Rock City

 In September, we got a surprise phone call from Keith's parents telling us that they were coming to visit us in October! We counted down the days until they came and packed a lot into the short trip. They were driving down from Cleveland so we met them up in Chattanooga, TN. We arrived October 11th just in time to eat dinner and put the kids to sleep. The next morning, we got up and ready early so we could see Rock City. It was pretty amazing and we had perfect weather.

 Clara is obsessed with this hat. Everywhere we go, she wants to wear it. I think it's because she gets SO much attention with it perched on her little head.

 My pictures are totally out of order but this is the top where you can see seven states.

 We never let Kenzie get her face painted at the zoo/fair but we were vacationing so we let her do it and she was so proud of that butterfly.

 Clara was pretty sad we didn't have her face painted too so I broke out my lip gloss and improvised. She was pretty happy with the results.

 Naked Emmett. It was so much warmer than I had anticipated!

 I love this photo

 These were just funny little scenes I had to include from the Mother Goose portion of Rock City. What's with all the morbid nursery rhymes?

Atlanta Zoo

I've decided there are two kinds of people in this world, zoo people and non-zoo people. We happen to belong to the former. The Atlanta Zoo is impressive and the only thing I dislike is its location and the drive I have to make to get there. We have now been twice, once with my friend (hooray for having more than one friend now) Suzanne and her little girl Grace. The second time was Boo at the Zoo and Keith was able to join us for that excursion.

Boo at the Zoo was really fun. It wasn't as structured or decked out as Louisville's but the kids got better/healthier snacks and candy.

 Emmett wore the same costume Clara did last year. It's a caterpillar but 95% of people called him either a ladybug or bumblebee. A few days after this, I found a tiger costume from my friend that fit him perfectly. Kind of bummed he didn't wear that one for this event.

 Kenz wanted to be a mermaid which was a fun deviation from the usual Princess dresses she likes.

Clara used Kenzie's costume from a few years ago. She had several options but fell in love with being a monster. I'm glad we got some more use out of it.

My Little Fox

At 5 1/2 months this little stud stops ladies everywhere. They always comment on his steely blue/gray eyes

 Sly fox here trying to grab the camera.

Gwinnett County Fair

We had such a blast at the fair this year. We didn't have very high expectations we took our time getting there and we regretted it! We ended up buying a wristband so Kenzie could ride the rides and I think we earned our money back three times over. She started out on all of the small rides until Cammie convinced her to try the roller coaster.

 One ride on that coaster and she was hooked. The girls were darling and screamed and giggled the whole way through. When Cammie left at 9 PM, we thought Kenzie would be done but we ended up staying another hour. There weren't any lines so she walked on every ride which was great.

 Clara was too small for most of the rides. We went on this elephant ride for Kenz but it was so late, the carnie told me and Clara to go on ahead with her. This just fueled my desire to go to Disney World in the near future.

We were so proud of her when at the end of the night, she got on the last ride she hadn't tried yet because it scared her. This little girl had just taken a turn and asked Kenzie to go back on with her and to our surprise she did, 3 times in a row:) 

The only thing better than experiencing the thrill of a ride yourself is watching your child's happiness as they experience it.

Anna Ruby Falls and Helen, GA

 After Cabbage Patch Land, we drove a little further North to a town called Helen. We grabbed lunch then continued to the Chattahoochee National Forest where we hiked up to twin waterfalls called Anna Ruby.

 

 There were a few steep inclines.

After our hike, we went back to Helen to walk around their little Alpine tourist trap where we found some good fudge and funnel cakes. We want to come back in the summer and tube down the river which is what hundreds of other people were doing in this crazy little town.

A Walk in the Park

 Georgia is like Kentucky in that there are parks everywhere. Once Kenzie started school, I got into a good routine of dropping her off around 8:20 then driving just a few minutes down the road to either Grayson or Bay Creek park. Grayson park is smaller and I've come to prefer it for after school play. We have become staples at their Wednesday afternoon Farmer's Market where we occasionally pick up something to eat and always indulge in a couple of snow cones.  

Bay Creek offers a mile paved trial through the woods which really creeped me out at first but I have grown to love. Thanks to my lovely stroller I can walk/jog with it and both kids are pretty comfortable.

 Clara rocked permanently skinned knees for a few months until pants were acceptable. She loves getting out and walking with me and we built up quite the acorn collection.

 These trees were beautiful when they changed.

We see these horses across the street from the park and Clara gets so excited every time. I would be parent of the year if I could find someone with horses to let her get up close and personal with.

All day Pre-K

Anyone who has talked to me since moving, knows that pre-k has been a dilemma for us. Last year, Kenzie went to a private pre-k for 3 days for 3 hours. She had a small class which included her best friend and she thrived. It was a pretty perfect situation. Upon moving to Atlanta, I started searching out preschools. I know preschool isn't for everyone, but Kenzie and I get along much better when we get a bit of break. Also, I had no friends here and no one in the ward to hang out with and I really wanted Kenzie to make some friends. 

Georgia is kind of unique in that it offers lottery funded preschool. Parents only pony up a few bucks a day for lunch/snacks. The catch is that school runs from 8:30-3, five days a week and you have to sign documents saying you will send them all week for the full time. I was so torn in wanting her to go, yet not sure that I could justify all day pre-k. The private preschool nearby was another option but it would cost quite a bit and the times really cut into the Clara and Emmett's main nap time.

 After being pent up together for a couple of months here, I figured we could try it one day at a time and I could always pull her out. Opinions on it run deep in the ward here and I did have one woman trying to call me out as a bad parent the night before it started. I'll say this for southern women, they don't hold back and like to tell you how it is whether you like it or not. 

Anyways, the first day was a little shaky but she came home happy. The second day she went right in the classroom and didn't look back. I loved the ease of only having two children at home and felt like I maximized the time I did have with Mackenzie. Then the second week hit and she was sick. We're talking sore throat, running a constant fever over 100 for the entire week. Of course I kept here home and the next week, we paid for it. She suddenly hated school and that whole week was a battle between keeping her in or taking her out. I would ask her every morning if she wanted to go and ultimately, she would end up begging to go even though I wasn't sure about the classroom environment and teaching style of the teacher. I did a lot of praying and on Thursday of that week I finally asked God to let me know in some definitive way if I should keep her in school because I had made my mind up that I was going to take her out.. The next day, there were no fights or tears and when I went to pick her up, her teachers went out of their way to tell me how much they enjoyed Mackenzie and how well she was doing. I took it as an answer and am so glad now that she is in school. I know it's not for everyone, but it is a great situation for us.

They had to make little people that looked like them. She did all of the cutting and design. I only helped with the glue placement for the beads.

Recently, they had their 50th day of school and asked the kids to dress in 50's attire. Lucky for me, I already had fabric and the internet has some great tutorials on circle skirts. Next time I make a circle skirt, I'm going with ribbon in the waistband, the elastic was a nightmare for a mediocre seamstress like me.

She was so mad taking these pictures because I wanted her to wear the cardigan which "made her look like a boy." This girl wants to wear only skirts/dresses and has to have something "fancy" on.

I signed up to take popcorn to the kids and ended up staying to help with their party. The kids were really polite and Clara enjoyed going to school.