i can be serious. yes i can.

check out how serious I can be, friends. you see, in settings where there are lots of people I tend to take it all in and observe my surroundings. here I am at a playdate doing just that. there were so many other people my size and so many exciting toys, I wasn't sure what to do some of the time. however, I did settle on a favorite ... a good old john deere tractor. oh I could have stayed on that contraption for hours. really, I could have.
life is good here in auburn. and I am serious about that.

hodge podge

get ready for several pictures ...

henry's first taste of pizza at little italy



at summer night in downtown auburn


father's day lunch, where else? momma g's. where the vaughans celebrate all major events and good news.

enjoying the "pool"

helping mom wash dad's car for father's day

at the "real" pool

henry found gary's hat and came back into the kitchen wearing it backwards just as he is shown in this photo. silly hinkle!

henry has two new favorite books, Sylvester and the Magic Pebble (from his Auntie D.) and The Napping House (from his Auntie Sue). Thank goodness we can add some new books to our repertoire! (H is still particular about certain books so we read the same books over and over. its a nice change to be able to add a new one or two here and there!)

new look, happy henry & flying furniture

new look for an old blog ... no surprise it is green and brown, ha ha.

I wanted to test posting pictures in a larger image ... I know I just posted this pic, but it is even better in a larger size, provided Henry's teeth don't scare anyone. happy henry ... and he usually is just that. don't get me wrong, he can have his moments, but they usually pass pretty quickly. as my sister has taught me, distraction is a marvelous concept! :)

on to flying furniture ... so I must share a funny experience. most of you already know about this strange phenomenon of flying furniture being able to find me, but some of you may not. to catch you up ... when I was in 11th grade, we (the SGA) were having a car wash to raise money for our school. a friend of mine and I were standing in the median strip of a 4 lane road holding up car wash signs on a windy virginia spring day. the next thing I know I had flipped over the guard rail and was out cold on my back in the middle of the grassy part of the median strip. turns out a sectional sofa, improperly secured in the back of a pickup truck driven by a mr. luis garcia, was picked up by the wind and thrown from his truck where it struck me, threw me over that guard rail, and ultimately ended up in the grass as well. a couple of broken ribs and lots of bruises later, I thought it was just a mere accident.

however ... not so fast my friend. about three months later one sunday morning I was driving to church and a mattress flew off the back of a truck from the vehicle in front of me and struck the hood of my car. my freshman year at auburn, I was driving down opelika road and an arm chair just happened to fly off a truck and land about 2 feet from the car. when I lived in savannah, ga after I graduated from Auburn, it was another mattress that flew out and hit the front of my car. when I was moving from savannah back to alabama, it was a love seat that flew out of a truck in front of me and landed (thankfully) in the emergency lane of the interstate.

needless to say when trucks loaded down with furniture are anywhere close when I am driving I definitely get nervous and try to get around them as quickly as possible. this magnetism to flying furniture sounds crazy, I know, and it certainly is, but it is all true, I promise.

its been a while since the craziness has happened. I thought maybe I'd experienced the last of it. last week marked the furniture's return. the latest continuation of the saga ends in an nice sized, comfy looking arm chair flying out of a truck well in front of me (or so I thought) on annalue drive here in auburn, and the chair landing about 3 feet from the from left corner of the hood of my car. this time I kept driving and tried my best to laugh. I mean, seriously, what is the deal!?!?

anyway, there is your laugh for the day. anytime you need a pick me up, just think about the girl who attracts flying furniture of all shapes and sizes. bizarr-o!

celebrations, 17 months and guess who is back?!?

we have been crazy busy around the Vaughan household, but good busy. this weekend and coming week marks the first time since april 17th where we are all home as family, without weeknight meetings and a weekend full of set plans or travel. it has been fun but we are excited for some "down time" if you will. we've been celebrating lots of birthdays in our family this month too ... gary's mom, my nephew Jake (turned 9, can you believe it?), our brother in law Joe, and my nephew Trip (turning 6-wow!). (we weren't able celebrate Joe and Trip's birthdays in person, just in spirit). we also found out some FANTASTIC news this past weekend that some of our dear friends, after a long road and much fervent prayer, are expecting their first baby! it is a miracle and they are going to be such phenomenal parents, no exaggeration. God is good!

guess who is back this summer? jordan lee! she is babysitting henry again this summer. she and henry have been having a blast! henry is trying to say her name, which comes out either "j" or "lee lee."

