Tennessee Aquarium

We've had a lot to blog about lately-because this baby keeps us on the move! Last weekend we went to Chattanooga, TN to watch daddy do an olympic distance triathlon. (1 mile swim, 26 mile bike and 6.2 mile run)

We put out a blanket on a hill by the river (where he did the swim) to cheer him on. Andre was super excited and proud of his dad!







After we saw him come in from the swim, Andre was ready to move on to the next transition.

"Put me in the stroller mom! Let's go!"


Here is Keenan starting the run portion of the race. He did an awesome job (29th out of 117) and even qualified for age group Nationals next month! Plus he won "best looking" (actually that was a personal award I gave him)







While he ran, Andre and I decided to check out downtown Chattanooga. It was really nice-lots to do while waiting for dad to cross the finish. But-by that time Andre had been up since 4:30am and it was time to nap.

And it was good thing since he had no idea what we were doing next!!!





The Aquarium!!

Andre was so impressed with the "tssshh" (fish) on the walls at the entrance we considered not paying the $45 to actually go inside. Just kidding!








And there we were. Inside the Aquarium. Immediately Andre wanted nothing to do with us. He wanted to stand right against the glass talking to the "tsshh". He was in heaven!











Apparently there was much better angle in the crouched position. This is how he spent most of the time watching the fish. He even got upset when we moved him to the next tank! Trust us Andre, there's alot more fish in the sea!

We just hoped that he ralized these were real and he wasn't just looking at the coolest TV on the planet.








I'm not sure who was more excited about seeing actual sharks-Andre or Keenan. They both look pretty mesmerized here...



Here is actual footage of Andre taunting the shark before the...well...attack. The following picture is not for the faint of heart.







SHARK ATTACK!!!!!

(he never saw it coming)

haha! no really the NEXT picture is of the shark attack. Go ahead and start singing the Jaws theme to yourself......

dunna...dunna....dunnadunna...






Scary isn't it?

But my boys are brave and Andre is once again wanting to be put down.








He did let me hold him once to see the jellytshhh.

"I'm not sure that IS a tsshhh mom!"









The Clarkheads had a great trip to Chattanooga! We'll definitely be back!

"bye, bye tshhh!"

Fourth of July at the Lake!

When we first told Andre that we were going to go on a week vacation at a lake house with Mimi and all of our family without Daddy and without Canaan-this was his reaction...

"Are you crazy mom?!"

But soon he warmed up to the idea.

If there is one thing that Andre has learned about his Mimi it is that she loves water. Whether it was the beach, a lake, a river or a pool it didn't matter-she loved them all!

Andre must have got that gene from her!

Every morning Andre got up at 6:00 am and went out on the dock with his mommy and his Mimi. (everyone else in the house slept in)

Every afternoon Andre floated in the lake with his family. It took him a few minutes to enjoy himself once he got in because we had to pretty much drop him 3 feet down from the dock to get in the lake. That was a little traumatic.

One evening "uncle" Doug (Mimi's brother) let him drive his boat! He was a natural! Occasionally he wouldn't watch where he was going (just to show off) Full speed ahead!!

When Reese got there he tried to explain to her just how fast he drove the boat, but she gave him a blank stare.

"what don't you get about super fast lightning speed Reese?!"

girls.

With all the boating, floating and conversing, Andre really worked up an appetite. Luckily, snacks were just a mommy's reach away.

Here Andre is sporting his new sandals. (Thongs, if you will.)

sun + sugary snacks = sleep

No one seemed to mind that Andre had drifted off (figuritively speaking) Looks like they weren't far from a nap themselves...

Poor Andre napped through his buddy Jacob's amazing jump off of the dock-it was at least 15 or 50 feet!

Andre thinks Jacob is real cool and he hopes to be as brave as he is one day..

Here is Auntie Amy holding Reese. There was lots of baby holding going on at the lake that week!

So Daddy ended up coming to the lake after he and mom, Mimi and Paw-Paw ran the Peachtree Road Race. He tried to tell Daddy that someone was taking a picture but neither he or Uncle Bryant looked.

Reese was still staring at him...

geez Reese!

Group shot of Andre's family at the Lake House-from left to right:

Cha-Cha, Jacob, Ray-Ray, "Max", Auntie Amy, Mimi, "Mick", Uncle Bryant, Auntie Erin, Reese, Mommy, Daddy and Andre.

Great Memories.

Andre thanked his mommy for taking him to the Lake. He had so much fun!

Andre's First Birthday!

Andre celebrated his birthday like any 1 year-old should...with cake! He got a HUGE birthday cupcake complete with sprinkles and scalloped icing edges. He was quite perplexed at the odd breakfast. Usually he eats organic oatmeal and apples but this day was special. On this day Andre gets enriched white flour, refined sugar, chocolate "flavoring", blue dye #2, and monocalcium phosphate; all potentially processed near or around wheat, soy, peanuts, milk and eggs.

So yes we gave it to him for breakfast to see if he had any adverse reactions.

Well, if you count blissful excitement as a reaction-it happened. Andre was in heaven. His eyes rolled back and closed as he savored the sweet deliciousness. Or he may have slipped into a sugar coma-we're not sure.

Anyhoo-he survived his high-fructose breakfast and his parent were pleased to get such great pictures.

"This is the best birthday I have ever had, "Andre thought to himself, wondering what to do with his hands...

