tales from a far-land

So while the kids spent the week with Grandma and Grandpa, they daily attended one hour of soccer camp.  This camp's goal was to instruct the kids on the fundamentals of soccer -- kicking, dribbling, passing, and scoring a goal.  I loved the coach -- Coach Tamara.  She had an tremendous teaching technique which included tons of patience, humor and a positive attitude with all of the kids.  The kids class had about five 2-3 year old toddlers.  Our kids faired pretty well although there were many more tears at camp once Mommy and Daddy attended with them.  In fact, to be honest, the last day was pretty much a fiasco.  I think there were more tears shed than actual balls kicked. For the entire week, Madilyn did not quite want to participate in soccer camp on her own.  She wanted to constantly hold someone's hand.  If you tried to get her to play on her own, she would break into tears.  It was somewhat discouraging and frustrating.  However, if Madi ever gains the confidence to p

So, this summer, the Farrell-Landers kids started a new tradition.  They were sent to "soccer" camp in Munds Park during the July 4th week and stayed with Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Lynsey (minus Josh and I until mid-week) at the cabin.  The kids spent the entire week enjoying the cooler weather while attending soccer camp once per day with Aunt Lynsey.  The rest of the time up at the cabin was spent playing and assisting with some of the necessary cabin chores.  The kids helped Grandma with some gardening, Aunt Lynsey with some baking and Grandpa with some carpentry.  They even washed Mommy's car to get rid of the unwanted tree sap.  It was reported that they behaved very well and there were minimal timeouts needed.  After such a fun week, I am sure they will be excited to attend "soccer" camp again next summer. Gardening with Grandma Building swings for the kids with Grandpa Each kids "claimed" their own swing during the process Bak

Everyone has had one.  And even more, we all remember exactly who was that first love.  I do.  Of course, as with most young romances, we thought that we would "live happily ever after".  Sadly, we did not and my heart hurt for many years when we realized that dream ended.  But then I met a new love.  Our story has not been completely written, but we are on a good path full of children we adore who remind us every day of why our love is so amazing.  And we have incredible support from our family and friends who remind us to keep striving for the best marriage possible. However, recently, I found out some interesting news regarding my first love.  It was news that did not shock me, and yet, surprisingly, it has taken me aback.  This information has made me conjure up emotions that I never thought that I would feel towards this person again.  I am happy that he is happy.  He deserves to have a life full of love and joy.  We all do.  However, it also saddens me that we did not

Here are some photos that were taken on the trip that I made sure to capture in the blog.  Take a look at the photo description to understand when the picture was taken. Aiden and Uncle Nitin eating raw oysters the first night of our visit.  Aiden absolutely *loved* them!  Madi just wanted to copy her brother's photo.  She did not want any oysters. Madilyn climbing at the park  Aiden at breakfast with Dad one morning while Mom was at her conference  Aiden with his new "friend" he made on the plane ride home.  He was extremely fussy the entire plane flight until he made this new friend.  Aiden actually left our seats to go sit with this little girl and her aunt.  They colored together.  They watched videos together.  They read together.  They played together.  It was quite adorable.  Apparently like his dad, he attracts older women.  On our last night in Atlanta, we were able to get a babysitter so the four adults could go out for a "date"

After our departure from the World of Coca-Cola Museum, we decided to walk over to Centennial Olympic Park and allow our kids to expend some of the sugar they just consumed.  After playtime, we walked to a nearby sushi restaurant for dinner before we headed over to the Georgia Aquarium .  What can I say about the Georgia Aquarium?  It is probably the *best* aquariums I have ever visited.  So many of their exhibits are up close and personal.  It is like you are swimming in the water with the creatures.  Plus, our kids loved it.  Aiden was so excited any time a fish, shark, dolphin, manta ray, jellyfish, otter or penguins would swim passed him.  He would start pointing and jumping with such enthusiasm and then Madilyn would play off of his excitement as well.  It was so much fun to see them interact with all of the creatures.  There were so many fabulous exhibits that I cannot choose just one as my favorite, but I have to say the penguin exhibit ( big surprise, I know ) and the whale

On day three in Atlanta after all of Jenn's business meetings were complete, we decided to visit the World of Coca-Cola Museum .  It is pretty interesting museum.  I never realized Coca-Cola's magnitude as a beverage distributor across the world.  We were able to learn about Coke's fascinating story by taking a walk through historical and current memorabilia.  The museum also included a couple of different movies that the kids seemed to enjoy since they really did not seem that interested in most of the other exhibits. One of the exhibits I enjoyed the most was the tour of the onsite active bottling factory.  We were able to watch how their signature product is created.  Fun Coke Fact:  Did you know that Coca-Cola produces 12,000 bottles/cans per minute throughout the world?  Neither did we.  We really could not even imagine how this is even possible.  The museum gives each visitor an actual Coke bottle from the factory as a souvenir when you exit.  Before you exit the