Vacation 2012 -Destination-Destin

Vacation 2012

21 people/ 1 house

the countdown

Dad 1

Tamara and Andy +4 kids =7

Tiffany and 2 kids = 10

Tara -11

Jonathan and Danielle and 2 kids = 15

Tessa- 16

John -17

Joshua -18

Susie and Eric and 1 kid =21

We arrived after a drive that was mostly uneventful.  Niceville, Florida has a very interesting little dead end turnabout which is apparently popular for most GPS systems.  This was not so nice, and it made me feel like I was in a Dr. Suess book.

We have a 1/2 mile walk to the beach and an outstandingly beautiful pool.

Arrival July 14:

Savannah and Wyatt have a goal to take a picture like this every day. Actually, Savannah has this goal, Wyatt not so much.

It's THE BEACH!!

July 15th

Who needs the pool?  A float can be fun in a living room.  Who knew?

Ira is getting so big and alert.  His biggest accomplishment...making it known that he prefers to be held.  We are happy to accomodate him.

Lesley and Julia are hitting it off just fine.

Zach has an additional 7 hours on his driving log. 

We've had pool time and beach time including the effort to dig a big hole.

Regan hated the beach last year.  She loves it this year.  WHOOT! WHOOT!

photogenic...keeping up with Speedy Gonzales does require some effort

2nd day, looks like Savannah is on track to make her goal

Picking up fistfuls of sand and dropping them on the beach is fun for every toddler.  I remember well when Savannah did the same thing.

Apparently, this is not just for toddlers.

Austin and Logan got buried.  So did Zach, Julia, and Lesley

A "hole" lot of fun.  Another little girl dug this hole with her dad, and our girls got to enjoy it when she left the beach.

Did I mention starting the day with the Donut Hole?   These may be the best donuts I have ever had.

More to come on vacation 2012....

Flashback Friday

I remember this well.  We were on our way to Florida and stopped at a Wal-mart.  We found cute goggles for the kids.  Savannah refused to take hers off.  They were turtles, and it was humid in Florida, so they stayed foggy, but she persevered.

Flashback Friday

Our scanner chooses when it wants to work, so Flashback Friday had to go away for a while.  It is back, at least temporarily.

My sister Tara and me.  England, 1992.  Tara and I saved our money to join my mom and Jonathan on a trip there for Jonathan's international soccer tournament.  While we were there, I celebrated my 22nd birthday.  We had a great trip!

Random

I am spending some time purging this summer.  Right now, the computer desk is my target.  Going through the papers on the desk, I am finding Mother's Day cards and Father's Day cards that may have been drafts because I don't recall seeing them.  Julia is responsible for both of these.

What cracks me up on this one is the statement, "you will never tame us!"  It looks like she is implying that Andy will not tame our kids, but hey, Happy Father's Day anyway.  Actually, she found the saying on a Broncos site

Julia made this one for me.  It is an acrostic.  In case you can't read it:

Motivator

Outstanding

Terrific

Hyper

Extraordinary

Ridiculously funny

It is the "ridiculously funny" on this one that amuses me.  I am really not that funny, but Julia clearly has a good grasp on descriptive language.

First Riding Lesson

Julia and Simon...honestly, I would take lessons too if I could.

It took months.  Julia asked repeatedly for riding lessons, and the budget just wasn't budging to make this possible.  After some searching I found a reasonably priced camp and submitted an application for Julia to attend.  Unfortunately, the camp was full.  For the price of our deposit, the farm owner offered to give Julia two private lessons.  Yesterday, she had her first.  I don't think it was as she expected.  While driving home I asked which she liked better, horseback riding or gymnastics.  After some thought Julia revealed that she likes gymnastics better and really misses the bars.  Honestly, I really miss watching her do gymnastics.  I miss the conversations with the parents, and I miss watching Julia's confidence on the apparatus and her interactions with the girls as they await their turn.  I don't, however, miss the expense nor the 12 hours a week of gym time.  Nor do I miss the hours at home while my youngest was away at the gym.  Julia doesn't really miss anything but the bars.  She is, however, surprised at how quickly her muscle memory has faded and that she can no longer do what used to come so naturally.

