Friday Night Lights

This past Friday was hot and perfect for an evening out at Quietwater Cove. Rick brought the sunfish and even though there was no wind and the water was glass like, the kids loved it.

Returning from their voyage Emma leaped in to start snorkeling for little spade fish

Reece loves going out on the docks with Rick and looking at the speed boats and catamarans. Mommy loves taking the walk down to Surf Burger and getting a Bushwhacker.

The kids could see a flame from across the beach as it got darker and like moths, searched it out until they discovered it was a tiki torch at the Bimini Beach Bar.

Adeline just helped herself up onto this rental catamaran. I think she thought it was a trampoline because she was just bouncing and jumping on it. It was a really nice time spent with the kids, a practically empty beach, clear water, and daddy home for once on a Friday night.

On our way home from the beach, the giant stadium lights were on over Gulf Breeze high school for their football game. We thought, " what the heck, we've never taken any of the kids to a high school football game before". So, we went. It was hot and sticky, but fun, we sandwiched ourselves between the band and about 30 kids dressed in toga outfits with Burger King crowns painted gold and bedazzled. It was Homecoming that night and the kids got to see the pretty dresses and tuxs, while also getting riled up. Go Dolphins, Show us some Fin. All the kids had on High School shirts that said Fins of Fury. Somehow I can't see a dolphin getting that angry.

September Birthdays

On Labor Day weekend, we went to a party out at Flounder's. It was a pirate theme and the kids got to dig up buried treasure. Everyone received an eye patch and sword.

Adeline waited for the kiddie mac n cheese to arrive

We went out on Sunday to help another friend celebrate his son turning 4. We made a fire on the beach and enjoyed a Cars cake. A scary moment happened when the guys kept throwing dry wood on the fire from the woods and after it started burning, something little and brown came racing out of the fire. It was a small scorpion, I didn't even know Florida HAD scorpions! The guys killed it in the sand.

The weather was really strange that day, thunderstorms all to the north and this big rolling cloud right over the water. But, we stayed dry and warm. Rick was rockin his mater hat.

For my birthday on Tuesday, we tried the new restaurant The Mellow Mushroom, which is like a California Pizza Kitchen. We got the Philosopher's Pie. I was sung to and got my obligatory gooey chocolate melty dessert. Adeline helped herself.

Had a girl come and clean for me the other day, and I didn't know she was only 22. But, she asked how old I was and I said " I just turned 35 yesterday." She was like " Wow, you look REALLY good for being 35." And I'm like, WTF girly, 35 isn't ancient, what did you expect wrinkles, crow's feet, grey hair, oh wait I do have those.

Backpacks, new shoes, sharpened pencils, smiling faces

Reece started the free state funded 4 year old program this year at St Paul's Lutheran.
This is the same school he was at last year and my shy little guy was all smiles, even though his best friend Jake is in a different class.

Here is my obligatory first day of school pose with "Backpack" the penguin

His teacher Miss Kathy, gave her stuffed dog a breed change operation and it is now a trans-gender dog changed into a cat, with the help of hot glue and pipe cleaner whiskers. Reece has to find his name every morning and crack open Coco's head to put his name inside.

He immediately found a fun activity and went to work, didn't even wave bye to mom, but I snuck a kiss in anyhow

Emma changed schools this year from St. Paul's Catholic to N.B. Cook magnet school for the arts. I think this change will be a good one, not only for the class size being smaller, but b/c my first born is so imaginative and creative. She loves the dance class and drama is going to be her favorite she tells me. They already performed a small play, where Emma was Brownie the Bear.

Isn't this a cool entrance?

No school uniform for the first day of school. She loves waking up everyday and picking out her favorite outfits. But, we already broke a clothing rule by the 2nd week. I sent her in these super cute suede boots, and apparently Mom doesn't know the P.E. schedule yet, b/c she was forced to sit against the wall the entire class, due to inappropriate footwear. Sorry Emma.

As for Addie, she still is at home with me, by my choice, not hers. She threw herself down in the parking lot of Reece's school when she found out her best friend Abigail is in school and not her.

Backyard Beauty

Waist high weeds, tangles of briars, crazy jasmine, virginia creeper....I had to take the giant pruning shears to this gate to the pool, just to get it open. Do you see the hidden wash basin in this photo, that luckily when I was running the electric clippers over, I didn't hit.

Ferns out the ying yang, dead crazy weeds, and let's all not forget about the snakes!!!

This was our backyard looking out my kitchen window in March. Unusable, scary and an eyesore.

Then came the trees, hello ladies.

Ta Da, thanks to Rick's amazing knack for feng sui, he always has an idea before he even starts.

I planted these, thank you very much.

A palm tree closer up, these are from the genus Washingtonian.

Everything is so lush and beautiful

My little garden, where the dead ferns were. Soooo if this isn't enticement enough to fly over here and visit us, I don't know what is. Maybe a ride on Old Moldy our pontoon boat.

Making the summer last

The week before school starts, I always try to fill the days with fun activities that we can't do during the week once school starts. So, we did the Navarre playground and splashpad our first day. We packed a picnic lunch, ate under a pavilion during a thunderstorm and fed the ducks that were taking shelter there along with us.

A ice cream social for all the St. Paul's refugees who will be in Emma's 3rd grade this year. We all transferred over to a magnet school for the arts, called N.B. Cook.

