Cool Blur

He moves as fast as his daddy talks :)
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Crazy Surfer Boy!

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Yummy Dairy Queen!

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Happy Halloween 2008!!

Jack Skellington courtesy of Jon Sturgis


For our pumpkin,
Stacy, Ash and I checked out a couple of local pumpkin patches.

With her degree in Interior Design, Ashton and I agreed that Stacy was best-suited for the pumpkin carving honors :)

She did give Ashton plenty of opportunity to help with the guts-removal...

...after his first slimey quasi-handful, Ash decided that it was womens-work.

I, of course, was in charge of the camera.
Last year Ashton was Moe Doodle,
and this year THE RED POWER RANGER!We opted to go Trick or Treating in Stacy's neighborhood this year, and we had a blast!

I was actually somewhat surprised that Ashton didn't go for longer than he did. Stace and I took turns taking him out, but after only a few streets he was done.

It wasn't from fatigue, mind you, he simply knew that he couldn't dig into his haul until he came home and we checked out the loot.


Stacy and the girls at her office
decided to dress up 80's-Style for Halloween.
I loved it.
She looked just like every girl I had the hots for in High School :)

After trick or treating
I surprised Ashton by introducing the Power Ranger
to the local (well-fed) sheriff(the creepy-looking guy in the back is Jonathan)

The girls hangin' out.

Before long, everyone was trying on the fat suit...
'Plump Jon'
'Baby-Got-Back Judit'

And the fascination with trees begins...

Ash tree-climbing at Stacy's fathers house.
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Fun for (with) young and old

A little fort-building fun



Ashton thinks he's clever...



Well it was recently birthdays time again for the Southern Sturgis family.

I turned twenty-sixteen,
and my parents hit THE BIG 6 0


Stacy, Ashton, my brothers and I joined my folks at
The Sunbury Crab Company for dinner.
The restaurant is open to the surroundings and the view was amazing.
Before the food came we did our gifts exchange
along with the obligatory 'senior citizen' birthday cards!

Over the years I've grown rather fond of painting plaster miniatures.
My folks have had a pair of stone pelicans
that they wanted finished to resemble Eastern Brown Pelicans,
and so I took on that challenge for their birthday.

Before

After

The Pets

A Cat In A Sack
(just a random Claudia pic)


Once upon a time I think that Stacy barely stomached my aquarium.
I've got a 55 gallon tank with a rather large pair of cichlids:
a red oscar (Murtaugh) and a blood parrot (Don Corleone).
My oscar tends to be a lethal weapon,
(especially when I feed him crickets, worms,
tree frogs, volkswagen bugs...whatever)
and for some reason my lady-friend was slow in warming to my cold-blooded pets.

Well I'm delighted to report that Stacy finally came around!
While at the pet store one day,
her eye was caught by a pinkie-sized albino oscar.
Before I knew it "Aurora" had joined our little underwater family.
In the video above, she's already doubled in size since bringing her home.

It's Peanut Butter Jelly Time

A long long time ago (like, 2 months), back in the peaceful ages before my son knew about Peanut Butter Jelly Time...things were quiet and serene in my house.

And then...
My thoughtful and helpful girlfriend looked at us in shock when she realized that Ashton and I were unfamiliar with Peanut Butter Jelly Time...

Stacy remedied that oversight quickly.




Ashton LOVES Peanut Butter Jelly Time.
I mean, he REALLY LOVES it.





Now here's a YouTube video that Ashton and I can agree on...


That vid always cracks us up!

(And Ashton is perfecting his British accent...

...his Aunt Judit would be proud)

Once again at the pool...

Spending another wonderful summer day
with several friends at Karen and Pete's pool.






Ashton and his ladies...
:)
(Kailey and Avery)

*~* FIREWORKS *~*

2008's 4th of July was celebrated near the Westin Hotel overlooking the Savannah River.

Last year Stacy, Ashton and I found a spot on Hutchinson Island, next to the Westin, that afforded us an excellent vantage point for the show. It also gave us access to a little-known shortcut providing quick escape to the interstate once the festivities were complete.

Needless to say, we definitely took advantage of that again!



Don't worry...
Ashton only had first-degree burns after playing with the sparklers :)

So sweet....

Yes, I'm still sans hair in this photo...
No, Stacy didn't like me clean-shaven...
Yes, I now have hair again.

