Pops!

Posted on June 25, 2012 by Abbie

Every year a local symphony puts on a free concert in a local park. It’s a great opportunity for us to enjoy popular compositions and a quality symphony without having to shell out the big bucks! This year the concert moved from a set up stage to a new park’s amphitheater! Isn’t it gorgeous. I have to say our county’s claim to fame is that two members of Lady Antebellum (country music group) graduated from a local high school. So, in honor of them, they named the stage Lady Antebellum. Yeah, we’re impressed.

Now, back to the concert. Before the concert, they had a “instrument petting zoo.” The kids totally enjoyed playing different instruments and getting their faces painted and the concert. They had fireworks this year as well. Very impressive!

Into the Woods

Posted on June 22, 2012 by Abbie

I said May was a busy month. And it was. We went camping with another family in the middle of the craziness.

Zoe got bored during a fishing expedition and made faces. Pretty creative, I think!

The other family had a canoe. Totally jealous. They took the kids out one by one. Totally jealous that I had to sit on shore with an unruly child and the infant.

The view from our campsite. Gorgeous!!

Malachi enjoyed his first camping trip.

We’re hoping to be able to go camping more the rest of this year!

Pit Stop

Posted on June 5, 2012 by Abbie

On the way back from the beach, we stopped off at Papa & Grandmere’s house. This was a quick visit. Not really to see them (although that was a bonus), it was for Mark and I to travel to visit my aunt.

My dear Aunt Mary was diagnosed with brain cancer at the end of February. We were blessed to be able to visit with her a week before she went home to be with our Lord. While I grieve over not having her here with us on earth, I rejoice that she is in heaven praising her Creator. She had such an amazing influence on my life. She was not my “biological” aunt but she treated me like her niece in every way possible!

While Mark, Malachi, and I went to visit Aunt Mary, the kids enjoyed some sweet Papa & Grandmere time.

The girls prepared treats for a tea party.

And the sweet boys picked flowers for Grandmere.

I love the way she’s looking at her Papa!

*Thanks to Grandmere for providing the pictures.

Bamapalooza-Chocolate (Yeah Baby!)

Posted on June 3, 2012 by Abbie

It’s no secret that our family loves chocolate. So, while in St. Augustine we visited the home of Whetstone Chocolatiers. Oh my people! Is it safe to say that all eight of us (Malachi doesn’t count…he gets mom’s milk), loved it. The samples were so worth the tour of the chocolate factory. Of course, the history lesson and information the kids received were wonderful too.

Ace took the pictures for us and I have no idea what this machine does.

Or this one.

However, I do know that some of the samples included dark chocolate to which I almost didn’t try but am so glad I did. I’ve never tasted a smoother or more rich dark chocolate than I did at Whetstone. Oh yummy! And yes, we did leave home with some of it too…which I have to hide from Bryant.

Just a side note: Apparently, Whestone didn’t have any oompa loompas much to the disappointment of the kids.

Bamapalooza-Castille de San Marcos

Posted on June 1, 2012 by Abbie

We ventured into the city one day with the kids and all our crew. Ace took over camera duty when we made it into the Castillo. Wow, this structure was amazing…but don’t take my word for it.

Here is Zoe’s first ever post! Enjoy (oh the joys of homeschooling and making your kids practice their writing skills for all the world to see).

Castillo De San Marcos in St. Augustine, Florida was very interesting. It was never taken by force. Instead, it was handed over in peace treaties. Castillo De San Marcos, which is pronounced CasteeO DE San MarcOs, was first occupied by the Spanish, then it was handed over to the British, then the British to the Americans. The Fort was made of coquina, which turned out to be surprisingly strong. The British changed the Castillo De San Marcos name when they occupied the fort to Fort St. Mark. Castillo De San Marcos still stands today in St. Augustine. by Zoe, age 9

Dad’s favorite shorts. Great shot, no? All pictures provided by Ace.

Bamapalooza-Alligator Farm and Fort Matanzas

Posted on May 31, 2012 by Abbie

We took another trip on our Bamapalooza ventures to the Alligator Farm. Charming fella, isn’t he?

Getting ready.

This is an albino alligator. I’ve never seen one. And they, like me, can get sunburned.

Our gators chomping at the bit.

Hands down the coolest (and most dangerous in terms of poo) was the Rookery. Thousands of birds in trees all over laying eggs and raising babies. The kids were amazed they could see this:

And even babies in nests. Lots of beautiful birds too.

And we all enjoyed feeding the alligators from the bridge and watching them swarm (we fed them those food pellets found at all zoos).

But, watching this zookeeper feed the alligators fresh rats. Now that was quite interesting (if not a little gross).

On the way home from the zoo, we stopped at Fort Matanzas which isn’t really a fort. It’s more of a watchtower. The locals just began calling it a fort and it stuck. Very neat old structure and the kids enjoyed the ferry ride to and from it.

Safe to say they got some “larnin'” in while on vacation. Ah the joys of having a mom who enjoys history.

Bryant was a bit tired from all our site seeing. I had forgotten the sling so I had to use this carrier for Malachi. By the afternoon, Bryant was asking to get in it. He loved it too!

Bamapalooza-Cinnamon Beach

Posted on May 29, 2012 by Abbie

It’s been over three years but the “gang” all came together again. Bamapalooza is the gathering of all of Mark’s friends/roommates from college. There are five guys total. Then the wives (each just has one though) and the kids. So, for a head count, ten adults and fourteen kids. Now, keep in mind that half of them were ours. And all of them were nine and under.