One mommy suggested having the kids all leaving, have a get together. So we combined wine and ice cream. At one point there were 15 kids in the pool. We learned really quick you can't combine a warm, humid Florida night with containers of ice cream and expect it to last for very long. Better in our stomachs than melted in the trash.

A few of the kids, after it started getting dark. It was funny, after it was almost pitch black, I remembered there as a pool light, and flipped it on. The kids were crazy!! They flocked to it, stuck on the pool wall like frogs all touching and staring at the light.

Quiet Water beach Saturday, wrapped up our fun week. On our way out through Gulf Breeze I'd been eyeing this sea turtle float hanging outside a gas station. What a cool mom would I be, if I stopped unexpectedly and got the giant turtle? And made a neat find, in a tiny bottle of salt with lime, made specially for beer. WOW, yes Robin I got you one too.

Happily surprised

They rode him till his spots almost rubbed off. Poor Emma was smooshed in the back though, on the ride home with the ginormous tube, squashed under his flipper covered in wet sand.

There and back again

That is the other working title of The Hobbit and it seemed a fitting title for this blog. The 2,200 mile round trip journey was started by me and finished by Rick. We even had a chance to visit his old stomping grounds Virginia Military Institute. The last time we were here was 2001, 3 days after Setember 11th. It just happened to be his 5 yr. reunion weekend. Here Rick and the "happy" kids, are in front of the parade deck and the barracks.

We got the chance to see Bethany and Angela the very morning we arrived in Virginia. They are Rick's older sister's children and Emma's best friends. Bethany who just turned 13 was a huge help to me when I ventured downtown to the Natural History Smithsonian and the American History museum, ALONE, with all 5 kids, in a minivan, parking in a loading zone, hoping to God my car was still there when we returned. Here they are in the mouth of a Megaladon prehistoric shark.

Emma loves Grandma Parrish's house, because of the plethora of dress up outfits. Her and Angela make up plays and skits. Here they were an evil dragon, a little Mexican princess and a flower girl who sells vegetables.

All 5 cousins in front of a T-Rex skeleton, Reece was ok with it, but Emma grabbed my hand for comfort

The girls in front of the Washington Monument

We squeezed in a trip to Jacksonville, North Carolina to visit 2 old friends from Milton. Here at Jen's house were all our kids(minus Adeline who refused). Jen's three, My three, and Becky's two, including one dinosaur cast.

Good friends - Jackie-Becky-Jen

Are we there yet?!?

We started our 2 week vacation on a Friday morning, when I drove the 5 hours over to Jacksonville, FL to visit Rick's sister Emily. We have made it a tradition to go see the new Harry Potter movie together. So, we headed to the near 3 hour movie, while poor Christian watched my crew. Then I drove up (alone) the 6 hours to Myrtle Beach, where we met my Dad, Annette and my grandma. Here is our 4 generation picture and no, Gwenny the poodle does not count as one of the generations.

We spent 5 days jet skiing, pontoon boating, water skiing and just relaxing in the shade of the giant weeping willows. Emma found that part of the riverbed was composed of clay, so every morning she made creations like skulls, snowmen, mermaids and letters out of the clay and let it harden in the sun. Here Reece waits his turn for the jet ski with Dad so he could tear it up. We started calling him Full Throttle Reece, since Rick and Grandpa gave him full rein over the throttle and of course his hair was blown back, going 50mph with a huge smile on his face. I thought he looked like a little beaver in this picture.

Grandpa was in 7th heaven with his grand kids

Adeline told long winded stories to her great grammy about Disney World, and princesses and riding on It's a Small World and the monorail.

Rick got out on the tubes the 2nd day we were there, and the jet skis too. So, not to be outdid by his son-in-law, my Dad got out and even threw one ski off and did it slalom for 50 feet before biting the dust.

Rick and Reece waiting to be dragged mach1 behind the boat, just to be tossed off into the water

My grandmother who is 86, with 2 of her 7 great-grand kids. I think she's amazing for 86. She even got out on the jet ski one morning and went for a 10 minute ride.

Mommy tore it up with Reece. I enjoyed jumping our own wake, but not going lightning speed. So, he chose to ride with Daddy more often b/c I must be an old lady driver.

One night we drove out to the beach and boardwalk. There was a big amusement park there called Family Kingdom. The kids loved it. Here is Adeline biting Pichacoo's ear, that Annette had won her on a guess the right color game. Emma won the fairy wings in the stroller from the yellow rubber duck game.

The kids are so used to Disney, that they don't get a chance to ever try these old fashioned rides, like the cars, the little swings and the airplanes. Poor Reece, we dragged him on the Tilt-a-Whirl, mommy's favorite ride, and I think he was sick the remainder of the night.

We took the pontoon boat about 20 miles north our last day there and braved 2 thunderstorms. Rick was smart and had us all hide under the boat cover, poor Grandma was laughing the whole time. On our ride, I learned that the Inter Coastal Waterway( which is where we were staying ) was built after the Great Depression as a means of stimulating the economy. It runs the entire length from Maine to Miami and was built to hide our barges from enemy subs out in the Atlantic.

The kids really enjoyed their time with Grammy and hopefully we can get up to see her in Ithaca, NY, one of these falls when the leaves are all in full color. Too bad Southwest doesn't fly into there. Since, this trip was so long, I'm breaking up our time in South Carolina as 1 blog and Virginia as another.