Hot in Atlanta!

If you haven't figured it out yet, I'm tired!!  We have gone & done so much this summer trying to give the girls a good experience, but it has worn me down!  (Not to mention my house is a wreck!)  We had one week overlap of the Russian girl and the French girl so we chose that week to visit a "city".  Originally, I thought I'd be fine with my boys and the girls alone, but in the end I enlisted the help of a local teacher friend so it wouldn't be me alone with the kids!  We had a great condo in downtown - we could walk everywhere.  We did a lot of walking and the boys did surprisingly well even though the heat/humidity was almost too much for me.  In two days, we visited Coke World, the Georgia Aquarium, CNN center, Centennial Park, Turner Field, and finally, Atlantic Station for a little shopping.  The toughest part was the 330 mile drive!

JT was in Coke paradise - I let him drink as much as he wanted!  I think Solène tried all 41 flavors.

At Centennial Park

This was a real aquarium behind us with live coral.  Although the GA Aquarium is expensive, I would strongly recommend it.

July - just a lot of water!

Our summer has been very busy with trips to the waterpark, lake, and beach.  It was a very hot/humid July and the only way to cool off was in the water!  Luckily, the boys seem to love it as much as we do!

p.s. I am playing catch up on all my photos for the next few weeks!

As the family photographer, I have to occasionally ask Bill to "get me in one" so in the future, we'll know I was there!

Freeze pops are a summer must at our house!

Yes, that's Bill on the rope swing at Belews Lake.

*Trying* to broaden their palette!

Welcome Solène

We continued our summer short term exchange experience with the addition of Solène from France on July 24.  JT asked me today who he will play with after everyone is gone.  Our boys have truly enjoyed these additions to our family!

Face Paint

The Panther

The tiger

Yes, we own face paint is all I can say.

July 4th at Popo's

We had a great 4th of July at Bill's "homeplace".  Ilona had seen a photo of one of these cakes that I would make when we lived in Switzerland and wanted one for this year. She really enjoyed it!  We had a great time Sunday evening riding the Kabota all around and then we took rockets to launch which J was very excited about! We did the traditional hamburger/hotdog grilling and then finished the evening with our own *fireworks* by the pond.

We don't have a good hill for these type of activites either, but J had a blast!

What a Man, what a man!

As you remember, Bill was cycling on 4/29/2009 and was hit head on by a car.  He spent 12 nights in the hospital, had 2 surgeries, (1 or 2 still to come), and lost so much strength he had to use a walker to make it to our mailbox.  At the time he was training for Blood, Sweat, and Gears, a 102 mile bike ride in the NC mountains. Our God saved Bill that day and gave him the resolve to "make it back".  On Saturday, June 26, 2010, Bill completed the ride in 5 hours 42 minutes!  He said he was riding mad - every time it got tough, he got mad about being hit.  Must have worked because he did awesome!

On his way to the start line.

Still looking strong at mile 82!

At the finish with his #1 riding partner (and great friend through his recovery).

Mountain Escape

The last weekend in June found us in the NC mountains.  Our cabin was super cute and had everything we could need - even though it was miles from "town".  We enjoyed being with good friends and watching Bill on his comeback bike ride!

The cabin had no ac, but thankfully it was cool at night.

JT enjoying the hot tub. Don't ask me why he's wearing water wings!

The many faces of Andrew in the Watuaga River - he was pretending to be a pterodactyl.

Introducing Ilona from Russia.  She is with us until the end of July.

Momma can't do this much longer!