our trip today, I reminded Allister how kind Maya was to read her stories, share her princess dolls, and then Allister said, "and gum!". Yes, Maya also shared her fruit stripes gum with her little cousin :)

Happy Birthday to Allison

Last week we had the Davises over to celebrate Allison's 32nd b-day. Allister was more than helpful in consuming the cupcakes.

Cochran Mill Park

Per our friend, William's recommendation, Allister and I visited this park about 40 miles outside of Atlanta. The nature center was awesome, but I'm afraid that I have somehow already instilled my deathly fear of snakes to Allister. They had an ENTIRE reptile room there, complete with a Burmese Python, a green tree snake, a small alligator in an open terrarium and lots, lots more--oh, and one friendly snake they labeled "Mr. Squeeze". Maybe my fear isn't completely unfounded.
We said hello to the birds of prey in the cages outside, fed the fish, geese and turtles in the small pond behind the nature center and took the short 1/2 mile hike to a nice little waterfall. Allister wasn't much up for the trip back, so I had to carry her back to the car.
Oh, and one more for the memory book: Allister stuffing her onesie full of rocks on the hike. Could be why she was so tired on the return trip...

Surprising Nanny LeBeau on her birthday

My mother was down in TN visiting my grandmother this week, and knowing that her birthday was on Saturday, I thought it might be a nice surprise to come up and pay a little visit. The trip was worth it, esp. the part of getting lost on the unmarked country roads that lead to my aunt's very secluded log cabin. The look on my mom's face was priceless.
I took the ladies out for lunch, we spent the afternoon in the Newport City Park and ended it with a visit to the local SuperWalmart where Allister nodded off to sleep several times. Allister's very fortunate to have her grandmother AND great grandmother around, and I'm glad we were able to get a picture with all 4 generations.

The Animals of Atlanta

Our visit to the Atlanta Aquarium was bittersweet. Our friends, Bob and Laura, are moving to Knoxville and on one of their last weekends in town took the Lowerys (courtesy of some complimentary passes from the TV network Laura works for) to see the fish. Allister wasn't feeling 100% that day, but still seemed to have a good time.
We also visited the Atlanta Zoo this past Thursday. A very educational week. Allister was convinced we would see a camel there, but we never did, and when her dad asked her what she saw at the zoo that day, the first word out of her mouth was "camel"!

Catching up--Easter 2009

Allister and I attended the big Easter Egg Hunt at our church on Easter weekend. It was slightly overcast and colder than we expected, but we both had a great time. She "hunted" (picked them up) eggs, road on a train, enjoyed the moon bounce and got to pet a bunny for the first time.

Allister playing in the birdbath

Play date with Sam

By participating in a Friday morning music class, we've gotten to know our friend, Sam, and his Nanny, Ingrid quite well. We've had a few playdates together, and here are some pictures from the latest. Kudos to Ingrid on making use of her photography classes!

the spicy chipotle kid

our new yard

A L L I S T E R

William was in town this weekend for a meeting and took a quick snapshot of Allister for us to use for her passport. Of course even William's "snapshots" end up looking genius.

Allister on Christmas Morning

I took a quick break from working to flip through some pictures from our winter vacation(s). I thought this one of Allister opening someone else's present was too good to not post.

ducks and inidan food.

Here's Rachel and Allister looking at ducks in the nature preserve near our house:

After all that duck watching, we were starving. We decided we deserved the Saturday special at Gokul Sweets (a really great Indian place). The food was too spicy for Allister, so she washed it down with a Frooti.

Are we the worst parents ever for taking our sick baby, still in her pjs, to stand in line at 7:30 a.m. for our free Steak 'n Shake for a year coupons? Maybe. Was it worth it? Most definitely. Look, she's smiling. I think it's the fries.