The Mechanical Gardens

On Wednesday, we headed to the "Mechnical (Botanical) Gardens in Huntsville. It was a gray and rainy day but it worked out to our advantage. The place was pretty empty. They were having a scarecrow display that featured storybook characters and the kids loved them. One of their favorites that I did not get a picture of was "Mary Mary Not Quite Scary". She was a little creepy with the pretty maids in a row (small dolls impaled or maybe just glued to sticks).

Big Bad Wolf say helloe to Finn!


Charlotte's Web

A Mon Arch butterfly (yes I do know how to spell it but this is the way it sounds when Finn says it so from now on, it will be a Mon Arch).

Chloe and one of her favorites Rapunzel

A picture of a fish we took for the Daddy of our group

Loving the loft area in one of the treehouses they have on display.

My Three Monkeys

"I say I say son, what fun day that one was."

Athens Again?????

Okay in a desperate attempt to catch the blog up to date before the Halloween festivities kick off, here goes. The time we spent in Athens was full of laughter, smiles, and lots of misadventures. Like the balloon in the ceiling fan and an unfortunate circle of life lesson for Finn (3 cats versus 1 chipmunk).



Hutch watched Webb and Wynn ride various cars and things down the hill so he just had to do it too. The little horse didn't go that fast but it was still too fast for me. Hutch loved it though.


On Monday, thanks to a holiday we were able to have a playdate at the park with a few of our cousins. I think the kids were plotting against the grown-ups here.


Hutch loved the slides as long as Emma went down with him.


Or chased him.


He also loved feeding the ducks which he had never done before. He kept saying "here ducky ducky" and then would throw large chunks of bread into the water.


How many times did we say "do not get into the water" but it must have been said at such a high frequency they could not hear us.


Strike a pose!


The days of cute group shots are long over.




Tuesday Chloe got another birthday celebration with Nana, pizza and cupcakes.


Yes he is on the floor again but really do you blame me? (see previous post if you need a refresher as to why I did this)

On The Road Again

Friday morning we got a late start for several reasons. Too much to do and not enough hands to get it done. I also spent 45 minutes wedging carseats into the third row so the big three could watch movies the whole way to Athens. I had all three of them so excited about it I thought they just might burst. I almost did when the brand spanking new dvd player purchased the night before would not load or recognize any of the dvd's we had with us. It was a rhymes with TalCart R-SEE-A brand piece of junk. The kids did really well on the 6 hour drive with no video entertainment. We sang songs, read books and played games when we weren't begging them to be quiet and sleep.

HBomb on his first forward facing car seat ride. He loved it.



No movie player. Really? You think I can keep myself entertained the WHOLE way?

Sweet sweet Chloe O

J.B. did so well this car ride it was almost like he wasn't in there, but he was.

Once we arrived in Athens, we quickly unloaded and headed off to the Fiddler's Convention. The weather was perfect and so was the music. Finn loved hanging out with her Aunt Alice.

J.B. wasn't so thrilled about riding in the stroller and when he was off with the aunts solo, he gave them fits. Did I forget to mention how bad he can scream when he is tired before I sent him off? My bad.


Angel faced Chloe girl

Hutch loved the yoyo balls Aunt Kaye bought the girls. Finley loved licking the sugar off the funnel cake. Hutch decided knocking it to the ground after I had had only a couple of bites neccessary. I completely disagreed and almost cried about it.

Watching tv with Webb....all of the kids love some cousin playtime.

Lillian is the bestest 6th grade babysitter I know.

Hutch enjoying his breakfast at Aunt Alice's house. It was oatmeal and her dining chairs are upholstered, need I say more?

See what I mean? Bestest babysitter ever!

More tv watching with Webb

Saturday afternoon it was back to the Fiddle Fair and sand art was first on the list.

It was rather warm and J.B. didn't mind being in his shady stroller for the most part.

Hutch slept through most of the afternoon's fun.

Bees caught the girls attention for a really long time.

Funny side story--
When we went back to the Fiddle Fair, we parked behind a person's house that lives close to the college. We told them we were not staying long so we had to make sure our two cars would not be blocked in. They said okay and when we returned they were not, but there was one part of the backing that had to thread the needle of a couple cars. Me and the Ferg plus any kind iffy backing up situation and I am a wreck. So I asked one the guys if they would back my car full of kids for me. One agreed, climbed in the driver's seat and started backing up. Totally freaked the kids out and before he got to the road they were all screaming "Mama" and crying. I felt bad for them and probably should have mentioned it before he hopped in, but I didn't think they would care.

The End of the Week

Chloe's Birthday Day started off with a special breakfast of decorated toast and milk. Then it was finally time to wear the shirt she had wanted to put on since it made it into the closet a few weeks back. Here is our big 5 year old princess before school.

After school and work for some, the birthday scavenger hunt began. The first clue led to DDL's house and Finn was a bit more excited than Chloe.

After a present of Walkables from Littlest Pet Shop, it was off to the next location. The Birthday Fairy almost messed up with a confusing clue about yellow slides (one in our backyard and at the playground, ooopsie) but we finally figured it out.

Then the next clue led across the street to Ms. Paula's yard. It was a lot of fun and the last gift was a big hit with everybody, especially Hutch. Although, as April pointed out, it probably isn't a good idea to teach him that baby girls will dance when you lift their skirts and push their belly buttons.

The next night we had "robbits" come into our yard and leave a little surprise. One of the girls had requested this in a roundabout way so I was glad it happened. After they saw it, I am not so sure they loved it as much as they thought they would.

Up Next : Travels and Fiddle Fun