Your First Tennessee Football Game

Dear Abby,
The time has arrived.  Mommy and Daddy could not be more excited.  You are attending your first Tennessee football game.  GO VOLS!!!
And, of course, you had to attend it with style!  Orange fingernails and toenails, that is!

  

 Yep, you got a special pedi/mani, a little Mommy/Daughter bonding time.  Katie Bug went to Mimi's to visit while we prepped for an epic weekend!

We left early Saturday morning and headed straight to our tail gate where we met Chloe and Cole, who were attending their first game, too!  We (the 'dults') sort of planned it this way.  We had a nice little tailgate set up with 5 or 6 couples all bringing their kiddos for the first time, or at least one of their first time.  It was a perfect game, too, because it was an afternoon game (6:00) and the opener, so everyone was excited, and against Austin Peay, so, well, we knew we'd win, by a lot (read we knew Daddy wouldn't be angry after the game!).  I have to say, it really couldn't have gotten much better.  We arrived around 11 and everyone soon gathered.  We had a great space and lots of room for you kiddos to explore/play/get filthy!! 

 You and Daddy and I took a little tour around campus, just enough to make you tired, and made a pit stop at the infamous Torch Bearer.

 We also dropped in the bookstore where I determined you are not meant for cheerleading uniforms.  Now that Emily is a cheerleader, you wanted one to wear.  I tried 2 different sizes on you and both showed your belly.  Unacceptable in Mom's book!  Thankfully you didn't mind too much and were ready to get back to see Chloe and chase a grasshopper around!

 You three girls were looking good in your power T's!!

 A bit later in the day, Daddy decided he needed to visit his old fraternity house (he works with a guy who's son is now there, so we had to say our hello's - but secretly I think he just likes going by, for memory sake).  So we decided for some reason to drag you kiddos with us!

 And, then let you dance on the steps of the ATO house!  Yep, that's you dancing at a frat house at the strong age of 4!  It was all in good nature though.  Everybody loved y'all!

On our way back from the frat house, we got to catch a glimpse of the football team getting off the bus. Mr. Andrew (one of Daddy's oldest friends) was tailgating with us and does not have children and did a great job of playing the fun uncle role and hoisting you up on his shoulders!!  

Soon after that, we met up with Miss Erin and her 'three girls'.  You struggle with remembering their names, so we just go with "the three girls" and it works fine!  We got to watch the Vol Walk with them and everyone was getting super excited about the game!

 And before we knew it, we were off to the football game!  Go Vols!!!

 We didn't have seats beside Cole and Chloe, but we promised them we'd come visit after the first quarter if all was going well.  

 For the time being though, we enjoyed watching the game together!

 While you didn't exactly get the full gist of the game, you knew that we wanted the ball in the end part of the field, and, we did it - a lot!!!  So that meant a lot of Rocky Top!  You would sing and do your cheer, but at the end of every song, you'd ask "Can we go see Chloe now?".  Finally the first quarter ended and I agreed to switch seats with Mr. Matt so you could sit with Chloe.  I'd say you were pretty excited about that...

 You three of you enjoyed the 2nd quarter together and seemed to entertain the folks around us, too! 

 After the halftime show (yes, I made you sit all the way through the alma mater!), we headed back to the tailgate and gathered our stuff.  You were so proud to say "the orange team won and the red team lost" and we were happy to hear it!!  

We gathered up the remaining bit of the tailgate and all rode back together to the hotel.  You made us all laugh because Miss Auburn and Mr. Matt were in the way back seat together and you kept saying "You two are in love!!!!"  I think you need to stop watching television!!  

We made it back to the hotel and decided we needed to hang out with everyone just a little bit longer (read - the daddies wanted to watch a little more football!) so everyone gathered in our hotel room and chillaxed.  Now, I have to say, it was quite the intimate circumstance considering we had a standard room with 2 queen beds, but 4 adults and 3 kids!  But it was fun, except the cable was out due to the weather.  We eventually made our way up to Chloe's room where they had the much fancier room including a living room and separate bedroom, so we stuck you kiddos in the bed with a movie on.  Later rather than sooner, we made our way back to our room slept, slept, slept!  I had to wake you up the next morning and it was so dark in our room you said "Why are we leaving so early?"!  It was 9:00 and we were about to miss breakfast!  

To make the weekend even more spectacular, Aunt Jill and ML asked us to join them on the boat right down the street.  We figured, why not!  Can't hurt, right?!  You enjoyed the ride and eventually enjoyed a very long nap!! 

 ML surprised us by taking us all the way to the stadium.  We had never seen it from the water but have every intention of experiencing the Vol Navy very soon!!

