So darn cute...
My dad is training her to drink out of his ubiquitous huge cup.
Here's June and my sister at a West High School football game. Junie's dad is a coach.
From what I can tell from the background, I think this is at the BCHS gym. Is it?
After our "Tour de Georgia" day (taxidermist, Stone Mountain, Varsity, Georgia State), we finished up at the Georgia Aquarium. Our neighbor, Craig, volunteers there by diving and cleaning the tanks and feeding the big fish. Cool! Here we are in a tunnel with a big ol' fish over my dad's head.
Hello, big ol' fish!
Nathan, Craig, and my dad looking at the salt water tank.
Here's Craig and an alligator who'd taken an interest in him.
Hello, alligator! Or is it a crocodile? I can never tell...
This is my dad looking at Nathan flirting with an older woman behind the counter. She's been working there for years, and she and my husband were just catching up on old times. This pizza joint, Rosa's, is right off of Georgia State's campus, where Nathan went to school. The old ladies love my husband. I guess the apple doesn't fall too far from the in-law tree. My dad has innumerable old lady girlfriends all over Bakersfield, especially at the bank. Right, Daddy?
Mmm... flirting and pizza!
My mom would have hated this place. Nothing healthy here. Nothing healthy at all. The Varsity was perfect place to take dad. When the cat's in California...
Another "of course" picture.
After our trip to the taxidermist, Dad, Nathan, and I went straight to another Southern staple, Stone Mountain. On the side of the huge granite mountain are the figures of three heroes of the Confederacy, Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee, and Jefferson Davis.
We went on a misty Friday, so there weren't a lot of people there. Whew! In the summer, the lawn behind us is usually filled with people waiting for the laser light show. I think they have fireworks too. :)
We took a cable car up to the car instead of walking up over a thousand feet (memories of the Snake Path at Masada made me sweat), and the top looked like the moon!
Of course.
Remember this beautiful specimen? This was one of TWO deer my husband shot on his first, last, and only hunting trip. How's that for beginner's luck? He wanted the 10 point buck's head mounted and its mate, a very large doe, made into a hide rug for his study "to warm his toesies." He said it would have been cruel to separate them in the afterlife. It was certainly ironic, seeing as how he was the one who escorted them there with a borrowed rifle. However, I couldn't emasculate him by saying "no." After all, he came out of the cave, clubbed the animal, and fed his family (Anyone want any deer sausage? We still have some in the freezer.) After a deep sigh, all I could think was, "We're going to be one of those people."
Well, after nearly 10 months at the taxidermist, John Deer(e)/Dear John and Jane Doe were ready for pick-up. What better field trip to take my Californian father (dressed in a scuba diving shirt and cargo shorts) on than to the taxidermist in the sticks in the Deep South, a.k.a. Mansfield, Georgia?
We walked into a room with camouflage wallpaper and stuffed creatures everywhere. Nathan found his old friend on the wall. As far as deer heads go, I thought it looked very good. It was big. It was looking straight ahead. It had a lot of horns. They were symmetrical. I'm a sucker for symmetry.
I looked to my right to see a card table full of hides. All kinds. Foxes and 'coons and deer. I'm sure there were others as well.
They also had other kinds of critters in there. I think there was a giant hive or nest or something in the corner, just above the exotic looking cat and just next to the unnamed skull.
Here's another exotic looking cat. Maybe it's a bobcat or something. It comes complete with fake fall foliage.
Is this a wild turkey?
This deer left its mouth open, and my dad stuck his finger in it.
You might be wondering why the deer's hooves are mounted underneath it's head. My dad and I guessed they were for hanging coats or umbrellas. I heard later it's for holding the gun that shot it! 
Here we are in front of the taxidermy shop sign. Nathan wanted me to unwrap the doe skin rug and drape it over myself for the picture. "Like a squaw?!" I protested? This smile is definitely forced, although I'm stifling a laugh. I'm not sure how that worked. Nathan wanted this to be this year's Christmas picture, and that is where I drew the line!
Here are our new family members, gingerly placed in the back of my Matrix.
Here's a picture of the buck from my seat in the back. You can see every chin hair!
After considerable effort, we have the buck head mounted in our living room, looking out at the forest and lake in our back yard... what used to be his home. Sad!
It was kind of awkward placing him up there. The brick wall is not centered with the light fixture, which is not centered with the lines of the ceiling. You know me and symmetry. I'm not completely happy, but what can I do? The previous owners, who added on the glass room, were not perfectionists like me. Oh well...
The morning after my dad's arrival, we were lounging in the living room watching some Seinfeld on DVD. All of a sudden, I saw a lizard posed very still on a wedding picture, the one right behind my dad's hand in the picture. I gasped and pointed, "There's a lizard on that picture!" Immediately, the two boys jumped up and tried to catch it. It was hilarious. Finally, they trapped it and I grabbed the camera.
A closer picture of the lizard... a little blurry. Sorry.
My dad wanted to set it free outside, so he placed it on this mulberry tree right off our deck. He's watching it scurry away, probably right back inside our house.
My dear friend Mary Lou treated me to the Women of Faith conference in Atlanta a few weeks ago, and we stayed in an awesome hotel downtown. Here is Mary Lou lounging on her bed.
This was our view from the balcony. Wowsers!
That night we did some of our own in-room spa treatments, and I found some mud masks from the Dead Sea in Israel and brought them along. We had so much fun!
My sister says that since June came to visit me, she hasn't stopped sticking out her tongue for the camera. I think she's taking after her auntie's friend Kristi. :)
This picture just kills me. She's already got a fake smile. :)
June's got her Halloween costume already! Hilarious!
Hey June Bug!
I love bathtub pictures.
She always has some hair accessories.
Hey Precious!
I love that smile!
