my little sports fan

so, I was sitting in line at Walmart with Danny the other day and he blew my socks off. I always head over to the center lines(quieter, more competent and friendly cashiers, consistently problem free unlike the self scanners) and enjoy a quiet moment of chatting with Danny while we wait the few extra minutes. I often ask him about the magazines and read them with him, but today I wasn't even looking at them. All of a sudden, Danny starts to get agitated at the fact that he has told me something multiple times and it isn't registering. I can usually understand his two year old talk, but it helps to have the context. Then I saw it. A tiny, itty bitty picture of Michael Phelps on the corner of the cover of People magazine(check it out next time you are shopping...it is tiny!). Danny was saying "Michael...Phelps...water" I mean, of course the constant Olympics watching that happened in our house over the past week may have helped, but c'mon...that's pretty smart. He continued to tell me about the "helmet" that Michael wears, the pool that he swims in, and the goggles that he wears over his eyes. He loves sports....and we can add swimming to the list(mommy likes that too!)
I tried to find the exact picture of Michael that is on the cover, but decided that you might rather see more of our cutie pie!

Not quite ready for the 400IM, but loves the pool!


I love this picture!

go braves

So, you know that we love the Dawgs.
It is a family love...not just Scott, but Anne and the boys love UGA football too. Our children's closets are full of Georgia outfits. Georgia paraphernalia can be found through out our house. We get giddy at the fact that football season starts in one day(yippee!). 90% of the time Scott can be found wearing a Georgia hat on the weekends and thanks to Grandmommy's recent purchase, so can our boys. There is no question where our allegiance lies...but here is more proof.
We were able to take the boys to a Braves game on our trip(Danny's birthday gift from Nana and Max) When we arrived at the stadium, we were trying to pump Danny up about cheering for the Braves. Scott turned to our son and said "Danny, say Go Braves"
Without missing a beat Danny exclaimed "Go Braves, sic 'em, woof woof woof"

Now that's dedication.

running from Fay

I will definitely be more frequent with posts now that we are back from vacation. I am excited to share lots of stories and updates on the Gaskill Rascals....but how about a few quick highlights!
Memories from this vacation....
*Being chased by Fay(seems like every time we changed our plans, so would Fay)
*Long car trips(driving 16+ hours to stay at a free condo)
*Celebrating Danny's two minute birthday with all the Gaskill cousins
*Playing at the "cow place" aka:ChickfilA
*Swimming in the ocean
*Long car trips
*Pouring sand on Daddy
*Mommy getting stung by a jelly fish, but being healed by Windex(true story!)
*Riding the ferris wheel with Grandmommy
*More long car trips
*Running the pretend bases at the Braves game(up by the new ChickfilA cow)
*Mommy and Daddy driving the "jet ski boat" while Danny watched from the balcony
*Being really high up and making mommy nervous(our condo was on the tenth floor)
*Seeing our high school friends ten years after graduation.
*Did I mention long car trips?

We had a great time, but next time will rethink traveling 2100 miles in one week with two small children. How about renting a house in the Outer Banks, Gaskills? It was a great time seeing family and relaxing at the beach. Here is a favorite photo....more to come!

He's a star....

....hopefully! We are hoping Pollack gets chosen as a spokesdoggy for Milkbone. We just sent in his photo to their contest and it can be found on the website. Check it out! Last time I checked, it was on the first page. http://milkbone.icmodus.com/
Here are a few recent photos of Danny and Pollack playing(ie: Danny chasing Pollack around, while Pollack runs for his life. He is such a good doggy!
Pollack is smiling at this hug!

Danny wanted to brush him.

yes, I know. Letting our dog kiss our child is pretty nasty, but I am sure he will survive a little dog slobber.

Sweet babies...

Two recent photos....one of Jada, our sweet new niece!

....and the other of Josh as his daddy was saying "bouncy, bouncy, bouncy" and bouncing him on his knees. He is such a serious baby, but when he smiles it lights up the room!

belle island

We really love our new town....of course, we are a little homesick for family and friends in ATL, but discoveries like our one today help us ease into loving this town. We went over to Belle Island which is a tiny island in the middle of the James that you can access by a foot bridge. Great place to swim, have a picnic, bike, run, etc. We will be back! Check out our smugmug to see pictures of our adventures and of our night out at the Short Pump concert. Free summer concerts at the outdoor mall two miles from our house....way cool!
(fyi: the photo above was right before Danny started crying b/c he did not want to stop playing in the water.....he definitely enjoyed it!)

"Two Minutes" Years Old

When you ask Danny how old he is, his answer is always "two minutes". I have no idea why. But now that he knows we think it is funny, there is no convincing him that he is saying it wrong. I think a little bit of it is his recent desire to be independent and do what he wants to do, not what mommy or daddy says. His other most recent addition to his vocabulary would be a chorus of "nononononono" when asked to do something he doesn't want to do. Actually, he says no no matter what the situation is....welcome to the world of a two year old.
In a week we embark on our family vacation to ATL and the beach! I am beyond excited! I can't wait to hang out with family. Even the drive will be fun...I love traveling and getting to talk with Scott and the boys.

Tonight we went to eat at Red Robin for Danny's birthday dinner out and he loved it! He dove right into the ice cream sundae and loved eating hamburgers and playing with balloons. All was well until the staff showed up to sing to him and brought a giant dressed up robin. Yeah, we don't really like characters. These next few pictures show the progression of events. It went from having fun and playing peek-a-boo with the menu to saying nononono and reaching for Daddy's arms. But it all ended well, as the robin headed to other tables and he talked happily about the experiences for the rest of the evening.














Happy Birthday Danny!