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On the day before Mother’s Day Matt and Liam headed to Decatur to have brunch with Lynne and help Gillian move.  Paige and I headed to Decatur (separately) to have lunch with Mom, Dad, and Mo.  Here are some pictures from the lunch (which basically boiled down to fantastic food and an opportunity to take hundreds of pictures of Mo and Paige:  Happy Mother’s Day to me!).

Gran’s lookalike sitting in Gran’s highchair:

Why do all babies love tissue paper?

I guess it doesn’t matter.

They do and we all react accordingly.

And it always ends like this…

Time to move on to the card:

Paige finds it hilarious:

Let the cuteness parade begin:

Mo is reminded that wearing jewelry while holding Paige can be very dangerous:

Never fear.  Paige is nothing if not resourceful.

And when you take the necklace away?

Tiny, chokey buttons will suffice.

“Who, me?”

Angelically deceiving:

And so begins the newly invented (and wildly popular) “catch the finger” game…

Four-finger variation:

Paige gets to be the center of attention for once:

Bull face break:

Napkin pee-a-boo:

“I think I see what you’re doing here, Gran.”

“See!  I’ve got you figured out!”

Paige takes a turn:

“Check me out!”

“Where’s Mo?”

“There she is!”

L.O.V.E.

I mean?  Wow.  Just?  Wow.

Moving on to the (also wildly popular) “catch Paige’s toe” game:

“Check it out!  When I touch this thing I feel it in my toe!”

I could have done this all afternoon.  I hope to do it again very soon.

April 30th was a busy day for this family.  Liam and Matt touched trucks and helped plant a garden and when they returned home it was my turn to leave the house for a while to go to Mollie’s tea party (literally, as opposed to politically: actual tea, scones, and clotted cream…oh my, the clotted cream).  Are you starting to get a clear picture of why the posting is scarce these days…?

Lynne asked me to take pictures and although my flash was acting up, I managed to get a small group of pictures.

(Case in point on the flash troubles, but I couldn’t leave this one out…)

Book break:

Grandmom and the goods:

Mollie’s table:

I can’t believe I didn’t take a picture of the food, but at least I got a shot of the flower-filled teapot:

The bride:

The haul:

How appropriate!

Half of the hostesses with the mostestes(?):

And all that’s left is the wedding and the happily ever after!

Immediately after Touch A Truck Day Liam and Matt headed to Gran and Granddaddy’s house to “help” Gran plant her garden.  Here are a few pictures:

“Look, Dad!  Seeds!”

“Look, Dad!  Gloves!”

Annnnnd, he’s done with this guy:

Oh, how fickle three-year-olds can be:

Milk break:

Checking in on the plants:

It’s a good thing his Gran has a green thumb, because his Mama’s is decidedly not!

Several weeks ago Liam and Matt met up with Pop at Touch A Truck Day in Decatur.  Here are some pictures from the day:

Pow-wow with Pop:

The Red Balloon:

“How big is that wheel, Liam?”

I’m pretty sure there’s a metaphor in here…something about sitting in a Dekalb County truck with a City of Decatur balloon floating by, just out of reach…or maybe it’s just a little boy enjoying his turn in a big truck.

Daddy’s daydream:

By next year we’ll be able to take Paige!

During Liam’s “spring break” (his preschool follows the same schedule as DeKalb County Schools) I took a few days off for a staycation. One day I drove Liam downtown to the Children’s Museum, which I hadn’t heard of but is apparently awesome (Shannon has been there tons as a nanny). It’s right on the corner of Centennial Park, near the Coke Museum.

When you walk in it is a bit overwhelming, with all sorts of stuff everywhere:

Liam quickly found the ball area, where they have all sorts of mechanical devices that move little plastic balls into a system of rails that go all over the place, then end up getting dropped in various buckets to start the process over again. The Children’s Museum website is very clear that grownups without children accompanying them are not allowed to visit (even if you are a “kid at heart”, ha), but I could see myself enjoying an adult birthday party here very much. That shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone…

They also have a ginormous train table that Liam really wanted to play with. I had to pull him away and make him go look at the other play areas with a promise that after he had at least seen the other places he could come back and play for the rest of the time.\

Liam climbs into the delivery truck to move boxes around:

Always driving:

Too much fun:

I’ll just pull this handle…

The scale is broken, don’t bother looking for a number.

All I could think was “there is alway money in the banana stand.”

Gleeful running:

Giant mirror:

Giant soft blocks:

Liam likes the blocks:

Creepy cave with stuffed animals in the sides (you can kind of see the windows):

Dromedary:

More gleeful running:

Cool “moon sand” table used for sculpting whatever you wanted without getting too sandy:

Where does this go?

Oh, over here!

Sweet water area with “fish”:

Gotta get one of these for the house:

This is the little girl that got mad at Liam for putting “her” fish back in the water after she caught them and put them on the side of the table. I looked around for a responsible mother to swoop in and make her daughter apologize, but nobody came. Oh well, I guess even horrible children come to the Children’s Museum.

