Vacation....... I Need Another One.

Back in June, our family spent a week in Panama City Beach, Florida and we had a lot of fun! We shopped, swam, boogie boarded(well, the kids did. Not me.), played at the arcade, ate and ate some more! Now, I feel the need for another vacation..........just for me. Maybe that sounds bad, but sometimes you just gotta get away by yourself. Luckily for me I get to do that next week with my mom, sister and grandmother. The mountains are calling my name. In the meantime, her are a few pics from the beach!

Trent and Laci boogie boarding.

Laci, Trent and their Uncle doing a little dance in the condo.

Blue Bell - We Came, We Saw, We Ate!

Do you recognize the cow on that building up there? Yep. That's the Blue Bell cow. When I see that picture I think of the the frozen goodness that is Blue Bell ice cream........and the exercise I will have to do to work it off.

A few weeks ago the kids and I along with my mother and grandmother traveled to Sylacauga, AL to take a tour of Blue Bell plant there. We got to see them making banana pudding ice cream, learned some interesting facts and ate some ice cream. Do you know what Blue Bell's #1 seller is? Yes, Homemade Vanilla. What about the #2 seller? Nope, it's not chocolate or strawberry. It's Cookies N' Cream. No one on our tour guessed that one. I was a bit surprised to hear that was #2, but after all it is a great flavor. Another BB fact for ya. They have freezers filled with pints and other treats in the break rooms. If you are an employee, you can have whatever you want,as much as you want,out of the freezers or even get a pint right off the floor where it's made. Cool....kind of. My hips would not like that!


Ivy sampled chocolate,Trent had butter pecan, Laci ate Southern Hospitality(vanilla ice cream, pecans, cherry swirl and pineapple pieces) and I had Southern Blackberry Cobbler(vanilla ice cream, blackberry swirl and pie crust pieces). So good!

Blue Bell Ice Cream Parlor

We Are Fa-mi-ly

Our vacation to Panama City Beach was great! I think I could have stayed another week. The weather was beautiful the entire time we were there. We couldn't pass up the chance to take some family pictures of everyone in our blue & khaki. A special thanks to my husband for hobbling down to the beach with his bum knee. It was a real task for him since his knee is still healing. Thanks honey. You're a trooper!

Lena,Kyle,Sam,Dana,Dad,Mom,Laci,Trent,Will,Ivy and Missy

This picture is the best one I had of all of us even though my bro. in-law's eyes are closed(sorry Sam), Laci is flashing the peace sign and Trent is looking away. I love it anyways.

Laci, Ivy and Trent outside our condo.

My family. I love this one too with the palm trees in the background. It was so hot, though.

My nephew, Kyle, Trent, Laci and Ivy.

My dad and mom.They looooove the beach!

Fun At The Beach

Well, I have been a blog slacker lately. I have either been busy getting things ready for vacation, then on vacation and I am trying to get back into the swing of things. However, summer break is always busier with all the kids home. Maybe I can manage to get a few more things posted this week. Who knows?!

Our vacation was to Panama City Beach, FL a couple weeks ago and we had the best time!! We went with my parents, sister, bro. in-law, nephew and his girl friend. The beach was gorgeous and there was no oil or tar balls to be found. We had so much fun with our family! Yay!!


The kids loved building sand castles, boogie boarding, swimming in the pool and playing in the ocean. We discovered that Ivy, our 2 yr. old, LOVES being in the ocean. She probably could have stayed out there all day.

Ivy burying Lena's feet in the sand.

Cousins

Today I want to share a few pics of the kids on our vacation. As I said yesterday, they had such a good time playing with and getting to know their cousins better. One night last week Laci was whimpering in her bed so William asked her what was wrong and she said,"I miss my cousins." Awww. How sweet and sad , too. Our kids look forward to playing with them again.



Rayla, Laci and Kiana had a "slumber" party every night. They all slept in the same bed all bundled up. They were so cute.



Madison and Ivy weren't to be left out. They had their own little slumber party right next to the big girls' bed.




Those girls sure do stick together. Here they are enjoying a bite to eat after swimming.



Trent was so excited to see Ramius. Another boy for him to hang out and play with. He doesn't get that much being surrounded by girls. They were like best buds the whole time.

Our Vacation/Mini Family Reunion

A few weeks ago our family traveled to Louisville, KY for a summer vacation. Now, you might be asking 'Why Louisville? ' I know it's not exactly THE destination spot of the U.S. Our vacation spot was kind of a collaborative effort with two of William's sisters. One of them lives near Detroit, the other in Kansas City and then us down here in AL. Louisville was the perfect central location for all of us to meet and have a good time. We were thrilled to meet our new nephew, Dax, who just turned one and nieces Kiana and Madison whom we'd never met as well as Ramius and Rayla whom we hadn't seen in a very long time. All those cousins had a blast!



