boing, boing, boing

It's garage sale season in Memphis.

Our lucky find ...

a big, full size trampoline for $25

Willa adores it.

I thought I'd love it also.  Matt and I both grew up with trampolines.  But, I admit, it makes me so nervous to watch Willa bounce around.  Not nervous enough to get rid of it.  Just nervous enough to watch Willa like an eagle while she's on it.  I've woken up twice with nightmares of her falling off.

It makes me feel a whole lot better when Matt jumps with her.

First Haircut

While Moe was visiting, we finally took Willa to get her haircut.

Look at this crazy hair...

I let it go way too long, but I was afraid to take her because I thought she might cry and fight me.

I was wrong.  She could have cared less.

She just sat on my lap and almost fell asleep.

Here are a couple after shots.  I had mine cut while we were there as well.  I know, great style for me - all wet and messy.  That's what you get when you go to Supercuts and spend 6 bucks.

We moved!

I haven't taken any pictures of the house yet, I'll post some one of these days.  A resident that just finished wasn't able to sell his house so he asked Matt if we wanted to rent it.  It's way nicer than the one we were in so we jumped on the offer, gave our landlord notice, and moved.

We love the new backyard.  It is just a big grassy completely fenced in yard.  We loved the lake - when it was still there (the damn broke and the HOA didn't have the money to fix it.  The hope is they'll be able to fix it in December).  But with a toddler we love NOT living on a lake.

Now Willa can run around outside to her hearts content without falling off the deck into the lake.  She had so much fun "helping" Matt mow the lawn the other night.

and watching him from the comfort of her very own little push car.

and watching him from the sandbox.  It was so hot and humid and she was so sweaty.  Sand stuck to nearly every part of her body, but she was so happy.

a visit from Moe

My sister came for a quick trip to Memphis.  I think I chose the hottest day of the summer to show her around downtown Memphis.

First stop - the Peabody Hotel to see the famous Peabody Ducks.

 (from google)

It sounds fun.  A little family of ducks are trained to ride an elevator down from the roof, march along a red carpet, spend the day in the lobby and fountain, and then do the opposite in the evening to return to their home on the roof.

(from google)

(from google)

Um, it was fun because it was so hilariously silly.  Crowds and crowds of people showed up to watch the spectacle.  We waited around for a good 10 minutes watching the numbers on the elevator go up to the roof and then come back down in anticipation to see the ducks.  The doors opened and then 4 or 5 ducks ran to the fountain in about 2 seconds and the famous Peabody Duck march was over.  It made us laugh so hard to think crowds show up for that daily.

This lobby was packed, packed, packed full of people!  The hotel itself did not disappoint.  It was beautiful.

Next stop - Beale Street

It was too hot to even think about stopping for a photo.  We were sweating from every pore in our bodies.  The street was empty.  I guess the Peabody Duck crowd isn't interested in Beale Street.

Next up - a trolley ride around the city.

The trolley was great.  It costs 50 cents.  There isn't AC but the windows were open and there was a tiny breeze.

The trolley was full of locals.  Gotta love the locals.

Last stop - We hopped off the trolley to see the Lorraine Motel.  The place Martin Luther King, Jr was assasssinated.

We spent the rest of Moe's trip trying to stay cool and moving to the new house.  That wasn't the plan, but it worked out that way and we were so glad to have her help.  Come again Moe - and we promise we won't move next time.

 

date night

at the gun range.
Matt said it was the best date he's ever been on.

For $40 we got dinner at the cafe...

two boxes of ammunition... two targets...

one hour on a lane...

gun rental...

(we could trade guns as often as we liked)

and free babysitting.

(thanks to our babysitting group)

We fired two handguns - a .357 Magnum (above) and .45 Springfield 1911 (below)

It was a crazy good deal.  I'm not super comfortable around guns.  I did not grow up shooting guns. And for some reason shooting hunting rifles and shotguns doesn't weird me out as much as handguns do, but after I got over that, it was fun to try and shoot a bullseye.

the 4th

         of July

Matt had to work the 4th of July weekend so Willa and I flew to Florida for the holiday.

We spent the majority of our time at my parents' house, but we spent the actual 4th in Orlando at my sister's. 

What makes for a good 4th of July...

festive hats & fireworks

a stylish ride to take you to said fireworks

good company

matching outfits

And lots and lots of red, white, and blue.  Yup! What else could you ask for?  Oh, maybe a husband.  That would have made it perfect.

jumping jelly beans

Who knew learning to jump required so much practice

Lucky Little Girl

Willa is a lucky little girl to have a daddy as special as hers.

He takes the time to share his favorite things with her.

(there is a video - refresh the page if it didn't load)

He takes the time to do her favorite things.

And he takes the time to show her the world...in a way only a daddy can

Happy Father's Day! 

Thank you for working so hard for us and being such a wonderful daddy & husband.  We love you!

our lake is gone

I looked out the window the other day and noticed the lake looked a little low despite a bunch of spring rain.  Every few hours, I noticed it looked even lower.  Soon I realized it was being drained.  We still don't know why exactly, but we assume the home owner's association did it on purpose for some reason.  It's been empty for almost a month.

So our beautiful lake that used to look like this...

Now looks like this...

UGLY! It looks like a waste land. (luckily it doesn't smell bad).

I miss the water.  And I feel so bad for the animals.  At first, we'd see fish flopping in the little puddles.  But they're all gone.  Now just the turtles, ducks, and geese are left.  They move around in the mud and gather in the little puddles.

They used to swim around...

But now they have to walk...

When I was looking back trying to find pictures of the lake, I came across these in a folder entitled "deck photo shoot".  I had to post them.  ha-ha.

The real star of the photo shoot was Willa, of course.  She is 8 months old in these pictures.