Dads and Uncles are Fun

Dads and uncles keep the kids entertained. Highly entertained.

MLK Community Service

Just getting around to posting this... Carter and Thomas participated in a service project with Thomas' work on MLK day. Check out this short video where they appear several times!

Stitches, Staples and Glue... oh, my.

When carter was between one and two years old, he accidents that required had both stitches and staples. 

John is continuing the tradition with an accident that required glue... 

1) I definitely didn't realize there were so many ways to put skin back together - until these boys came along. 

2) John's cut is in almost the EXACT same place that Thomas has a scar from toddlerhood. I think someone is feeling sad that he doesn't look as much like Dad as his brother does...

4 kids, 1 parent

I am traveling most weeks in October and November, so Thomas is solo-parenting a lot. This past week, he kept C and J and Anna and Sammy one night while Park and Ashley had evening committments! 

They all seemed to fare well (though the house was a bit of a wreck the next day when I got home). 

Weekend Getaway to Estes Park

The final piece of Thomas' birthday surprise was a weekend trip to Estes Park where we celebrated Thomas, Marc and Rob's 40ths together. Okay, it was early for Marc and Rob, but they didn't seem to mind. We managed to mostly keep the trip a surprise from all of the guys. Details here. 

We chose Colorado because it was vaguely centrally located, when considering couples from Atlanta, Houston and San Diego. We also liked it because of the beautiful views, hiking, breweries, and some of the features of the house we rented, including the hot tub and wood burning fireplace. 

The boys

View from one of our four decks (plus, mimosas!)

On our hike to Cub Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park

Cub Lake (did I mention about the beauty?!)

After our hike, we drove to Lyon, CO to the Oskar Blues Brewpub, where they happened to be having Octoberfest, complete with a polka band

Shannon, Rachel and I might have been a little lost in the polka music, had we not had our husbands to share their (apparently vast) knowledge of polka with us. Case in point, before the polka band even started to play, there was a prediction that this particular song would be 4th on the set list. And they were right.

The guy in the band is playing a washboard tie

After Octoberfest polka fun, the serendipitous fun kept coming!  Just around the corner we found this amazing place.

It was so great to spend the weekend together. Our children were well cared for by a hugely appreciated group of family, friends and babysitters. They seemed to have a really terrific weekend, too!

Thomas' 40th

Thomas turned 40 last month! 

Carter helped with the decorating, which included posting a little relevant math he worked on for his dad

Thomas' main present was a series of 4 fun excursions 

The night of his birthday, we went to hibachi with the family

It was the very same restaurant that Cart Cart took Thomas and Park to on their birthdays almost every year, growing up

But back then, they didn't create a personalized cake for you, complete with the picture they took of you with a fun umbrella

The night after T's birthday, we went to see a taping of Wait, Wait... Don't Tell Me at the Fox

And then the Saturday night after his birthday, we had a cocktail party for T, complete with ONLY pink drinks, because they are his favorite (and he's old enough to not be ashamed)

Our friends Lance and Stephanie hosted the party (THANK YOU!) and Thomas got to share some of his favorite stories from his 40 years

It was a small gathering, but it included old friends, new friends and family

The fourth, and final, fun thing was kept as a surprise until last Friday when I picked Thomas up early from work... More on that tomorrow!

It must be Father's Day

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Sand, Steam and Pisco, and Pandas

Just a few things that appeared during our weekend.  We had a really fun, very busy, and somewhat productive weekend!

Thomas won tickets to the Atlanta Food & Wine Festival, which is a three-day food and drinking extravaganza that runs from Friday morning through Sunday evening. We only participated in a small fraction of the events, but really enjoyed everything we did. We got a sitter and went to a dinner Friday night, but on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, we got together with the other Fowlkes' and each gender got an afternoon away.

Thomas' company also hosted a festival on a property they own on Saturday, so we also did that.

And Carter performed at church on Sunday.

And I did some much needed shopping.

And I made a lot of baby food.

And John learned to crawl.

That doesn't seem like TOO much in words, but really, it was a crazy weekend. So I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking.

Friday Night: Food & Wine Festival (FWF) dinner at JCT Kitchen.
Where I met my new favorite cocktail: vodka, lime juice, maple syrup, white pepper and a tequila floater.
Seriously. So, so, SO good.  

Saturday morning: Festival at Riverview Landing
Playing in the sand ring
Carter says, "Mom, is there anything better than sand?"

Exploring the river
Anything to distract Carter from his demands that we take a dog home with us
(it was a dog-centric festival)

Saturday afternoon: the Fowlkes men head to the FWF
Ashley and I take four children under the age of 6 to the mall
All children survived and were allowed to ride the train
John opted to skip it in favor of milk with mom
Ashley and I actually manage to shop (briefly)
And we only buy one thing that's exactly the same (pretty amazing for us)

Thomas sends a photo of his point-of-view from the FWF
The "wine" part of the name is a bit misleading
There was wine, but there was also an abundance of beer, bourbon, pisco, vodka, tequila, moonshine, etc etc etc 

Later that afternoon, the cousins had some good outside fun

While I got busy steaming a LOT of veggies in preparation for smushing them for John
I'm pretty sure that this was my last batch of mush
By the time John eats all of this, I think he'll be on to all finger foods!

When Thomas returns from the FWF, the glass around his neck is empty

He takes a nap in the midst of the chaos
(remember: 4 children under 6 running about)

It really doesn't seem to bother Thomas

He did eventually perk up in time to eat again

Sunday morning: We're all up VERY early for Carter's last choir performance
(in my opinion, a big mother's day scheduling failure on the part of the church)
Carter did great, in part, (I think) because his ability to choose whether or not to be part of the choir again next year was predicated on him doing well. So he did. And I suspect that was his final performance.  

Saturday afternoon: Our turn at the FWF
Happy Mother's Day to us! 

Thomas and Park weren't able to do this on Saturday, so we got our glasses waxed by the Maker's Mark people 

Can we do this for Mother's Day every year?
Seriously. 

Tour DeCatur 2012

Thomas and Carter ran in the Tour DeCatur today. They did a 1 mile fun run together and then Thomas did the 5K. Carter did a GREAT job on the mile! He ran the whole way, and they clocked in at 10:28. Pretty impressive for less-than-6-years-old. He now wants to run the 5K next year. I told him if he runs a couple more 1 milers, we'll do it!

The Boys

Many things to blog. Currently too tired to do it. In the meantime, here are some sweet recent pics of my boys.

  

 

Thomas and Carter Time

Hoping to soften the blow of transitioning from only child to big brother, Thomas has been doing a great job coming up with one-on-one big kid activities to do with Carter. From water play, to attending the local high school football game to camping in the backyard (they made it the whole night in the tent!), this has been a special time for the two of them.

But, Carter doesn't just like weekends because of all of these fun activities. As he said this morning, he also really likes "home days" because, "I get to see my baby a lot."

Note from Thomas: In case anyone was wondering: a two person tent is fine for two adults, but not nearly big enough for one adult and a five year old. Also, for S'mores in the microwave (the grill is broken), 10 seconds is just a few too many. Marshmallows go a little crazy of you're not careful.

Note from Thomas: We left at the half, with Decatur up 57-0. I have not seen a final score yet (they might still be playing....)

Faux Father's Day

I'm going to be out of town on Father's Day, and I didn't want Thomas to miss out on having a dad-centric day. So, yesterday, we had a Fowlkes Family Faux Father's Day celebration.

Breakfast in bed

Homemade cards presented to Dad on a homemade tray

Headed off to see a Braves game with Cart Cart

"Happy Faux Father's Day, Dad!"