2010 List: The End

I almost made it! I say 10 out of 12 things done is not shabby! To be honest I didn't think I would get that many, so I am double thrilled! I didn't make a post for every item, obviously. Some of them were too personal to post. Some of them were too boring to post.

The last two were frustratingly simple:

"Visit Turner Field and watch the Braves play. D will love it and it means a lot to T to share it with his son."

and

"Hire a professional photographer to take some good pictures of us as a family. Its time for a family portrait of epic proportions."

How the heck did that happen? How did I miss those two?? Well, the Braves thing was hard because of Tommy's work schedule and the game schedule always seemed to clash. The photography thing just kept getting put off.

So, what to do about the missed items? Add them to next years of course!

Have you got your list for 2011 set up yet? What do you want to accomplish next year?

#1

Here they are! The pictures from the #1 thing on the 2010 list! There are a ton that I wanted to share so I ended up with a slide show. There are a ton that didn't make the list too but you will have to be my friend on Facebook to see those. Enjoy!




A huge thanks to the Myrtle Beach CVB for all their help!

#3

Thats right ladies and gents, we managed to mark two things of the 2010 list this week! Not exactly by design, but I'll take it! Yesterday morning I got out of bed hearing that snow was coming. Its coming honest said the weatherman. What they couldn't seem to get straight was how much and when it would get here. Somewhere between a dusting and four inches sometime between 10am and 5pm or maybe not at all. I think they should hire me. I can so make that kind of prediction.

Anyway, so about one o'clock I looked up and it was just barely snowing. A few flakes here and there. In half an hour I looked up and it was full on snowing! Big snowflakes, thick white sheets. I got all excited and scooped D up and took him out on the porch to watch.

"Mama! Is SNOWSIN! Wook! SNOWS!"




 That was pretty much the reaction I was hoping for. We stood out on the deck for a few minutes and watched but it was too cold to stay out there in our jammies for long. So we came in and called T who was on his way home. I got D all bundled up and woke K up (little lazy has been sleeping all the time lately) to nurse him. Once T got home we got K all bundled and headed out to play. K was less than impressed with his hat.




Once we got out, D went running off in the snow to play and T started on our snowman. It didn't take him too long to get the body together while D and I found some sticks for arms and some leaves and berries for the face. When we got done, he stood about five feet tall and... well, looked kind of angry BUT he was OURS. That made him special.

 After that we spent some time just messing around in the snow. T took K back inside because he was cold and D and I just walked around. I tried to introduce D to the joys of sledding but he was less than impressed. Probably because he ended up flipping out of the basket and rolling down the rest of the hill. Oh,well. He still had a blast and that is what matters most. I enjoyed just smelling the snow and looking at all the white. It has been way too long since I have seen that much snow. We measured four and a half inches. That is a ton for Georgia. Usually we get an ice storm or nothing. Makes me think about moving a little farther North every year.

#8

Today we marked #8 off of the 2010 list! The boys and I got up late this morning and decided to go for it. T actually suggested the zoo but it was too cold. So we pried our sleepy, lazy selves out of bed and got the boys up and dressed. It took D longer to eat breakfast than it took the other three of us to get ready but then we were out the door. We had to stop at the gas station right out side our neighborhood to get T and I something to eat since we had forgotten. Soda, a beef taquito and candy bars. Breakfast of champions. I did discover though that the cell phone holder in the new van may not hold my cell phone but it will hold two gas station taquitos like that is what its made for. Maybe it was....

Anyway, so we got down there pretty easy since it was a Sunday and the parking garage was actually not bad too. Got D all strapped to me and K all strapped to his daddy and walked into the aquarium.

 

Once we got in we looked around the main area for a few minutes. Its really a pretty place inside for looking so bland outside. Then we checked out the different areas. Its split up into 5 big exhibits and they don't connect to each other so we decided the best idea was to just pick a wall and follow it all the way through. We decided to head left and just stick to the wall.

The first place we stopped was the touchy feely with the sting rays and shark tank. They felt about like I figured they would. Slimy and firm. Kind of like a wet suit. They also had a feely tank with sea anemones and shrimp. D was not going to put his hand in any tank no matter what we coaxed him with. It was pretty funny actually. K thought they were pretty fun to watch but he likes to watch the back of his eyelids more than anything. Needless to say, he was asleep pretty soon after that. They had a huge indoor play area too including a tunnel you could climb into and crawl around above one of the random tanks of fish and eels. D wasn't interested so we kept moving.