This is SUCH a cool pic!
Love it!!
Grand Finale...

June 2008 - Beach, Pool and Stick your tongue out and bite it

Jekyll Island

First off...yes...I am sporting the Lex Luthor look in this pic.

From time to time...much to my poor girlfriend's chagrin...I like to suddenly shave...my face...my head...my...

Making an in-ground pool

Stacy getting some sun

Mr. Cool

Karen and Pete's Pool

A couple of friends of ours have very graciously invited us over several times during the summer to enjoy their hospitality and their pool.

It has given Ashton some wonderful deep-water exposure.




We're still a ways away from him swimming like a fish, but at least he's slowly getting over his fears and having a blast doing it!

Stick Your Tongue Out And Bite It

This is nothing more than a "night in the life" at our house.

The following video is VERY typical Ashton behavior.

He cracks me up! :)

Loving Spring time...

My Easter Lily!
(oh yeah...and my son)


Smile, Smell...POPCORN!





For my parents anniversary Ashton and I dog/house-sat while my folks got away for the weekend. That we managed to get their home put back in one piece and (somewhat) the way we found it before they returned was amazing. I had to sort through my videos carefully in making the following selections (had to make sure that we didn't incriminate ourselves)



What a look!


My parents beautiful German Shepherd "Ajax"

May 2008 - A Day at the Beach

Tybee Island...
We made it to the beach a couple of times this summer, though truth be told, daddy more often than not pushes for the pool (not a big fan of cleaning sand out of 3 year old).

This, however, was a great day at the beach!
Ashton is becoming more and more comfortable with the ocean. He LOVES the waves and when daddy has to lift him over each new set.

We swam, collected shells, and made castles (pile of collapsing sand). Of course, no day at the beach is complete without Cheez-Its!

Tybee Island Lighthouse

This was the first time that Ashton and I explored the lighthouse together.

He did great!

It was SUCH a beautiful day on the island that when we finished playing in the surf we weren't quite ready to go home.

Ash wanted to see the lighthouse and I still had just enough energy to make a day of it.
There are 178 steps in the lighthouse, and since Ashton was aching to see it, I made sure he climbed (and descended) every last one of them! :)




The grounds of the lighthouse are beautiful and very well maintained.
The staff were wonderful, and they all seemed to go out of their way to interact with Ashton.
Of course, the best part of the visit was reaching the top.
WHAT A VIEW!
I've been to the lighthouse before but it's been many years.


Now all of the wind up there did make me a bit nervous...
but if Ashton could do it then so could I!

April 2008 - Hip Hop at Uncle Josh's

With the Backstreet Boys recently making a comeback...
I will certainly encourage Ashton's expressive side...

Do you think that child celebrities
really take care of their parents?
Hmmm....



Hanging out with Uncle Josh

Cheez-Its & Laughter

One of the joys of this Blog is in getting to share our laughter with you, and hopefully, getting you to laugh a little bit (at/with us) as well.

Date Night...Southern style...

Ashton spent most of a recent weekend with his Mommom and Poppop (oh thank god....OH thank god) :)

I missed him terribly (ok...that might be a wee exaggeration).

After making the transfer to his grandparents over breakfast at Denny's in Richmond Hill, I spent a few (peaceful) hours at home working on a furniture-refinishing project of mine.

Later, I cruised on out to Rincon to pick up Stacy and we headed to the Outlet Malls near Hilton Head for some shopping. It was a beautiful day and we had a blast.

As the sun started its descent, we make our way out to the Hwy 21 Drive In. This was my first Drive In experience and I loved it!


Despite a little rain moving us from the back of the truck into the cab, we thoroughly enjoyed our double-features.

Strawberry Festival!

The Ottowa Farms Strawberry Festival in Bloomingdale, GA


Strawberry Fields from Mike and Ash on Vimeo.

Strawberries!

What a beautiful day it was this past Saturday as Ashton and I headed out to Bloomingdale, GA, to meet up with some friends to enjoy the Strawberry Festival. On top of great weather we had inflatable slides and castles, pony rides, hay rides, homemade strawberry ice-cream, crafts, reenactments, and of course, all the strawberries we could pick!

Pony Ride from Mike and Ash on Vimeo.


"Blue Steel"
Of course I couldn't resist getting him a souvenir farm cap!