Lots of visitors, lots of progress, and lots of F-U-N!

WHere to begin...

Well, let's see. My last post ended as we were gearing up to head into Atlanta with Mimi, Gogi, Andy and Aidan for Nic Cowan's cd release party at the Loft at Center Stage. Man, I tell you, words cannot begin to describe the fun we had that night! Aidan was SO excited! He claimed his spot, front and center through both of the opening bands! He is SO my child!

Guess who stepped out onto the stage to introduce Nic? ZAC BROWN, that's who - and right in front of us! No zoom necessary for these photos, by the way!

Nic and his band, Good Company were on FIRE that night and the show was AMAZING! (You can buy his album, Hardheaded, from his website now, or on itunes August 16th)

Zac came back out to sing "Cut it Loose" (one of our favorites) with Nic a little later in the show.

And Zac, Hop, and Clay (of ZBB) joined Nic during his ballad, "Reno" (Clay is playing the pedal steel behind Zac and Hop - it was AWESOME!)

Nic's set didn't start until around 10pm, so Aidan was pretty tired. But he was a trooper, dancing with us all (often in someone's arms) and singing his little heart out! The people around us were stunned that he knew all the words! I should also mention that he was one of exactly three kids at the show. (The mom of the other two kids came up to me during the show and said that she had seen my post on Nic's facebook wall about bringing Aidan, and decided to bring her kids as well! Never knew I was such a trendsetter!) After the show, Mom and Gogi took Aidan home, and Andy and I walked them to the car. We came back inside, and the keyboard player from one of the opening acts (The Best Brothers Band - check them out, they were great!) hooked us up with VIP bracelets for the after party! (I should pause to give credit where it is due here - Gogi was actually the one who started talking to this guy on the way out the door! Thanks Gogi!) Andy and I got a chance to talk to Nic after the show - he definitely noticed Aidan singing along and thought it was awesome! He signed a cd and a poster for our little rock star!

The after party was fun - extremely crowded, but very cool. There was no getting near Zac - believe me, we tried! But we did get to talk with songwriter Wyatt Durrette for a bit, and Andy was most excited to meet Chef Rusty!

I had an opportunity to talk with Massif, Zac's enormous and very kind bodyguard, after Zac left. I told him all about Aidan and Brain Balance, and how much my little guy wanted to meet Zac. He said that he wished he had known all of that while they were both still there - he definitely would have made sure that Aidan had a moment with Zac. He promised to help make that happen at a future show, and I feel certain that he will! YAY! And thanks, Massif! We'll be looking for you at the next show for sure!
Mom treated us to a hotel room that night, about a block away from the venue! Thanks Mommy - we needed that and it was great! We slept in a little on Sunday morning, had breakfast at the hotel, and headed back to the condo to relieve Mimi from monkey duty. Mom had to hit the road a little while later, and Andy and I had a very relaxing day with the boys. We went to the pool and played for a while, and of course, we HAD to take Daddy to our most favorite place - Yogli Mogli!

We hit the Red Box on the way home for a movie. Aidan had thoroughly enjoyed "Shark Week" on the Discovery Channel, and was dying to watch the movie "Soul Surfer." If you have not seen this movie, please do yourself a favor and rent it NOW! (And if someone wanted to send Aidan a copy as a little present, he would be over the moon! We've now rented it
three times from Red Box and he can't get enough!) Now I am NOT a movie person at all, and I absolutely LOVE this movie too! (And if you have young kids and are concerned about the shark attack scene - don't be. It is such a very brief part of the movie, and was filmed beautifully.) It really is a beautiful, inspiring movie with a great cast, gorgeous scenery, and lots of cool surfing action. Andy was planning to leave when we started the movie, but he IS a movie buff and was hooked immediately. He stayed much later than planned, and we were all very happy about that! They boys and I miss him so very much - we didn't want him to leave at ALL! We had to wake Ash up from his nap to tell Daddy goodbye, and we clowned around on the couch for a goofy family photo!

Monday morning, we were back at it, just me and the boys! Aidan earned another Brain Balance award - this one for reading ALL on his own in the cognitive room! He is doing so well, and we are so very proud of him!

Aidan is asking to read all of the time now, and particularly likes reading to his brothers, which is so very sweet to watch. Just yesterday, Aidan was looking at a hidden pictures book that Mimi gave the boys on the futon, and Aeson climbed up and started looking over his shoulder. In the past, this would have been cause for a push or a shove, maybe yanking the book away, or moving away from Aeson altogether. Llama drama, for sure. But much to my surprise, Aidan began telling Aeson how the book worked (look in the box for the pictures, and then find them throughout the scene on the two pages) and asked Aeson if he would like to help find the pictures. He was very patient with Aeson, and even offered him a few hints ("Look in the corner", or "it's at the top of the page", etc) to help. I was AMAZED!

We just didn't have these little moments before Brain Balance. It is truly wonderful to watch Aidan become the big brother that I always knew he could be to his little brothers. Aeson and Ashwin are each a very important part of this journey, and they both love getting more attention from Aidan and seem to respond in kind to him as well. Brotherly love is a beautiful thing! (I'm hanging on to these moments for later down the road - boys will be boys and all, and I know that's coming too!)


Late Monday night brought us yet another awesome surprise - UNCLE KYLE!! Poor Uncle Kyle drove up after work that night, and arrived in the wee hours of the morning. The boys woke up at 6am, particularly early for them, but I somehow managed to keep them somewhat quiet and contained until about 7:30 am. They were so very excited to see their Uncle! Now AIdan had a rather rough morning, and we kept things very low key. We went to the chiropractor and introduced Uncle Kyle to our favorite store, Trader Joe's. After lunch, a rest, and a little "Soul Surfer," Aidan managed to turn his day around. We headed to the pool at Gogi's that afternoon, and the boys had a ball playing with Kyle.

The boys had a blast getting Uncle Kyle to flip them in the pool! (I had to flip Ace and Ash about a hundred times this evening myself - thanks Kyle!)

And Ash learned a new skill as well!

While the boys were swimming with Gogi and Alana, I was slaving over a hot grill, cooking BBQ chicken, corn on the cob, and grilled pineapple. It was super awesome, and not a bite was left over! After dinner, we HAD to take Uncle Kyle to Yogli Mogli, and Gogi and Alana came too!

After our treat, we headed home for baths, a little more "Soul Surfer," and bedtime. Kyle and I had a great visit on the back porch (and a bottle of wine!) and we stayed up way too late talking. But I really enjoyed our visit, and it was so worth dragging a little bit today!

This morning, we headed into Roswell a little early, so that we could take Uncle Kyle to another one of our favorite places before he had to leave - PLAY place! Everyone had a blast jumping on the trampoline and playing in the foam pit with Uncle Kyle!

We had to say goodbye to Uncle Kyle after lunch, and he hit the road back to Savannah. Thanks for the visit, my big-haired Monkey - we miss you bunches already! Aidan has his session at Brain Balance, and afterwards we ALL had a great rest at the condo. The boys and I went to the pool at Gogi's by ourselves tonight, and they were AWESOME. Aidan played well with some other kids at the pool, and Ace and Ash took turns jumping off the diving board! NO drama when it was time to go either! They are all snug in their beds, and I'm not far behind. Tomorrow is our day off at Brain Balance, and I don't know what we're planning to do...but I'm sure it will be fun! I'll keep you posted!

Much love,

Allie