The card says “Moops”:

Farmer Liam says “ya’ll come back now, ya’ hear?”

A few weeks back, I took Liam with me to “Caboose Day” at the Southeastern Railway Museum in Duluth. Rides that normally cost $3 were free and there was a scavenger hunt, but they didn’t bring in any extra cabooses or anything. In case you didn’t know, Liam loves trains. I loved trains when I was a kid, so I do what I can to get him some sweet train action.

 Here we are arriving:

Are you excited to see trains, Liam?

This is as close as he was ready to get at first:

Here we are going for a ride on a caboose. They have an engine hooked up to a pair of cabooses, and the train goes up a few hundred yards, they throw a switch, and then you get a 1/2 mile ride in the train before coming back. Liam liked it.

Switchman Jack (in costume):

After the ride, we went in another caboose that had snacks available and climbed into the cupola.

Outside the sleeper car:

My wife would not like this narrow hallway of the sleeper car:

Liam climbing into a seat, underneath a convertable bed, next to a seat that lifts to reveal… a potty!

Trying to escape:

Taking a rest:

Big engine:

Old buses- bonus!

Not sure what this one is, but Google suggests it is a “retired Georgia Tech Transette PRT vehicle”?

Liam does love driving buses, big and small:

Tiny driver:

By this time, Liam had lost all reticence and was charging ahead whether I was coming or not. I did my best to take pictures and not lose him.

Shannon noticed in this picture that there is clearly a sign that says “Please keep off the furniture”. Oops.

Tiny shower:

Random nice lounge:

Surveying the empire:

Watching the caboose ride come by:

Liam waving to the lucky passengers:

Wistful:

Oh, hey, a flower!

“Wait up, Dad!”

Happy train is… happy:

Liam enjoyed these lights:

They don’t make ‘em like they used to:

We were on the way out when I noticed an engine that we missed. Apparently you could climb inside, and nobody else was around it. We got on and Liam played for about 15 minutes before I pulled him away. He still tells me stories about the time he “pulled the handle and drove down the track.”

A good day.

After a very scary night on Wednesday the weather today was absolutely gorgeous.  The temperature was perfect, the humidity was low, and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky.  We had already planned to go to the Gardens with PJ and Sylvie and felt very lucky to have the chance to take advantage of such meteorological luck.  We had a bit of a rocky start (Paige has a nasty runny nose and as such ate half the solids that she usually eats and absolutely refused a bottle) but after we got going we had a lovely time.  There were no meltdowns (despite traveling with two girls who missed their morning naps) and we got some fabulous pictures.  We didn’t even make it to half of the gardens (including the children’s garden — oops!) but I think that just means we’ll have to do it again very soon!

Liam spent a lot of time running ahead so he could wait on us:

Tour guide:

Enjoying the ride:

Chasing PJ to the fountain (about two seconds before he bit it on the concrete):

Fountain gazing:

The Three Musketeers:

I don’t know if PJ was taking pictures as they were all looking at her, but I certainly hope so…

Impromptu dance party:

Impromptu nap:

“Whatchoo lookin’ at, Mama?”

“What, Mama?  I can’t seem to hear you.  Perhaps I have something in my ear.”

Two peas in a BoB:

Chasing birds (and no, this isn’t a metaphor):

Demonstrating how tired he is and why, as a result, the only logical next step is for me to carry him.

It’s amazing how quickly the threat of time-out can cure a toddler of malaise.

Flowers don’t hurt, either.

Showing me his treasures:

Testing limits:

Making a wise decision:

Checking on Sylvie:

Buckle your seatbelts.  There is unbearable cuteness ahead.

I warned you, didn’t I?

I could have stayed here all day and taken pictures of these two.

Paige doesn’t yet understand that just because you want something doesn’t mean you grab it…

Sylvie checks out the grass:

All models have wind machines, don’t they?

I look at this and I can hear the noise she’s making with that scrunched up nose:

But that we could have lighting like this all the time…

Oh to be entertained by handfuls of grass…

Oh.  My.

Goodness.  Gracious.

This was the only time I could (voluntarily) get Liam to sit down (except when he was busy throwing fits and when I bribed him with a snack…).  It was worth it.

Liam may spend his days trying to figure out how to get under my (and Matt’s) skin, but despite (a ton) of evidence to the contrary, deep down he’s still a sweetheart.  Never is this more evident than when he’s with his sister.  Mostly.

I mean, wow.  Just, wow.

Sweet babies:

Bubble Time!

Paige takes it all in:

Babies and bubbles:

Eyes on the prize:

W.O.W.

So many bubbles, so little time.

The Three Musketeers reunite:

Love.  Love.  Love.

More love.

Just a little bit more love.

Mama and baby:

Superbaby!

The cuteness level here is off the charts:

Mama love:

I can’t wait to go back soon and explore the children’s garden!