Clearwater Beach

Duty calls!!  I had another work conference to go to in September and fortunately the kids had the same week of school off, so we all went to Clearwater Beach, Florida for vacation.  Unfortunately, it rained A LOT!!  So we tried to make the best of it and go to indoor sites while it rained and then go to the beach when it was not stormy.

Turns out Winter the dolphin who is the subject of "Dolphin Tale" the movie is in Clearwater Beach at the aquarium down the street from our hotel, so we went there.  You could play with stingrays....as you see Austin doing below......very slick little guys!!

 

While on the beach, one of Eric's favorite past times is to feed birds....he seems to have "trained" some birds while we were there and could get them to eat out of his hand and he would then pick them up and hold them.....odd bird (decide for yourself who I am referring to ...)

Kids LOVING the water....playing with the sand

Fortunately, there was a pretty large playground area beside our hotel so we went there and played a few times.......Ansley conquering the mountain!

More later.......

DC

  

Better late than never I tell myself....we went to DC in May for a conference for my work and took the time to go to as many sites as we could in just a few days.  Needless to say we walked out little feet off, but the kids were troopers!!  We started our first day there on the main mall and by the end of the four days we had seen as much as humanly possible.  We started down by the Lincoln Memorial....

Austin looking all too thrilled to be in a picture with his mom :); this is in the Lincoln Memorial too.

 

From this picture you can see the day ahead was cloudy and rainy, so we really had GREAT kids who endured a rainy, cool day in DC at mostly outdoor sites. There were LOTS of kids there because at the end of May most of the schools in the area were still in session.  Our school had only ended the week before....just after we left the Lincoln Memorial we went to see the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.  Just before we started walking down the Vietnam Veterans Memorial we stopped to see a few people who were peacefully demonstrating regarding Sgt. Bergdahl; the reason this was interesting was because two days later, while we were still in DC he was released.  Political views aside, we felt it was a neat experience for the kids to be in DC when it happened and talked about the connection to the people we had seen at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

A really cute couple volunteered to take a family photo of us in front of the "big pencil" as Ansley referred to the Washington Monument! It was REALLY cold at this point and we did not have coats, so we were in a hurry to get to an inside place at this point.

Just in front of the White House on one side there is a Boy Scout Memorial; Austin is really involved in Cub Scouts right now, so we walked around and too several pictures I will post later...but this is one of the ones we took.

Of course we went to see the outside of the White House too; this was on our first day there; later in the week we went and saw the other side.  We did not go in.

Constitution Hall

Treasury Dept.

This last one is from the gardens at the Smithsonian Castle (Institution Building); Eric and the kids went there the day I had to go to my conference so I cannot tell you much about it; sorry!  It obviously was a sculpture garden attached to the Smithsonian.  They REALLY loved most of the museums and I am not kidding!  They were not as impressed with the National Gallery of Art, but it was towards the end of one day that we went there and it might be a bit much for little ones.

I will write more once we get more DC pictures up.

Texas!!

We went to the great state of Texas for a quick visit just before the kids went back to school.  We had to go see the family and get our fill of Mexican Food!!

 We were SO excited to see this sign!!!

 We were torn by this sign; excited to see the speed limit, sad to see how many more miles we still had to go!!!  Well, maybe not all of those miles were driven :) to get to Granddad & Nanny, Uncle Scott, Aunt Natalie, Cousin Carter & the rest!!  But we did drive 2200 miles to get there & back!

 Austin had to show Ansley "his" town

 SERIOUSLY!!????!!!!

 This looks cooler in the actual size, but it was too big for the blog

 Hanging out on one of our Aunt Net & Uncle Roy's tractors

A pretty cool picture Eric took of one of Aunt Net & Uncle Roy's silos; the kids were fascinated by them!

Mondays

I am trying to make a point of playing catch up on Mondays....we will see how this goes :)

 They are there, I promise.....just to the right of the mast in the middle of the picture.

We went to Perdido Key, Florida several weeks ago and got to go see the Blue Angels practice their performances....albeit, not our exact plan for where to see them.  We did not go on base as it was just easier for us with our car packed full of stuff, so we found a marina close by (ergo the boats in the picture) which allowed us to camp out and see the practice.  If you are ever down there it is really a sight to see.  They were LOUD, but the kids really enjoyed the show.

