This morning I accompanied Austina, Fuller, Allison, and her kids to the Creative Discovery Museum. Then after they all got situated, I left them to their fun so I could have some alone time myself.

I got a pedicure, which is what I have decided to do at least once a month for a little pampering. Since we are going to the Lake tomorrow, I figured I should have pretty toes for walking around barefoot.

When I got home Damon remarked that he found uneaten edamame in the microwave and two toasted waffles in the toaster, now cold. I didn’t tell him the edamame was from yesterday. I remarked that I have had a fuzzy brain and maybe I should get it checked. He replied that I should have it checked for needing a vacation!

Time to go get the Samsonite luggage out of the attic and start packing. We leave bright and early tomorrow, and apparently it isn’t soon enough.

My sister arrived this afternoon. She is really here to visit with a friend who is here from France, and as a bonus she gets to hang out with Fuller and sleep on our Ikea chair bed.

I am glad that my sister likes to stay here when she visits. Since we don’t have a luxury home, it is small and not that great for overnight visitors. So having at least one person stay with us, letting us practice our hospitality, is a nice treat. One day, when we do have a bigger home with proper guest rooms, we won’t be out of practice on how to entertain in our home for multiple days.

This morning was our fantabulous playdate with Fuller’s BFF Luke (plus his mommy, my BFF Esther, and Ben who is attached to Esther most minutes of the day). Part one of our date was the Creative Discovery Museum. Fuller is becoming a pro at visiting and it was Luke’s first time. This caused a problem when Fuller wanted to go to his favorite spots and the rest of us wanted to give Luke the grand tour.

Fuller ended up crying for 75% of the time we were there. It wasn’t pretty.

But that isn’t the worst that happened.

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The week began with the analogy that we are currently running an obstacle course.

We started with a playdate which would be similar to a tire run, keeping your balance watching many kids and holding uplifting conversation with people over the age of 2 while making it to the end without a fall or tears (there were tears when we left, but no injuries).

Then an afternoon appointment (with Fuller at another friend’s house and no nap) which might be like a rope wall. It required several people to team together and make it over that beast.

When we all got together to ride the bus and then make a morning dentist appointment (Fuller at the office with daddy), it might be similar to an inflated obstacle slide, where it was not that hard and mainly fun. The worst part was the hour and half I had to wait to be seen by the dentist.

And finally, yesterday Mom’s group convened in our back yard. The organization that required wasn’t much- just a little balance beam exercise making it from point A to point B without disaster.

Yesterday, after the mom’s left, I felt this genuine surge of relief like “over half way there!” But the lingering mode of exhaustion led me to tell Damon, “Man, I am tired.” To which Damon replied, “Yeah, when are we going on vacation?”

Today it is a museum playdate with Luke (and his mommy) ending up at The Passage for lunch and water fun. And tomorrow I have all day to do domestic activities like laundry and vacuuming (so! much! fun!), before Cool Aunt Stina makes it to our house.

Almost done, the finish line is in sight. I guess right now, it might just be a test of endurance as we tread water for periods of time to get to our Sunday drive to Alabama. I know we will make it.

This post sponsored by Wood Dash Experts where I could get aDodge Charger accessory, which might make our travels easier.

I got my Police CD a few weeks ago (it was released on June 5th). It is the 2 disc set and it came with a fun vintage poster that I had to quickly keep Fuller from messing with.

Fuller and I have been enjoying the music immensely. His favorite song is “De Doo Doo Doo De Da Da Da” probably because he can sing it really well. And then he looks at me and says, “ance, Mommy?” because he is ready to dance. When we are in the car listening to “Message in a Bottle” he says “ance, Mommy?” and I say, “Sure. Go ahead and dance.” And then we move our heads and dance in our seats.

Such joy that little one.

As an aside, it’s too bad that I missed The Police back on the 16th when they were playing Bonnaroo. Though to be honest, I don’t think I would ever go to that festival because someone dies every year and it seems like such a mess. But here since I didn’t go muck around in the dirt with the other roonies (or whatever Bonnaroo goers are called). And tickets to arena concerts are pretty prices. But thanks to the internet, I can see them here:

Julie posted this on her blog and I love watching it. Atlantis coming safely to earth gives me this feel good vibe that is on par with how emotional I get when there is a parade.

I have no idea what the quote is or who said it or maybe it doesn’t even exist as a series of words, but there is a thought out there about seeing the world through the eyes of a child. I know there is. Something about how everything is new again, when seen through the eyes of a child.

If that isn’t a quote by someone famous somewhere then I claim it:

“The world is new again when seen through the eyes of a child.”

And today, I rode the bus for the very first time because Damon and I took Fuller on his first city bus ride.

I had a dentist appointment downtown early this morning. Fuller was going to spend the time at Damon’s office. So, instead of Damon riding the bus to work and then Fuller and I following in the car about 30 minutes later, we all got on the bus together to take the ride downtown.

Fuller sat up very straight in his seat and stared wide-eyed through the gigantic windows to see the scenery fly by. He was amazed that he was riding the bus and kept saying, “bus? bus?” over and over. When we arrived downtown and got off, he said “Thank you!” to the driver and then gave a cheerful, “Bye!”

After my appointment was finally over and we had lunch, Fuller kept asking for the bus. He just got so much enjoyment out of being such a big boy taking public transportation. It was an obvious thrill and I was glad to take him home that way as well. He wasn’t that thrilled to get off when we arrived at our stop, but since we were the only ones on the bus it wasn’t too embarrassing.

I look forward to experiencing more of the world for the first time again, just because we have Fuller in our lives.

Damon is constantly thinking about his Auburn Elvis venture and what he can do to make the experience more enjoyable for those who see him at the different games. He gets stopped a lot to have his picture taken and we always thought it would be fun to have folks email us their pictures. So last SEC tournament we gave folks business cards with the website and a logo for folks to learn more about Auburn Elvis and where to email the pictures.

Well, we haven’t received one email from one of those “fans” and now Damon has been rethinking his strategy. I told him he needs to get swag to hand out, along with the business cards.

A website like Gimmees.com is a great place to get swag printed up with whatever logo or slogan that he wants to come up with. It covers all kinds of products from company promotional items to cheering and team spirit. They have hand held casino games to foam fingers, mugs to calendars, all imprinted with whatever you desire.

The prices are really reasonable, which makes them a great place to order from. And I like that they have products that are environmentally friendly, which is something that Damon and I try to practice in our everyday lives.

Auburn Elvis lives, we just need to figure out what his swag would be.

We had a lovely playdate this morning. So many folks showed up to have fun with Jeanette and Ellis. I got to meet some other moms and kids from the neighborhood who came out of hiding to hang with the gang from Philly. We got some sprinkles of rain, but we just watched the kids run around getting sweaty and excited.

Fuller was extremely sad when we left at noon, but we had other things to do this afternoon! But it was a fun morning with new friends, good chatter, and fun picture opportunities.

We are still in begging mode for any friends/ family/ or readers’ unused Coke Points. Damon is hoping to collect about 1500 more points in order to qualify for tickets to the Auburn vs. Georgia football game next season.

The 15 digit alphanumeric codes are in caps or on the cardboard ends from the fridge packs. If you know us and want to just hand them over, then we will be happy to arrange pick up. If you want to email them, go ahead.

We appreciate your efforts so far to help us along.