Late Summer Vacation, Part 2

After an incredible week one of vacation in Atlanta, we hiked on up (okay, drove) to the Great Smoky Mountains for a family reunion on my side of the family in Gatlinburg, Tennessee over Labor Day weekend. We had a wonderful time reconnecting with family we had not seen in awhile (the time together just passed too quickly!). I had not seen the mountains in several years, and man, I missed them!

Evan was quite excited about his new pirate gear
from Grammie & Poppy.

The whole clan gathered for dinner! Gotta love the huge
table at the cabin!

Levi, enjoying another ride in the car

Playing in the creek

Fun with Poppy looking for golf balls since the creek was by a golf course

Getaway to Rosemary Beach

I keep meaning to share pics of our recent (er, a month ago..) beach trip. We were blessed to get an early spring break in February thanks to a sweet couple in our church who let us go to their place in Rosemary Beach, FL, which is on the Gulf coast near Panama City. We had an amazing time, and my mom was able to join us too, which was a nice treat to have so much time with her! The boys love their Grammie, and Ryan & I got to go out on our own several times that week, be it a bike ride, dessert somewhere, or a nice dinner. We definitely came back relaxed & refreshed! Thanks to the mild winter, we even got to play on the beach a few days, but not the water, it was way too cold!

Levi loved the beach!

We were shocked Evan let us bury him (he hated getting sand on him last summer!)

Soaking up some rays!

Levi chillin' with Grammie

Loved the walking community at Rosemary!

The boys LOVED our daily wagon rides around town.

Summer Fun in Hotlanta

It's been awhile since I've blogged...partly because we were out of town for two weeks, and partly because, well, I guess summer mode has kicked in and I've just gotten lazy about it!

Evan, Levi, and I had the priviledge of spending two weeks earlier this month in the Atlanta area visiting friends and fam while Ryan spent two weeks at the beach with the youth group (one week with junior high and one with the high schoolers). Now don't go thinking I braved the 6 hour drive all by myself. My sweet mom flew out to drive back with me (shout out to our family friends, the Thompsons, for providing her with a buddy pass!) so I wouldn't have to manage an infant and a preschooler on my own! The boys did great, but the trip there took 10 hours instead of 6! We paced ourselves to say the least.

Our time in Georgia was wonderful. We spent lots of time near the water since it was in the upper 90s and even got to pet some animals at the Yellow River Game Ranch (very fun!). Check out the fun below:

Levi loves his Aunt Erica & Uncle Matt
(looking tan back from their mission trip to Nicaragua!)

Celebrating Poppy's bday at Chili's

Evan showing some love to the bunnies
at Yellow River Game Ranch

Nana and Levi hanging out poolside

All the cousins enjoying the kiddie pool

First Vacation

Levi took his first trip to Atlanta to visit family a little over a week ago. I was a little nervous about traveling 6 hours by car with a 2 1/2 year old and 12 week old, but the boys traveled surprisingly well! We first went to McDonough to stay with my parents for several days, then we spent the last bit of the week in Decatur with Ryan's side of the family. Because it was so hot, we made sure to spend as much time as we could near cool water! All in all, it was a very nice week with both sides of the family. Levi definitely enjoyed meeting many of his extended family for the first time.

Poppy & Evan, chillin' poolside

The awesome quilt mom made for Levi (her 1st one!)

Aunt Erica getting some laughs from Levi

Nana & Levi

Cousin Fun Time (Lydia, Kyle, & Evan)

Levi & Great-Grandma

Weekend in NOLA

Last weekend, Ryan and I had the rare priviledge of getting away for a few nights as just the two of us. We were able to do this because my mother-in-law Gail (aka Nana) came to visit for the week and offered to keep Evan for us for a few nights. It was a much needed break from the roles of Mommy & Daddy, and time for us to just enjoy being together and going about the days at our own pace (rather than our toddler's!). Thanks, Nana!

We had been wanting to visit New Orleans again, especially since we live a little less than 3 hours from there now, and because we had only been there once, the summer following Katrina to do relief work. At that time, it was still largely abandoned and destroyed, so we did not get to experience the true spirit of the city. This time we definitely got to see what everyone loves about New Orleans!

First of all, the food is AMAZING! We definitely had some great French food, as well as beignets at the famous Cafe du Monde (mmm...a guilty pleasure of deep fried dougnuts with powdered sugar). Secondly, the streets are truly flooded with music--street musicians, people playing in restaurants, etc. We even got to listen to live jazz at the well-known Preservation Hall. We also enjoyed just visiting the local shops & art galleries. On our last day, we visited the National World War II Museum, which, come to find, is HUGE, so we only watched the new 4D IMAX Film on the War, narrated by Tom Hanks, because we didn't have enough time to tour the whole museum (we'll go back for that one day!). The film was an amazing summary of the entire war, much of which we realized we didn't even really know.

In short, our trip was awesome, and we will definitely go back. If you are thinking about visiting New Orleans some day, DO IT! It is truly a one of a kind city!

Preservation Hall (Looks like it's been bombed, doesn't it?)


Live Jazz (front row seats at Pres. Hall!)


