A-Day Weekend and One Last Roll

For those of you who are unaware of the 

southern obsession that is 

SEC Football,

this past weekend was time

for teams all across the south to come

out and play their Spring games.

Everyone can come out and check out the team

and get excited about the upcoming 

Football Season!

A-Day as it is known for 

Auburn and Alabama as well

was set for this past Saturday...

The car was loaded up and we were

on our way to see the Tigers play/

Looked like we were leaving for a week,

but I promise we just went for the weekend!

We hung out in Kerri's condo where she lived until this past

December.  If you have a child heading to Auburn University

this fall and are looking for a cute place for them to live...

I can hook you up!

Jackson was trying to tell Aunt Leisa the "new" rules for checkers

but I don't think she was buying it.

And of course...they were AUBURN checkers!!

We headed out to A-Day and hung out with 83,401 of our

family and friends for a BEAUTIFUL afternoon on the Plains!

This was not Jackson's first trip to Auburn, but it was his first trip

into Jordan-Hare Stadium.  He was a little in awe and not 

really sure what was going on.

Aunt Leisa was so happy to finally have Jackson with her at a game.

The weather was perfect for watching a little football!

By the end of the game Jackson was getting the idea.

We also concluded that before he actually goes back for a 

regular season game...some ear protectors will be purchased!

The stadium was fairly calm and quiet compared to a regular season game,

yet he kept saying it was too loud...gonna have to work on this boy! 

Jackson was not really interested in having his picture made! 

Too much going on to stop for a photo!

I was able to snap a quick one with Kerri

not long after we sat down.

Another reason for our visit this weekend was to go for 

One Last Roll at Toomer's Corner.

If you don't know about the story of Toomer's Corner

you can read about it

here.

All 83,401 from the stadium walked to Toomer's Corner 

for One Last Roll and joined in with about 20,000 people that were 

not in the stadium!

Toilet paper draped the trees up and down College Street to

the Corner!  It was amazing!

The Trees with their final rolling

blowing gently in the breeze.

Today, what is left of the trees

is being taken down.

Austin was carefully planning out his final roll...

and off his roll went to land in the trees.

Aunt Leisa was trying to tell Jackson where to aim and was also

standing by to grab the roll when it hit the ground

to try it again.

Jackson watching as his roll hit a poor man in the back of the head...

who picked it up and handed it right back to him and told him to 

try again!

With as many people as were crammed in to the streets surrounding the corner...

no one was pushy.  No one was angry when they got hit with a roll of TP.

Everyone was as friendly as could be.  College students were handing out rolls

to every little kid they passed.  Everyone was cheering and having a good time.

Little ones were having a blast playing in all of the paper on the ground.

Jackson and this little girl has a blast taking turns throwing paper

back and forth!

Jackson waiting to be dumped with paper!

He was having a BLAST!

I took this photo as we walked away from 

Toomer's Corner.

It was so pretty all dressed in white.

Jackson was having so much fun and we were hoping

that no one in Lee County, Alabama needed toilet paper for, 

well, the intended use of toilet paper....

because it was all swinging in the breeze at Toomer's Corner!

We stopped in Toomer's Drugs for some fresh squeezed Lemonade

and then headed back to the condo.

It was such a fun day and a little sad, too.

I can't wait to see what traditions are to come for

the little Tiger fans like Jackson...

but as Coach Gus says...

It's a New Day...

We are ready to get on the Gus Bus and 

see where the Tigers take us this year...

Are you ready for some FOOTBALL???

We Are!

WAR EAGLE!!!

Fabulous to be FIVE

OK....

first of all I have to say...

How in the word is Jackson 5 already???

It really just seems like yesterday that we 

brought this little bundle of joy home from the hospital.

He is just growing and growing more every day...

All signed up to start Kindergarten in August

(sniff, sniff)

A birthday is not complete without balloons around the house.

Jackson was having lots of fun with

Uncle Jeff...this was a shot of Jackson getting

a pony ride...and Uncle Jeff getting his lower

body work out...lifting that 40 lbs. with you calves is 

not an easy task!

Then it was time to have some cake!