Uncle Bunny's Wedding

Uncle Bunny got married this past weekend and it was such a quaint wedding & setting!!  Tons of fun!

 This was the WHOLE group, all family on both sides; Bride is Lauren......Uncle Bunny is Eric's older brother.

 A&A look way enthused in this picture I know....but it was their rehearsal.....needless to say, the actual event was WAY worse than this picture, so let's just go with this one :).....but because this is my "baby book" I will have to tell the story!!

Long story short, there was not a rehearsal dinner so the kids did this one walk through and were told they would be walking towards Eric in the front of the church where he would be standing beside the groom.....when it came time for them to walk down, the groom & groomsmen had not yet come out, and Austin is a little (a LOT) shy in large groups of people, so he got worried and DRUG his sister down the aisle instead of walking slowly.  In turn, the whole church erupted into laughter which made him even more worried!!!  In the end, they made it to where I was sitting and all was well....nothing a little ice cream cannot fix :)

 Our attempt at a Christmas card photo.....needless to say Ansley forgot to smile!

 The groomsmen and the bride - the other groomsman is Eric' younger brother, Patrick who got married two years ago.

The new B family!!! Patrick, Heather, Brian, Ansley, Lauren, Austin, Eric & I

1st Day of School

The long awaited first day of 1st grade and 3rd grade has arrived!!!  Not really that long awaited, as this summer has been the fastest on record. I have to warn you, Eric had to go to work this morning and could not stick around for the send off, thus I was the picture taker and this is not my strong suit!!  So the pictures are not so great, but the memories are!!

"Oh come on Mom!"

 An is already taking off her full backpack!! Austin is staring at our neighbors starting their trek to the bus stop...."Mom, we need to go"

This was the best group shot I got, but there were about 7 other kids who walked up moments later.....blurry pictures on my end :(  Austin is standing by two 5th grade girls, which is why he looks so little!!  But then Ansley is standing by one of her buddies who is about a foot taller than her and in the same grade!!  These kids got their Grandma's genes!!

Happy End of Summer!!!

Random Pictures of Kids

Sometimes you just have to find someone close by to sit down and smile with....in case you were wondering.

This was going to be our Christmas Card picture this year but I could not get Charlie's eyes to cooperate and not look so wild!

An & her favorite babysitter!

Potentially the first time Eric & I have taken a picture together since our wedding!!

Pumpkin Patch 2013

An's best buddy from our neighborhood & school

Neighborhood Parade

I have to catch up the blog to our lives!!  Back in September there was a parade in our neighborhood; we go every year and this year AC1 & Eric walked in it as part of their Cub Scout group while AC2 and I watched from the rainy sidelines!!

We ran into some friends while we were there, so we all piled in the back of our car and watched as everyone walked by getting soaked!!

 

Hopefully it will be sunnier this year!!

Austin's 7th Birthday

This is clearly not done chronologically, as Austin turned 7 in JUNE 2013!!!!  But I would be a big failure as a mom if I did not record his birthday for our digital baby book :)

This picture pretty much sums up your world AC1 right now....you are Legocentric, and if given the chance you will play with Legos and do nothing else.

You have changed so much this past year and we are so proud of how well you are doing...

 This is your second favorite thing to do....swim anywhere, anytime, any temperature of the water or air!!

 You were nice enough to share your carrot cake with your dad & grandpa for Father's Day as we combined the celebration.....and look more Legos......noticing a trend?!?

 Then there is the new found love of Nerf Guns, and the sheer joy on your face speaks volumes to the love you have for additional weaponry when fighting your mom or dad or sister or neighbor!

 This year you have also gotten a real taste for fishing, which of course makes your Dad, Grandpa, Granddad and Nanny so happy!!  That is your very own tackle box in the big box in front of you....you have worn out some of the lures in that box already!!!

And finally, some more Legos....noticing a trend here!?!  At least you are consistent!!!

We love you!!

Catch Up 101 - First Day of School 2013!!

I never posted Ansley's first day of school picture like I did for Austin a few years ago....so here it is :) the Ansley photo that will just melt your heart ... or at least her mom's....

 and then she grew up.....and went off to Kindergarten....with her big brother off to 2nd grade....and their daddy off to work......we all have had quite an adjustment this fall.....which is what I will blame my absence upon :)

What I wouldn't do for some shorts weather today!!!