Childhood Home of Peyton & Eli Manning (Parents still live here)


The National WWII Museum

Winding Down & Starting Up

Since 1986, my life has followed a pretty distinct schedule: August through May, school; June & July, time to play! From Kindergarten, to college, to my teaching career, I have quite enjoyed this routine. Well, it seems that ministry follows this pattern, too, except, come to find, youth ministry is the busiest in the summer because of all the free time the youth have to simply hang out and have fun (oh, the days of old!).

So as we near the end of summer (ignore the fact that it's over 100 degrees and summer is technically not even close to leaving!), things are winding down. The insanely busy youth schedule is slowing to make time for them to go back to school. Ryan and I have also been co-teaching the high school youth Sunday school class, which has been a theology course based on Knowing God by J.I.Packer. It's been an awesome study, and we'll be finished with it this month. We are also done traveling until the holidays, having just come back from a great trip to Atlanta to see family and friends.

While on one hand things seem to be slowing, other things are kicking back into full gear. Ryan is preparing for the upcoming school year by plotting out his teaching series and making the youth's fall schedule. I am busy preparing to coordinate Redeemer's after school tutoring program for neighborhood kids beginning in September. I'm also excited to announce that I will be teaching preschool two mornings a week at Covenant Presbyterian Preschool! This position is a great way for me to meet some new folks, teach a little, and make some extra money. Evan will be with Ryan one of the days, and one of my new friends here agreed to keep Evan for me on the other day. Teaching preschoolers is definitely going to be different than third graders, but I welcome the challenge!

Here's some photos from our trip back home!

The boys and their black trucks:


Ryan and our niece Lydia:


Evan and Lydia hanging out:

Whew! What a week!

Since arriving back from our vacation to Florida, the Dean family has been in full swing. First off, we had the youth "Summer Kick Off/Cook Out/Pool Party" as Ryan so cleverly named it. Turns out Evan is now convinced he can swim like the big kids and finds his float a bit embarrassing (this results in mommy trying to wrestle with him in the water to stay afloat-quite exhausting!).

The next day Ryan's mom, sister Holly, and nephew Kyle arrived for a long weekend. We had a lot of fun taking them to see the sights of Jackson while keeping the boys entertained with swimming, playing at the park, and splashing in the fountains at the Renaissance (an upscale shopping center). We even fed the ducks at the local fave restaurant Cock of the Walk on the Reservoir. Perhaps the coolest thing was that Kyle got to see the hospital in Jackson where he was born (see pic below). Just four years ago, Holly and her husband David made the journey out here on Easter Sunday to adopt him. He's been a part of our family ever since. Funny how Ryan and I ended up living here! God works in mysterious ways. It was a blast getting to spend the weekend with them!


Monday evening kicked off our week of VBS at Redeemer. Ryan helped lead the assembly music, and of course, the kids loved him. I taught the 3rd grade class (shock-shock!) and totally enjoyed my sweet & sassy group of girls & boys. The gospel was shared, and I pray that it'll take root in their lives.

And now it's on to the weekend and gearing up for next week: the Youth's Local Missions Week. It's a busy life, but we love it!

Operation Beach = Success!

We have returned from our vacation to Cocoa Beach refreshed, slightly tanned, and relieved that Evan actually enjoyed the sand & surf. It wasn't quite love at first sight, in fact, you might even say he played a little hard to get. Here's how the affair unfolded:

Day 1: Hung out by the water bucket, watering the sand and sanding the water, then watering the sand and sanding the water again...you get the picture.

Day 2: Walked to the edge of the ocean. Screamed in fright as the cold water hit his toes, gradually started to smile after a few encounters with this mysterious "wave".

Day 3: Holding Daddy's hand, ventured out into the ocean about knee deep, decided "This is pretty cool."

Day 4: Begged to be taken out into the ocean by Daddy, Poppy, and Uncle Matt, whoever was closest.

Day 5: Unabashedly in love with the ocean (and perhaps a little too fearlessly).


(This is Evan with his Grammie and Poppy)

3-2-1-BEACH!

The countdown is officially on. In just three more days, Ryan, Evan, & I will be boarding a plane to fly directly from Jackson to Orlando, where my folks will pick us up and drive us to Cocoa Beach. My sister and her husband will be meeting us a few days later. Ahhh..I can just about smell the salt water and feel the ocean's breeze. I must admit, I am a little nervous about flying with an 18 month old, but I've sought lots of advice from mommies who have done this before, so we should be okay. I've even borrowed some airport "musts"--car seat carrier, car seat cover (in case we end up checking it), umbrella stroller--and stocked up on new toys and treats. I figure an hour & 45 minutes in the air can't be that bad (at least I'm optimistic!). Truthfully, Evan's a pretty chill kid, so I'm hoping that helps.

Perhaps what I'm most nervous about is Evan actually liking the beach this year. The photos below are his first encounters with the beach and pool when he was about 7 months old. He wasn't too fond of the sand, the hot sun, or the cool water. Because of last year's results, we've been "practicing" for the beach (he has unfortunately inherited his mommy's lack of spontaneity). We've put on his beach shoes to practice walking in them, visited the local sand box at the park, and played in his tiny inflatable pool, which we plan to take to the beach. I promise I'll report the results of the flight and beach after we return!