Allatoona!

The boys and I went to Lake Allatoona for the first time last week, with my friend Adri & her five kiddos. It is a really cool spot, and I can't believe we didn't know about it sooner (we've been here for over a year)! It's only a 30 minute drive to this spot, which is beautiful. It's in Georgia's rolling little mountains, and so densely wooded it reminds me of being in Northern Wisconsin. The water here is incredibly warm, and surprisingly clear compared to other lakes I'm used to (seaweed & whatnot).

Sawyer did not come out of the water for a drink or snack or lunch. We were there for nearly five hours. He just wanted to keep diving in his goggles, trying to catch the little fish with his bucket, find rocks, or play other games with his buddy Jordan.

We can't wait to go back & take Joe or some other friends along! :)

Our Fourth!

I'm usually not so late in posting! We had a great Fourth, but I didn't take many pictures. Saturday the third we went to Marietta Square to see the parade. We arrived early enough to get seats right up front, so the boys loved it. Sawyer got to high-five a firefighter which made his day, and we went home with about a dozen flags! :) It was a gorgeous day, not too hot to sit outside for hours (which is rare for GA this time of year), so it was a wonderful day!

On Sunday the Fourth we had church of course, but later went to a friend's house for a big group BBQ, which also included all 6-8 (?) of the missionaries that were serving in our ward. After that we jumped on the MARTA (the train) to Centennial Park downtown for the "Best Fireworks East of the Mississippi!" We showed up a little after 8pm, and didn't even get into the park; it was FULL & the fire marshall closed the gates! SO, the streets were crowded shoulder to shoulder for BLOCKS, and that's how we stood to watch the fireworks from the sidewalk outside the park gates. It was a crazy night! I didn't even attempt to get my backpack off to pull out the camera within all that craziness (but I should've)! If we live here again, I think we learned our lesson not to try & go there again for fireworks! :)

Local Harvest!

Last night I finally caught up with everyone else (it seems), and watched Food Inc. I am completely freaked out! I mean, I knew a little about that stuff, but it's so interesting and unreal to see more in depth. If you haven't seen it, PLEASE do. I love documentaries, and this one is a very important topic: how our food is made in this country.

I feel like I've done a decent job as a mom gradually switching old bad eating habits into better ones. For example:

• We don't buy junk food (chips, candy, ice cream, cookies- we bake cookies, though...)


• We eat whole wheat bread, tortillas, & crackers


• We only buy "No sugar added" juice, applesauce, canned fruit


• We use unbleached flour for baking


• We use real butter products & not margarines


• We've increased our fresh produce a LOT
• We eat more nuts and dried fruits for snacks

What are some things you do in your family to get back to more natural food? I'd love to hear!

SO, I figure I'm in a good position to make the next step: switch to local and organic as much as I can; especially MEAT (after watching that film)! :)

If you're with me on this & want to get started yourself, use this website to find all the local farmers and farmer's markets near you! http://www.localharvest.org/