The next exhibit we went through was kind of anticlimactic. It was supposed to be the exhibit with the Beluga Whales  but they were painting it so the whales had to be moved to a tank out of view. Stupid thing is we KNEW they were doing it. One of T's best friends from high school is in charge of the project. Oops. There was however a faux skeleton of some sort of huge whale that D got all excited about. He didn't know anything was missing. Plus there were some pretty fish so not a total loss.

After that was the BIG tank. The one everyone comes to Atlanta to see. Its called the Ocean Voyager exihibit and is complete with a six-million gallon tank containing four Whale Sharks and the only two manta rays in an aquarium in the U.S.. Impressive, no? It really was pretty spectacular. The only problem with a tank that large is that it makes it damn near impossible to get a good picture. We spent the most time in this area though. They really did have some pretty awesome fish. The giant groupers were almost as big as T's Hyndai. The whale sharks are still relative babies and they are expected to grow to over 30 feet long. Which to me.. is nuts. They also have a myriad of sharks including sand tigers and hammerheads in there and I was half expecting to see some kind of feeding frenzy but it didn't happen. Oh, well. Maybe next time.

After that is the tropical reef exhibit. Its the "pretty" one. With all the super bright fish and nice colored coral backgrounds. They have one tank, that I guess is the big one for that area, that curves up over your head and it looks like a reef. D though that was pretty cool. He stood and looked at it for awhile but he was getting too tired and cranky to stay long. We did get to see the clown fish which had him immediately exclaiming "NEMO! MAMA! NEMO!!". I'm almost sure that is the only reason these places have those little guys anymore. They are a hit with the kids.

After that exhibit came the gift shop. After touching and naming (or repeating the name) of every fish or crustacean shaped object in said gift shop, D finally attached himself to a stuffed alligator with magnets in his feet. He insists its a dinosaur but whatever. I am always a little sad leaving places like this. One, because they are so cool and I always leave with such great memories. Also because I rarely do those type things. We really should do better about getting out with the boys and doing things like this more often. Which is part of the idea behind the 2010 list I guess. An objective to get us out more. I will definitely keep this on the to do again list though. It was fun for all of us. 

(I obviously didn't include all of the pictures. If you want to see the rest click HERE!)

2010: The list

This is my list of things I want to accomplish in the year 2010. Twelve things in twelve months. I will be updating as I complete things so stay tuned for the stories! Check out the "My 2010 List" tab up top to keep tabs on me.

1. Take the boys to the beach for the first time and make a sandcastle.  COMPLETED 5/3-5/7

2. Get in shape. I would love to be able to run again. First thing on the list is to get new braces for my knees and get my lower muscles back. Goal: 1 mile. Doens't sound like much but for someone with arthritis and bad knees, that is far. COMPLETED 12/23 (1 mile in 10.4 minutes)


3. Make sure the boys see REAL snow. Like, able to build a snowman snow. If we have to travel then we have to travel.  COMPLETED 2/13

4.Hire a sitter for the boys and go out on the town with T like we did before kids. I love my boys but we are due a night out. COMPLETED 10/12!


5. Volunteer for an afternoon at a soup kitchen or other charity type deal. Time to give back. COMPLETED 12/18!

6.  Write a long hand thank-you letter to my mother. She has done some amazing things for me and I want her to know I appreciate it. COMPLETED 12/25!


7. Go to a concert. Of some sort. Its good for the soul and been way too long. COMPLETED 10/1!

8. Go to the Georgia Aquarium with my family. I am the only one that has been able to enjoy it and thats just not cool.COMPLETED 2/7!


9. Visit Turner Field and watch the Braves play. D will love it and it means a lot to T to share it with his son.

10. Save up three months of income for emergencies. Completed 5/10!

11. Hire a professional photographer to take some good pictures of us as a family. Its time for a family portrait of epic proportions.

12. Make a trip to visit my out of state family. Its been to long since we went to them. COMPLETED 8/21!