 We had a great day on the lake with Aunt Jill and ML!!

 We made our way back home eventually (Sunday night) and guess who was waiting there for us?  Papa Rob.  He had so much fun a couple weeks ago that he decided to bring Gramma up to visit this time!  They knew not to expect much out of us Sunday night (and they didn't get much!!) but Monday was Labor Day and the last day for the Y pool to be open, so we took Papa Rob there.  You somehow got him to climb to the top of the slides, too!  I thought that was pretty funny...

 

After the pool, we ate a quick lunch and that's about the time the tiredness kicked into to gear.  A complete meltdown while walking around downtown Franklin was the sure sign that you needed to get home quickly and get a nap!  We said our goodbyes to Papa Rob and got a good afternoon rest and early bedtime!
What an incredible weekend we got to experience!  Daddy and Mommy both went to Tennessee and we both have a special place for UT football in our hearts, so it meant a lot to be able to take you and share that with you.  We can't wait to take you back!  Go Big Orange!!!!
Love you!

It's Football Time in Tennessee!!!!

Dear Abby,

Love,
This Vol Fan!

First Day of Pre-K

Dear Abby,

Maybe you noticed I said "Abby" instead of "Abigail".  That's because you had to decide whether to be called Abby or Abigail this year for school.  You are starting to write your name on everything and the teacher said that you had to either be one or the other. You decided "Abby" was the more appropriate name for Pre-K, specifically because you didn't want to bother with learning how to spell "Abigail"! HA!  So, Abby it is!  Look how grown up you are, Abby!  

 You are one of the oldest in your class this year (with the September birthday) and no one from your class last year is in your class this year, so all new friends.  No worries, though, you were excited as can be to meet new friends! 

 While Mom enjoyed our summer together, I was also pretty excited to see you start school.  You love school and I love the exposure it gives you, and I also like to take the 4 hours to shower, and run errands, all child free :)

 Your little sis started school, too, and was just as excited as you!

 You met your new teachers, Miss Pam and Miss Kim and Mommy immediately had a good feeling about this year at school.  Talks of walking field trips, and learning about different cultures and math and reading were all things to get me excited!  You had no problem getting adjusted and, as usual, I had to hunt you down to tell you bye!!
I picked you up and what a great day.  Your favorite part was singing some song that you couldn't remember but I loved listening to you trying to remember it :)
Great first day of Pre-K, Cowboy!!!!
PS  - no clue where that Cowboy part came from!!!

August (i.e. the crazy busy month)

Dear Abigail,

August has been SOOO busy.  So busy that I haven't posted anything about the month of August!  So, here's a quick, but necessary recap :

Papa Rob and Grandaddy dropped in for the day one Saturday.  Papa Rob was visiting Grandaddy in Dover and they decided to take the short drive to our house.  

We were looking for something fun to do, and well, a little bit of convincing and we had Papa Rob at the fair!!! 

 Y'all had a blast, you more than any of us and you got Papa Rob to ride most of the rides with you.  Now, I will say, on the pirate ship, I started to get a little worried.  If you notice, Papa Rob's head stays down the whole time it's moving!

 See!

 I found out after that he is pretty terrified of heights and, well, was doing it just to have fun with you.  He also rode the swings, not really paying attention to how high they got.  He needed a break after that one for sure! 

 They couldn't spend the night, and headed home later that night.  That was another great day at the fair, for sure.
There's also the day both of you wore pig tails.  Not sure what we did that day but I'm sure it involved errands of some sort!  So stinkin' cute though!

 Later that day Miss Aleah picked you up to go play at Caroline's house for a bit.  She even made a pit stop at Sweet Cece's on the way to drop you off!

 One beautiful morning I took you and Kate and Ellie to the zoo.  We've had very odd August weather, so we have taken full advantage of it!  

 Also (and a big reason why we are so busy), we are planning a trip to DisneyWorld!  Finally it was 30 days away, so you made a countdown to Disney thingamabob!  We are all soooo excited.  You have done an excellent job of keeping up with how many to cut.  When we're out of town you will say "we need to cut 3 off when we get home" and I get very excited about how smart you are :)

 One weekend in August we went to Cincinnati to visit Daddy's bff, Mr. Mike (and Miss Jill) and their kiddos, Joshua and Daniel.  We left Katie Bug with Mimi since the boys were older (your age and 3 years older).  At first you were unsure of these boys but within minutes, you made yourself at home playing with them.  We headed to their neighborhood pool where you proved to be a great swimmer and diver, off an actual diving board!  

