Another Fall Festival, the continuation of our Sunday adventure...

In years past, LBZ (Life Before Zachary), we would travel hours to the biggest and best know fall festivals in our state. However, now that we are traveling with a child we have become quick learners. There are festivals all around us, some practically in our very own backyard! Our goal this year was to visit any that are a stone throw's distance away. During the process we met various people (vendors & attendees) willing to share information on other festivals that they suggested we check out! Thus, our fall festival list is ever growing!

To find last Sunday's festival we did a little google search and came across a nearby area called Auburn. Now, being a BAMA graduate I was a little turned off by the name of the city...and thus the name of the fair "AuburnFest"...but, since BAMA is having an excellent football season I decided I would put my pride behind me and step out to their "little" festival ;)

As stated above, being new parents (to a toddler no less) our second fall festival lesson was to arrive as soon as the festival starts. Being one of the first visitors allows us to get in and get out (before the heat of the day and the crowds overwhelm)!! As always, it was Zach's lucky day. He was the ONLY child in line for the jump house. His ALL TIME FAVORITE "bounce till Mommy pulls you out" event. And, since he was the only child in attendance, and jumping his heart out, the owner of the inflatables told us to stay as long as we want and in fact hey- "why don't y'all move on over to the obstacle course"...and, "lady since you are taking pictures feel free to walk along the equipment and snap away". "Thanks Mr. Inflatable!!!!! Hoot hoot!!"

So, onto the obstacle course we went. Once Zachary realized his Daddy was going inside the obstacle course with him his face lit up like a Christmas tree! Both Miller boys had a fabulous time making their way through and over every obstacle put in their way.
Now, I feel like I should explain these next few pictures. As Matt is climbing his one and only child up the ladder he knew there HAD to be another side to the climb that would be as equally steep. But he wasn't sure exactly what the challenge was going to be or how he was going to manage Zachary.

Notice Zachary's face at the top of the slide when he realizes "OMG, this is steep". Then Notice Matt's face when he realized "OMG, this is steep" but then Zachary recognizes, "OMG, what a slope, time to S.L.I.D.E.!!!"



And, slide they did! With his eyes closed & the biggest smile on his face!

After a little shopping we took a break next to the red train. Zachary is quickly becoming obsessed with trains and as he likes to imitate them "Choo-Choo!!"


We had a fabulous day and a great time at the festival. And, I'm glad to see that my precious son feels the same way I do about "Auburn"!

Roll Tide, Roll!!

It's an easy Sunday morning to sail away.

A few weekends ago, at our local Public Safety fair, Zachary made an egg carton sail boat. Which has been sitting by our back door waiting to be sailed. Lucky for us, one of our local parks recently completed a man made estuary canal, creek thingy next to the play ground. Complete with stepping stones! Early afternoon Sunday we packed up our truck and headed out for another exciting day.

As you can see, the boat is made out of a Styrofoam hull, a straw for a mast & the weak link- a flimsy piece of construction paper for the sail. The egg-boat really took off, until the sail got soaked. Regardless, the current in the water managed to keep the boat moving along for quite a show!

Concentration is a necessary skill for any ships captain...tongue is optional.

Once we felt confident Zachary wasn't interested in getting into the creek, we allowed him free reign. He had a blast & we enjoyed watching him. The Miller boys are already drawing up engineering plans to improve their water vessel. I think they should start by naming her. Maybe something like "Water Walker" or "Grace under water" or "Don't fall in".

We also visited one of our local festivals Sunday. We will share those pictures in a few days. Thanks for visiting our blog! We hope you are all enjoying this beautiful season too! Blessings to you and yours!

To be continued...

Happy Fall Y'all! We have been enjoying a wonderful weekend with lots of fall festivities planned & we have been blessed with excellent weather to be outdoors!

Saturday we visited a Church Pumpkin Sale & Poppi's County fair. It was a first for us all! And, we were VERY impressed with the magnitude of the rides, games & fair food!

Zachary did not want to ride most of the rides. However, he loved to watch all the children having a fun time. Zach did get to ride another Pony! This time he seemed more at ease in the saddle!

Zach's favorite ride was the carousel ride. This particular one went much faster than the one at our local mall. He just laughed & squealed his way through it!

When it came time to do a little face painting, he didn't want anything to do with it. We paid for our ticket, attempted to get him to cooperate but in the end we had to ask for our money back and walk away. Maybe next year!

Matt was able to complete something from his bucket list...

He rode the mechanical bull for over a minute before he did a face plant! I am so proud of him!! Check!!

The petting zoo was a mad house! But, it was packed full of animals waiting for a treat. This time we saw goats, cows, rabbits, llamas, ducks, geese, pigs, Koi fish, honey bees (no petting allowed) & sheep. And, we had food to feed them. The llama tickled Z's hand as he made sure to get every last morsel.

When it was time to go home poor Z wanted his Mommy, who wanted more pictures...

Alligator tears, Bless him!

We enjoyed high 60's this past Saturday. And, we went out to our local public safety festival. Zachary had a blast climbing on the various fire trucks & police equipment!

We found out the hard way that Zachary does NOT like large stuffed mascots! He had a fit when we attempted to get his picture with Maxi-mus the mascot for the Gwinnett Gladiators, our ECHL hockey team. I suppose we can expect Zachary to react this way for Santa and the Easter Bunny too.

