Tennis!

Savannah's tennis lessons have begun. I'm giddy! I don't want to be one of those parents who push their children into things they don't really enjoy, but I feel I've done a pretty good job of at least exposing her to lots of things (music class, gymnastics, soccer, swimming and now tennis)...hey she's not even 3! Poor Gage...he probably won't get to experience as much before he's 3. I'm the youngest so I know and now I understand, the youngest just doesn't get all the extracurricular the oldest gets. Hopefully Stephen will help make sure Gage is plenty well-rounded. But I digress.

The first of 8 tennis lessons started yesterday. And while I don't plan to post each of her evaluations, I can't promise I won't. But this was the first one so I gotta do it.

Coach started out with a warm-up and then
talked to us about our new sport. First off, we talked about Safety and how we
need to be careful. Coach had us stand at our cones where we were far away
from each other when he handed us our rackets.

Coach had us hold the racket with the hand we color with and the ball in the
other. He helped show me how to drop the ball onto my racket so I could hit
my first Serve!

After I got the timing down, coach put out a big blue tarp and challenged us to
hit the ball and get it to land on the tarp or “IN”. If we didn't make it the ball
was “OUT”. Coach said this was really important in Tennis!

Respecting Coach 10
Following Directions 9
Warming Up 9
Trying my best 9
Safety 8
Serve 7
Racket Hand: Righty
IN or OUT 8

Coach’s Notes:
Savannah was excited to get the ball IN!

No recent pictures to post, but Stephen bought Savannah her first tennis outfit for her first Easter...she was ~9 months old.


And here she is swinging her first racquet (Daddy's bee-killing racquet)...she was ~21 months old.


We're off to Cape Coral, FL for Memorial Day Weekend. I'm sure there will be lots to post about...Gage's first airplane ride, Savannah's first that she's likely to remember, Savannah playing with her cousins, Aiden and Emily who are now ~16 months old. It will be so fun to see them all playing together. But for now...bedtime!

Firehouse Rock

This past Sunday, many of the neighborhood kids got a special treat...a trip to the local firehouse! One our neighbors arranged the visit with the heroes of Cobb County #4. The kids loved it, albeit, some may have been a little freaked out when one of the firemen donned his full gear...oxygen mask and all. Savannah took refuge behind Daddy.


The big boys, on the other hand, thought it was pretty darn cool.


What some of you may or may not know is that both my father and my Uncle Perry (Mom's brother) were both firemen for Fulton County (this was updated as I was corrected by my Mom). I've been waiting to document this trip until I could locate a nostalgic picture that I wanted to recreate with Savannah.





The fire trucks have come a long way in the last 30 years. However, Stephen pointed out that at least one thing remains the same...the siren! They are identical in both pictures.

Safety is always first and foremost so Savannah inspected under the truck and ensured all the gauges were in their proper places.




Reluctantly, Savannah was brave enough to get in the driver's seat for a quick pic.


And we cannot forget Gage...he enjoyed the field trip too! The fire engine got called out while we were there. And since the weather was pretty nasty and rainy, the engine was pretty soaked when it returned. I tried to get Gage's reflection in the truck :-)


Thanks to our neighbor for organizing the visit and many thanks to the heroes at Cobb County #4 for taking time out of your Sunday to bring a little sunshine to such a dismal day for all our kiddos! I think the dads may have been a little star-struck as well!

Soccer season has come to a close

...and you ask, "Amy, why, I didn't know Savannah was playing soccer. You never mentioned this in your blog before." Yes, I know and that's mostly because the season was not blogworthy by any means. There wasn't 1 game to speak of. Savannah started her first soccer season roughly 8 weeks ago...give or take a week or two given the many practice rainouts. We decided to sign Savannah up for soccer after I determined I was literally throwing money away to the Tumblebus people who claim our children are learning gymnastics. Perhaps it's just a matter of fact that gymnastics is not Savannah's strong suit, but they won't be seeing my checks again anytime soon! So we signed her up for soccer...it was soccer or baseball and soccer seemed the obvious choice for a girl. I assume she enjoyed it enough. I received weekly progress reports from Coach Ray via email...here was her latest report.