We had a wonderful time. Mark and I both said that was the best vacation we’ve ever taken. We stayed in a mansion on the beach and enjoyed the ocean, pool, and trips in to St. Augustine, Florida.

I’m starting off this series with our beach and pool ventures. I wish I had gotten more pictures of the house because it was just wonderful.

The last time we were at the beach, Bryant was a baby (a little bit older than Malachi). He loved it! He kept talking about the big wata. When we went back in the first night, I told him we’d be back tomorrow. He looked at the beach and ocean and said, “Bye wata, see ya morrow.” And that bump on my front is Malachi. He helps to cover up my mommy tummy.

Josiah found some digging buddies.

We may or may not have had some issues with the hurricane shutters (the switch for them was placed right near the light switches…instant kid toy). Luckily, two of the engineers figured out how to fix it.

A view from the third story!

Uncle S enjoyed cuddling with all the kids.

And building sand castles.

One day, I had the smart idea to have Ceili Rain get the clothes out of the dryer (I don’t know what I was thinking). About 30 minutes later, we all realized the door to the laundry room was closed and had been for quite some time. This is what we found when we opened it. What you can’t see is that Bryant is covered in clothes on the floor. The peek-a-boo head is Big A who is Ceili Rain’s age.

Ceili Rain got a stuffed monkey as a souvenir. Here she is feeding it (yes, she’s breastfeeding it).

The rewards of building with Dad.

This is how I spent most of the trip, cuddled up with Mr. Malachi. I didn’t mind it one bit though.

Uncle M was all alone building a volcano for his boys…

Then the boys all came to destroy it.

The Futur(ity)

Posted on February 15, 2012 by Abbie

We had the opportunity to attend The Futurity for the first time this year. Usually, it falls on a day/week/month when we are traveling (I know…stand back in shock). But, this year it didn’t. Wondering if it has to do with a little one who is baking away in my belly.

And since I know everyone knows what the Futurity is, I won’t bore you with details. Okay, I’m kidding. We really had no clue what we were going to until we actually went. It was a field trip of sorts and an extremely nice gentleman met with all of us to explain what we were actually going to see. So, here’s the lowdown that you can just skip if you already know what it is.

The Futurity is a week long cutting horse competition held every year in our town (okay, it’s a city). Cutting horses are trained to cut away a cow from a herd so that he/she can be treated, branded, or just looked over. They were used primarily out west (which explains why I never heard of it. I believe my granddaddy, daddy, and uncles just used a barricade of sorts to brand the cows…yes, my granddaddy was a cattle farmer and my uncle still is). Anyway, while the cowboys were out on the “range” so to speak (I feel myself turning more country as I type), they got bored watching cows eat grass and whatnot. So, they started competing to see who had the best cutting horse. This naturally grew in to a big competition with big prizes.

Now, this is a horse competition. So, what happens is, the cowboy or cowgirl rides in, picks out a cow from the herd and gets her singled out from the rest. Then the cowboy or cowgirl relaxes her reins and the horse takes over. And that’s the amazing part, to see these majestic animals do what they are trained to do with little to no involvement from the rider. It was also fun watching some of the riders because, well, some of them were big ol’ boys! Each horse gets about 2 minutes to cut away a cow. And all of us totally loved it. Mark swapped his regular off day to go with us and that was such a blessing!

Of course, our resident animal lover was beside himself! Horses and cows everywhere. He was saying “Horsie, Cow, Moooo!” almost the entire time.

The John Deere tractors on display were a nice treat too.

This is for my niece J, it was really neat to see several girls/women who were riding horses competing. Their horses scored very well too!

Still loving it!

*And since this was a field trip, most of these pictures were taken by the kids. In all, they took over 100 including some of someone’s shirt. I pricked some of the best to share though.

On to December

Posted on December 29, 2011 by Abbie

The first part of December we were able to gather at Grandmere and Papa’s house with Mark’s brother and his family. That’s right, six adults (two of whom were pregnant), and thirteen children together again. Thanks to a lot of organizing on Grandmere’s part, the chaos was kept to a minimum. It was a great, if not short, visit too! We celebrated Grandmere’s birthday and had a piano recital all packed into three days.

The zipline was a big hit.

Zoe and Cousin O enjoyed decorating Grandmere’s cake. Liam requested that we put butterflies on it.

Bryant loved hugging on Cousin K’s neck.

Ceili Rain and Cousin TJ were best buds most of the weekend. They shared a common interest in the baby doll!

We ventured out to eat after our piano recital. The buffet was a hit. But the dessert bar, well, the kids loved it!

Ice cream with all the fixings…yep, that’s good.

Awaiting her marshmallow because we always roast marshmallows at Papa’s house!

Yes! Marshmallows!

Again with the cousin lovin’ for Ceili Rain. This time it’s Cousin G.

Everyone enjoyed our visit from Uncle D, Grandmere’s brother.

Thanksgiving

Posted on December 28, 2011 by Abbie

Thanksgiving weekend, we traveled to Granddaddy and Ge’s house. Along with staying out all night with Ge and Aunt Yaya, we stuffed my face silly, laughed at the kids having a blast and celebrated Christmas with my aunt and my cousins and their children. We had a wonderful, relaxing trip! Let the eye candy begin! My kids are too adorable not to post a ton of pictures from this trip.