Tater head

Ginny's Picaso-like Potato head creation.

Thrill Seeker

Yesterday, Nathan and I were invited to Carowinds by a friend.  We didn't have a full day there, but it was still a blast.  Most significant about this visit was that this was the first time that Nathan has been big enough to ride any of the "adult" coasters in the park.  I had thought he would be quite skiddish, but that wasn't the case at all. We entered into the park at the south entrance, and after riding a smaller ride first, we walked by Thunder Road.  Nathan points at it and says "I want to do that one!"  Nervously I consented, but my parental worries were soon stilled when after getting off, Nathan was laughing hysterically and begging to ride it again.  Which, we did.  He also rode his first steel upside-down coaster, The Carolina Cyclone, which he says is his current favorite.  He also tackled the Gold-rusher and Carolina Cobra as well too.  So, I guess I have a thrill-seeker on my hands....

Nathan after conquering the Carolina Cyclone

Ginny Crash Course

After Ginny's birthday party and an evening out at KFC with Memaw & Pepaw, both Ginny and Nathan wanted to ride their bikes in the driveway and road in front of ours house.  Nathan is actually getting very good with his balance and can ride a good distance on his own with his bike.  Ginny went back and forth between riding her two tricycles in the driveway, and would get into a giggling fit every time she would crash into something.  Here's a little bit of that action.

Ginny's First "Happy! Happy!"

Today we celebrated Ginny's fourth birthday, her first birthday with us in her forever family.  Her actual birthday was a few days back, but we had a small family party here at the house this afternoon.  Because of Ginny's early fascination with shoes, Becky Briggs from our church made her a "flip flop" cake, which was beautiful and very yummy.  She was showered with gifts too as you might imagine, including a stuffed horse with it's own carrying case/purse, a phone she could record her own voice in, a princess tent, shoes, clothes, and other toys.   It was a great day but a tiring one, and as evidence of that we just put two cranky "youngins" in the bed a bit ago.  Here is a video of the highlight of the party for Ginny, the Birthday song, candles, and cake.  And like the other video collage I made featuring scenes like this, this one I'm sure will be requested to be played over and over by one spoiled little girl.

Pierced!

Sharon has been really wanting to get Ginny's ears pierced, but for one reason or another we have not been in a big hurry.  Since we were in Concord most of the day today, Sharon took Ginny to Claire's in Concord Mills to have it done.  Sharon asked her several times if this is something she wanted to do, as to not force it on her, but she kept saying she wanted it done.  So, below is 15 seconds of action-packed footage from the event:

  

Up on Yonder Mountain

This has been one of the busiest summers on record for us.  Therefore, I've been a bit delinquent on the blogging.  We just got back from a wonderful get-away up in the Gatlinburg area, where we met up with some friends from church for some fun mountain activities which included a day in Cade's Cove, river tubing, shopping, putt-putt, time around the campfire, and many games of pool.  Here are a few pictures from our trip, one of the most fun family vacations to date.  Now, as has become cliche, I need a vacation to recover from my vacation.  Still, no rest for the weary, as its back to work tomorrow.

Pony up

Ginny and Nathan got to ride on the pony at our friends Debbie &  Jacob's farm.  This was Ginny's first time on a horse, and she did great.

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