Just today, Matt took Zachary to our local Wallgreens. As they approached the isle of Halloween decorations Zachary began crying. Matt started talking to Zachary pointing out the scary eyes, the scary nose...And, Zachary calmed down and continued by pointing out the scary mouth, the scary hair! Matt said at the end of the encounter Zachary had calmed down and relaxed. Hmmm...hopefully Matt helped Zachary with his fear and when he meets Santa in a few months we can get a decent picture.

Zachary's favorite structure was the jump house. As usual we had a harder time getting Zachary out rather than in! He loves to bounce and jump & he spends most of his day doing just that all around the house.

It's Fall Y'all! This weekend we visited an Ellijay Apple Farm and petting zoo! We arrived as the first guests with the fog and by the end of our visit we left the bright hot sun & crowds behind. Our timing was perfect!

We walked through parts of the orchard on our way to the petting zoo. One of Zachary's current favorite books is Dr. Seuss' "10 Apples up on Top". Zachary was in shock at all the apples, on the trees and on the ground! We quoted lines from the book as he pointed to apples, apples, everywhere!!


We chose this apple farm because of it's petting zoo. We were both looking forward to watching Zachary's reaction to all the live animals. And, the petting zoo did not disappoint! It was full of baby goats, a calf, a pig, 2 rabbits, lots of chickens, a rooster, several kittens, 2 lamb & even a chihuahua named Scooper (no Yetty)! All the animals that are in Zachary's Little People Farm were represented in the petting zoo. He was most excited about the chickens. And, the goats were most excited with him!


One of the highlights of Zachary's day was the pillow jumper. He would have jumped ALL day if he could! He enjoyed it most when more children came to play causing the pillow jumper to bounce and jiggle with little effort. Even when he took some hard tumbles he smiled through it!


The Tractor Wagon pull ride dropped us off at the Pony ride & Bull sitting picture opportunity. Both situations where Zachary demonstrated his brave nature.Zachary didn't know what to think but I was happy to get a few more pictures into my camera. Zachary kept sliding to his left side while riding on the pony. I think he was afraid of falling off. But, the ride lasted as long at it took to hand over the $5 bill to the attendant. (Not long!)
I love this sweet picture...


Towards the end of our visit the sun finally came out. We stopped our activities for a few more pictures
Walking back to the shop we noticed lots of headless photo opportunities -- hmmm, my description isn't great but looking at these pictures I'm sure you know what I'm talking about-


We ended our day in the store choosing our purchases. We picked up a mixed peck of apples, apple rum butter, apple syrup, apple cider & apple donuts. Zachary LOVED helping put the apples into the bag. We had to keep an eye on Z because we caught him taking the apples off the table to sneak them into the bag with out our experienced inspection ;)

We had a GREAT day and we look forward to going again next fall! We have a few brief video's of our day and we will get them up online soon. Thanks for visiting our blog! Happy Fall Y'all!!

Just an update on our life with the Z-Man.

We recently had the social worker from Families First come out to the house for his 6 month post-placement followup. China requires a 6 month and a 1 year followup for their adopted children. It was a nice visit and went well.

Zach continues to enjoy Gymboree and has discovered an affinity for "magic". He will make an object "disappear" by hiding it behind his back, followed by a rousing "TAAA-DAAA!" and a bow. We hope to catch that on video sometime soon.

We are blessed to have a very mentally and physically gifted son. He amazes us in some new way on a daily basis!

Happy Birthday Matt!! Today we celebrate Matt's birthday. And, in the morning Matt is earning another stripe onto his Jui-Jitsu belt! We are so proud of you!

Our Labor Day weekend started out beautiful with a sunny Saturday afternoon. Zachary's Grandfather Popi came over for a visit. We pulled out Zachary's pool and he just had a good ole time splashing around. Matt and I dipped our bare feet into the edge of the water while Zachary shimmied around making waves.


After some time we turned on our hose to the $1store sprinkler. Zachary didn't know what to think of it at first. But, with a little help from his Daddy he got comfortable with the idea of running (mostly around it) in the streams of water.

Zachary had a blast running in the sprinkler!

A fun day was had by all!

This post is to let all of our loved ones know that Matt is starting a side venture as a novelist. His first short novel is now available for purchase as an ebook through Amazon and Barnes and Noble for the Kindle or Nook platforms respectively. Even if you don't have a Kindle or a Nook, you can still read the book on the PC or a smartphone by downloading the Kindle or Nook applications which can be found at Amazon or Barnes and Noble and are free applications.

The novel is titled SHADOW OF THE MASTER and is a collaboration between Matt and his late mother, Nancy. She had written the basic manuscript back in 1981 and shopped it around briefly, getting no bites back then. So, it got packed away and, to some extent, forgotten for many years. When she passed away in 2009, Matt asked his dad if he could find the manuscript and if he would object if he did some editing and revision and went the self-publishing route with SHADOW. He had no objections so Matt recently set about finishing the new manuscript.

SHADOW OF THE MASTER is a short novel that provides a new and unique perspective on the life and ministry of Jesus Christ through the eyes of a stray dog that takes up with Jesus and the disciples after He shows the dog kindness. It is biblically based and written in such a way that readers of all ages can enjoy and appreciate it.

Matt is also working on his first full-length novel, an excerpt from which is included at the end of SHADOW. He hopes to have the novel completed and published by late spring of 2012.

Matt can be followed on Twitter at @mattmillerauthr. He can be reached by email at matthewmillerauthor@gmail.com. His website is http://www.matthewrmiller.net.

To view or purchase the book through Amazon, click here
To view or purchase the book through Barnes and Noble, click here

The man, the legend, the runner---Zachary!



Having fun at Monkey Joe's!