July 4th Blast

We started our July 4th by waking up at 4:30 a.m. and heading down to Atlanta for the Peachtree Road Race. If anyone knows how much Nathan loves running fast, you know this type of atmosphere is right up his alley. It's the largest 10k race in the world with 55,000 participants. He definitely picked up on the excitment. Aunt Ruth and Lady volunteer through Aunt Ruth's company, Hewlett Packard, each year. I haven't been around to volunteer since 2004, but I decided this year I was not going to miss out. We filled water cups and handed them out to the runners.
Waiting for the race to start.
It's a family affair that Nathan was happy to be part of. In addition to us volunteering, Uncle Joe and Paw-Paw hung out down there (on babysitting duty).

Uncle Larry, Cousin Amanda and Tim ran in the race.
Uncle Larry grossing Aunt Ruth out as he gives her a sweaty hug.
Amanda and TimHere is the news man waiting to get a clip of someone grabbing water out of my hand.
Nathan probably ran his own 10k over the course of the morning.
He runs so fast. I know that because he tells me at least 25 times a day.
He even helped hand out water to runners towards the end of the race. He thought he was pretty hot stuff getting to do that. He even had a celebrity encounter. Clark Howard, the host of The Clark Howard Show, a national radio talk show saw Nathan and made a b-line straight for him and took the cup of water that he was offering. Paw-Paw didn't get a picture, but it was so cute. Each time Nathan handed someone a cup of water he would get a proud smile on his face and couldn't wait to grab another one and do it again.
At the end of the race, Nathan got to play with the extra water. That just added to the fun.
Look at Uncle Joe. You can just see he wants to take this water game to a whole new level.
As Nathan grabs another cup of water, Uncle Joe is leaning in to pour some water on Nathan. He just can't pass up an opportunity to pick on this poor kid.

Yep, there you have it. He's pouring water down Nathan's back. And Nathan thinks it's hilarious. Of course, no event in Atlanta is complete without the Chick-fil-a cow present. It works out nicely for Nathan. He loves that cow just as much as he loves their chicken.

Finally, a chance to relax.
This was on our way home. Uncle Joe can't just leave this poor kid alone for five minutes to let him fall asleep. He was so exhausted at this point, but he just keeps on smiling.

Here are a few more random pictures from Nathan's first Peachtree Road Race experience. We definitely owe Aunt Ruth a huge thanks for letting us be a part of the HP volunteers!

We can't wait for next year when Steve joins us for all this fun. He's going to take part in the running side of the fun. I already decided that for him.

We came home and took a much needed nap, then started right back up with the July 4th celebration. We had a great time at Paw-Paw and Lady's cookout with the rest of the family. After that, we went to the playground so that we could "swide." After it got dark we came home and Nathan and Paw-Paw sat outside and watched fireworks. I would have to say that Nathan had a pretty great holiday!

The next morning we went to church and saw Cousin Emma. This was the first time Nathan saw Emma on this trip. I tried getting a picture of the two of them together and this what I ended up with. They have very different personalities, in case you couldn't tell.

Uncle Joe's Surprise Visit

I have so much blog material, but I can't find enough time to post blogs. It's crazy how that works, when you keep busy with stuff to post about, there's no time to write. When you aren't doing anything, you have plenty of time to write about it on the blog.

Nathan talked about going to Lady and Paw-Paw's house for several weeks before we even made the trip. He kept telling people that he was going to see "Uh Joe" while he was in Georgia. Lady and Paw-Paw tried telling him that Uncle Joe wasn't going to be there. Little did Lady and Paw-Paw know that Uncle Joe had a surprise visit planned. Boy, were they surprised to find Uncle Joe sitting at their kitchen table one evening. I told them that I was going shopping, but I drove to the airport and picked Joe up on Thursday night. That will be the last time they doubt Nathan. He knew what he was talking about the entire time.

