Some January randomness

Y'all. 

In the top 5 events that have changed my life, Harry would actually be # 1 if it didn't sound bad to choose a wizard* over things like marriage and children. So, when I had the chance to visit Harry Potter World when I was in Florida for work, there were so many tears of happiness.

*A wizard who defeated evil and saved the world. Also, a wizard who wore glasses. When I put it that way I think it makes my preference ranking sound a little better. 

The entire place was amazing-it was so authentic, so true to the story and the characters, the butter beer was heavenly, the shops were adorable, the wands worked, the magic was real. 

I still cannot even believe that I was there. At Harry Potter World. What on earth. 

And, I got to go with one of my friends/coworkers who also loves Harry and we basically spent hours planning our short time there to make sure we fully lived up the experience. 

And....things continued to be awesome in Florida when we met an astronaut! He shared his story about overcoming obstacles to play in the NFL, become an engineer and join NASA. It was so inspiring and Denise & I are trying to figure out how to get him to come to AE to speak to our kids. 

After leaving my friends at Farragut 4 years ago, I am so grateful that I have a true friend at work again. It definitely makes life better. I mean, nobody can ever replace Yellow Wing, but Denise is a pretty nice addition. 

The Harry/astronaut visiting was awesome, but only about 1/11 of Jan, so back to the real fun.  We have been trying to get out the energy , so we take advantage of our Y pool. I love this pic of the big face at the top and the little face on the bottom left. They had as much fun in the lockers as they did in the pool. 

Doughnuts after mass are one of their favorite things. Also, I am so grateful that Max loves the church nursery because he willingly plays in there for over an hour, which allows me to spend time with Anderson, volunteering in his class,  and actually attend part of mass. 

Birthday party at a gymnastics place= so much fun for the lithe brother. 

Always. 

One of Anderson's favorite things to do is to play with ice. 

He loves to measure it, destroy it, throw it, build stuff with it....so much entertainment. Max also loves the idea of it, but refuses to actually go outside if it means taking off his fire gear, so Anderson brings it in for him. 

About 3 weeks late, we finally managed to find time to go to dinner for Anderson's birthday. 

(January 2016 took our sanity)

Where did he choose? Texas Roadhouse, of course!

With a little help from Noni, Anderson made this "show." I thought he did such a good job on it and my favorite part is the little guy in the eyepatch in the corner. 

So much emotion in this picture. I had no idea of the magnitude of the moment when I took it or I would have really relished in it-maybe even allowed Max to wear his fire jacket and get sprinkles all over it. 

This was our last visit to one of our favorite places on earth-Krispy Kreme. It closed! It is like a little piece of their childhood has been ripped away and I cannot even process it yet. I mean, how can a place that made an entire $1.20 off of me every week close!! (I brought their own drinks and always had a coupon for at least one of the doughnuts free, so I was not really a big spender.)

We will keep you posted on our mission to find another doughnut place that can even remotely do justice to the fried dough that our bodies demand. I will tell you this- Kroger doughnuts are NOT it. We tried and it was failure. 

For now, we have the memories. 

Uncle Curtis got a bunch of chips for his bday; I think he was pretty happy about it, too!

Speaking of birthdays, Lucy turned 3!! I mean, I very vividly remember when she was born and now she is THREE!!! And, she is the best kind of 3-adorable, sassy and rocking her own style. We love spending time with her because she is hilarious. 

We also love that Clare invited us to Chuck E Cheese for a Sat afternoon because the boys had SO much fun!

These 2 are so stinking cute together. 

Happy Birthday, Goose!