Monday, November 2, 2009
Bathroom HORROR Story...
This morning, I put the girls in the tub and they proceeded to start loading their choice toys in with them for some nice tub playtime before their oh... not so favorite... hair washing time. While I was taking out hair clips and piggy tails, Emi and Allie start screaming in panic. I look over and one of their mermaid barbies has hordes of ants swarming over her and more coming out from inside her rubber tail and bailing ship into the bathtub water with the girls. Meanwhile, Tommy was in the office trying to explain to some of his work executives, why a major error had occurred over the weekend when his kids begin screaming in panic in the background. Needless to say, Mermaid barbie has found a new home in the trash can and Tommy still has a job. :)
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Florida Part 5: (last one) Pirates!
One of the highlights of our trip was an enexpected visit from pirates to our beach! Mike told the girls one morning that he heard they had landed on our beach and buried treasure! Sure enough they did! The girls found a map on the fence that lead to a... would you believe it... an X made from seashells on the beach. Here are a few pics and a video from the treasure hunt.
I think Allie is a manager in the making. :)
The map; aparently aged by years of use and even a hole burned in it! You can see where the ship landed on the top right, the X on the top left and our beach house in the bottom left.
A note from the Pirates.
I think Allie is a manager in the making. :)
The map; aparently aged by years of use and even a hole burned in it! You can see where the ship landed on the top right, the X on the top left and our beach house in the bottom left.
A note from the Pirates.
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Florida Part 4: Happy Estuary Day!
Every year, the city of Apalachacola celebrates Estuary Day with fun exhibits and lots of information and hands on activities. Emi was in her niche! It was just a coincidence that we were there during estuary day, but it was one of the most educational experiences on our trip! It was wonderful! Here are a few pics:
Emi hunting for an oyster with a 'pearl' on it.
Found one!
Claire is holding a Sea Cucumber. What a serious little scientist!
There was a little shy hermit crab in this shell.
Emilyn LOVED this part of the trip. Having her arms elbow deep in a tank of sea creatures is right up her alley. She really does well anything hands on.
Emi's starfish. All these creatures were alive (at least when estuary day started... eeee...).
This was Sadie at estuary day. Let me tell you, all the adults felt like this when it was time to leave to go eat dinner. The girls could have made it a lot longer than we did!
One of the activities was a scavenger hunt for animal prints (printed on cards) and learning more about the animals. You can see Emilyns animal print id card around her neck.
A row of shrimp boats near the estuary day festivities.
Emi hunting for an oyster with a 'pearl' on it.
Found one!
Claire is holding a Sea Cucumber. What a serious little scientist!
There was a little shy hermit crab in this shell.
Emilyn LOVED this part of the trip. Having her arms elbow deep in a tank of sea creatures is right up her alley. She really does well anything hands on.
Emi's starfish. All these creatures were alive (at least when estuary day started... eeee...).
This was Sadie at estuary day. Let me tell you, all the adults felt like this when it was time to leave to go eat dinner. The girls could have made it a lot longer than we did!
One of the activities was a scavenger hunt for animal prints (printed on cards) and learning more about the animals. You can see Emilyns animal print id card around her neck.
A row of shrimp boats near the estuary day festivities.
Florida Part 3: Kayaking
Mike and Laura brought their kayak so we were able to take the girls kayaking one day. Mike took Emilyn about a mile up the road from our beach house and dropped the kayak in the water there and paddled back down to our beach house. Then Tommy took his turn at the kayak, took allie for a little ride, and then paddled back up to the car with Claire.
Emi looked pretty relaxed when she made it back to us (and a little windblown). :) They saw fish jumping and a sting ray, and she collected a bunch of sea grass.