Henry turned the big 17 this past weekend, 17 months that is. he took it in stride.

worn out after swimming at the pool ...

this past weekend we also celebrated the coming arrival of Meredith's baby girl, Claire, by hosting a baby shower with several of our co-workers. Pictured here are the ladies of FFG Auburn, Meredith (center) and Jeanice.

tech park fun

these are from early last week when we went to the tech park.

this was the last photo taken-henry likes to push the stroller sometimes.

he is a walking machine now!

very intrigued by the ducks

summer 5k series, driving range and a reunion

last wednesday night kicked off the 11th annual summer 5 series - where folks in this area gather to run or walk a 5k every wednesday night for 9 weeks during the summer. this is our sixth year to participate and we look forward to it each year. its great to see friends and family and vary your normal running/workout routine. needless to say my time wasn't my best pushing a 27 pound little boy ... but we both enjoyed the exercise and time together.

at the driving range this past weekend - thanks to auntie melinda for my blame the dog shirt. what a great notion!

chad and melanie tied the knot in demopolis this past weekend. it was a reunion of sorts with good friends from college that live in various parts of the US that we don't get to see all that much ... the wedding was really nice and the company even better.

we are excited chad and mel have chosen to stay in auburn-they are good folks.

peggy sue (chad) after the ceremony

the reunion group ... these are most of gary's close group of buds from college.

the owens and the bushes ... its great to have a close group where the parents of our friends enjoy hanging out together too. for those that couldn't make it we missed you! come down this fall for a game. we'll make room at Chez Vaughan Vaughan.

visit to maryland

last weekend we went to visit aunt deirdre and uncle joe in maryland. what a great place! so much to see and do. I had a marvelous time if I do say so myself.

on the way to the airport ... I didn't realize at the time that I would be stuck in a carseat or a lap for the next several hours. my parents kept saying they were nervous about how I would behave on the plane ... well, I showed them that this flying stuff is a piece of cake. luckily for them they brought one of my praise/worship videos for me to watch, so no screaming was involved. I really liked looking out the window and watching the planes and golf carts.
we arrived Thursday night. on friday we toured the picturesque (big word for me eh?) countryside where my auntie and uncle live. I walked around their veggie garden, backyard, vet clinic, and I don't remember where else. that night we went to dinner at uncle joe's parent's, who were extremely nice, and I was able to meet two miniature donkeys, two large dogs (an Irish wolfhound and a Bouvier) and a few horses. I was a little scared at first, but curious after the initial meeting.

on saturday my uncle had arranged a "behind the scenes tour" of the maryland zoo in baltimore. above is one of the polar bears. I was more interested in the fish the bears were eating than the bears themselves.

then we met stubby the rhino. he was enormous!

next we met the zebras (not pictured) and then it was on to the giraffes. here I am helping dad feed caesar the giraffe. I thought these guys were really quite fascinating!

above is a relative of the giraffe, an okapi.

the behind the scenes tour ended there and it was on to view the rest of the zoo.

I really liked the elephants too (I hope daddy jim isn't reading this).

I turned my mum into crested something or other bird specie.

cheese!

my first trip to the the zoo was delightful.

however, better than the zoo was the ride in the golf cart with uncle joe at the end of the tour. oh how I love to drive things!

that night we ate fresh crabs - first time I've tried these critters. pretty tasty.

sunday we had a delicious brunch (croque madames) prepared by auntie d. I gobbled it up! the food in MD is yummy.

I loved getting to play with the dogs and especially the cats. cats are really interesting. and, they don't knock me over with their tails every time they walk by. and, they don't wait underneath my highchair for scraps.

I had such a good time I zonked out riding from the airport home. with my hand open. sometimes you just gotta sleep with your hand open.

hope to see you soon, Bernsteins!