The Olympic Spirit

After our visit just a couple of weeks ago to Olympic park in Atlanta, we were excited for the Olympics to start. Although Parker and Tinley weren't really sure what that meant, it surely must be exciting if they have a whole park about it in Atlanta.

On Friday, I was sure we must do something to celebrate the opening ceremony...so after a quick look in the pantry, I found some material we all agreed were suitable to make the Olympic Rings.

 

Vanilla wafers, icing, and random small packs of M&Ms left over from Easter...which presented a small problem with the ring that needed to be red (which we found in all red and pink pack from dare I say- Valentines!)  and black...I tried to substitute some brown sugar babies sure that it would be close enough...but Parker came through with some raisins!

Here is Parker with his USA spirit and crazy looking eyes. Apparently he was ready for the pictures to stop and eating to start.

Tinley's rings had a more "creative, pink and green" style.

Not sure you would have known what they were if I didn't tell you, but I guess they were yummy!

They may not have a long endurance for watching the Olympic Games, but they do know what those rings represent and they like to cheer for the USA. When Tinley sees the gymnastics, she says she can do that. Parker is still trying to figure out what he would do one day. My favorite part- hearing all the sweet stories and seeing the parents and families cheering on their athletes. If I were in charge we would need more gold medals and have lots more ties. Praying for mamas and daddies all over the world that are holding their breath for their "babies" the next couple of weeks!

Valued Customers

We had a great time this week with our many "customers"! Parker kept getting the word visitor mixed up with the word customer. He asked several times when our customers would be coming...or if we would have more customers. Hopefully he doesn't think they are paying us to visit:) We will have to work on that vocabulary a little bit...but we certainly do value our visitors! Amy and Lydia came Monday afternoon...we visited Erin and Claire many times...and Sheryl came up on Wednesday. What a fun few days of visiting. We made the most of it with lots of girl time (+ Parker), a visit to the Little Gym, Chuck E Cheese, fun splash park, pool, Discovery Place and hanging out here!

Happy Birthday to Claire! We had a great time hanging out with her and going to the park for pizza to celebrate!

Although it's fun going places, sometimes every day events are just as fun! Bath time is always better with two.

Amy asked Parker a little about Star Wars and they were instant movie buddies...Parker is now sure she needs to see all of them. 

 Pool Day!

How long can our little sprinkler last? 

Weeee!

The stage was the big hit this time at Discovery Place...

Look at these little stars!

Ta-Da! 

Getting in the groove!

This cowboy was pushing for a cowboy play, but not sure if his other performers understood the plot:)

All customers visitors have to say good-bye at some point! Hope to see you again soon!

One million fun...

In Parker language One Million Fun is pretty much the top notch of fun... When I was working on downloading these pictures, he asked what I was doing.I told him I was trying to tell about our trip to Atlanta. He says..."Oh, well it was one million fun...we played with Anna and Andrew, we went to the Aquarium,  and we went to Legoland!" (He then added and I got in trouble for being a little whiny a couple of times when I shouldn't...well honesty is the best policy). I agree we had a top notch trip and since I had no title yet...One Million fun it is!  Who couldn't have fun with some of our favorite people in a fabulous place!

From our first moments in town, the kids were excited to play with Anna...she thinks of everything fun for them!

Here is the hotel pool...this is kind of a strange picture of Parker but I liked the way it shows the buildings in the background.

The hot tub...always a favorite for Parker but the ladies are just soaking their feet.

On our first night, we took an exciting "city" adventure to the aquarium for their night hours.

A first trip on the Marta "train" was so exciting.

 We had a great time at the Aquarium...

We saw lots of beautiful and cool marine life...favorites including garden eels, whale sharks, and penguins.

We walked back though Olympic Park...found this statue of a man who helped start the Olympics.

Olympic Rings Fountain Show...

As if that wasn't enough fun, we headed to Legoland in the morning. I did not get good pictures here because my old camera doesn't do well with movement...which we had a lot of! Just so you can get the feel of all things lego, here are a few of the pictures.

Here is little Mini Land....all I can think of is how I can barely put together the 15 piece sets:)

Lots of pictures of the back of heads because they were too engaged in all the fun.

Parker enjoyed making his own Lego racer!

And if you know Tinley, you know how much she enjoyed the "pink" lego area..complete with a pink microphone for karaoke. Closest we found to something she knew was Jackson 5 ABC..She knows the ABC part!

Are we tired yet...not tired enough not to be really excited to play with Andrew!

Parker kept asking when he was coming back so they could wrestle...boys will be boys!

Some quick touch ups before we left...girls will be girls!

Andrew found a really cool fondue place that had a pirate atmosphere with one real live alligator named Pinnochio. It was too dark for most of my pictures to show up. I am going to keep this one of the great food and fondue experience so I can remind Parker when he is older that he didn't want this because he'd rather have a happy meal. I on the other hand am certainly old enough to appreciate all that yumminess!

Here are some random pictures of our last day. Shopping with a costume change, walking, big leaves for Parker's collection, quicker than planned park visit...and some exhausted kids. We had one last wrestling/dance party before saying our goodbyes...isn't that how everyone celebrates the end of a trip?

Thanks to Anna and Andrew for their love, fun, and patience for the Bullis family! We all love you!

PS- Happy Belated Birthday to Anna...July 13! Hope this is the happiest of years!

Turtle Joes...

Will never be the same.  Turtle Joes was the name of our beach house this past week on vacation. It's safe to say that house has held a lot of fun times for families, but after our 29 members, I'm sure it seems pretty quiet around there.  No more sounds of laughter, late night talking, cousin band practice, baby noises...and maybe even some small civilized disagreements over toys for those in the 13 and under crowd and spades for those in the 13 and older crowd. I'm sure it is going to be awfully dull with no sword fights, poker games, board games, pinatas, and yes even beach goers turned cows. Although we have many traditions that stay the same, every year adds new members and new adventures. It always seems such a fast week but by seeing how many pictures I have, I guess we did manage to fit in a couple BUNCH of fun things. I have so many pictures to sort thorough...but picked a few fun ones for now!