 That night they invited another couple and kiddos (two girls!) over to cook out and all the kiddos had a blast playing and hiding and even being zombies!!  You thought that was hilarious.
Saturday was even more fun because we went to this fair type place called Jersey Shore or something, anyway, it's a permanent fair and everyone loved it!!!

 

 It was so funny because you had zero fear riding any of those rides, and, well, Daniel, the older one, was always a little skittish to ride, but did anyway!  After rides, we headed to grab lunch and everyone was exhausted.  We all chilled a bit (i.e. took naps) and then the 'dults' headed to dinner alone while a sitter watched you kiddos.  She said y'all had a blast and you even put yourself to bed.  I believed her because the night before you did the same thing.  Although, I think the reason you put yourself to bed Saturday night was because you had the Ipad in the bed!!  Oh well.
Sunday's drive home was quite entertaining, too!

 And we were all super happy to get Katie Bug back.  Looks like she missed her Sister, too.

 The Bronson's were sweet to give you a cool present and on Monday we had to put it to use!  It was an old school Snoopy Icee Maker!  This is a toy that was around from when Mom was a kid!!

 We had a ton of fun making icees and while you weren't crazy about the taste, you loved the concept!
This is a random picture, but part of our daily routine, nonetheless.  Mimi bought you and Bug new umbrellas and while it wasn't raining outside, you two both insisted on playing with them inside, regardless of where you were...

 Everything seems to be closed these days since school has started back, and by that I mean the pools!  So one day Jacob and Anna met us at the Discovery Center in Murfreesboro.  We LOVED it and cannot believe it took us almost 5 years to make it there!  What fun all of us had.  Sadly though, you struck up a fever at the end and felt pretty terrible the rest of the day.  An old fever bug got us all...

 

 We worked our way through the fever bug and did lots of playing at the house and running errands and just passing the time waiting for school to start for us.  It starts SOOOOO late!
Trips to Walmart were made...

 And visits to the Aquarium restaurant...

 

 One Saturday afternoon/evening Ryan invited us all over to swim at their community pool.  We were all very excited because we got a picture of all 6 kiddos, a very rare commodity.  As you can see, we take what we can get!!!

 After we did pool, we went to their house and had pizza and played outside.  We had all 6 of you on the playground and it was making us all a nervous wreck because swings were flying while kiddos were walking in front, and ladders were being climbed and, well, you all survived AND we had a great time - so double perks ;)
Random photo from my phone - here's you as a boy :) We both got a kick out of this picture...

 And I did not (nor did Mimi) get a kick out of this picture.  This is you teaching your sister how to climb!!!  This is in MOmmy's closet and the reason I walked back here was because Kate was stuck!!!  That girl does anything and everything you do!

That's not all our August, but enough for now!  Love you!

Swimming with Ellie, Playing With Chloe and a Visit to Aunt Amy's

Dear Abigail,
This week started off with recouping from a fun day/night at the fair.  You slept ridiculously late on Monday and we were all waiting on you to wake up to head to the pool!  It all worked out though and we met Aunt Steph and Ellie and Kipper at the Franklin Y.  We enjoyed our time at the pool and even some lunch and then you got to go home with Ellie.  A little later in the day, Aunt Steph sent me a pic...

You and Ellie decided you needed a snack, so you just walked over to the garden and picked yourself a not so ripe tomato.  I guess that's better than sneaking in and getting chocolate, huh!
When I picked you up you said you played outside ALL DAY LONG, just like that and that you played pirates a whole lot.
On Tuesday, we went to the gym and then picked up Chloe for a little play date for you.  The two of you pulled everything out of the playroom and put it all in your room and changed outfits 200 times.  I thought I was going to lose it if I saw one more pair of pajamas on you!!  We ate lunch and then the 2 of you played outside for a bit before the mosquitos got too bad.  You had a fun day with Chloe for sure!
Wednesday, we met Anna and Jacob at Monkey Joe's and had a good time.  Yes, you were concerned at first about MJ joining us, but you soon got over that.  We didn't get to stay super late because we were meeting Aunt Amy.  You and Kate were getting to stay with Aunt Amy for 2 nights!  Mommy and your BFF were headed to an epic concert in Baltimore (Justin and Jay-Z), so Aunt Amy decided to entertain the two of you! I can't find any of the pics, but some highlights were picking Caroline up at school, playing with their puppy, Daisy (including sleeping in her bed!), meeting Aunt Jill for lunch and heading to the Children's Museum.  Aunt Amy said you two were great and she loved giving you sweets!  Why do all your Aunt's love spoiling you with chocolate?!!
Sarah and I picked you up on Friday and we were all happy to see each other! Yay for Aunt Amy, but also Yay for Justin Timberlake :)
Another great summer week of fun!
Love you tomato face!