Summer 2012

I've so enjoyed Katherine being home this summer.  I won't lie, for about 3 weeks there, it was hairy.  There were ear infections, puny people, pink eye, fevers, strep throat, horrible attitudes, daddy working late hours and a general feeling around our house of  'when will this ever end?'  Well it did, and we're back on course.  I'm able to play with them, keep up with house work, go do fun stuff, do something different a couple times a week and generally enjoy their company.  They are spectacular little people and I really enjoy watching them grow up.

For instance, today, (I hate to type this for fear of jinxing myself), they have played so nicely together.  ALL DAY!  Right now, they're riding around the front yard, in the Barbie jeep, Katherine driving, with Nathan chatting on the phone and Katherine holding their baby.  They swam great together for over an hour pretending to be Ariel, Prince Eric and Ursula, they even played great together while I mowed, weed-eated and blew off the driveway (trying to surprise Daddy, Mr. Long-Hours).  They even dressed each other up this morning while I was cleaning up breakfast and played nicely and kindly in the back seat of the car while we drove to her school to view her new classroom.

There were some definite tough times this summer, but overall, it's been great.  Precious memories.

Some cute pics of us visiting the playground of Nathan's future school. :)

Somebody doesn't want to sit still for very long.

Please take a picture of me mom!

Just a little reminiscing... August 2012

 

November 2009

 My almost 1st grader.

Pretty good picture taken by our little spy.

Summer Vacay 2010 - Part 3

Our next day included a ride on the trolley train and a trip to the oldest jail. Nathan cooperated wonderfully and fell asleep on my lap during the train ride (I just love that).
He's looking like such a little man, these days.

Summer Vacay 2010 - Part 2

Saying the kiddos were exhausted that first night is an understatement.
Our next day's journey took us to the Alligator Farm.
Same situation as the previous day's: July, beautiful cloudless day, in Florida, with little to no wind, outside. Red cheeks were everywhere.
The alligators all started looking the same, eventually, because there were sooooo many of them.
Then we realized there were a group of us, strangers included, suddenly and very interested in Gomek, an 18' crocodilian display. He was interesting and so were the snakes and fish. (Can we say rooms with A/C)?
We wrapped up looking at what felt like a million alligators, grabbed a bite to eat, had a great swim and headed off to our favorite eatin'/stompin' grounds, The Columbia. No visit to St. Augustine and The Columbia is complete without a little stroll along St. George street. Nathan somehow bumped his head on the way out, Jim looked cute carrying around a pink tote alongside his brother pushing a stroller and one more annoying family picture was taken. (And no, I will not stop taking them. You'll thank me for these one day.)
Aunt N had a special treat for the kiddos. She bought some silly bandz earlier in the day and after our ice cream treat, she handed them out and traded them with the kiddos.

Summer Vacay 2010 - Part 1

If you recall, last year's summer vacation with the fam was our trip to Disney's Fort Wilderness. This year we decided to take a trip to good and faithful St. Augustine.
I must admit. Back in my college days, my roommate and I would do crazy things like go to St. Augustine for the day. We were both so excited. We'd get all packed up, driving in the blue F-150, windows rolled down, radio blaring (her singing every word correctly, me mispronouncing and misunderstanding about 3/4 of the words), telling stories and gossiping the whole way there. When we'd finally arrive in the historic area is when our paths veered, drastically.
She is very much a history buff. Me, not so much. I'm very much a beach-lover. Her, not so much. It would usually take us about an hour or two to realize that we had both planned on going to St. Augustine for very different reasons. We'd always find a way to keep both of us happy, but it certainly gave us even more to laugh about after-the-fact.
Still to this day, when I hear St. Augustine, I hear beach; but to most people, they hear, history.
I'm just gonna apologize right now. Even typing the word history sends shivers down my spine. It wasn't something I was ever good at, kind of like cooking, and something I still have no desire to be good at (unless it came with no effort).

My brother-in-law, W, is a major history nut. He can talk about anything in history, anything and he knows it and knows it well. Bless his heart, he's tried many times to get me over to the other side, but it has never worked. He used to be a tour guide in St. Augustine so he really does know his stuff. One time there, the words "Hugenot Cemetery" came out of his mouth and I was done. You might as well have been talking about cooking terms like duxelles or oeuf or sabayon and set a wood spider on my shoulder. The rest sounded like Charlie Brown's teacher and I was instantly more interested in quickly leaving the premises and checking out the shopping.
To give him his credit where it is due, he did just graduate from the University of Florida with his PhD in Archaeology. So, bravo Uncle W. We are extremely proud of you. I really do wish my brain was wired to retain history.
Our trip started with a visit to the Fort. In July. At 4:00 in the afternoon. On a beautiful, cloudless day in Florida. In a 16th century structure (translation: no A/C). It was beautiful, but it was definitely hot, also. The kind of hot where you're glad the shirt you have on is thin and breathable but also wishing that same shirt was a little bit heavier for fear of creating a wet t-shirt contest in front of the whole family. (Note to self: remove camera lens cap from the front pocket of shirt before taking any pictures. Heck, just put it in your shorts pocket, goober. People probably thought you had a mouth full of dip.)
Our precious little ones opted out of the no-nap plan driving there. The Princess Party wrapped up that same day before lunch and in all of my motherly wisdom, I had it planned out for them to sleep, so they'd be rested, and ready to play nicely, and be pleasant for their exhausted parents. Ha!

WHEN

WILL

I

EVER

LEARN?
Good news is, that they were much better behaved than I had expected.
It could have been the built-in entertainment in cousins and loads of help we had there with us the whole weekend. Sometimes, uncles have just the right shoulder.
Nathan, big surprise, was fascinated with the cannons and their ammo. He was pretty sure he could pick one up and bring it home with us.
And Katherine noticed that there were no princesses to be found, anywhere.

Unless you include herself and her cousin, of course.

We stopped by a local hot spot for supper later on that night and took a stroll on the beach.
I thankfully am that annoying family member that is always asking the kids or the whole family to get together for a posed picture. I'm so glad I did, because this one is priceless.
This is what happens when you tell them you have french fries in your nose.
Someone learned the valuable lesson re: throwing sand up in the air.
And this one reminded me of a picture I took a year ago on another vacation. The kids had a favorite hang-out spot in both hotels.