Saturday Fun at The Fair!

In Friday's post I mentioned that we didn't have anything planned over the weekend but it turned out that Saturday was Ilah's day of fun! We spontaneously decided to go to The North Georgia Fair! I didn't even know there was one until that morning when I looked up something fun for us to do as a family that day : ) We got there around 12:00 noon...

Ilah, who usually never wants to hold our hand and would rather run free, held on pretty tight to Daddy's hand for a bit until she got used to where she was! I think she was on sensory overload! ha!

Our first stop was a pony ride for $5. Ilah impatiently waited in line. Ha! And when it was finally her turn to get on the pony, she LOVED it!!! She kept saying "weeee!!" and when her ride was over...well, let's just say she had a little meltdown. She would have rode on that pony for HOURS!!

Me and my sweet girl!...

It was on to the carousel! To ride on a fake horse ; ) Look at Ilah's face....if there was a thought bubble above her head it would say, "when is it gonna be our turn?"....

All aboard!....

Man, this carousel really got goin'! ha!.....

There were so many rides for little ones....

Ilah was too short to ride on some of them : (

But she did reach the height limit for quite a few! : ) ....

Daddy buckling his little girl in ; )

We were at the fair for a few hours and had a wonderful afternoon of family fun! We ended our day with one last ride on the carousel....

Our happy little girl!!...

Before we left, I told Ilah how much fun I had with her and we gave each other a little kiss....

On the way home, Ilah was all smiles!....

I cherish these times together!!!

Fathers Day Was a Great Day!

We had a fun-filled Fathers Day yesterday! Ilah woke up in her "I Love Daddy" pajama bottoms and gave her daddy lots of hugs and kisses to start off his special day!!

Dele wanted Ilah by his side so much yesterday. It was the cutest thing! Normally when we are getting ready for church we want her to be preoccupied so that we can get dressed but yesterday Dele was all about having Ilah right next to him - even carrying her into the closet while he picked out his clothes for church. Daddy loves his girl!

I had some leftover icing from the cookies that I made last week - just enough for me to make a very, very small amount of royal icing do some Fathers Day cookies for Dele...

We had a massage appointment scheduled for 2 pm {yes, "we" - momma got in on it too....I didn't use my gift certificate on Mothers Day so we did a couples massage yesterday!}. I knew that time would be a bit tight after church so last week I thought ahead and picked up a refrigerated pizza that I could just stick in the oven after church. It cooked up in just 15 minutes {I added extra cheese to the top!} and we ate while watching an episode of House Hunters International : )

My mom stayed with Ilah while Dele and I went to go get our couples massage! They had a "best of travel" book in their waiting area that I thumbed through until we were called back...man, looking at those travel destinations made me wish I could go to ALL of them....starting today! Vacations are good for the soul....and massages are good for working out the knots that come from what NOT going on a vacation does : )
Some time after our massage, we went on to have an early dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. I ordered TexMex Eggrolls for my meal...

Dele got his usual....Spicy Cashew Chicken. Yumm!....

As tempting as it was, we skipped out on getting cheesecake.

When we got home, Daddy opened up his Father's Day cards and gifts!....

Ilah went down for a late afternoon nap so we seized the moment and watched the movie "Just Go With It". Cute, but very predictable. But the point of watching a movie was just to exhale, cuddle up, and enjoy our alone time together. Mission accomplished!And naturally I couldn't go through Father's Day without thinking of my own wonderful father, who is in heaven. If you are raised by an exceptional parent who you loved immensely, I don't think you can ever heal from their loss - you just cope better as the years go on. Father's Day and the holidays are especially hard times, as well as other special moments that I have greatly wished my father were a part of {my wedding, the birth of my daughter, her first birthday - and really, all of the days inbetween}. But I know that I should be blessed for the years that I did have him and I am forever grateful for the amount of love that we shared during those years and the many amazing moments that he filled my life with while he was here on earth. I know that while although I cannot physically see him, I sense him around me in beautiful, subtle ways - and just as I did on my wedding day, I will always carry his presence and love with me....

It was a great Fathers Day honoring the man in my daughter's life...and the man whose life I will always remember.

The Past Few Days

I hope everyone had a nice weekend! For those of you who had a 3 day weekend due to the Memorial Day holiday, I hope your extended weekend was a fun and relaxing one! When I used to work outside of the home, I couldn't wait for those 3 day weekends to roll around!
On Memorial Day, I wish we were all sitting at the gorgeous table above, taking in the beauty of the ocean; however our weekend was mostly spent under the weather, rather than enjoying it. Ilah caught a cold last week and passed it onto us. I'm thinking this was the point of exchange ; ) ....Not that there is ever a good time to get a cold, but Dele was in a wedding this past weekend and was super busy in fulfilling his role as being the best man. He was going, going, going especially on Friday, Saturday and Sunday {the day of the wedding; we had a great time!}. Thankfully my mom was a huge help and came over every day, for the past few days, so that I could stay in bed and rest and try to get over this cold that just knocked me out. Ilah still has a runny nose and a tiny bit of a cough. I feel almost 100%, but Dele still isn't feeling that great. Rest is so important when you're not feeling well and unfortunately his days were long, and his nights were even longer. If I knew how to do his job, I would trade places with him so that he could stay home - but I may not be there for more than just an hour before he calls and wants to trade places back ; )

Last week was my mother-in-law's birthday. We took her out to dinner at a delicious Asian restaurant and Ilah admired the pretty fish that were in the tank there. She was squirming in her seat wanting out to go see the fish up close and kept pointing at them telling us "see!" and then blowing them kisses when she got back to her seat. Ha!

Last week was also my mom's birthday! And although I wasn't feeling well, I sucked it up because I wanted to make her day a great one! We started the day off by going out to breakfast... Then we hit up Atlantic Station and walked around and went in to some shops. Ilah was the only one who got things. How does that always happen?!...

We stopped in for some yummy ice-cream at Kilwins! The best! Of course Abuela gave her baby a bite : ) .....
We returned home late in the afternoon and Ilah took a nap...actually, we ALL did! When we woke up, my mom opened up her birthday cards and all her gifts! My MIL was leaving to go out of town so Dele took her to the airport while we went out to dinner! Here's a pic of just the remnants! My mom thought her food was DELICIOUS!....Dele's birthday is this week, and then Fathers Day follows. Every year, there's lots of happenings at the end of May/beginning of June that has me being one busy bee! I also managed to mail out a birthday package to my closest girlfriend {who lives in CA}, whose birthday is tomorrow! These cupcake cookies that I made just for her were enclosed....

So thankful for family and friends and wonderul memories that will be cherished forever!