The Hovies Family Reunion

I can't remember the last time the Hovies' got together. Maybe at a funeral but even then not all the grandkids could come. And even then, there weren't all the great grand kids.

Spebbie and Spottie (Pappy's sisters) worked hard to organize the get together and had the Trussville Playstation reserved for us along with having it catered with bbq. Laser tag was awesome and Jay burnt up the roller rink until Speve laced up and started skating backwards.

We also did a round of go carts, which was SOOOOO fun. My plan was to wipe Jay's rear end on the rack but I never did catch up to him. But I did pass many other carts and it was so great. It was exhilarating when I passed Spebbie and Spoog but that much more awesome when I passed Spill. Spat said he got cheated because he had a slow car and was ready for another show down with me back home but we ended up not having time. I personally think he realized that I would have smoked him again!

Here is the whole group. There were only two spouses and two cousins who were unable to attend. I hope we do this next year too!




Spesse wanted me to make sure I included him in this post. He is in the picture (he is the tallest head) but unfortuanately I wasn't able to get clear shots of him roller skating.

It had cob webs, so we know it is as old as you!!

Yes, that is what one of my children said about the slide at East Lake Park. Driving by my old stomping grounds, at least while I was in Birmingham, I saw the slide. It looked like one of the two slides I used to slide down. It had the same steps (closed back steps) and it was all metal. I felt for sure it was the same slide from 30 years ago. Or at least I wanted it to be the same slide. But just in case it was, I had my kids go slide down it while i took pictures. That way, the slide will have been slid down by two generations.

Centennial Park in Atlanta

While Jay and I were taking the tour at CNN, Wink and Mimi took the kids to Centennial Park to play in the fountains. As you can see from the pictures, they had a great time.

CNN Tour in Atlanta

Today, Jay and I took the CNN tour at the CNN Headquarters in Atlanta. It was very interesting along with being fairly inexpensive and something I would recommend to anyone visiting the Atlanta area.

American Girl...finally

It took many months of saving, working, double checking the website and day dreaming but the girls finally made it to the American Girl store!

Today we made the short trip with Mimi to the store. This being the highlight of their trip. We walked in and #1 went right to the doll case of Julie and #3 wondered around until she found the doll case of Kit.

Next, we will be looking at doll clothes patterns. I think both of them will enjoy sewing doll clothes when they realize how much they can do with their own imagination and their sewing machine.

The main reason we are willing to travel....

Swimming!!!



Did, I mention the kids' main interest is swimming?? They want us to plan our route based on where they can swim.




The kids don't care where they swim as long as they can swim some where. The knew for sure they could swim at Pappy's apartment but were a little bummed that he was moving to a house that did not have a pool.




Well, this evening, they finally made it to the one destination they had so waited for...Pappy's pool.

Chick-fil-A

Yesterday, Chick-fil-A had a promotion that if you dressed up as a cow you would get a free meal. They even had a link to print out parts of a cow to use for your costume. I talked the kids into doing this so we could get our supper for free. They were a little apprehensive but went along with it. I even did it. Unfortunately, I did not read the very fine print where it stated that you had to dress from head to toe as a cow to get the free meal. So our print outs were considered only a partial costume. But we got an entree free for each person! That was just as good to me! I purchased some diet lemonade (oh my goodness, yum yum) and we headed back to Pappy's house.

We can play in this without bathing suits??

My desert city kids were SOOOOO excited when Speannie suggested we drive to a creek down the road a piece from her house to wade in the water, assuming it had some water. After driving several miles down dirt roads and going over one lane bridges that had no water flowing under them, we made it to an area that met if not exceeded their expectations. The kids were so surprised that I let them get in the water with their clothes on and not their bathing suits.

The water ended up being a little deeper than expected (a little over their knees) and the rocks were slippery (so #4 tells me). #4 "slipped" and got ALL his clothes wet, so that opened the door for the rest to follow suit. They got to wade/swim in the creek and can't wait to go back.

Again, my little city dwellers surprised me in the fact that NONE of them were scared of the little fish swimming around their legs. They were actually trying to catch the little fish with their hands. They stand back from the lobster tank at Wal-Mart!

We met some other people who pointed out the a better swimming hole was just around the bend but I think our knee deep fun will work out just fine.

Stop #1

We are now visiting Spandma and Spandpa who live in the country. So needless to say, the kids are roaming the country side (the large yard and any adjacent pastures)in search of fun. They have found it with the trampoline, cows, grass, rain and a wagon. At Aunt Speannie's house, they are dying to look for snakes in the cow pond. This surprises me, as they are scared of moths flying around the house at home. #1, #2 and #4 requested a shovel to use as the method of defense against any snakes. They then requested the use of Speanie's shotgun because they felt that would be a easier. They assured Speannie that #2 was a professional with a shotgun, as he had shot a BB gun at the lake bed. Speannie suggested they call me to verify that it would be OK for Quick Draw McGraw and his sidekicks to use the shotgun. Needless to say, the answer was no. So they have all taken a fancy to wondering and exploring. #1 has found her a new pet, the neighbors horse. Her and Sperri have been able to ride it and #1 is ready for one of her own.