The Model Family

It's not what you think...this past weekend, we were asked to participate in a photo shoot for the Beltline, which will eventually be a 22-mile loop around the city of Atlanta. The first mile of trail is right in our neighborhood and some neighbors are creating a promotional poster for the Beltline and 5k on October 18th. We're only in the background, but hey, don't we look good?


The folks in the front are Nia Knowles, West End realtor extraordinaire, her husband, and their two girls. If you're looking for a place in Southwest Atlanta, Nia is definitely the person to call!

Awesome Big Jump!

So today I was picking Frankie up from the Kid's Klub at the gym (their spelling, not mine), and as I was talking to another woman in there, we got onto the subject of children and daredevilry. She noticed that Frankie was a bit of an 'athlete' and prophesied many visits to the emergency room in our future. She said that eventually he'll try to 'fly' off of the couch, and I do think we are well on our way:

Mad Max: Beyond GeorgiaDome

Photo courtesy of Juston, who is obviously working hard while he's staying late editing videos.
With the pipeline to Atlanta virtually shut down after Hurricane Ike, Juston and I often joke that things might get as bad as in Mad Max, where people kill each other and cause big explosions over gasoline (and wear leather in the desert. I don't get that one.) I drove past several gas stations today that were either out of gas or had lines down the street. Luckily we live close to the train station and Juston has a bicycle for getting to work, but I'm hoping it doesn't get to a point where we can't get gas at all. Media hype? Probably.

UPDATE! - $4.49/gallon. That's right. For REGULAR. Uh-huh. This is definitely going to get worse before it gets better.

Early Halloween Post

So Juston wants Frankie to dress up as Flapjack for Halloween (he's the one on the right.)



I'm of the opinion that this is going to be *much* harder than Juston thinks. Do you people plan Halloween costumes for your kids/pets as early as this? If we do this Flapjack costume, I'm going to have to start looking now. (For the record, I have no idea what Bridget's going to be this year.) Oh - and I saw Christmas cards at the store yesterday. Yep. It's officially that time of year.

Smattering...

Frankie and Abram, doing what they usually do - locking themselves in the dog crate. Be prepared, you'll be getting dog crate pictures as long as kids can fit inside it.

From another angle...best buds! (The funny thing is, that same day someone asked me if they were both mine. Hmmm...not quite. Although I must say, they both call me 'Mommy,' and Frankie calls Kembe and Jermaine 'Mommy' and 'Daddy.' I guess it's a matter of perspective.)

Pay close attention to the food...in our house, Magic Stars are a staple side at dinner time. Frankie is truly his father's cereal-loving son.

This week we braved cooking and made muffins out of some spotty bananas. As Frankie would say, "I helping." Don't tell him that he's actually not helping.

Self-portrait. Not my good side.

5K in my 'hood, Saturday October 18 @ 9:30 AM

Okay friends, this one is even FREE if you don't want a t-shirt, so no excuses. Come support the Beltline and the West End! Park at my house! It's gonna be awesome.

Beltline 5k and West End Celebration

Crash Bandit

Frankie likes to go for rides in the bike trailer, but his bike helmet was a bit cumbersome and kept sliding down his head. For this reason, Juston ended up buying him a new skateboard helmet this past week, which also doubles up as a crash helmet when going for a ride in a dumptruck! It'll also come in handy when he most likely takes up skateboarding in a few years.

The rest of the con.

I need to take a break from putting stuff in the house together, so yes, I'm here again. But the validation has been surprisingly low lately (hint, hint.) Anyway, here's more pictures from Dragon*Con on Monday.

Frankie was in a 'kiddie mosh pit' near some industrial techno band's booth and stopped for a picture.



Frankie with the members of Japanese 'band' Peelander-Z. He wasn't very happy about it. They perform with Kaiju Big Battel , better known in the USA as Space Monster Wrestling. They're also playing in Atlanta on September 19th as part of the JapaNoodle Fever Tour - could be awesome? Anyone want to babysit?



We're wondering how you get your life-size R2D2 replica on an airplane.



Chasing pigeons in downtown - or as Frankie calls them, silly birds.



Intriguing waterfall in the foyer of the Grand Hyatt in downtown ATL, site of the convention.

Tired

I've been beyond exhausted today. This isn't a new thing; I've been very tired for the past few weeks. I have a history of low iron count (borderline anemic,) and I'm willing to bet money that it's the problem. *Sigh* more meat, please. Anyway, I told this to Juston over IM and he sent me these beauties:





I feel the most like the last one looks. Poor Frankie is so bored.

Kid's Gym Playgroup

A quick plug from an e-mail I got tonight:

Playgroup will be starting this year on September 4 at 1:30pm. This year there will be a charge: $15 per month or $50 for 4 months. I hope to see you there. Thanks.

This is the same kid's gym that used to be on Wednesday mornings at the rec center in Historic College Park. The woman who runs it is now teaching at a preschool, so they had to move the day and time. Even though it's a bit later, the kids *love* it and you'll have a guaranteed nap on the way home. It's absolutely worth it, especially if your kids are still too young for more organized gymnastics. (Mine is too insane for normal tot gymnastics.)

Dragon*Con 2008 Parade

I promised less pictures in September, but I'm already off to a bad start. This weekend was Dragon*Con, a Sci-fi and Fantasy convention that attracts roughly 40,000 people annually, who descend upon downtown Atlanta in all their geekery. I admire the dedication of sci-fi and fantasy fans; I can't say I've ever felt as much passion about one thing as some of these people feel towards Star Wars or Vampires or Fairies or World of Warcraft; you get the idea. It would be kind of fun to be a part of some uber-dedicated fanbase, but alas, I'm too old to start and, I hate to say it, too normal and just not interested in the aforementioned stuff. The parade was on Saturday morning, and Juston had to go in order to interview some "Storm Troopers" for a Toonami Jetstream video. Frankie and I went along and got primo spots right at the start of the parade festivities.

Frankie on the train on the way to downtown. You can't tell in this picture, but he was stoked to ride on the 'choo choo train.' (Don't tell him that public transit rarely 'choo choos.')


Juston says that this is why he needs a mini - Thundercats are go!


Clingons on bikes:
The 'majorette' of the Seed & Feed Marching Abominable band:

"Fans for Christ" - kind of appropriately headed up by characters from "The Princess Bride."

Herbie - and the same weekend that Juston decided to watch the awful movie of the same name starring one Lindsey Lohan. (I don't ask anymore.)


Juston's co-worker Julia, parade-ing with camera in hand.

Juston, also parade-ing (and videoing) with the 'box' characters:

Scary Predators:

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band:


This was arguably Frankie's favorite thing in the whole parade:


Vader's Fist 501 Legion - apparently it's an application process to become a part of this 'elite' group and march with the Storm Troopers. Sorry.

And the real reason Frankie likes parades - lollies! Yes, the shirt was on purpose - Juston was wearing one of his Cartoon Network Yoda shirts. I felt a bit left out, to be honest, although I don't think you'll ever catch me wearing a "Star Wars" shirt because, well, I don't really 'get' "Star Wars." Flame on.

I'll post the rest of Dragon*Con later this week so as to not overload all of your Google Readers!