Will lost his 6th tooth...

... waiting for the bus this morning. It is the hole on the far left. Guess the Tooth Fairy will be stopping by our place tonight!

Softball and the beach...

Here are photos from Rodney's first softball game of the season and of Mom, GG and I at the beach today... enjoy!





Our friend, Keith, at bat.





Aside from shells, we found some other things on the beach today ... like a dead puffer fish...


a dead carp fish thing ...



and a dead armadillo. Welcome to Florabama!

Easter photos...

Thought I'd share these with the family and friends who weren't with us today ... Happy Easter!

Walking in Memphis ...

Will, Xan, Grandma Nancy, G.G. and I drove up to Memphis from Pensacola to meet Uncle Joe, who was in town for his friends' wedding. Of course, we hit two of the city's main attractions: Graceland and Beale street.

Friday evening we got into town and checked into the hotel. We walked around the corner and down a few blocks to the famous Beale Street amd ate dinner at the Blues City Cafe.


Xan had seen the large decorative balls adorning the front walk of the FedEx sports center down the street and begged to be allowed to climb on them. Why this was such a draw, I have no idea, but we humored him. I think he liked the fishing lure float the best.





While the grandmas and kids settled down for the night, Joe and I headed back to Beale street for some music and drinks. We gave Coyote Ugly a try, since neither of us had been to one, and we played a game of pool in the practically dead bar. Well, at least we can say we've been to Coyote Ugly.



We moved up the street in search of some good live music and found it at BB Kings with the BB King Allstars.



Saturday morning we were off to Graceland. The boys and I were the only ones who had been there before and that was in Decemeber. Graceland wasn't all decked out for Christmas this time, so it was great to see it in it's usual state.


Here is Grandma Nancy and G.G. waiting patiently for our shuttle to take us across Elvis Presley Blvd. (Hwy 51) to Graceland. They are wearing their headphones for the guided tour. If you missed it and are interested, I detailed this all out when we visited in December, so you can check out the blog archives.



Will took his digital camera and photographed everything until his battery died. Now I just have to try and find the cable to download the photos!


I tried an artistic shot with the mirrored stairwell, but without a flash, it was a little shaky. Flash photography is not allowed inside Graceland.


Mom got to see Will's favorite Elvis jumpsuit up close and personal. She is currently working on creating a small replica for Will to wear for Halloween this year. Quite the project!


This is Elvis' office. His Dad, Vernon, took care of his business affairs and worked here.


After touring Graceland, we came back to the guest center and toured the different exhibits. The newest was Elvis Lives and there was kareoke and a microphone. It just so happened that Will's favorite Elvis song, "Suspicious Minds" happened to be the song on, so he gave kareoke a whirl!

Tonight G.G., Grandma Nancy, the boys and I headed back out to Beale street and ate some tasty grub at BB Kings. Here is a shot of the family on Beale:



While we've been in Tennessee, I got an email from Illinois. Our cousins, Kara, Lauren and Hannah, got our Easter gifts ... socks and sunglasses. It looks like they're enjoying them!

Xan turns 3!!

Xan had his "Special birthday time," as he called it today. He went shopping at Target with GG and Grandma Nancy and got to pick out his own gifts. After he chose a couple of trucks and a pack of Legos, he had to be convinced to pick out a last gift from Great Grandma GG. He didn't feel he needed another gift, I guess, but ended up with a Clash Cage for his new trucks.

Both boys went to the doctor today for their annual checkup. Will is in the 97th percentile for height, Xan is in the 95th, so if you didn't believe they were tall before, you can believe it now. Xan also has some fluid in his lungs, perhaps from allergies or the remnants of the flu he had a couple of wereks ago, so he got some antibiotics and a dose of albuterol through a nebulizer at the doctor's office. This made him a little more wired than usual. Quite a treat for Grandma Nancy while she waited for his antibiotics to be ready at the pharmacy...

Later in the evening, Rodney's friend Jesse came over for birthday cake, bearing gifts. Xan opened his cards (Thank you Uncle Earl, Aunt Vic, Grandma Peggy, Grandpa Paul, Unlce Jim, Aunt Brenda, Grandpa Bill, Grandma Velma, Aunt Carole, Uncle Fred, Joe and Abby, Beulah and Terri) and gifts. He got Bakugans (Will is a bit jealous) from Jesse and Nicole, new training wheels for his bike, a bat, ball, and glove, and more trucks. And then there was cake!

Baby turtles and baseball ...

... I found this cute little guy in the backyard when I was weeding today. He looks like some kind of slider, and since we have a ton of ponds around here, I am sure he is local. He's staying in a bucket in our house tonight and despite the kids' protests (Will: "Mom, he's so cute! Can we keep him?" Xan: "What's turtle's name?") I'll let him go at one of the ponds tomorrow.

Tonight, both Will and Rodney had baseball games. Actually, Rodney umpired Will's game, which is an OK thing in the league, as long as the umpire can be fair. If Rodney is anything, he is fair, so there was no problem. Will's team did win 20-10 and Will hit the ball three out of three times, got on base twice and scored once.


Here is a shot of him on first base, waiting for the next hit. The next two batters ended up striking out, unfortunately. Can you see Rodney in the background?

Will played left field today.

Umpire dad waved at Xan, who was playing in the empty scorekeepers hut.

Will clapping for his team in the after-game huddle.

We got Xan's preschool spring portraits today. Very cute...