Respecting Coach 10
Following Directions 8
Warming Up 9
Trying my best 9
Dribbling 8
No Hands Rule 8
Dynamic Passing 4
Defense 7

And I always got a kick out of the Coach's Notes:
Coach’s Notes:
Savannah was a little confused by the jumble of bodies in 3 on 3, but
did a good job.

Whenever I ask her about soccer, the conversation is pretty much summed up by "You don't use your hands in soccer, Mommy." Can't argue with that.

The reason for this blog? Well, Coach Ray was kind enough to send me a picture of Savannah from today's practice. Oh, crap, and I just realized I sent her to school in a skirt and basketball shoes today...oh well!


We also got an email tonight...next season it's Golf and/or Tennis...heck yeah! Savannah is already signed up for tennis...woohoo! I won't be booking my ATL - London flight just yet for Wimbeldon 2025, but one can dream, can't she?

A Mother's Day Tradition

After 3 years of spending Mother's Day at my mom's condo at Amelia Island, I think it's safe to call this a tradition. I know I'm already looking forward to next year's Mother's Day at the island. Like last year, this year's vacation started with Saturday morning at the Jacksonville Zoo. This year we came prepared...(1) double stroller, (2) swim suit with change of clothes and (3) a long talk about feeding giraffes days before the trip. That's right, Savannah got to feed the giraffes!!! And since we talked about it for 3 days prior to the trip, she was up for it when it game time came.



The Jacksonville Zoo has a cool play park for the kids. Last year we didn't know about this and didn't bring Savannah's swim suit or a change of clothes. Regardless of that fact, I doubt Savannah would have gone anywhere near it last year. This year, however, Savannah loved the water park in the children's area.




In years past, instead of coming back to the condo with Stephen and I, Savannah would have gone home with Nana and Papa Bob. This year, however, we wanted to take Savannah to the beach. Since Gage isn't quite old enough to enjoy the beach, Nana and Papa Bob took Gage home with them Saturday night. This gave Savannah some much needed Mommy and Daddy time. She loved the beach!!! While I'm still not a big fan of sand and salty wind, there's something really cool about playing in the sand with a 3-year old. Savannah and I build a sand castle while Stephen flew a Pooh and Tigger kite. Savannah even let Stephen and I bury her legs and turn her into a mermaid!



After a quick shower, the three of us went out for pizza and then off to miniature golf. Given that it was after 7:30 before we finished dinner, we didn't think Savannah would last more than 5 holes. Boy, were we wrong! Savannah loved putt-putt!!! She even birdied the first hole beating both Stephen and I. After the first hole, however, it turned into Savannah teeing off, picking up her ball and either (1) teeing off again so she could watch the ball go down all the hills or through the hidden tunnels or (2) placing the ball next to the hole and then tapping the ball in. Once all the balls were in the hole, she would pick them out and assign each person a new color ball. In an effort to prevent a fit after the final hole, we started explaining around Hole 15 that on the 18th hole, the ball would go into the hole and we would not be able to get it back. Good thing we did...no fits after the ball went to Neverland.

Sunday morning (Mother's Day)...we got up, had a quick bowl of Cheerios and headed back down to the beach. We played for about and hour and a half and then went back to the condo to shower before lunch. We had lunch downtown and then drove up to St Marys to see Nana, Papa Bob and Gage. Savannah stayed the night with Nana, and Stephen and I had a fancy dinner at The Beech Street Grill back on the island.

Monday, Stephen and I went to my favorite breakfast spot on Amelia and then drove over to The Plantation for a few hours of leisurely bike riding. The Plantation is absolutely gorgeous! In all the years of vacationing on Amelia, this was my first visit to The Plantation. After lunch, we went back to the condo. The plan was for Nana to keep Savannah and Gage another night, however, after about 5 minutes of silence, we were desperately missing the kiddos and thought Savannah needed one more trip to the beach before going home on Tuesday. So I called Nana and she brought Gage and Savannah back down to Amelia so we could take Savannah out to the beach one last time. Nana did take both kiddos back to St Marys with her for the night to allow Stephen and I one more delectable dinner at Espania...yum!