Not to be outdone by a cupcake, Andre's mommy and daddy surprised him with his "big" birthday present-A huge whale pool with a tail and a spout! He loved it and expressed his appreciation by splashing around in it for at least 10 minutes.

Yippee!

But no birthday would be complete without a P-A-R-T-Y! Andre had a pool party at the BridgeMill pool and all of his friends came. It was sort of a surprise party since he didn't know he was "turning One" AND it had to be explained to him what a birthday actually was. He was totally surprised!

Andre was also surprised that his birthday cupcake had morphed into a gigantic cupcake-cake in the shape of a "1". More sugar??Yes! That's what birthdays are all about Andre!

He was ready....

Here is Andre tearing into yet another b-day cake...

Even though no one is smiling in this picture-be assured that everyone had a blast! :) We had water toys, balloons, cake, friends, family and a tepid pool to swim in.

Splish Splash!

Here is Auntie Ay holding Andre while he let his cake digest before swimming. If you look closely you can see that the inside of his nostrils are blue. He was actually covered in blue at one point-which is dangerous at a pool because a lifeguard tried to resuccitate him. "No he's blue from icing NOT because he's drowning!!"






Here Andre's Poppy shared some of his chewing tabacco with him. JUST KIDDING! He's eating his snacks (he got lots of snacks for his birthday)

Auntie Cha-Cha held Andre for a photo. They look so much a like in this picture that we're considering a maternity test to see if in fact he's hers. Just when we thought our family couldn't get weirder.

Andre's ridiculously cute cousin Reese flew in to wish him a happy birthday. SHe didn't know what a birthday was either but Andre promised to explain to her when she was older...

Yes, having a pool party was exactly the reason why Andre wanted to be born in June. The day was perfect-full of sunshine, laughter and excitement...

All of which wore him out. Andre fell asleep on Karen eating snacks (again). He was completely wiped out from all of the birthday hoopla (plus his mommy scheduled his party during his nap time)

oh well.

It's his party.

He can sleep if he wants to. :)

Vacation!!

You know, its really nice that we've established open lines of communication with Andre, but sometimes he's a little too honest!

And so began our vacation as we "screwed" Andre up in our own special way...

Clark style! :)

This the famous self-portrait that Keenan takes every year-its always my favorite. Andre tried to eat my hat string any chance he got.

Andre loved swimming in the pool in his boat. Daddy got a henna tattoo to "try it out" :)

This is when I caught Andre looking for mermaids. "They don't exist sweetie." "Mom! I saw one I swear!!"

No telling what sort of therapy Andre is going to need after seeing this next clip!
(He's getting a treat from my mouth)

I think Andre had a blast on the carosel. I was too busy having fun myself to know for sure. Every time we came around Daddy would yell Andre's name and he would whip his head around smiling, never quite able to make eye contact. teehee.

Andre loved this shark (aka"fish" aka "tshh") and couldn't understand why Daddy was so afraid of them. They're really quite friendly!

Andre fell asleep at Pier Park and so we played tricks on him...

The highlight of the trip was definitely Andre on the bungee trampoline. Seriously there were 4 & 5 year-old crying and he was cracking up laughing! (So were we!)

It was a great vacation!!! :)

Clark Triathlon 4/25/09

It was a big weekend for the Clark-heads.

Mommy & Daddy did a triathlon and Andre cheered them on...

Here they in their wetsuits ready to take the plunge!

(Thats cousin Todd in the background playing peek-a-boo)

Mimi came to cheer them on too! Andre was in charge of taking care of Mimi while mommy and daddy raced. :)

It was a perfect day!

Andre didn't beleive mom when she told him that he was at this race last year. He didn't remember that-but she says its true and that he was doing the "swim" portion of the race...

Daddy's cousin Todd was in the race too! It was a miracle that we were placed right next to eachother in the transition area. (and then we realized that we all had the same name) Go Clark-heads!!!

Here is Andre giving mom some last minute racing tips. He wore his turtle shirt to remind her what NOT to do.

Go faster mommy!!!

Andre took this picture of his mom before she drowned. Just kidding!

It turns out that there is a really loud BANG to start the race which sent Andre into hysterics and Mimi frantically searching for the snacks to calm him down.

Of course Dad was practically finished with the race before mom could start doggie paddling. Here he is in the transition area getting ready for his best event: the bike ride! We had to slow the frame down to capture this shot. He was mostly a blur the whole time.

Mimi wins the award for Magnificent Multi-tasker. She single handedly played with Andre, took pictures of mom, dad and Todd, changed diapers, captured video footage of the event, mixed formula, thawed frozen apples, knit a sweater, held up a "Go Clarks!" banner, and rocked him to sleep. whew! She collapsed at the finish line. thanks Mimi!

Here's mom coming in from the bike. She did pretty good except for yelling "on your right" before passing someone on their left. Poor guy was totally confused.

Go Mom Go! Just a few feet from the finish line, mom passed the girl behind her to seal her position in 9th place. not too shabby! After waiting around for a few hours she realized there were no trophies for 9th place. Can you beleive that??!!

The Clark-heads basking in the glory!

Swim, Bike, Run, Collapse.

Here we are soaking up the sunshine and memorizing the moment when mom completed her first triathlon, dad was asked for the 846th time, "Is that a bicycle shaved in the back of your head?" and Andre won cutest in his age group.

See you next year!