A Perfect Weekend at Home

We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful weekend.....Friday and Saturday were perfect for some pretty fall pictures....of course I had to pay Zaid, the little entrepreneur. The more I think about it, the more he does remind me of my sister Tanya. As a child, I would have gladly gone outside for some pictures. It would have been World War 2 to get Tan out there and in the end my parents would have had to pay her. Strange that a child that lives so far from his Aunt can act so much like her......it's a good thing I love her or it might pose a problem. We all played basketball, Tamer lost his wedding ring in the leaves and the FOUND it the next day, we watched UP! (a tear jerker), played in the leaves, took walks, cooked at home and just generally had a relaxing and fun weekend.

Zaid has one of his best friends over on Saturday. They had not had a play date in awhile. I couldn't help but to watch them as they interacted with each other. These two look like they will be friends for a long time.....

Autumn in Kentucky

My Mom, Step Dad, and sisters Tanya and Ashley came for a visit in October. It was wonderful getting to spend so much time with everyone. Each morning, my sister Tanya would make homemade biscuits and Zaid would help her. He loves his Nana, except for now she is called Aunt Tanya because well, as Zaid anaylzes: that is her name!
No trip would be complete without a trip to Jackson's Orchard during their fall festival. It was a cold, cold day but everyone seemed to keep warm enough! Except for maybe Tamer, he had forgotten his jacket. We had a yummy lunch of hot dogs, chips and hot apple cider. Jackson's has the best apple pies with ice cream and caramel apples for dessert. A visit inside the store produced the most delcious apples! Afterwards a hayride and a trip to the apple cider slide made our trip complete!

1st Day of 3rd Grade

Last Wednesday, my sweet little baby started the 3rd Grade. :-(
He said his teacher was really nice and he enjoyed the first day. The teacher brought them pepperoni and crackers. He talked about that a lot. :-)

This is his last year in this school. So therefore, he's the biggest fish in this pond this year. He's got this covered!!!!! ;-)

Chateau Elan

Tamer's parents live really close to Chateau Elan ~ a winery. We decided to go on the tour this year. I thought it was just a wine tasting, no ~ no, it was a ONE hour tour of the winery! :-) What then to do with all this knowledge of the winery and wine making?

I think that Paddy's looks like a perfect little place to hang out on a Friday night. Too bad we don't live closer. :-(

Tasty Fruit

Looks like what your Mama always told you is true: How do you know you won't like it, if you don't try it? Zaid and I love figs!!!!! They have a light, delicate taste. We went out yesterday evening to pick figs from Nona's tree. Zaid had already learned what figs he could pick from his Nona that morning so he was rather bossy about which ones we could pick. Notice him pointing for us........yea, get a ladder Zaid! :-)

Holiday World

We finally made it to the tourist spot known as HOLIDAY WORLD. We hear those commericals ALL the time.......and guess what????? It lived up to the commericals and its reputation. It was clean, family friendly and fun. 3 outta 3 ain't bad. Zaid rode his first real roller coaster known as the Raven. He did not scream that much at all........I don't think. But what do I know? I kept my eyes TIGHTLY shut and tried not to think about it. The wooden roller coasters were not as bad as those huge Six Flags monstrasties though.......Ashley and I rode one roller coaster that a scream became frozen on my throat ~ I was having a hard time breathing. :-) But it was FUN! They all pulled me on the Pilgrim's Plunge, the world's tallest water slide. Going up was the worst of that one. Zaid had been waiting to ride on that one for awhile. He enjoyed it so much that he wanted to ride it again. All of the rest of us were cold and wet though because the temperatures never rose much out of the 70s. Ashley and I did however join Zaid at the water park portion of Holiday World. Just thinking about it makes me cold now!!!!! Zaid loves those water slides.......we prefered the lazy river ~ we did get on this cool water slide ~ four of you can into a boat and they send you down. Watch out if you are backwards because it is pretty scary then. I didn't believe Ash (her face was white and looked so scared!)~ until it was my turn to be backwards ~ then she got to see my white face! We got on this smallish train ~ the first park ride and it is still in service. All four of us were trying to squish in. My leg was hanging off.....Ash got so tickled....I couldn't stop laughing. I kept trying to find a place to put that one leg.....I picked it up in case the ride took off. Then I finally found a spot amist all the tangle and jangle of legs and feet. It was contorted into this odd position until the end of the ride. I never got to put my heel down.

Girl's Night Out

Saturday ~ it was my sister, Ashley's last night in town so we had Girl's Night Out.

Super-delicious meal @ the Cheesecake Factory. We dined outside and watched the sunset. The weather was spectacular ~ a perfect evening.

Just an ordinary day ~ but extraordinary scenes. I LOVE SUMMER!!!!!!!!

Our First Tomato

We were able to pick our first tomato in late June! It feels so wonderful to grow your own vegetables. I gave the tomato a little photo shoot before we ate it. :-) Yum!

Best Buddies

Zaid and Kai are not only cousins ~ they are best buddies whenever we visit. They are practically inseparable. They play video games, swim, play computer and just use their very active imaginations when they get together. I loved taking those super sweet pictures of Kai hiding from the camera. He was having fun with it.

4th of July

Tamer came to Mississippi this weekend! I love getting visitors here. We spent one day doing what he wanted to do ~ bargain hunting at Dirt Cheap and Sno-Cones which is always lots of fun. My sister Tanya went with us on that excursion. Why does it always seems like such an exscursion to go out here? Country living I suppose.......

Happy Birthday America and Dustin!

It's always nice to be in Mississippi during holidays ~ getting to see all of my family in one spot. For summer holidays, we typically grill ~ swim ~ fireworks and lots of talking. My Mom was not feeling so well this weekend so I got to cook which was actually quite fun. I was so proud of my patriotic cake ~ my sister Kerry thought I should just throw the strawberries on and go with it ~ in the end however she loved it. Two random thoughts: I enjoy being outside more than anything and I see life in pictures.