Nothing is better....

then enjoying 84 degree weather and sunshine in March reading facebook updates about snow storms back in Mpls and Ohio .... thinking ok... this isn't all bad. Get home from work... go to the playground, run around the pool, splash in water, and take ol'e Murphy for a walk. However, I am not naive about knowing in July and August I might be complaining about heat and humidity... but I will take what I can get for now.

And this little guy... he loves the water. We are going to FL in a few weeks for vacation and he will be wearing a life jacket from the time we drive into the state until the time we leave. He has a zest for life.. and does he ever love to explore. By the time we left our walk to the pool, he was carried home only in a diaper and sandals shaking off his soaking wet clothes screaming the whole way home because he didn't want to leave... bless his little heart. And the looks we got from other people out for the evening taking a walk for priceless as well :)

After work fun..

Tonight after work, and a healthy dinner of Chick-fil-a, we headed out for a walk to what Hannah calls "a secret garden" and the pool. Hannah and Dad took a walk one day and found a porch swing with flowers and she now wants to show everyone the secret garden, I find it kinda cute. Anyway, the kids had a really fun time at the pool tonight. Had I known how excited they were going to be to play in water, I think I would had changed their clothes. They were both drenched from the knees down by the time we were done playing. I had a hand on Drew the entire time, had I let go even for a second, I am pretty sure he would had dove right in. I wish that kid had a little fear in him. Maybe one day he will learn a lesson or two and will be a little less ambitious about exploring life :)

And this is when I realized I should had just taken his clothes off down to a diaper...

Somebody was having a really good time swinging his legs into the water....

More Saving, More Doing...

At least I think that is how the motto goes. 3 weeks into it and I still have the Expect More Pay Less Target motto in my head... hard to regroup after 13 years. But here, we are, and wow have things changed. On a boring snowy Saturday with nothing to do in Minneapolis we often headed to Target to check things out and made an event out of it. Well today, after running errands we looked at eachother and said... "should we just go walk around home depot?" .. so we did. It wasn't without purpose however, we were checking on a few new things for the house, but had no idea how much Hannah and Drew would have in the race cart... oh my gosh, did they love it. Spinning the wheels, yelling toot toot. Hannah said "finally I see what this whole Home Depot is all about"?! We laughed.

At any rate, all is going well here. 6 weeks and counting until we can move into our new home. We are kinda going crazy here in the 2 bedroom apt, but at least we have light at the end of the tunnel!

Lauren, Hannah & Gracie

Today Todd and Hannah got the special treat of the Renicks passing through Atlanta on the way to there vacation to NC. Unfortunately, Mom had to stay home with Drew since he had a little stomach flu. Hannah was incredibly shy with the girls, telling me "they were really tall and bigger than me". Hopefully by the time we go to Florida Hannah will get past the height difference :) We are so happy to be living ""closer" to the Renicks so we can see them more than once a year!!

Sale Pending....

Our new house, pending inspection and such.....

Family room, to the left in the back is a deck, to the right is a sun room...

our kitchen! might be time for me to learn to cook!

We are SO excited for our new home. It is in "East Cobb" section of Marietta, GA. It is everything we ever wanted in a house, and a few extras. We are suppose to close April 22, wish us luck all goes well.

We have plenty of room for friends and family to visit, we are hoping for lots of visitors!!!

Georgia Aquarium

After 10 days in Atlanta we have been able to see both the zoo and the aquarium. We are trying to keep the kids busy, and quite honestly, two crazy kids in a small 2 bedroom apartment isn't all that fun, so we try to keep busy. The aquarium was great, ton of fun things to see and of course Drew and Hannah both loved it. Drew was jumping up and down every time he saw a new fish and was hitting the glass saying "hi" to all of them while they were swimming by... while Hannah giggled at him.

A little hard to see, but the big Baluga Whales were swimming behind them. Hannah informed the person working at the aquarium that the whale did not have a dorsal fin and that is why it wasn't a dolphin. Impressed.

So far so good here. We are slowly getting adjusted, and our GPS systems have kindly helped that endeavor. Work is keeping us really busy, me a little busier than Todd at this point, but both busy none the less. We are enjoying leaning a new city, finding new restraunts, shopping, attractions and things to do with the kids. We are also slowly getting to know a few people at work, but none of them can come close to replacing the friends we left behind at Target and Minneapolis.

I miss everyone a lot, and have been holding strong until a little breakdown today after opening one of the sweetest and most genuine gifts I have ever received from a dear friend... thank you. Tears filled with happiness for having such a wonderful friend, and tears of sadness for being so far away. Thanks Jen, that meant the world to me.

Ocuh!

First trip to an ER in Atlanta was on Thursday night, only took one week. About 3am we hear Hannah screaming "my eye, my eye". We run in there to find her fallen out of her bed and hitting he eye on the night stand. So, a quick trip to the Er and a few stitches later she is all put back together.. and the special trip for ice cream that night made it feel even all much better too. When she was leaving the hospital, after receiving a doll and princess stickers from the nurse she asked if she could go there again because they were so nice :) I am hoping that does not happen, but am glad she thought it was such a fun experience.

Get better lil Hannah !

Atlanta Zoo

Hannah and Drew took their first trip to the Atlanta Zoo today. It was really nice, and they had a great time. The big hits for them were the gorillas, especially the baby gorilla mom found quite adorable as well as the panda bear! Gorgeous sunny and 74 degree day, loved every minute of a nice family day before work starts tomorrow. Wish us luck!

By Georgia we made it!

We finally arrived "home". After a week of packing, and a week of traveling, we arrived in Atlanta last night. The arrival greeted us with 72 and sunny weather, just what was ordered for our Atlanta meet and greet.

Our arrival has not been without it's drama... of course, what is my life without drama. Water filled u-haul and a visit to the new daycare that left me in the parking lot crying. So, we dried our clothes, wiped off the toys, and found a new daycare in a few hours that felt warm and loving, unlike our first pit stop. So, if that is all that has gone wrong at this point, we are good shape. Problems solved.

Hannah and Drew were champs on the care ride here, no fussing or crying at all. They were awesome. They are loving sharing a room in the "condo" as Hannah calls it. And... they went to the park twice today and loved running around the grass and swinging and sliding. They couldn't had been more thrilled to be outside. Hannah is already begging to go swimming... we keep telling her is it just a little too chilly for that.

Todd is all kind of happy being able to shop at his favorite grocery store Publix again, and I am all kind of excited to wear flip flops and take a walk outside. It's the little things... Now, if we could just figure out how to get from point A to point B, life would be easier. Tomorrow we will be shopping for a GPS.. oh and a house too. Wish us luck!

A rest stop at the Dice's

One of the benefits of our move to Atlanta is being closer to family. We were able to stop in Ohio on our way from Minnesota to Georgia. Grandma and Grandpa were nice enough to pick up Hannah, Drew and Mom at 1am in Cincinnati after canceled/ delayed flights. Not a fun time traveling, but that didn't stop the fun once we arrived. As always, Hannah and Drew loved spending time with their cousins, aunt and uncle and grandma and grandpa.

thanks for a great time everyone!! I am guessing Grandma and Grandpa are finally getting some rest since our departure.. until next time!