Singing Diva

Lately, Sutherlan has gotten into singing for us. She loves to perform for anyone who will watch. She will actually get upset if you're not paying attention. She definitely commands the stage and forget about Bo Bo (Dylan) trying to sing with her. He is only allowed to play instruments. After she sings, she will say, "I'm going to Hollywood!" Do you think we watch too much American Idol around here???

Maw Maw Pannell

While we were home, we went to visit my grandmother (Maw Maw Nell). I feel like I haven't seen her in forever and really needed to take the kids for a visit. She enjoyed having them there and they had fun too. They got to visit with some of their second cousins (Chance, August and Noble). Poor Sutherlan was the only girl, but that didn't slow her down! She was right in the middle. I guess having an older brother helps with that. We also got to visit with my Aunt Sandra and Buster (her husband). It was good to see everyone and makes me miss home!

This is a picture of my grandmother with just a few of the great-grandchildren. There are 9 in all.

The Birmingham Zoo

One of the reasons I haven't blogged in a while is that I went home for a week to visit family. We had such a great time! We are always so busy that time just flies by while we are there. It seems like a week goes by in a day or two. One of the first things we did was go to The Birmingham Zoo. I LOVE the zoo!! This is one of my favorite things to do when we go home. We try to go every summer. Dylan's favorite things to do at the zoo are to see the reptiles and tigers. They had a white tiger this year that you could actually see up close and he played with a ball instead of just lying around sleeping. Dylan thought that was so cool!! I got LOTS of pictures of the white tiger. Sutherlan loves seeing the giraffes. Also, she saw a peacock by the picnic tables where you eat and one of the first things she said is that she wanted to see "Island Princess". Island Princess is a Barbie movie that she has and one of the characters is a peacock. She also enjoyed seeing the camels. They offer camel rides now, but that was a little much for me. I wasn't ready to get on a camel. My favorite thing to do is go to Alligator Alley. I just love seeing the alligators, but also wonder what would happen if that bridge suddenly fell out from under me. Scary!

They have added several activities to the zoo such as the Foam Zone. It is an area where the kids can play in the water and they have a HUGE bubble machine spitting out bubbles. Sutherlan wasn't crazy about this, but Dylan had a blast!!! They have also added Kangaroo Kountry. Next year, they are adding a safari, which should be interesting. Their only elephant had passed away this past year so there wasn't any elephants this time, but they said there are bringing in lots of elephants for the safari along with several other new animals. Can't wait!! Until next year......

Speeding?

Hello! I know it has been a while, sorry...I've been busy. Anyway, this is sort of a goofy entry, but just had to include it because I thought it was funny! Our next door neighbor is obsessed with people speeding in our neighborhood. (Which, for me, is great because I worry about the kids playing outside). Anyway, he has connections at the police department and they are out here constantly monitoring speeding. One day, the boys were out playing and here comes the police truck to set up a speeding monitor at our next door neighbor's house. They went crazy! They thought it was so cool because they were using it to see how fast they could ride their bikes. THEN.....Brandon got involved. He wanted me to take his picture riding the golf cart past the monitor to see how fast he was going. Do they ever grow up?!?! Ha Ha. See for yourself. I guess you had to be there..it was funny! :)

A Day of Pampering

Yesterday, Sutherlan had a day of pampering. First, I painted her toenails and fingernails because she wanted to "be like Mommy".
























Then, I took her over to Rebecca's house and we cut her hair!! Yes, I did it! I'm sure everyone will be surprised, but I wanted something different and her hair had gotten so long and hard to brush/manage. Plus, I think she will enjoy it more this summer being shorter. She looks so cute and she just loves it. She keeps looking in the mirror saying, "I love my hair. Don't I look pretty?" Of course, I think she could be bald and look beautiful. So, THANK YOU Rebecca! She looks beautiful and we love it!!!!

Future Nascar Stars!

Brandon took this picture of the kids dressing up like NASCAR drivers and I thought it was too cute! Of course, Dale Jr. is Dylan's favorite driver and Sutherlan loves the M & M's car. You never know.....Dylan is already asking for a go-kart.

Rosemary Beach 2008

We just got back from the beach and we had such a GREAT time! We stayed at Rosemary Beach and I would recommend it to anyone. It was so nice. We got really lucky by stumbling upon this place online. We will definitely be going back again next year!!! It is a little town in itself and you can ride bikes to just about anything you want to do. We were within walking distance to the beach, several pools, shops and places to eat. The nice thing about it was it is close to Panama City, Seaside and Destin. Although, we enjoyed all there was to do within the community. Every morning, Brandon would walk to Starbucks and get me a Mocha and then bring me a chocolate croissant from Wild Olives. It is the BEST chocolate croissant you will EVER eat! Brandon found his favorite sandwich in the world at Wild Olives too. The kids had so much fun this year playing in the waves and just enjoying the beach. It was definitely a memorable trip. I couldn't include all the photos from our trip, but we got some great pictures!