Ahhhhh

Ahhhh, it's time to breathe again. Why? Because tax season is over...woo-who!!! This tax season was an interesting one because of having my new, expanded firm, not to mention a husband, 2 year old and newborn at home. However, with a lot of help, we were able to get through it and get everyone filed or extended by Wednesday.

Yesterday, I went into the office while Kim was at the house to get a few things taken care of. I got home about 3, and was ready to let the relaxing begin. To celebrate the end of tax season and to thank Mom and Dad for all their help, we had purchased tickets for Jimmy Buffett's concert at Lakewood Amphitheatre. He always puts on a great show, so we couldn't wait to get there. Our friend Nancy arrived about 4 because she was going to keep the girls for us. Mom and Dad and our friends from Birmingham, Cole and Jill Bensinger, arrived about 4:30. We made a quick stop at Howard's to pick up dinner and headed on down. We got there about 5:30 and had a great time tailgating until the gates opened about 6:30. Dinner was good, the cookies and brownies for dessert were delicious, and Cole made some excellent margaritas to enjoy. We got in and claimed some great lawn seats. We have been to lots of concerts at Lakewood, so we know just where we like to sit. We listened to some good music and enjoyed being in the beautiful weather while we waited on the concert to begin. Dad even surprised all of us with cool tour t-shirts.

Finally, 8:00 rolled around and a bare-footed Jimmy came out to start the show. He played some newer songs, lots of old favorites and a couple of songs he had written just to play at concerts. He even threw in a few cover songs like Brown-Eyed Girl and Yellow Submarine. His backdrop changed between lots of gorgeous tropical scenes that made us want to go back down to the Caribbean so badly! We had so much fun singing along and dancing. Several of our friends were at the show too, so we got to visit with them some which was nice. Jimmy's music is one of a kind, and we all loved it! This was a fantastic way to celebrate a return to a slower pace of life that we can now enjoy!

I closed my offices today, so this morning, Ryan treated all of us to Chick-fil-a for breakfast. Then, Cole and Jill headed back to Birmingham, and Ryan headed to work. I put Mia down for her morning nap and had a great time just playing with Lily (not to mention I was able to do some laundry - yea!). Just before Mia woke up, we decided to change out of pajamas, so after she ate, we could go out for a little bit. After getting Mia ready, we headed to our little local park. Lily had a blast looking at all the ducks, turtles and fish in the pond. There were lots of little baby ducks, so that fascinated her; "Look Mommy! Babies just like Mia!" was what I heard several times. Then we hung out with the big frog statue that she likes for a few minutes and then went up to the gazebo. Lily had a blast dancing in it and just running around. We smelled some flowers and talked about how pretty everything is. An absolutely wonderful hour and a half. After that, we grabbed some lunch and came home; Mia went down for her afternoon nap while Lily and I ate. Then, we played for a few minutes before Lily's nap. I have a few minutes to finish this up before Mia wakes up ready to eat. What a great day!