Papa's In Town!!!

Duty Calls!!! Rico has to be out of town all week for a work conference in California, so this leaves Avery and me home all alone (bottom lip puckers out, pouty face comes on, boo hoo). In the meantime, Papa Pancoast is retired and so is his brother Bob. So, they bought plane tickets, packed a bag and headed south to keep Avery and me company. In the meantime, Mimi Pancoast had plans to be in Chicago with all of her siblings, so while she headed north, Papa headed south. We have kept rather busy. Avery has been our 24 hour entertainment. One of the main attractions was our trip to play in the fountains at the marina. Avery and I have been there several times, but we wanted Papa and Bob to see what all the hype was about.


All the chitlins stand by as the drain gets cleaned.

Buckets and more buckets of water.....all the better to soak you with.

Papa and Bob take it all in. (I'm sure they were secretly wishing they had their swim trunks on.)

Avery sneaks out to the couch early in the morning to wake up Papa.

Stay tuned for future posts tracking our time together.

The "Dreamy Lens"

"Let's load up and meet at the park." This is a common phrase that comes out of your mouth often once you have a toddler. What do you need to "load up?" Most would need a snack, some water and perhaps a ball to kick around. In the life of Carol Piersoll, "load up" means those items mentioned previously but ALSO her new fancy camera. This is a necessity. This camera must be similiar to oxygen for most people. But, make no mistake about it. I commend her for her "toy". She captures some of the BEST moments. (Refer to blog post dated 04/02/10 for tons of other pictures she has taken). Anyhow, Carol recently purchased a new lens for her camera that she claims is "dreamy". See for yourself below. I agree, Carol. Your new lens is "dreamy."







Avery poses for the photographer. "Give me your serious, deep in thought look, Avery."

"But be quick, Ms. Carol. I have kids to chase after and toys to play on."

A Night at The Founders Club

Saturday night was spent at The Founder's Club with some good friends, good food, a cool bounce house and thunder, lightening and rain!!! The rain didn't stop us from having fun and more importantly it didn't stop the kiddos from bouncing in the rain in the bounce house. Oh, to be a kid again!!!!


Avery waddles down the steps in search for daddy.

Jadyn and Avery climb in the bounce house. Note: this is before rain.

Jumpy Jumpy Jumpy Kids. (imagine hearing a 3 year old yelling this) so cute!!!

Rico and I pose for a picture together. This doesn't happen much it seems. Nowadays, it's Daddy and Avery or Mommy and Avery.

Pat entertains Jadyn and Avery until the lightening goes away.

Rico's turn: However, he got "kid duty" while it WASN'T raining!!!

Avery HATES ice cream....can't you tell?

How adorable is this? Val and her daughter, Ava, have matching dresses on. SUPER CUTE!!!

A bit SOAKED from the rain scarfin' down some watermelon.

Birthday Celebration....or Something like That!!!

Where do I begin? (hmmmm, millions of thoughts and memories race through my mind) Well, I will just give a brief introduction and let the pictures tell the rest of the story. Yesterday was Pat's Birthday and so of course we needed to celebrate. However, in the mind of Pat Brester, come strong or don't come at all. Needless to say, we came strong!!! We rented a party bus, got tickets for the Rays vs White Sox game and off we were.







The wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round............



Some of the crew meet up for a quick preparty cocktail. Yes, Avery HAD to be in the picture. How could we tell the lil' guy he couldn't be in the picture.

Jud, Doug and Rico chillaxin' on the bus

All the ladies

Birfday Boy and his wifey.....he soon became BARFDAY boy.

Chris and Rico say "CHEESE"

Debbie says "Bitch, ya betta get outta my seat." (not really)

Every party needs a chaperone!!! Jamie, you were a trooper. Thanks for taking one for the team.

Did I mention Gene Simmons came with us?

The story may get a bit "sketchy" here. We have since picked up a pink cowbell and a baseball bat.....just what this party needed!!!

After the game and waiting on the bus to pick us up

Jim and Janelle. Open your eyes Janelle, not time to sleep yet.

ALL hands on the pregnant chic. Did I mention she was a trooper!!!

What a charming picture. (no caption needed)

Do like Madonna and "strike a pose!!!"

As I mentioned earlier, there aren't words needed. The pictures will tell the story.

Peek-a-boo. How ya feelin, Pattycakes?

At this point, Pat was like a fun toy. Couldn't resist the urge to play with him. (that doesn't sound right, but you know what I mean)

And.....this tree was like a fun toy for Pat to play with......kinda, sorta

Very ladylike Jessi, way to make the Parentals proud

Time for the munchies......

Let's see those bellies........

Jamie, did I tell u thanks for being the trooper? Your growing baby belly has now become our new toy for the night. We had to leave that tree behind.

We brought the other toy with us though. However, at this point in the night, our little toy needed a HUG!!!

Well, there you have it. And a stop at the RED BARN was even a MUST. However, the camera was not invited to that party. HAPPY BIRTHDAY Pat.

A Visit to Bonita Springs!!!

Some of our BEST FRIENDS from college are vacationing in Bonita Springs, Florida this week. They invited us down for a visit to enjoy some of their vacation with them. We jumped at the chance to see them and their twin girls again. See, this time last year, they were also at Bonita Springs in the same condo but the situation was different. Avery was barely a year old and Megan was pregnant with twins. Now, Avery is a walking and talking machine and the twins are 6 months old and changing everyday.


Meg and I on the balcony of their condo. Meg and I go way, way back. She and I have stories to tell for days. There's never a dull moment with her.

A view from the OTHER balcony of their condo. They are on the 19th of 21 floors.

Oh, wait, here's ANOTHER view from ANOTHER balcony.

Overlooking the Gulf of Mexico. Keep away oil, its too pretty without you!!!

Same balcony, different view.

One of the girls, Cami......she has KILLER eyes. Watch out boys, she's gonna be a knockout!!!

Daddy and Avery in the pool. (this year)

Meg and Cami. She LOVED the water.

This photo needs a lengthier caption: At first, it looks like a picture of Vance in front of the palm trees. And, well, it is!!! But, if you look closely, you will see Vance is wearing Caliana's sunglasses. See the pink stripes on his face. Yep, those are infant sunglasses. Stunning Vance. Just stunning!!! Should I see if Coach O'Brian wants this in the locker room?

After eating a snack at the pool side. However, he's pre-occupied with Cali. "Look Mom, I'm flirting with Cali. She just gave me her digits."

Daddy and Avery still in the pool. Tough day we all had.............

Typical "man pose" ........................

You could see forever with those binoculars. Lots to look at.

As I mentioned earlier, this is our 2nd trip to Bonita Springs with them. In fact, we ate at the same pizza place as we ate at last year. This year, party of 7. Last year, party of 4 and 1/2.

After dinner: Checkin out the turtles in the fountain.

Memory lane is open: This is a photo from LAST YEAR. Same pool.

Last year: Avery confined to his floatee.

Last year: At pizza place. Meg: Pregnant with twins. Avery: still tiny enough to hold like a baby.

Great times were had by all. Memory Lane was visited, lots of laughs were had, some drinks were consumed, diapers were changed, early wake up calls by children were available, but most importantly, its FANTASTIC to still be so close to such great people and watch how our lives have changed. We'll look forward to see the Catlin family again over Labor Day weekend as well as all of the other TriDelts. Can't imagine what that weekend will bring. Chicago, WATCH OUT!!!