Mom and Bob, thank you for another wonderful Mother's Day weekend at your beautiful condo!

Muffins for Moms

When I was in kindergarten, I remember having "Donuts for Dads"...I think the Moms got jipped...but it was really cool having my dad in my class with me for the morning. So I was thrilled to attend when Savannah's class invited the moms to breakfast. The kids were so cute and loved having their mamas in class for the morning. It also gave some of the moms a chance to chat and exchange numbers since we either so rarely see each other, or when we do, we are either rushing off to work or rushing home to get dinner prepared.

Today is also Savannah's last day in class with Miss Jill, Miss Erica and Miss Lauren. Miss Jill has been one of our favorites since Savannah started day-care at the ripe old age of 3 months. She is the one who nicknamed Savannah, "Bean" and it has stuck. We waited 2 years to get into her class and it's hard to believe that the school year has come to a close and Savannah will be moving on up to the next room. I was sad, however, to learn that one of Savannah's pal-around gals will not be moving with her :( It didn't even occur to me that some of the kids in her class were born after the "cut-off" date! Thankfully Emerson lives in our subdivision and so it will be easy to get together with her often. We were also saddened to learn that her friend, Ava, is moving away...close to my old stomping grounds...and won't be in Savannah's class anymore either. Thankfully, Katherine, who has also been with Savannah since the infant room will still be in her class.

Savannah presented me with a lovely hand-print and a few drawings...one is a picture of me! I honestly so rarely ever keep most of the "artwork" that Savannah brings home unless it is a hand, foot or finger print. Until she is actually the one drawing the picture, it's all a bit too much to hold on to.

Happy Birthday, Gage! (5 months)

Today Gage turned 5 months old. This month's new skills include: rolling over (both ways), pushing up on his hands during tummy time and playing with his feet. He also enjoys his ab workout with Daddy...he pulls up on Stephen's fingers all the way to standing position and then laughs with delight at his accomplishment and new view.



Gage continues to fill our lives with joy and loves his big sister! He lights up when he hears her and she has learned how to make him laugh. Savannah, however, is not too thrilled with one of his new activities...hair pulling. He tends to grab a handful of her hair and it takes me prying his little hand open and removing her hair clump by clump from his grasp. Shadow, one of our black cats, has also encountered the grip, but uncharacteristically allows him to do it over and over again. This is the same cat who bites me and has bit Savannah twice. For whatever reason, she likes Gage and has been overly tolerant of him. No worries, all kitty contact is supervised.

Aunt Brencie opened the pool today to gear up for swim lesson season. Bren is not teaching this year. She is passing the torch to my cousin, Michelle, who has been teaching with Bren for many years; Brenda, who teaches the more advanced swimmers and my Aunt Vickie, my mom's twin, who is "in training" right now. So we brought Savannah and Gage over for their first lessons. Bren typically starts infants as early as 5 months so I was excited to get Gage into the pool. Unfortunately, the heater on the pool went out and the pool temp which usually hovers at 90 degrees, was a chilly 80 today. Needless to say, Gage stayed completely dry! Savannah, on the other hand, gladly braved the chilly water for her lesson. I think it helped that 2 other 4-year olds went before her and were both very brave. She did GREAT! Not unlike any other 3-year old, however, she did not like putting her face in the water and blowing bubbles. It probably didn't help that she drank A LOT of water and I think that was the end of her rope. Later, after everyone was all dry and the pool was covered, she asked if she could jump off the diving board. So I have high expectations of this swim season. My goal for Savannah this year is to not only jump off the diving board, but to swim to the ladder without floaties. So here's to a great season! Good luck, Vickie!


Gage and Aunt Brencie.


Lifeguard Gage on duty. I love this hat...and what a deal! 99 cents at Gymboree!


Mommy's little rock star...