I love the city even when they aren’t hosting the CMA Festival.

I thought it would be fun to show Scary Baby and PhilBillPaul where we sit in the 100 degree weather for four days of fun and music!!

First, we headed to Riverfront Park where they had concerts all day leading up to the fireworks at night.

Hot weather brings out people’s best summer wardrobes, don’t you think?

Frankly, I think all men should be required to wear shirts at all times. Or maybe that’s just me being fussy.

After a great lunch at a tavern downtown called McFadden’s, we headed to our hotel so Scary Baby could go swimming. I’ve learned that it really doesn’t matter where you take kids on vacation. The high point for them is the hotel and the pool. You really don’t need to plan any activities. Or is that just my kids?

After a quick swim in a *freezing* cold pool, we just relaxed in our room and picked out a place for dinner before the fireworks. Soon, a huge rainstorm rolled in.

Scary Baby was a trooper though while we sat in downtown traffic watching people head to their cars soaking wet. I was sure the storm would pass but darn it, the rain didn’t let up and that meant…

NO FIREWORKS.

Yes, kind of sad since we were really looking forward to watching one of the nation’s best fireworks displays - at least according to what a few websites said.

We stayed dry and decided that we could eat downtown again since everyone was leaving!

We chose an Italian restaurant called Demo’s in downtown that we had passed earlier in the day.

Best discovery 15 years too late for me…

I would have bought these by the case when I had 3 toddlers and always carried little packs of crayons in my purse for restaurants and when we traveled anywhere.

How many crayons has PhilBillPaul had to hunt down and pick up under a table on the dirty floor of a restaurant? Um, I lost count after the first 100. Ick.

Finally, on our way home on Sunday we decided to stop in Chattanooga for an early dinner. Seeing any trend here? Yes, I plan my life around my next meal.

We really like to try local places that at least are not chains where we live. We were thinking BBQ since it’s a great southern food. Believe it or not, I have this same picture in a family photo album before Scary Baby was born.

Still there and we still haven’t been brave enough to venture inside. PhilBillPaul just cannot get in the mood for chopped weiners. Go figure. Maybe it’s because we have two weiner dogs?

Side note: I did a little internet research and found this explanation since it definitely seems to be a regional cuisine.

by MellowRoast on Roadfood.com forum…

Re: Weiner plates

That may be a uniquely ‘Nooga food item and it’s quite good, depending on the establishment. Sometimes referred to as a “chopped weiner plate”, its simply sliced franks smothered in chili and topped with mustard, relish, and cole slaw (perhaps oyster crackers). I make them at home all the time.

Instead we chose Sticky Fingers, which we learned is a chain and there are even 3 in Georgia - just not in the Atlanta area.

They had a super busy 4th of July weekend and were out of ribs which they told us before seating us. No problem - we were planning on having pork sandwiches anyway. But I was craving some cornbread. And the onion rings sounded delicious.

Until the waitress came back and told us they were out of cornbread AND onions.

I was not saying WOW.

But then, just like in the old days, when customer service mattered and businesses cared that people showed up to spend money in their establishment…

The manager came to our table to apologize. And offer two $10 off coupons for our next visits. When I confirmed that there were no locations in Atlanta - he bought us dessert.

That made me say WOW!

I really should have taken a picture of the BOWL of warm pecan pie with ice cream. YUM! I recommend that over the peach cobbler.

Scary Baby got her brownie sundae to go.

Disclaimer: I no longer dress PhilBillPaul. He thinks these shorts are funny that he got from his nephew in Texas.

Back home safe and sound a few hours later and a few pounds heavier… if we were inclined to weigh ourselves…but we’re not.

This year, I’m not sorry to say that those Old Navy shirts have been replaced…

By a different wardrobe choice…

Seeing your daughters in uniform for the first time can really make you catch your breath…

Especially over 4th of July weekend.

Click over to iLashGirls if you’d like to read a little bit more about what I wrote about them there and how proud we are of them for choosing to help us all celebrate and defend our freedom.

I’m printing and sending them blog posts so feel free to leave them a sweet comment and I’ll print those too!

They absolutely love getting mail and they told me this weekend that they share their mail with all their friends who don’t necessarily get as much as they do…because my darling twins have ME as their “sweet” mother.

P.S. Freedom is our word of the month over at iLashGirls. You won’t want to miss two great giveaways this week ~ summer party goodies and our favorite quotes from our brand new Etsy shop!

Scary Baby arrived back from Texas this week. She spent three weeks with Granny, who has now moved into Saint status in my life.

We have never sent any of our children on a plane to visit anyone by themselves. I’m a weenie mom like that. There are a host of reasons for my decision that I’ll be glad to explore another day.