Claire holding Jack (he is getting so big!) It was pretty marshy so we walked along this boardwalk down to the dock. You could see a lot of little crabs below us in the marsh. Bella actually fell of the boardwalk at some point when Tommy was in the kayak and we were busy with the kids at the dock. Laura noticed her bounding around in the marsh. I imagine those little crabs where probably clipping at her as she was jumping on them. It was pretty funny but concerning at the same time. :) Mike was sweet enought to risk his own toes and jump down there to get her.
Allie's spin in the kayak.
Tommy taking Claire back to the drop in spot about a mile up the peninsula. Poor Tommy had a headwind on the way back so his arms were pretty sore when he was done.
Emi looked pretty relaxed when she made it back to us (and a little windblown). :) They saw fish jumping and a sting ray, and she collected a bunch of sea grass.
Claire holding Jack (he is getting so big!) It was pretty marshy so we walked along this boardwalk down to the dock. You could see a lot of little crabs below us in the marsh. Bella actually fell of the boardwalk at some point when Tommy was in the kayak and we were busy with the kids at the dock. Laura noticed her bounding around in the marsh. I imagine those little crabs where probably clipping at her as she was jumping on them. It was pretty funny but concerning at the same time. :) Mike was sweet enought to risk his own toes and jump down there to get her.
Allie's spin in the kayak.
Tommy taking Claire back to the drop in spot about a mile up the peninsula. Poor Tommy had a headwind on the way back so his arms were pretty sore when he was done.
Friday, October 2, 2009
Florida Part 2: Beach Pictures!
Pictures from our Florida trip!
THE HOUSE
All the houses had fun names. Ours was called "Fish in a Tree".
Our view of the ocean from the top porch.
Up in the loft.
This was along our path to the beach.
The girls LOVED the pool.
Sadie Belle! She had the cutest hats!
AT THE BEACH
This was the first time we visited the beach. We learned quickly to ALWAYS take them to the beach in their swimming suits. :)
This was a sea turtle nest. I think a few babies came out before we came but we never saw any tracks while we were there.
The first sandcastle. As the week went by, they became more elaborate with canals, bridges, tunnels and drip towers. :)
This crab is actually dead but apparently just as exciting.
These clams aren't dead. ;) We would find groups of hundreds of these colorful clams bunched together on the shoreline. They came in literally every color.
Our beach.
Mermaid Allie
All of us at Capt. Anderson's restaurant. They had delicious crab claws... is that what they are called Laura?
These butterflies were apparently migrating through and taking a break on our peninsula the week we were there. They were everywhere and they were beautiful. Does anyone know what kind of butterfly this is?
Allie and Sadie became good buddies while we were there. Allie decided that Sadie shares a love for Care Bears with her. Laura, you'll have to let Sadie know she likes those when she gets a little older. :)
Claire and Allie enjoying storytime with Sadie.
Allie and her buddy, Keagan
Laura took these pics on the stairs with her awsome camera and I thought they turned out cute. :)
THE HOUSE
All the houses had fun names. Ours was called "Fish in a Tree".
Our view of the ocean from the top porch.
Up in the loft.
This was along our path to the beach.
The girls LOVED the pool.
Sadie Belle! She had the cutest hats!
AT THE BEACH
This was the first time we visited the beach. We learned quickly to ALWAYS take them to the beach in their swimming suits. :)
This was a sea turtle nest. I think a few babies came out before we came but we never saw any tracks while we were there.
The first sandcastle. As the week went by, they became more elaborate with canals, bridges, tunnels and drip towers. :)
This crab is actually dead but apparently just as exciting.
These clams aren't dead. ;) We would find groups of hundreds of these colorful clams bunched together on the shoreline. They came in literally every color.
Our beach.
Mermaid Allie
All of us at Capt. Anderson's restaurant. They had delicious crab claws... is that what they are called Laura?
These butterflies were apparently migrating through and taking a break on our peninsula the week we were there. They were everywhere and they were beautiful. Does anyone know what kind of butterfly this is?