I don't know what we will do with this.  I do know that soccer season is just weeks away, and both my little people are looking forward to it.

Grow Old Along with Me

Andy's Birthday

We celebrated Andy's birthday today.

Andy and I started the day with a run together.  This marks my fifth day of running in a row, only 16 more days until it is a habit.  It is true that you run better with a partner.  However, I think my shoes are a problem as I am having trouble with my heels.  Running is not agreeing with me.

After dropping Zach off at work, Andy and I sought out his favorite cuisine at a mediterranean restaurant. YUM!

Zach worked today, and Savannah and I left the house to pick up some clothes she needed. We used that opportunity to shop for Andy.

I did not go for the new wardrobe, but I did get a shirt that looked like Andy to me.

When asked what he wanted, Andy mentioned only one thing. He wanted frames for the pictures that we have intended to hang for over a year.  I posted about them at the links below.

Remember this post?

Wall Art

and this one?

More Wall Art

We only framed three, but that is a start.  Now the question is whether to hang them now or wait.  We are working on a plan to paint a few rooms including those where these will hang. Hang them now or later? That is the question.

Savannah and I arrived at home with the frames, and Andy was playing basketball in the driveway.  He was resting with a headache when we left, so I was surprised to see him working out again.  I couldn't get the frames in the house.  It is like 110 degrees here, and I could not get away from him, so I ended up framing these in the bakery parking lot.  Seriously.

Andy was surprised by the strawberry rhubarb pie.  I don't know why.  I get him one every year.  though I will admit that I did consider an ice cream pie this year.

I made good on making the brownies without thinking about the fact that Andy had already purchased the makings for an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink sundae.  After dessert Andy and I almost hatched an escape plan.  The noise level from four kids high on sugar was too much.  Andy said he was going to go lay down in a fetal position and find a happy place.  Yep, that's my funny guy!

We finished the day with a family movie and game night.  Looking forward to a great weekend!

Happy Birthday, America - land that I love!

Our Zany Celebration!

To celebrate our independence as Americans, we headed to my dad's house for a cookout and some pyromania provided by Joshua.  Zach worked until 5:00, so there was some frustration from others that we could not be there before 6:30, but it all worked out. Zach picks up as many shifts as he can as football fees are due, and they set us back $450, hard to come by on a minimum wage job even if Andy and I are picking $250 of that.

After a dinner of all -American hot dogs and hamburgers cooked on the grill, we headed outside for the show despite fears of fire brought on by the drought.  We ran a hose and kept water close by.  I don't recommend trying this at home though I cannot claim that this was handled by professionals. My cautious personality was outvoted on this plan.

Sparklers actually scare Andy and me the most.  We were glad to see the last of those.

Austin and Savannah set up a dual.

Need I say more about the sparklers being scary?  The wheelchair is out only because there are so many of us that we pulled every possible seat out of the garage.

The American flag popped out of this boat when it burned itself up.  This was very cute, but my favorite was a helicopter with the propellers lighting up.

Danger. Danger.

a dance train with sparklers....is anyone scared now?

I close this post with my two favorite pictures of the celebration.

The week of the 4th holds these special dates on our family calendar.

My parents would have been married 43 years this week.

My niece, Page, turns 20 this week. Page is the oldest of our nieces and nephews.  Andy took me to meet her and his sister, Pam, who happens to be Page's mom when we had only been dating a couple of weeks.  Page's birthday is a marker for how long Andy and I have known each other.

Andy's birthday is today, July 6th.  We don't have big plans, but it is tradition to get him his favorite pie which is strawberry rhubarb...yuck.  I don't like strawberries (I know, I'm weird) or rhubarb, so I think that box of brownie mix will get used today since I am not the only one who has no desire to share Andy's birthday dessert.

God bless America!