Meanwhile, after the many, many exhausting weeks with the darling twins and then shipping them off to Basic Training…

A parenting break looked pretty darn good.

Until I started reading some horror stories online about unaccompanied minors on flights. And the add-on price for this luxury is a breathtaker. Even if Granny was so kind to purchase her ticket.

AirTran had the most reasonable flight price and the most reasonable unaccompanied minor price.

I wasn’t shopping bargain prices if it meant bargain services for Scary Baby. I wanted her to feel safe and for us to not worry.

Only one parent can accompany them to the gate and PhilBillPaul won this honor because he is her favorite parent. It’s okay, it’s pretty much been this way since her birth.

Anyway, the praise came directly from him. He said AirTran really has their act together with their system of helping a parent get a kid to their destination. He was impressed by their customer service and felt very comfortable putting our daughter on the plane.

Kudos to AirTran and thank you for helping get Scary Baby to and from Texas!

I hope you all enjoy a wonderful 4th of July weekend with your family and friends celebrating the blessings of freedom in America!

Scary Baby is back home.

With a new Texas-Bohemian look.

This means the end of The Grunter’s short-lived “I’m an only child again” phase.

It also means he can start blaming one of his sisters for putting the toilet lid up and not flushing.

I kid you not.

While we were in the 3 week “only child” phase, he actually said he did not put the lid up and he always flushes.

He’s totally busted after blaming his sisters for many years that they are sooooooo gross and he always flushes. (I’m just talking about pee here - seriously even my gross kids aren’t that gross.)

Big fat lie.

Totally gross.

But not as gross as what he has to deal with at work.

*** W A R N I N G ***

This may make you stop going to the movies.

Or at least wonder what the heck is wrong with people?

This was our text message conversation with him last week while we were in North Carolina. I couldn’t make this stuff up if I tried…

Side note: Do not read while eating.

The Grunter (TG): Somebody made a poo on the floor of a theatre again.

Me: A baby or a grown-up poo?

TG: Grown up poo

TG: Or maybe a small horse

Me: Wow did u have to clean it up?

TG: Yes

Me: Where was the poo located specifically?

TG: Located on the floor in the front row.

Me: Did you get a gift card?*

TG: Nope I got nothing

Me: Publix should be looking good right now

Me: Any toilet paper near the pile?

TG: Nope the horse didn’t wipe. His butt is gonna itch…

*This is the 2nd incident. The 1st one he only smelled but never located until a movie patron located it IN A SEAT where they sat down IN IT. When the 3 lucky employees had to clean it up, they all got generous gift cards from the managers.

PhilBillPaul affectionately refers to this as a “Code Brown” from his year of hotel employment when they would walkie talkie each other when there was an incident in the pool. (Caddyshack anyone?)

Soon, I will be unable to function in public.

For some reason, our family (Grandma included) finds this cry-tears funny but also utterly disgusting. We actually made him call Grandma and relay the story to her on the phone after dinner last night.

Let me tell you, I inspect the seats before sitting down now.

Grandma has a good visual in her head of some poor soul (like me) walking in with thin sandals and slipping in the floor variety. (I’m trying to refrain from using the word “poo” too many times.)

So many unanswered questions.

WHO? WHEN? And most of all…WHY?

Anyone? Anyone?

I tell you he really earns those free movie tickets.

Another proud mom moment.

Thanks for letting me share.

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Just sharing our real life.

As in…we’ve renewed our vows that we took way back in 2000. That means, two more years of our already long-term relationship.

We got the girls new phones for their birthday and The Grunter and PhilBillPaul didn’t want to be left out.

I admit that their new Samsung Rant phones seem pretty slick. What with the sliding keyboard - now standard on many phones. I’m pretty partial to Wizzy’s. I think she picked the best color.

I figured the advantages of all of them having the same phones were numerous. They can share chargers and swap cases. More importantly, they can tutor Dad because Cellular Phil (that’s what I call him when he shouts into his phone “Can you hear me now”) needs tutoring. There are just too many features on these newfangled gadgets for him to figure it all out.

I have threatened to get him one of those Jitterbug phones or something similar. He often finds himself in a quandary because he can’t read the text messages because he can’t find his glasses.

I think it is an appropriate solution to his dwindling eyesight but coupled with his hearing loss, he just gets all grouchy and takes it personally declaring
“I don’t need a dog yet.”

“Yet” is the operative word here.

Anyway…

Much like the ipod, I had a smart phone with a keyboard way before the kids all wanted one. “So geeky, mom” is a comment I recall hearing.

Now it seems you are a total geek if you don’t have a phone with a keyboard.

