These Days

My parents visited us for ~3 months, from May to August. Before they arrived, I made a list of places we could visit. There's a few we didn't get to but I think we achieved a good balance of trips and time at home. We celebrated a few events when they were here, like  Neil's 3rd grade awards day , baptism ,  9th birthday , and my parents' wedding anniversary and Papang's birthday. Neil joined a  karate tournament  and passed his  red belt test . The big trip was to New York in June which coincided with two birthdays - mine and Em's. We also went on a road trip to Savannah ( 1 , 2 , 3 ) and Hilton Head ( 1 , 2 , 3 ), and day trips to Chattanooga ( 1 , 2 ), Southern Belle Farm for strawberry picking, BJ Reece for apple picking and to Helen, GA to see the total solar eclipse . Within Atlanta, we went to the Stone Mountain , Centennial Olympic Park  and the High Museum of Art . We also visited many of the nearby parks. I'm thankful that my parent

Personal project to take pictures of the kids every week. Week 31 : July 31 - August 6 Pictures taken at the High Museum. Week 32 : August 7 - 13 Neil first day of fourth grade. Week 33 : August 14 - 20 At the Dunwoody Butterfly Festival. Week 34 : August 21 - 27 Apple picking at BJ Reece Orchards. Week 35 : August 28 - September 3 At Callaway Gardens

Holy Smoke Festival is an annual Labor Day event organized by our church. The festival includes a car show, barbecue lunch, paratroopers, bounce houses and vendors. We're 3/3 in attendance at this event. It's always a fun family-friendly event.

We hit a big milestone last week. Ela started pre-school! We know she's ready since she does very well at Gymboree and kids church where we leave her for an hour or so. Pre-school would be longer at 4 hours and she will also eat by herself , but she did very well on her first day. Richard is excited to have some solo time, after 2+ years of being tied to Ela.=) On her second day, she gave her teacher a hug as soon as she entered the classroom. I saw it two other times. It's awesome to see that she's comfortable with them and adjusting to classroom setting quite easily. We're excited to see Ela blossom in pre-school. =)

I had a 2-night hotel booking in St. Simon's Island on the southeast coast of Georgia for Labor Day that we had to cancel so we can take care of some big chores at home (#adulting). But there are always a lot of events during the holidays, so we looked for one that we can do in a day. We chose Callaway Gardens because it hosts an annual hot air balloon festival, has a lake, and takes less than 2 hours to drive. We spent the most time at the lake. Neil and Ela were content just playing in the sand, creating a pool. After an hour or so, we packed up to move to the field to see the balloons get inflated. Compared to what we've seen in Clark (Philippine Hot Air Balloon Festival), the balloons here were few and pretty standard. But the kids were amazed and it was good to be out participating in the Labor Day festivities. We left ahead of the crowd to avoid traffic and did not see the other attractions inside Callaway Gardens. Next time! Daddy makes shade. =)

We're approaching fall and it's apple picking season. B.J. Reece Orchards opened for u-pick activities on the last weekend of August. It was my parents last week with us (before they leave for California), so we just had to do this. Last year we also went to this orchard but it was late in the fall and most trees were already picked over. This time, there were so many ripe fruits and fewer people so we enjoyed the experience a lot more.