Double Decker 2012

One of my all time favorite events, Double Decker, happened yesterday! I love to meander around the Oxford square and take in all the sights and sounds, although I have to admit that taking a baby/toddler/wild child makes it a whole new experience/challenge. This year seemed especially hard to push a stroller through the unaware crowd (and I’m not talking about the college students). We met Spiffer and Granddaddy for lunch, did a little shopping, ran into and played with the Coats girls for a few minutes, stopped for our annual ice cream sandwich, and then headed to the kids’ area. By that time, the sun was really bearing down on us and HG’s naptime was quickly approaching. We hung in there though (with the help of McAlister’s sweet tea), and the smiles and squeals we got from HG playing on two jumpys were well worth the sunburn and sore feet.

Double Decker 2010 (almost 1)Double Decker 2011 (almost 2)Double Decker 2012 (almost 3) People watching is always fun Busted!!!

“Shout It Out…Just Like a Rock Star!”

On Friday night, Helen Grace got to see some of her favorite ‘celebrity crushes’ in the flesh!! The Fresh Beat Band has always been one of her favorite tv shows. Whenever one of their videos come on NickJr, she will jump up off the couch and dance and sing around the room. Kiki, Marina, Twist, and Shout are now touring the country and made a stop in Memphis at the Cannon Center. Spiffer joined Helen Grace and I for a fun girls’ night out, and HG was soooo excited about going to a concert and seeing Fresh Beat Band in person. She had a ball twirling in her dress inside the sculpture out front, and of course, she immediately spotted a blinking light stick in the lobby and had to have one. And Spiffer was more than willing to oblige! When the band first came on stage, she was a little shocked and sat there pretty much stone faced. It took her a while to take it all in, but she eventually started clapping along. After the intermission, she really woke up and started dancing. The only moment of whine that we had was that we were sitting up in the balcony and she wanted to go down to the floor and up on the stage. I hadn’t thought about that, but I guess it is a life lesson to be told that we all had assigned seats. It made her happy afterward though to go down to the edge of the balcony and peer over. She danced her way all the way to the car and has been talking about our night ever since!

Also, a big accomplishment for Mama- she wore a bow pretty much the entire night! Her bangs are officially too long and are driving her crazy getting in her eyes, so she is now willing to let me put a bow in it so that she can see. I’m starting to think that we might could realistically grow out her bangs over the summer- at long last!

“Let’s GO, Mama!”

First glimpse of the Fresh Beat Band

And now she’s up on her feet…you gotta see the pose at the end! I thought she was doing one of her tricks, but John pointed out that she was probably mimicking Kiki or Marina on stage. Good point.

SK’s Visit

Yesterday, we had an unexpected treat with a cousins’ play date with Selena Kate! Chad and SK came up from LA for a funeral, and we were able to meet them at Bubba’s last night for dinner (along with William, Spiffer, and Granddaddy). HG was all excited about seeing ‘the baby,’ and while I tried to tell her that she wasn’t as much of a baby as she was at Christmas, I think HG was still surprised that SK was running around and chatting so much! SK clung to her daddy a lot, as much as HG wanted her to play. She got a taste of her own ‘shy’ medicine!

Being crazy with crazy cousin William

Fun with Friends

Last Sunday morning when we were eating brunch with Aunt Glo, Spiffer, and Granddaddy, I heard a commotion toward the door of the restaurant and John say, “Hey, there’s—" and all of a sudden, I see a blur that I soon realize is Ann Maxwell, running toward our table, flying across my lap, and squeezing in between HG and me. HG squealed with delight, “MAXWELL!” You can’t keep these two buddies apart- well, until AM gets tired of HG bossing her around! They spent the rest of the meal trading their mamas’ phones and comparing games. Hilarious!

On Wednesday morning, we got together with the Coats and the Eldreds at the ‘jumpy party,’ as HG calls it (Bounz in Southaven). The kids went nuts and jumped their little heads off. It was worth every cent of the $7.50 it cost to get in! Afterward, we went to lunch at McAlister’s where the kids behaved so well that the mamas actually had REAL conversations. Note that was PLURAL. Very cool. It was so nice that I didn’t want to leave! :) HG and I are blessed to have such sweet mama and kiddo friends.

Emily, Emmaline, Lawson, HG AM, HG, Lawson

HG, Lawson, AM, Emmaline at lunch

Weekend

We’ve had a really nice, laidback weekend. My cousin, Ryves, is marrying a FABULOUS girl, Mary Chris, so we kicked off their wedding festivities with a linen shower for her on Saturday in Byhalia. We can’t wait for her to officially be a Moore in July!

Ryves, Bubba, and Mary Chris With Ryves and Mere; poor MC was stuck inside with bride duties. We’ll try to steal her away for a cousins pic next time.

On Saturday night, HG had a slumber party at Granddaddy and Spiffer’s, so John and I had a date night. Woo hooo!!! (As excited as I was, I have to admit I was a little sad pulling out of their driveway. I miss being around her. She was so excited though and had a great time!) I wanted to go somewhere really casual for dinner and we both had a hankering for a good steak, so we went to Como Steakhouse and thoroughly stuffed ourselves. Of course, I was wide awake at 8:30 this morning (partly due to two needy cats), but I had a lazy morning- laid in bed and finished a book I’ve been reading, did some laundry, and ate a leisurely breakfast without watching ANY cartoons- awesome! We picked up baby girl at lunchtime and then headed to John’s soccer game. HG was so cute yelling, “Go, Daddy, go!” and “Score!!” from the sidelines. She was chomping at the bit for halftime so she could go out on the field and play soccer with Daddy. Seems like we have a little soccer player in the making!

Cheering on Daddy! Starting her earlyPlaying soccer with Daddy

Let’s Go Fly A Kite

“Let’s go fly a kite,

Up to the highest height.

Let’s go fly a kite,

And send it soaring!”

Mary Poppins

We have heard a LOT of those lyrics around our house lately, so when it was pretty windy last Saturday, we headed to Grandma’s to fly a kite. I used to fly them a lot when I was little, but I hadn’t touched one in years. Thank goodness that Grandma and Peggy are pretty good at it and helped me dig out my rusty flying skills. I didn’t realize it until I sat down to look back through the pictures, but Helen Grace spent most of the time with her face tilted up to the sky and hands on her head- this kite flying stuff is serious business!

Getting some pointers from Teddy How many college degrees does it take to fly a kite?