Allie and Sadie became good buddies while we were there. Allie decided that Sadie shares a love for Care Bears with her. Laura, you'll have to let Sadie know she likes those when she gets a little older. :)
Claire and Allie enjoying storytime with Sadie.
Allie and her buddy, Keagan
Laura took these pics on the stairs with her awsome camera and I thought they turned out cute. :)
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Florida Part 1: A visit to Ivy Green
Ahhh... a moment to sit down and blog for a while! I have been wanting to post but I have been busy getting our lives back in order this week. This past week we went on a family vacation to Florida. We had SUCH A WONDERFUL TIME! and got some much needed rest for all of us and spent some wonderful time with the Dillons. (Thanks again for inviting us!) I will have to do many posts to cover the whole trip (including dolphins, pirates, and kayaking... just to hook you) :) and it will take several days, so check back often. There should be a few new ones over the next week or so.
On our way to Florida, we made it a two day trip and stopped in Tuscumbia, Alabama. I read the book, "Give me a sign, helen keller" to the girls earlier this year and I thought it would neat to visit her home where the book was based, so we made it our halfway stop since it was on the way. If you don't know much about this amazing woman, just reading the children's chapter book I mentioned gives a lot of information about herself as a person and what she went through. Here are some pics from the visit... I tried to wittle them down a bit since I took enough to make a documentary. :)
The entrance to Ivy Green. (don't worry about the kids being unattended across the street, it wasn't a busy street) :)
This is the dining room where Helen realized that her teacher, Annie, wasn't going to let her get away with whatever she wanted (eating off Ann's plate along with everyone elses). Ann had the parents leave, she locked the door, and they battled wills for hours until she got Helen to sit in a chair and eat with her utensils.
Looking at and feeling a braille book.
Helen's old Braille typewriter. (Allie probably shouldn't be touching that) :)
A picture from the porch of the cottage where Helen stayed with Ann for the first few weeks Ann was there. Ann knew she wouldn't be able to control her around her parents so they took her for a two hour carriage ride and ended back at Ivy green about 30 feet away from her house, but Helen thought she was miles away. One day, Mr. Keller let the dog out and that was when Helen realized where she was. The building on the left is the house and under the pavilion on the right is the water pump where Helen first learned to associate that the words Ann signed actually meant something.
Claire and Allie at Helen's water pump.
I took this picture with the girls because we thought it was neat that the moon tree was a few months older than me. :)
On our way to Florida, we made it a two day trip and stopped in Tuscumbia, Alabama. I read the book, "Give me a sign, helen keller" to the girls earlier this year and I thought it would neat to visit her home where the book was based, so we made it our halfway stop since it was on the way. If you don't know much about this amazing woman, just reading the children's chapter book I mentioned gives a lot of information about herself as a person and what she went through. Here are some pics from the visit... I tried to wittle them down a bit since I took enough to make a documentary. :)
The entrance to Ivy Green. (don't worry about the kids being unattended across the street, it wasn't a busy street) :)
This is the dining room where Helen realized that her teacher, Annie, wasn't going to let her get away with whatever she wanted (eating off Ann's plate along with everyone elses). Ann had the parents leave, she locked the door, and they battled wills for hours until she got Helen to sit in a chair and eat with her utensils.
Looking at and feeling a braille book.
Helen's old Braille typewriter. (Allie probably shouldn't be touching that) :)
A picture from the porch of the cottage where Helen stayed with Ann for the first few weeks Ann was there. Ann knew she wouldn't be able to control her around her parents so they took her for a two hour carriage ride and ended back at Ivy green about 30 feet away from her house, but Helen thought she was miles away. One day, Mr. Keller let the dog out and that was when Helen realized where she was. The building on the left is the house and under the pavilion on the right is the water pump where Helen first learned to associate that the words Ann signed actually meant something.
Claire and Allie at Helen's water pump.
I took this picture with the girls because we thought it was neat that the moon tree was a few months older than me. :)
Thursday, September 3, 2009
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