Eli and the Big Truck

A typical conversation with Eli these days is about one of the following things:  trains (choo-choos), back hoes (dig-digs), or big trucks (beh chruck).

So you can only imagine his joy and delight when his Pappy drove his rig to Athens for Thanksgiving and let Eli sit in the driver seat.

 

He was, simply put, over the moon.

 

Pappy even showed Eli how to honk the hydraulic horn!

 

My big boy doesn't look so big when he is behind the wheel of this big truck!

Such fun!  Thanks, Pappy!

Thanksgiving in Pictures

Josh's family joined us in Georgia for Thanksgiving.

Which also meant that we got to meet our nephew, Jack, for the first time.
Which also meant that Eli had a new source of entertainment for the week!

 

Eli got to help his Grammy roll out the dough for the pumpkin pie crusts! (Pretty sure more flour ended up on him then on the counter!)

Thanksgiving place cards...

Sweet Jack...

Chris and Eddie loved the chance to hang out with their grandsons!

With family in town, we decided to celebrate Eli's birthday a little early... stay tuned for pics of Eli riding his cool new balance bike!

Jack couldn't keep his eyes off Eli the whole week... you could just see his wheels churning as he tried to figure out how he could keep up with his cousin!

Proud grandparents!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Eli!

I don't know how it happened.

I blinked and my chunky little baby turned into a energetic and joyful toddler.

Who turned TWO today.  TWO!

He doesn't really know what all the hubbub is about, just that he has gotten some extra treats and a huge Lightning McQueen balloon.

He was not really in the mood to take a picture in the chair this morning.  So I am lucky I got a usable shot!  Most of the rest looked like this:

Happy Birthday, Eli.  We love you to the moon and back.

Ringing the Chapel Bell

It has been a busy, busy Fall.

And I have neglected you, blog world.

The volleyball season ends next week and then the Lauer family will breathe deeply for a few weeks before gearing up for the beginning of Josh's recruiting travels.

We have been enjoying the seven game win streak of Georgia's football team... and figured last week's trouncing of Auburn was a good time to partake in a Bulldog tradition.  (We discovered after moving to Athens that Georgia fans hate Auburn almost as much as Alabama fans do.  Almost.)

From www.georgiadogs.com:

The ringing of the chapel bell after a Georgia victory is a tradition that continues even though freshmen are no longer ordered to do the chore. In the 1890's, the playing field was located only yards from the Chapel and first year students were compelled to ring the bell until midnight in celebration of a Bulldog victory. Today, students, alumni, and townspeople still rush to the Chapel to ring the bell after a gridiron victory. 

On Oct. 27, 2007, as tradition warrants, Georgia fans rang the Chapel bell to celebrate the 42-30 win over the Florida Gators. The excitement caused the yoke holding the 877 lb. bell to give way, and it fell from the support platform. Physical Plant has returned the bell to its post. 

I didn't know that last part until just now when I went to look up the specifics of the tradition!  I'm sure that scared the pants off of whoever was ringing the bell at the time!

Eli wasn't sure what to think at first.

You really want me to pull that thing, Daddy? 

Ok... if you say so!

Happy Halloween... from our little monster!

Random happenings

1.  Eli decided the other day that he was tired of waiting for me to push him on his trike.  And just like that he started pedaling.

Cupcakes for Noah

One of the best parts about living in Georgia is being close to friends from college who live in the Atlanta area.

Two of these friends happen to be married to each other.  And they happen to be some of the funniest people I know.

Back in August, when we celebrated Noah's birthday, Brian and Laine drove up to Athens with two of their five kiddos and some cupcake mix.  We enjoyed each other's company and then enjoyed some cupcakes in Noah's honor.

Eli wanted to be front and center for the cupcake making process...

Austen wanted in on the action as did Cameron, but she was sleeping peacefully upstairs in Eli's crib.  Poor Cam-dog!

Eli and I put on the sprinkles as the finishing touch...

Thanks Bennetts!

Under the Sea

Life continues to be busy.  Really busy.   I'm trying to get a handle on it but that is whole different blog post.

My parents came to town last weekend and we had a wonderful time doing nothing in particular.

While my dad was at a meeting in Atlanta, my mom and I took Eli to the Georgia Aquarium.  The timing was perfect... it was a weekday morning and there was hardly any crowd at all.  Eli could run and point and yell 'Ma-MAA' to his heart's content.  

It is a magical place.  I took lots of pictures but this is the only one that comes close to capturing the experience.

Last but not least...

Life has been distracting me lately... the beginning of the VB season, the start of various activities I have signed up for in an effort to get 'plugged' in in Athens, and a few free lance projects have all been the focus of my time.

Sorry, blog-world, for letting you fall by the way side!

Here are a few pics from the end of my journey with Eli to St. Louis.  We stopped in Nashville over night on the way to and from the Lou, both times staying with good friends who I hadn't seen in a while.  The Roper clan is getting the short end of the stick... I didn't really get my camera out that first night and as a result have no pictures to document the fun we had a Pei-Wei or the torture their poor dog endured at the hands of Eli.

I did a little better documenting at our stop at the Emerys on our way home.
Eli had such fun playing with the Emery kiddos and was pretty sad when we had to leave to finish our trek.

After trying on these sweet shades, Eli agreed to let Claire take him for a little spin around the driveway.  He loved every minute of it even though he looks like he is holding on for dear life in this pic!

Eli got his ring-around-the-rosie schwerve on several times on our trip... but it was load of fun playing it on the air mattress with Claire and Ben!

Thanks for your hospitality, Emerys!  Love you!

St. Louis, Part 5 - The Butterfly House

On our last morning in St. Louis, we met a group of friends at the Butterfly House.  It was a beautiful morning and a great way to run off a little of Eli's energy before getting in the car for the first half of our journey home.

Eli decided to check out the educational video before heading into see the real butterflies.

There were also some other insects on display... and Onalee decided to get up close and personal with them!  Nothing like being surrounded by a few hundred roaches!

Butterflies are EVERYWHERE when you walk into the conservatory.  I wanted to stop every few steps to take pictures of them but Eli was in the crazy man mode and demanded most of my attention.  I did manage to snap a few...

Eli as a butterfly during a rare moment when he wasn't running all over the place.

After leaving the Butterfly House, we headed to the playground next door and I got to spend a little time with Luke.  What a cutie!

Eli, of course, had a blast on the playground equipment.  

Here is the whole gang of kiddos!

Our play time eventually came to an end and we had to say our goodbyes.  The Snyders had been gracious enough to host us all week long and Eli repaid this generosity with lots of hugs for Nicole before we left.

Eli and Elise had become like brother and sister while we were there... to the point that we had to separate them at breakfast on our last morning because they couldn't keep their hands off each other!  But they were all hugs before we left... well, at least until the hug caused them both to fall over and bang heads.  But it was a super cute moment before that happened!