Jackson has never like having "Happy Birthday" sung to him.

Every time he acts very shy and turns his head away.

We had a little cake for Jackson...we call it his "Spit Cake".

He's too big for a smash cake, but have you ever watched a 

small child blow out their candles???

yuck...so the spit cake has become a regular at our house.

Clean cake for the adults and spit cake for Jackson.

Here was the cake for our guests...

Jackson wanted a Fire Truck cake.

It was delicious!

The happy little birthday boy and his Nana.

Jackson loved eating his yummy cake from Suzanne's.

Caleb, Jackson and Carolyn...

These friends have helped Jackson

celebrate his birthday every year...

I decided to loose my mind it would be fun to have

a Pinata... I did this once with Austin and it 

ended with three adult men trying to beat the thing open

with a 9 Iron to get it open...no joke!

But we tried it again and the kids tried and tried to

get it open and it was beginning to look like a 

repeat of Austin's...

But then we called in the Big Guns!

Jason stepped up to the plate to try a swing at it...

he carefully lined up his target....

And made complete contact!

HOME RUN!!!

He was able to knock a hole in the side,

but all of the toys and candy didn't fall out.

Which left it open enough that the little ones could hit 

and watch the candy fall out!

They were all so excited.

Then it was time to enjoy the beautiful day outside.

One of Jackson's birthday presents was a kite.

There was just enough wind to get it to fly a little.

Jackson was so cute watching his kite and concentrating on keeping 

it up in the air.

It was a wonderful day with family and friends

helping our little one turn

FIVE!

Spring Break Rewind...

Oh My!

We have been busy lately!

I guess I need to post a few rewinds to catch us up to today...

Austin had Spring Break a few weeks ago and we headed to 

Pigeon Forge with some of our friends for a relaxing week

in the mountains.

Usually you try to go somewhere warm

for Spring Break...

We found snow...

We woke up to snow on our first morning there.

It was so pretty.

The snowflakes were so big and fluffy...

There was a light dusting on the ground and on the cars,

but the roads were clear so the girls were off

to do what we love best...

SHOP!!!

The little hoot owl thought it was too cold,

but we decided to be brave...

we could pile our shopping bags over us to keep us warm!

The next morning we woke up

to even more snow!

It was so beautiful and relaxing.

The trees always look so pretty with snow

sitting on the branches.

The cars were a little more covered but the roads

were clear as could be.

After seeing the snow in the mountains,

I feel the need for a flocked Christmas Tree!

Just Beautiful...

While some went shopping again the next day,

Scott and I drove the boys through Cades Cove...

Now...if you know me, I don't like driving through

the mountains...winding roads...curves...up and down...

BARF!

Once we got there and I got over my nausea...

it was amazing!

The deer were all over the place and 

were right up by the road to give us a show.

They were in every open field and around every corner...

The streams were so pretty with the snow on the banks.

Jackson was so excited to see the snow...

and throw a GIANT snowball at 

Austin and Dad!

The icicles were forming on the old buildings through the drive.

And the trees were draped in snow...

By the time we headed back to the cabin,

the sun was coming out.

Just as quickly as it fell...

it was gone again.

One more fun thing we did was visit the Titanic exhibit.

Austin is a BIG history buff and loves things like this, so this

was an activity that he requested we do on vacation.

You were not allowed to take photos inside so these

are the only shots we got...

a view from the parking lot...

And a couple from the road.

It was very interesting.

They gave each of us an actual passenger name when we

walked in and it told you the name, age, a brief history of 

the person and if they were a 1st, 2nd or 3rd class passenger.

You also found out at the end of the museum if 

you lived or died.

At one point you could step off of the steering room and 

feel an actual iceberg and they also had water that was the actual

temperature of the ocean when the ship went down...

talk about COLD!

It was very interesting and Austin had a lot of fun learning

about the details of the ship and how it was build

and how it went down.

Jackson also had a lot of fun.  We rented the little hand held

tour guides that we could listen to along the way.

The thing that was really neat about them was that 

there was a version for Austin and a version for smaller kids,

like Jackson.  They both learned a lot and we had lots of fun

as a family.