Dinners with Friends

We were regular social butterflies this weekend.  On Friday night, John and I went out with two other couples and tried a new restaurant in Midtown.  It's been awhile since we've done that!  Elizabeth was thrilled to spend an evening with her favorite babysitter.  She stayed up until 9pm playing because they were having so much fun.

On Saturday, we had a reunion with Elizabeth's buddies from her first school, Jake and Evan (and their parents).  Jake and Elizabeth are back at the same school again so we see him quite a bit, but we hadn't seen Evan in a really long time.  It was fun to watch the three kids play together again.  The boys seemed to love playing with girl toys, like the tea set.  That was very entertaining for the parents.

Pizza party!

Jake and Elizabeth

Evan eating his pizza

The cupcakes were a hit (and a huge mess)

Sunday morning walk through the neighborhood

Rainy Day Haircut

Today is my first non-holiday day off for awhile, and of course, it's pouring rain.  So, Elizabeth and I decided to hit the children's salon for a haircut.  I know that I blog about every haircut, but I just think it is so darn cute to see.  Here are a few iPhone shots.

Ready in the taxi.

Getting sprayed down.

First blowout!

Pretty cute.  It looked better once it fully dried.

Siesta Key

We just got home from our annual MLK weekend trip to Siesta Key.  Once again, the weather was a little too cool to hit the beach, but it was about twenty degrees warmer down there than in Atlanta and sunny every day, so it was still a nice weekend getaway.  This year we checked out the Sarasota Jungle Gardens, which is a hybrid of a small zoo and botanical gardens.  Elizabeth got thisclose to a few alligators (creepy!) and loved the playground area and feeding the fish with Dad.  She wasn't as thrilled with the flamingo exhibit, where the flamingos walk right up to you.  Of course, we hit our usual favorite restaurants - The Hub, Tommy Bahama, Phillipi Creek and Old Salty Dog.  We are looking forward to our next trip to Siesta Key in March, when it should be a little warmer.

The beach is that way!

Sand!

More sand!

Checking out the Tiki hut

Posing for Mom

Looking at the alligators

Fun with Dad

Feeding fish at Jungle Gardens

Checking out a new playground

Old Salty Dog - Longboat Key

"Winter"

This is what we call "winter" in Atlanta.  65 degrees, short sleeves, and no coats.  Now that the holidays have come and gone, I'm just fine with this kind of winter.  A year ago, we were confined to our house for five days while the city was covered in snow and ice.  I'll definitely take 65 degrees over that.

We took advantage of the nice weather and headed outside to play on Saturday afternoon.  I should note that Elizabeth is self-styled in these photos.  During the week, I get the final word on what she wears to school.  On the weekends, whatever.

On Sunday morning, we finally broke out the paint set that goes with the easel that Elizabeth got for Christmas.  I have been too lazy to deal with what I expected to be a hideous mess, but the paints actually clean up very easily and Elizabeth kept them relatively close to the easel.  It took us about 30 minutes to set up and clean up and it took Elizabeth about five minutes to paint, but she really enjoyed those five minutes. 

Riding around the 'hood

This is what I get when I say "smile!"

Incoming!

Playing traditional "football"

This is what I get when I say "show me your big smile!"

ESB took a few laps around the park to keep her heart rate up

Sweet girl

Riding around with Dad

Painting

The two-handed approach

Finger paints

The one-hand-two-brushes approach

Final product.  Please contact us for pricing.