Bye- Bye Convention, Bye-Bye Flu

Saturday night after dinner we were watching the Gator game in our room and Ava got sick and threw up. Poor thing! We thought it might have been because she was coughing so bad. However, after having her bath and putting on her 2nd pair of pjs, she threw up again. So, we repeated the process and it was only a couple of minutes after she had her 3rd pair of pjs on that she was asleep.

She woke up about 3:00 burning up and ended up having a low grade fever. So I gave her some motrin and put her back to bed to hopefully sleep off whatever bug was biting. She woke up without a fever - yay!!! but still didn't look like she felt really good. We decided we would go ahead and drive home so she could get home, hopefully without any problems getting there.

On the way home her fever spiked to 101.5 but dropped back down before we arrived home. Even sick she is still such a happy baby!

Sunday evening her fever spiked to 103.5 and I of course start to panic. Here is my baby girl who hasn't ever had a fever and now she is nearing 104???!!!! We called the doctor and because she is still drinking and eating (and keeping it down) we didn't need to worry unless her temp reached 105 and I just needed to alternate motrin and tylenol every 3 hours.

Fortunately after a good nights sleep she woke up without a fever and has been fever free since. However, I caught the bug and started getting sick on Monday and it has only progressed. It is now Thursday and I am laying in bed feeling worse than I have in a long time. I am trying to look on the positive side and think that we have both had the flu and are now immune to it- but when you feel awful its hard to think positively!

Hopefully we are both feeling 100% better by this weekend since there is a lot of activity going on and I really don't want to miss it!

Working on a Saturday

Saturday was the last day we were planning to spend on the show floor, so we got there pretty early and hit the floor running. I just can't say enough about how good Ava is about just going and doing. She strolled around the show floor with me both days and she never really fussed. Of course, plenty of people gushed over how cute she was and gave her tons of freebies. We really needed an entire suitcase just to put her stuffed animals and balls that people had given her.

(okay, I know this picture is blurry, but it was just too cute not to post- especially with those skinny jeans!!)

I remember, years ago, along with my partner in crime (Molly!!!), we would go to just about every booth and ask for free stuff. We would look forward to going to the shows just for that! I know Ava is going to be the same way.

John Madden is one of the spokespeople for Ace and he was always at the conventions to make an appearance. We always had our pictures taken with him. One year, I remember telling him as we were getting ready to take a picture (again, me and my partner in crime) that we needed 2 copies, because we were not sisters, we were cousins! haha- he loved that and laughed as he told the photographer, that we needed 2- funny how things stick in your head!

The temps in Atlanta didn't get out of the 50's so Ava had to bundle up before we headed to dinner. She even had a matching coat.

If you will remember a few weeks back I talked about how ole' Ruth from Ruth's Chris wouldn't appreciate all the cheerios on the floor at her fine establishment....well.....I guess she wouldn't have been too happy with us. We ate dinner Ruth's Saturday night. I will say, we managed to leave there with our dignity in tact and no cheerios on the floor- thanks to a big helper- Kayla. (Who turned 9 on Friday and we told her the party at the aquarium was just for her!)

This picture doesn't really have anything to do with us, but it was what we looked at our window. It was beautiful both during the day and at night. I am not sure if anyone would even realize what the top of the building looked like unless they were pretty high up in one of the surrounding buildings- and I am not even sure what building it was- but it really was beautiful.

Georgia Aquarium

Friday night of the Ace convention we had an event at the Georgia Aquarium. I had been wanting to go (even before Ava) but just never took the time to visit when I was in town, so this was the perfect opportunity. We had dinner at the aquarium and then were able to walk around for a few hours. It was closed only to Ace vendors and dealers. I was unsure how Ava would do since it was late and getting close to bed time and I was curious to see how and if she even reacted to the fish.

The first thing we did was walk through the underwater tunnel. She was in awe looking at everything. We had a hard time getting her to look away from the water to take a picture.

Did I mention this turned into a girls trip? haha!

After walking through the tunnel you went into this room that had a floor to ceiling wall of glass looking into the aquarium. Ava walked right up to it and wanted to touch the animals. She loved watching them swim by.

We had wanted to take her to see the penguins, but the exhibit was closed temporarily, so we took her to a "hands-on" area where you could actually touch starfish, crabs, shrimp....all this is so gross to me, I just look. Ava couldn't reach anything, the water was too deep, but she had a good time playing in the water.

Next we went to where you could touch the sting rays and sharks, again it was too deep for Ava to reach, but she loved watching them go by.

We had a really good time and Ava can't wait to take her daddy back and show him everything she was able to see- hopefully by then the penguins exhibit will be done.

Ava's Firs Ace Convention

Ava attended her first Ace convention without her grandfather in tow! He came down with the flu so it quickly turned into a girls trip. This year the convention was in Atlanta so we also got to visit with Aunt Robin and Jim.

