As most of you know, we lost Bo on Saturday morning. :( My sweet boy put up a good fight but didn't have the strength to keep going. Friday and Friday night was really hard on him ... and me. We took him to the vet Saturday morning and his reaction to Bo was all the confirmation needed. We felt owed it to Bo to not let him suffer anymore and have some relief. So the weekend has been sad and strange. I have had Bo with me for 10 years. A lot has happened in those 10 years since Bo came to me at 6 weeks old. I started dating Christian (who also had a boxer), Dana passed away (who spoiled Bo as though she was his godmother. ha), I owned a convertible (quick year phase of my life before realizing Atlanta is too hot for those), bought my first place in Avondale Estates, played softball where Bo sort of became an unofficial mascot since he came to the game, married Christian, bought a house with a big yard for Bo, had Seth and Emmy who Bo doted on.... Yep, a lot has changed and yet he was my constant. So this week will be little clips and fun times with my sweet boy.

As you guys know, I am a fool for these discount deal a day things like Groupon, Half Off Depot, Living Social, Scoutmob, etc. There are a ton of them and they have such good deals. I have gotten some great deals from Groupon and Living Social this year. We had our yard aerated for $40, our carpets cleaned for $25, my car detailed (inside and out...best job to date) for $70, and I have gone to a day spa for a 3 hour deal for $100. But the best one yet was a 4-hour boat rental at Lake Lanier for $80. And the kicker was the rental marina was the same marina my parents had their houseboat growing up.

So we had a walk down memory lane. We invited my parents to come along since they love boating, too. Not to mention dad was going to have his hip replaced at the end of July and we figured it would be a last hoorah day for him. ha! The marina looked great...they have done a lot of revamping. Yet, our old dock looks the same, some of the same boats are still there, too. As well as some of the same boat furniture and boat decorations - talk about time for an update...get rid of the '70s curtains.

Christian and I needed a break away for quick weekend. We decided to do a quick run to Callaway Gardens. It is only 2 hours from here and they were running a great summer special. We were able to see a Wild Animal Safari, the butterfly center, and the beach. We learned there aren't many restaurants or places to eat down there but luckily we hit 2 good grub spots. :)

So we got into town around 2pm Friday...blazing hot afternoon with temperatures hanging around a smoltey 100 degrees. So what would you do? Why rent a safari van with no A/C and spend an hour driving 5 miles an hour through a wild animal safari. Yep, sounds fun! The kids were cracking us up but they seemed to love it. Here are some pics from that and a video.






That night we drove around looking for the restaurant, Crickets, and low and behold it is right next door to Pine Mountain Chalet Club. My grandmother used to own a Chalet in here and we would go every summer for vacation. It is awesome. It is a community of chalets on a lake. I had to drive by for memory sake and it looks the exact same! Though, they have filled in the pool that was right next door. :( But my basketball courts were there...I loved those courts.



The next day we hit the Callaway Beach. I loved it. I thought it was such a nice, quaint beach. Very well organized with lots of pavillion space and water playgrounds (which we kept missing out on the times), a fountain, a train (which we missed also), an outdoor circus. You can bring in your own cooler of picnic stuff and drinks. The kids had a ball!!!





Saturday night we ate out at the Country Store Restaurant! We had great southern cooking food. And of course, picture time after that then a visit to the Gardens.

Trying to learn about Seth's day is like pulling teeth. Obviously, a 5 year old isn't the most profound story teller but any vague details would be nice. I am playing detective and asking questions hoping to stumble on a piece of the day.

"Did you have story time?"
"How many teachers do you have?"
"Do you play any games?" "Which games?" "Do you like them?"
"What is your favorite part of the day?"
etc etc etc

And here are some of the facts I have found out...though not sure how true they really are.

1. The cafeteria has superhero Popsicle after lunch. He gets the Wolverine ones.
2. The playground has a fireman pole on it. He was scared at first but now jumps to reach it.
3. They play the pinch and run game. Seth gets pinched and he has to try to run but he laughs too hard. hmm, somehow I don't think this is organized but more of a playground made up game.
4. The bus ride home makes him cranky and sweaty. Sometimes he falls asleep on the bus.
5. My personal favorite: There is a kid in his class named Steven who has earrings..."just like the man that brings the pizza to our door". Lovely!

And education you ask...he's learning loads.

1. He has learned to unbuckle and buckle his belt to use the restroom.
2. He's learning to tie his shoes...work in progress.
3. He's learned he can choose chocolate milk for lunch and has even learned to mix it up and drink white milk on occassion "to make mommy happy."
   
4. He learned how to play and win Bingo.
5. My personal favorite: He has learned that he doesn't want mommy to pack his snack (like we are supposed to) "because if you forget your snack, you get animal crackers so forget my snack tomorrow so I can get animal crackers!"
   

Seth started Kindergarten yesterday! I can't believe he is already off to school. Where did those 5 years go? And when did he get big enough to carry a backpack? Or know his way around a school? Or get his own lunch in the cafeteria?

He was so excited all weekend about going to 'big boy' school and wearing his uniform. I am so happy he has a uniform school...it really takes away any bit of "What will he wear today?" Their uniforms have variety and can be one of a few shades of shorts and shirts and must have all white, all black, or all brown shoes. Since it is a public school, it isn't required but most parents I've seen are excited about it.

His school starts on the early rotation for the county, so bell rings at 8:15am and ends at 2:45pm. Right now, daddy takes him in the morning and he rides the bus home. He absolutely loves the bus thing. Oh how things will change over the years. ha! His bus was late yesterday (given the first week of learning the routes, etc) so he wasn't home until 4pm! It was a long day for my little man. He was tired, sweaty, and whiney when he got home. But later told me how much fun he had!

And not sure if you can tell in the last picture or not, but we bought what we thought was a cute pirate-themed backpack. In reality, it is just blue, black, yellow with SKULLS all over it. Real nice! So glad I'm sending my Kindergartener into his first day with a ghetto backpack. hahaha! And of course, Uncle Mike noticed right away! Now my coworkers thought they were pandas. Really...no way would I send my 5 year old SON into school with a panda backpack. Where's the street cred? ha Just Kidding!

OK, so this isn't a timely post but have some mercy. This summer has been non-stop chaos and we have barely had time to breathe.

Emmy has been saying she was 3 years old for a good 6-8 months before her actual birthday. When we would try to correct her, she would say "No, I don't like two. I three!" Oh Lordie..what are we in store for? So the big day hit and she knew it was her day and her party. Here are some pictures!