So…are you a texting mom or are you still a holdout and refuse to communicate in teen speak?

No judgment - remember I’m still holding out on the Facebook *fad* that might pass.

Or not.

Because I’ve been counting the years one by one of this job I’ve been in for almost 20 years.

Longest streak of gainful employment for me.

Raising human beings does qualify as gainful employment.

It feels kind of weird when you work yourself out of a job.

But that was the original goal 18 years ago.

To teach life skills and send them off on their own.

Those precious tiny babies that turned into pesky teenagers.

I never could have predicted that those darling twins would become Soldiers.

Or that their 18th summer would be spent fulfilling 18 training requirements none of which include what most of their friends are doing like going to the pool, the mall, the movies or the beach.

They’ll have to save all that for next summer.

Instead, the gas chamber exercise and proudly declaring, “I didn’t throw up” is a highlight of their summer.

Completing 3, 5, 8, 10 and 15K foot marches…

An obstacle course, marksmanship and throwing two live grenades are things they will forever remember.

I never could have predicted that I wouldn’t be able to talk to them on their 18th birthday.

Instead, I had to send them each a card.

That was really a mini photo album that I hope makes them smile.

With a letter written in the back telling them how much we miss them and love them.

And how very proud we are of the women they are becoming…

Hug your kids for me today and please send up a little prayer for mine…

P.S. The Grunter and Scary Baby are still at home so technically, I’m still employed but I am looking for a job outside the home that will utilize all my amazing people and management skills. Call me if you have an opening.

I thought of this as PhilBillPaul and I drove back from North Carolina late Sunday after playing 36 holes of golf and thinking of ways we can move there before we retire.

Especially since we probably can’t retire until we are around 95 and by then we’ll probably be too old and {re}tired to even play golf…

36 holes of bad golf is still better than no golf.

Even though I can barely move my right arm because playing golf a few times a year moves muscles I didn’t know I had.

Um yeah, it’s official. We are old.

And tired.

I’m hoping PhilBillPaul will stop wincing with sound effects whenever he moves because he hurt himself playing on Sunday–he plays less than I do. And he’s older than me.

In spite of that…

Great food, friends and fun made for a perfect weekend.

Thanks Toni & Randy

What did you do over the weekend?

Because I’m pretty sure another one of our favorite restaurants does not fall in the “Fine Dining” category. Except for us, since our definition of fine dining really just means a good meal at a reasonable price.

We go here at least once or twice a month. Partly because we love, love, love breakfast. And partly because we love, love, love a cheap meal.

We go for the biscuit and gravy. While we do live in the South, we are still Midwesterners at heart and cannot eat grits.

Tell me where you can get a full meal like this for $5.00 bucks?

Seriously, tell me - because we’d like to go there and eat this month!

There are three free national park weekends with the first one starting this weekend, June 20th. The other weekends are July 18 and 19, and August 15 and 16.

It would be fun to be able to take advantage of one of these weekends. There’s still time to plan a semi-spontaneous family vacation! Or if you are lucky enough to live near one of the national parks, you should definitely take advantage of this opportunity!

I’d like to give a little Grand Canyon tip for anyone who is able to get there for a visit this summer. PhilBillPaul and I were lucky enough to visit in the quiet of December and it was breathtaking.

Towards the end of trip, this was really breathtaking.

In case you can’t see it, here is a close up…

An idiot who is on the WRONG side of the fence.

WHY OH WHY would you climb over a metal fence and rail to get one or two feet closer?

I couldn’t help but take a few pictures of the idiot. I like to teach the kids these little life lessons with words and pictures. It’s nice when an idiot provides you with a complete photo tutorial.

I was glad to capture this picture of him climbing back over to safety. I would not have wanted to photograph the alternative.

I think they like to keep the number of accidents, disappearances and rescue and recovery on the down low. We don’t want to scare the tourists from visiting. Really, I just think they should work on keeping the idiots from visiting.

They do have these handy informational signs posted around the trails.

In English, “People die here falling from the edge. Do not go beyond–or climb on–walls or railings. Most who die have gone beyond walls or rails.

Seriously? Yes, idiots keep signmakers in business.

Unfortunately, most idiots can’t read. The graphic probably just confuses them even more.

Hey, one more quick tip. Don’t forget to stop at the Wendy’s just before the South Rim entrance to have a $7.00 burger. The value menu is not available at this location.

And the 4 children are all gone.

And you have no internet.

You just lose track of time.

In the quiet and peace…

The hours fly by

And you forget which day it is.

PhilBillPaul and I are enjoying our solitude.

How is your summer going so far? Any big plans?