2007 Coastal Empire Fair

Every year the Coastal Empire Fair comes to Savannah, and this year Ashton was able to enjoy the food, fun and rides with his good pal Ellie


They were able to brave most of the (kiddie) rides unaccompanied,
but a couple of thrills did require a daddy present



A day full of smiles and laughter!


After three hours of fairgrounds, both were exhausted...
...both daddies, that is! The kids had rode all of the rides
and actually expected us to retake them on their favorites!?!

Well...OK, just one more

Seriously...this is the last one

"But, but...PLEASE!!!"

Finally, after another hour and a half, we said goodbye to the fair!

oh yeah...there's Trevon



Kidding aside...we all had a wonderful time!!

Picnic In The Park

Picnic in the Park 2007 from Mike and Ash on Vimeo.

Late one Sunday afternoon, early in October, Ashton and I met up with my brother Jon to enjoy Savannah's annual Picnic in the Park. This year's event, held once again in Forsyth Park, featured music by the Savannah Sinfonietta, the Savannah Children's Chorus and the Savannah Arts Jazz Band. The weather was perfect, the crowd was huge and the entertainment was delightful.


Picnic in the Park_01 from Mike and Ash on Vimeo.

We especially enjoyed the Children's Chorus performing “Double Trouble”, from Harry Potter And The Prisoner of Azkaban in addition to several well known John Williams themes including Raider's of the Lost Ark and Star Wars. Some of the kids even formed a toddler "mosh pit" down by the stage :)


Picnic in the Park 2007_03 from Mike and Ash on Vimeo.

Our 2nd Favorite Holiday

Well Ashton and I have thoroughly enjoyed this Halloween season. It started for us when his "Moe Doodle" (from the Doodlebops) costume arrived by mail back in September. Of course we had to try it on him to make sure it fit, but then Daddy had to put it away until the big night. Ashton LOVED his costume, and asked for it (almost) daily for 6 weeks. The last weekend in September we had our little place all lit up and decorated. Enjoy the vid...


Halloween 2007_00 from Mike and Ash on Vimeo.

As for me... we decided at work to all dress up 70's style for the hotel guests. So I took myself down to the Goodwill, and for a mere $18 came home with a pair of crayola-brown polyester pants, a pointy-collar shirt, a pair of retro-looking shoes and a belt with an incredibly gaudy buckle. The finished product looked good, but after careful consideration (and prompting from my brothers), I topped off the look by shaving my beard down to some chops sideburns and a handlebar mustache. The end result? Used car salesman...but we had fun!

Trick or Treat

Well Halloween night
finally arrived, and a very excited Ashton (aka "Moe Doodle") and I headed to grandmother's house, which - by the way - is "over the river and through the woods"

Last Halloween, Ashton was in a stroller for most of our candy collecting, and he couldn't really pronounce "trick or treat". It's amazing how fast he's growing. Enjoy the vid...


Trick or Treat from Mike and Ash on Vimeo.

Octoberfest in Savannah

Ashton and I headed downtown to River Street this morning to meet up with some friends to enjoy the fun and festivities of Octoberfest! He and (one of)his (girl)friend(s) Kailey took to the huge inflated slide and loved it!! Enjoy...


Octoberfest Slide from Mike and Ash on Vimeo.



Not to be out-done, yours truly tackled the terrifying bungee/trampoline ride! (OK...so I was one of 4 people using it and maybe I was the oldest one there...ok, combine all of three of their ages and I was still older). Enjoy the vid...


Thrill-Seeker from Mike and Ash on Vimeo.
Afterwards we enjoyed some good food and fun, and then promptly came home and passed out!

Well I think I've posted enough for one day.

Sturgis Men...and our birthday weekend

Sturgis Men, originally uploaded by Michael n' Ashton.

Well another collection of birthdays have come and gone. My youngest brother Jon hit a quarter of a century in June. Not to be out-done, my brother Josh was welcomed into the world of thirtysomethings in August. And then of course my dad's 59th came, and was immediately followed by my mom's/mine (I won't tell you her age...hee-hee)

So we all gathered at the folk's house for gifts, grub and good times.
Of course my son (the center of attention) found himself in the doghouse...enjoy the vid...


Ash and Ajax from Mike and Ash on Vimeo.

We're done potty-training!(The teddy bear, that is)

Ash_2yrs_Potty Training Teddy_00, originally uploaded by Michael n' Ashton.

So we're making so-so progress with Ashton's potty training. If you happen to put him on the pot at a time when he needs to go, well great, but he's just as happy doing his thing in his pullups and walking around in it.

