fun in the city center

grayson's fish impression (with mommy's help)

grayson's mosaic

one of the reasons jamie and i are so excited about moving closer in to the city is that we'll be able to participate in more of what's going on in the city center. we're excited about the new urbanism and really hope things continue to grow and improve. we had a fun weekend in the city...the weather was just gorgeous. it was hot, but manageable, with the occasional breeze. on thursday, our friends paul and rebekah invited us to the ribbon cutting ceremony and unveiling of the newly remodeled Tutwiler Hotel and Restaurant Icon downtown. the historic hotel just underwent a 9 million dollar makeover and i must say it is posh! it's always been a pretty nice hotel, but it definitely needed a makeover. we were able to tour several guest rooms, including the balcony and presidential suites. if you are looking for a night away, without having to get away, this is the place! the halls are lined w/ beautiful sepia photography of old birmingham and several great pieces from the civil rights movement. the rooms all have large flat screen tv's, gorgeous bedding and furniture and lots of great features. most of all, we were excited about the opening of Icon, the hotel's restaurant. it's the new location for restaurant G...but with a new name.all 4 of us were huge fans of G when it was down at Federal Place, but the new location is great. very modern. we got to sample several yummy creations from chef geoff slate and it was a fun date night out in the city with friends. all you fellow foodies oughtta check it out on your next special occasion splurge! we're hoping they will continue their great Wednesday nights at the new location. if you are not wanting to splurge, they have half price appetizers and $5 martinis on Wed., plus great jazz from Good Fellas. you can't beat that!
sumner's big fish and little fish impression

then today after church we headed down to Linn Park with the boys for the Magic City Art Connection. what a fun afternoon. the boys loved all the fountains and even some of the art!
of course, we had to indulge in some yummy greek and middle eastern festival food. who could resist?

there were some really wonderful artists from our city and the southeast. it's a great way to support local artists and the boys even got to create some art of their own!
there were several stations where children could create art using various media such as fabric, tissue, clay, paper and paint. probably the most fun area was where families where making castles and tp's out of cardboard tubes and yarn! you wouldn't believe the things people came up with. the photos in this post are some of the artwork that the boys made today.

if you are looking for things to do in the city on the weekends, but aren't sure where to find out about everything....check out this great website: www.activeculture.info

it lists activities, festivals and goings-on under every category!