Nathan walked in and saw Uncle Joe and gave him a warm greeting and hasn't left him alone since. It's a shame that Uncle Joe doesn't love Nathan at all.
Watching The AristoCats together.
Uncle Joe is going to need a day or two to recover from his visit with Nathan. These videos show the level of excitement that Uncle Joe brings when he plays with Nathan all day long. I don't know how he does it. I took plenty of pictures of videos to share so they can do the talking.

Here are a few other pics of Uncle Joe playing with his favorite nephew. The fun is never-ending as long as Uncle Joe is around... as far as Nathan is concerned anyways. :)




Here is Nathan hanging out with the guys on the back porch.

Uncle Joe's Surprise Visit

I have so much blog material, but I can't find enough time to post blogs. It's crazy how that works, when you keep busy with stuff to post about, there's no time to write. When you aren't doing anything, you have plenty of time to write about it on the blog.

Nathan talked about going to Lady and Paw-Paw's house for several weeks before we even made the trip. He kept telling people that he was going to see "Uh Joe" while he was in Georgia. Lady and Paw-Paw tried telling him that Uncle Joe wasn't going to be there. Little did Lady and Paw-Paw know that Uncle Joe had a surprise visit planned. Boy, were they surprised to find Uncle Joe sitting at their kitchen table one evening. I told them that I was going shopping, but I drove to the airport and picked Joe up on Thursday night. That will be the last time they doubt Nathan. He knew what he was talking about the entire time.

Nathan walked in and saw Uncle Joe and gave him a warm greeting and hasn't left him alone since. It's a shame that Uncle Joe doesn't love Nathan at all.
Watching The AristoCats together.
Uncle Joe is going to need a day or two to recover from his visit with Nathan. These videos show the level of excitement that Uncle Joe brings when he plays with Nathan all day long. I don't know how he does it. I took plenty of pictures of videos to share so they can do the talking.

Here are a few other pics of Uncle Joe playing with his favorite nephew. The fun is never-ending as long as Uncle Joe is around... as far as Nathan is concerned anyways. :)




Here is Nathan hanging out with the guys on the back porch.

Beach Bliss

Nathan came home yesterday, bratty as ever. He hasn't responded well to the word no today and, for some reason, he thinks he can call all the shots. (I mean even more so that usual.) I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest that Paw-Paw and Lady might have spoiled him a little bit during the vacation. I know it's hard to believe that Paw-Paw and Lady would do something like that, but I think that might just be the case.
Nathan had a blast. He loved "Paw-Paw's beach house" just as much as he loved the ocean. Nathan invited me to "Paw-Paw's beach house" after he got home yesterday. As long as Nathan keeps jabbering on and on about the beach and "Paw-Paw's beach house" I would say we've got a pretty good chance at having a beach house to go to on future vacations!

First sight of the ocean. This is a lot to take in. (He refused to wear his sandals. He specifically asked for his blue shoes all weekend.)

Enjoying some canteloupe on the balcony of "Paw-Paw's beach house."
Mapping out his running track.
The condo met Nathan's one and only requirement. Plenty of space to run fast.

Rise and shine.
First full day, ready to hit the beach.
Paw-Paw is going to turn Nathan into a beach lover, just like his mommy. Paw-Paw got me hooked on the beach at an early age too.
Paw-Paw and Nathan playing on the beach.

They checked out the pool, as well. He loved that, too. Apparently, Nathan is that chubby kid at the pool who swims in his shirt.

Poor kid, came home without a tan. I mean, no tan at all. That SPF 70 sure did work.

It looks like Lady and Nathan came in for an afternoon snack and a movie break.
More relaxing.
When they weren't on the beach, they were living it up on the playground.



Nights out.



Nathan's current fascination is investigating and feeling different trees and plants. He experienced a lot of new types of plants that he doesn't get to see in South Dakota.



Nathan sure did have a good time. I hope they have as much fun next year when they go back and take Nathan and his little brother or sister with them. Listen to me, already trying to pawn off the baby on Lady and Paw-Paw and it isn't even born yet!