His bear, on the other hand, is doing wonderful. Ashton has noticed that his furry friend is lacking a "wee-wee", but that's ok, he's got a solution for that: enjoy the vid...


Teddy Toilet from Mike and Ash on Vimeo.

OK...There IS a reason for this haircut...besides the fact that I'm cheap

No...I didn't use a bowl.
No...I'm not so broke that I can't afford to take my poor kid to the barber.
The problem is, everytime we go to to get his haircut he has a complete nervous breakdown. I mean, I've got a good kid. Sure, he has his moments, but all and all he's not given to temper tantrums. But come near his hair with any sort of cutting device? Oh, no. Not happening. He goes bananas. Screaming, flailing, kicking, tugging, tears-streaming, nose running...you name it. Each trip to the barbershop so far has ended with me holding Ash firmly in the chair while the barber and I both finally agree to dismiss any sort of style in favor of simply buzzing my son's head.
I even tried taking Ashton to one of those family places in the mall. I found one with a sweet woman possessing great chair-side manner, a soft touch and scissors (no clippers). Before getting there I took Ash to McDonalds for some comfort food and spent time talking to him, preparing him and getting him excited about his upcoming haircut. After putting him in the barber's chair the friendly beautician even tied a balloon to his ankle to keep him preoccupied.
And for what?
Screaming, flailing, kicking, tugging, tears-streaming, nose running...you name it.
So...this time around...I thought to myself: why am I actually paying money for this misery? Heck...I can torture the boy from the privacy of my own home...and save myself the 20 bucks!
So, without further ado, please enjoy the video below (and get your laughter out of your system before you see him in person...don't want the poor kid getting a complex)


Nice haircut! from Mike and Ash on Vimeo.

Such A Big Boy

He is growing up so fast!
I love his Batman bathrobe. He looks like such a little man!
Enjoy the video below...


Brushing Teeth from Mike and Ash on Vimeo.

Thanks For Helping Us Kick Off This Site!!

Family and friends...Ashton and I would like to thank all of you for taking the time to check out our new Blog.

My StatCounter tells me that we've had 46 unique visitors over the past couple of days!!

Special thanks to Jocelyn for our first official Comment!!!

And to "prove" that Ashton is pleased as well... please check out this quick vid.



Thank You For Coming...Goodbye from Mike and Ash on Vimeo.

There's Just Something About Childrens' Laughter...

This clip speaks for itself...

They never had stuff like this when I was a kid!

You know these refrigerator letters we always had growing up? There always seemed to be a mix of good ones and bad ones. The good ones had vibrant colors and stuck to the fridge securely. The bad ones had itty-bitty magnets (seemingly) designed to hold up 90% of each letters' weight. Close the fridge door too hard and half that days' words toppled to the floor.

Well not any more.

Not only do Ashton's words stay where their supposed to, a friendly child's voice announces each letters' name and sound!!! Enjoy the video...

Official "Welcome" Post

Greetings family and friends to my first "Official" Blog post! Yesterday's post was primarily for practice (at blending in pictures and video).

In response to all of the warm and flattering replies many of you (you know who you are) have sent over the years regarding my Kodak Gallery emails, I've decided to expand upon the Ashton updates (with a little of me thrown in for flavor) by creating this WeBlog. I'd like to give special thanks to my cousin Syd for (unknowingly) planting the seed for this new endeavour with her own site.

This is my first such attempt, so have patience as (hopefully) the content and appearance improve over time.

For any of you who aren't familiar with this type of site, a Blog (or weblog) is an online journal of sorts. The advantage (for me) of this format is its convenience and simplicity. As new and/or exciting things happen in our lives, I can simply email that info to a special address, and it will automatically post to these pages.

My Kodak Gallery emails have been a wonderful means of communication, but they lack commentary and (more importantly...especially to you Dr. W) VIDEO!

So please bookmark this page, and visit as time permits. I will occasionally send out reminder emails when really, really cool things happen that just have to be shared immediately.

I invite everyone to click on the "Comments" link on each of these posts. Your feedback (as always) is greatly appreciated.

A day around Savannah's historic squares....

Ashton and I recently spent a beautiful Sunday afternoon exploring the squares in downtown Savannah. We had a wonderful time.

Although I work in the historic district, its rare that I take the time to enjoy its charm. One of the great things about having a rambunctious 2 1/2 yr old is he encourages me to get out of the house more and explore.

After hours of site-seeing daddy was winding down, but as this video shows, Ashton was just getting warmed up :)