Beach Trip

We took a trip to the beach for the 4th of July.  Met up with some old friends who also have kids from Kazakhstan.

 We went on a dolphin cruise and saw several dolphins

 We spent the day in Savannah on the way home.

More Summer Fun

Finally back in Atlanta, K and a friend went to circus camp and learned to juggle.  Poor child is in math camp this week.  We went to one of the wildest weddings I have been to in a while.  Rearranged the living room.  Had a little dinner party.   Now we are off to the beach for the 4th of July.

 That little speck is Sheila doing a reading at the wedding

 Loved the signature cocktail (I could use one right now!).  Notice that little bulb thing?  That was a tomato mozzarella shooter.  The bulb was filled with vinagrete and the tomatoes and mozzarella were on the pointy part.  You were supposed to squeeze the bulb as you ate tomatoes and mozzarella.  Adam and I tried several to perfect the technique but finally gave up because we did not want to ruin our appetites.  I kept choking on the vinagrete.

 K and I.  I am in very tall shoes and she is in flats.

 So pretty.  The brides' maids dresses and hair were so pretty.  Their hair was all done in the same way-it really looked pretty as they were all kneeling at the altar.

 K and Lisa and Howard.  More bad iPhone photos.

 Sheila and Helen.  I loved how the dance floor was surrounded by sofas.  It was so nice to take a break from dancing and lounge around.

 The bride and her father.  Love how their monogram is projected on the dance floor.  So many amazing details.  

The first course.  Followed by amazing halibut and tenderloin.  And at midnight french fries, milkshakes in cute little glasses and fried chicken sliders.

Some pretty peonies that I bought. 

 The night after the wedding I had a dinner party.  In spite of the fact that the wedding lasted until 2AM we managed to rally.

Flying By

This summer is flying by.  We got home from Chicago, did laundry and hit the road (actually we flew and drove) to Minnesota.  K loves all things Asian.  Technically she is Asian since Kazakhstan is an Asian country.  My cousin's children have gone to Concordia Language Camps in years gone by-German, Spanish, etc....so K decided that she wanted to try Japanese camp.  When I signed her up I didn't realize that the Japanese camp is not in Minneapolis but in FAR western Minnesota.  We weren't really comfortable with putting her on a bus to who knows where so I decided to take her.  Sooo.....we flew to Minneapolis, drove to faaaaarrrr western Minneapolis, I came to a rolling stop (just kidding), dropped her off and hauled back to Minneapolis to catch the last flight back to Atlanta.  Flight was delayed and I got home at 2AM.  Most annoying part was that they did not speak English at the little tent by the side of the road where I dropped K off.  I spent the whole week worrying that I dropped her  off at the wrong spot.  I think she was happy to see me go.  For some reason I got an huge Expedition when I rented the car and when I opened the door I forgot how high up I was and fell out.  Between that and the guy speaking Japanese to me and worrying about catching the last flight back to Atlanta my nerves were a little frayed.  Fast forward 4 days to Friday.  I flew back to Minneapolis-flight delayed, got in at 1AM.  Stayed at a kind of sketchy hotel near the airport and got up ay 6AM to drive out to faaaarrrr western Minnesota to pick K up.  We got home at 11PM and K had grabbed the wrong green duffle at the airport.  Luckily, the owner lives in our neighborhood and we go to the same church.  Whew!

A quick stop for lunch in Fargo, ND, the closest town to K's camp-K was so tired she said she didn't sleep all week

I made her pose in front of the Fargo Ale tap.  Good beer!  So much for my mother of the year award.  Seriously I should get a mother of the year award for all that driving and flying!

Eloise

The day after school was out we drove to Atlanta.  On Friday we left for a wedding and week in Chicago.  The wedding was perfect-beautiful bride, handsome groom, great food, picture perfect setting.  The only problem was that I did not take my camera so all I have are iPhone photos.  How do some people get such great iPhone photos????

Bagpiper was a nice touch

 Fireworks during the reception

 Groom (on the left) and friends

 I shoe shopped while K went to camp at the Art Institute of Chicago

K walking back to the hotel from camp-hopefully those braces will be off in 6 months so she will start smiling again

 More shoe shopping-this photo makes my thigh look huge

 Dinner in Chicago with BFF

 Lounging by the pool while K was at camp

 This baby isn't a baby any more!

M's birthday-glad we were in town to help celebrate

 The view from the gym at our hotel

 Lions in front of out hotel wearing Blackhawk jerseys

 Loved the doormen

 View from the other window in the hotel gym-Neiman's and Saks calling my name

K declared that she thought she could live in our hotel if we had a penthouse suite.  I think we both have a little bit of Eloise in us.

From Skating to Shooting

I am so happy that summer is almost here-school is out tomorrow.  We took a quick trip to Sun Valley for Memorial Day weekend.

We stopped in Salt Lake and had dinner with these fun people!

It was really chilly in Sun Valley!

K skating with cousins.

But the girls favorite activity was shooting.  They loved it!  My cousin and I were a little creeped out with how much they loved it!

The guy who taught them to shoot was so sweet.  

Look how happy they look.

Early one morning-it was in the 30's.

The place we stayed was so pretty.

We stopped at Craters of the Moon-it is a 600 mile lava field.  It reminded me of the Big Island of HI except that the fields were formed by fissure eruptions instead of a volcano. 

Must Be Texas

The temperatures were in the 90's. Our weekend included a visit to the new George Bush Library at SMU, horseback riding and a bbq.

Loved the oval office.  You can sit at the desk and have your photo taken.

The 9-11 memorial was so moving.  The two pieces of steel are from the twin towers and the victims names are on the surrounding wall.  I loved listening to Bush's speech after 9-11-it was so inspirational and so calming.  

The library contains gifts that were given to the Bush family when they were in the White House.  This a gift from Kazakhstan.  A jewel encrusted horse drawn yurt.

Earlier in the weekend riding horses.

And only in Texas, a bbq smoker shaped like a gun!