We stayed at the Westin because we thought Ava would enjoy looking out the huge floor to ceiling window while being 58 floors up. She was so funny when she first looked out the window- I think she thought she was going to fall. One of the other reasons we stayed here was so she could ride the glass elevator that goes from floor 5 to 72. Its one of my favorite memories as a child riding this elevator with my cousins we came to the Ace convention. We were young and silly. Molly and I even pretended to give tours to other people who came on the elevator- ahhhh don't you wish to be that carefree again? Anyways, if you will remember back in March Atlanta had a tornado that came through downtown and it destroyed a lot of the windows at the Westin and a good part of the elevator- so it is closed and didn't get to go on it- so maybe next time we are in town.

When we first arrived and checked in, they gave Ava this kiddie bag that had a rubber duck (which she loves) a first aid kit, outlet plugs (how smart!), and a night light- such a neat idea!

After we checked in and they brought our luggage- we went to visit Aunt Robin. While sitting in 5:00 traffic we were stopped behind this van- can you tell what seems out of place? We had a good laugh looking at the Georgia tag all decked out in Florida gear! haha!

Ava is ready to hit the show floor! She even has her own badge!

We stopped by the radio flyer booth to let her ride the horses. She couldn't decide which one she liked best- and don't you know that Mama tried her hardest to get them to sell one of them to bring home, but they were packing the booth up to send somewhere else :(

Ava loved playing in all of the fountains they had on display- She kept trying to grab the water!

Don't you just know we had to have our picture taken under the huge charcoal grill!

It wasn't all work for these girls! We HAD to stop by the jewelry booth and have our rings cleaned pick out some jewlery. Adam- this pic is for you- I think it might be my new ring setting? I may change some of the stones- but we shall see!

When we were leaving the show- we were taking Ava's picture on the big Ace out front and Uncle Bill came up behind her- you can see the end result :) It was funny.

Ava was a hit at the show, and had people giving her free stuff left and right- I'm not sure what day 2 of the convention will hold- I'm sure it will be fun! We even had someone stop by while we were taking these pictures, give me his business card and ask for me to send him a picture- I think he is on the Board of Directors- so there is no telling where Ava may show up :)

A Night at the Fair

Last Saturday night we took Ava to the fair and she had such a great time. We knew from experience that with the fair comes rain and it hadn't rained yet, so we wanted to take advantage of it, however it was also really cold for this time of year- but we LOVED it and enjoyed every minute of it. We took Ava over to the animals and she loved watcing them. She even kept saying "moooo" when we were around the cows- how cute!

After walking through the animals we decided we would try to ride a couple of the rides with her. Of course she is too young to ride them by herself so we had to find some that we could actually ride with her. She like riding the train and the merry-go-round.

Adam nor I are very crazy about fair rides- there is just something about the characters that put the rides together that make us think they aren't very safe. But, we figured these were close to the ground and didn't go very fast- so we thought we would be okay.

Okay, so everyone has teased us about our "matching jackets" which really aren't matching, just matching color. Just so you all teasers know- I didn't plan it- it was completely by accident :)

We called Nana to see if she would like to join us on our trip- she rode the Merry-go-round with Ava. Oh and one other important thing- Ava had her first taste of funnel cake goodness! I think she feels the same way I do about them- Yummmmm!

Party like a Rockstar!

Since Ava is going out with Mommy and Daddy and friends tonight, she thought she would dress part. She is ready to go in this outfit that she picked out just for her guitar-playing daddy.

We have such a busy weekend and are getting ready for our trip to Atlanta the end of next week. However, for now, the fair is in town and cool weather is on its way. We are hoping to take advantage of the weather and enjoy being outside for a majority of the weekend.

Have a fabulous rockin' weekend!

Wordless Wednesday

Happy 95th Memaw

Yesterday was Memaw's 95th birthday. All the girls in the family were invited to go out to eat at Olive Garden (Memaw loves italian food). Memaw's mood varies from day to day and you never know what mood she is going to be in- so I prayed that she would have a really great day- and boy she was in such a good mood and was sharp- so she actually carried on good conversation.

Luke came and kept Ava entertained- she loves watching it play around!







After eating lunch we all went back to Memaw's house to eat cake and ice cream- this also gave Ava a chance to run around and it gave Leah the opportunity to bring Caden by to see Memaw on her birthday since she obviously couldn't bring him out to the restaurant.

Awww- Caden loves me :)

On your mark, get set, BLOW!!!!

Memaw's Cake was decorated to kinda show her journey through life. She was born in North Carolina where her Dad was very involved in the railroad. When she was 18 she moved down here to be married and her husband- my great-granddaddy- was very influential in the railroad in our small town. Eventually he would leave the railroad and they would start the store and that is where she still comes over to work- everyday.

There is a bedroom in Memaw's house the is the same exact way I remember it as a little girl- nothing has changed- except she has added a few more stuffed animals. Ava discovered this the other day when we were putting Memaw's fall decorations out. Ever since then, she knows what is on top of that bed. She loves to get up there and play with them.

Happy 95th Birthday Memaw!!!