We realized after we got home, of course, that we didn't take very many pictures. I guess we were too busy having fun! We did get a few of the Louisville Zoo .


This was so cool. This orangutan was right up against the glass. It was huge! I've never seen one of those get that close before so I had to take a picture. The kids were lovin' it. Okay, the adults too.

We also enjoyed a trip to an Art Museum on the campus of the University of Louisville, go-kart riding on the longest track in the U.S. (That was so fun!),science museum and IMAX movie(for the boys), a family home evening, church, swimming, dinners out and in, and just spending time and getting to know each other better, which was probably the best part. I know William loved having time to catch up with his sisters and so did I. The kids, well they didn't skip a beat. It was like they'd always been together even though they hadn't. As for Louisville, it was great. I think KY is such a pretty place. We can't wait until we can get together again. I'll show you more of all these cousins tomorrow.

Space & Rocket Center - Part 2

Today I want to share some more of our fun at the Space & Rocket Center. This ride was the best part according to the kids and Will. I'll have to agree since they were all so happy doing this.

This is a picture of Will and Trent (the two in the middle) riding the Space Shot. It shoots you straight up really fast. Will loved it, of course. Trent liked it, too, but didn't want to keep doing it.




Laci wasn't tall enough for the big Space Shot ride so she rode the smaller one. It was just right for her. She's the one on the right end. Laci thought this was great. I think she rode it three times!


Another one of their favorites was the climbing wall. They both had a lot of fun with this. It was fun for me to watch them, as well.



Here is a shot of Trent(in the middle on the wall) and , who is that big kid coming down from the top? Yep! That's Will. He couldn't pass up the chance to have some fun on the climbing wall. He did make it all the way up to the top, but he's had more practice than the kids. He just had to do it twice like the kids. We had a great time and look forward to going back again.

Space & Rocket Center - Part 1

A couple weeks ago we traveled up to Huntsville, AL to visit the U.S. Space and Rocket Center with my parents. I have been there a couple times, but the kids haven't ever been, so I was anxious to see what they thought. We had a lot of fun and saw some interesting things. Tomorrow I'll share the rest of our fun time.



Laci is posing in the museum with one of the Apollo air crafts. Not sure which one. It's fascinating to see how far the space program has come since those days.




"We are go for lift off." --- Trent and Laci sitting in yet another Apollo aircraft.




We might just have to go again next year. Starting in 2010, their will be some sort of Star Wars exhibit. Trent was all about that as he is a major Star Wars fan. ( He was pretending Darth Vader had used the force on him.)

On of the huge rockets outside the Space Center.

Our Visit To The Capitol Building

Last Saturday when my parents were down for a visit, we all decided to visit the capitol building in Montgomery which is only about 20 minutes from where we live. We have driven by it dozens of times, but I have never taken the time to actually walk around it. The lawns are nicely manicured, of course, and they have some interesting monuments around it, as well. Here, the kids are in front of this big bell. I never figured out what this bell is for. At first, I thought it was a recreation of the Liberty Bell, but it didn't have a crack in it. Not sure????




Laci is happy to pose for a picture in front of one of the monuments. I think it was a confederate army monument.

The magnolia trees around the grounds were very nice and had a few blooms on them.

Off To The Zoo

Let me just start off by saying that I am happy to be blogging again after a little break for a trip to visit my sweet friend Tammy out in Utah. I had a fun and relaxing time with her and her family. They were great hosts. I so enjoyed spending time with her again. Thanks Tammy!
Later in the week, I'll share some of my fun finds from my trip and something new that I learned how to do. It's crafty! So stay tuned!

Last Wednesday, only back from my trip for a day, I geared up to go to the Montgomery Zoo with Laci's kindergarten class. I had 4 kids in my group and we had a blast. They were very into the animals and wanted to know all about them. This was Laci's last field trip and I'm glad I was able to spend that time with her and help out her sweet teacher, Mrs. Ellis.





Laci and Hannah stop to pose after enjoying the African region of the zoo with the elephants and giraffes. Those were the best according to the kids. My favorites were the monkeys(actually they have a more specific name, but I can't remember it). They were so active. They swung from ropes and a momma was holding her baby. That baby was hangin' on pretty good.



We stopped to see how tall these little guys were against the big elephant.



The train ride was, of course, a big hit with everyone! They loved screaming through the tunnel.

Warm Up With A Beach Scene

I'm not sure what the weather is like where you are, but here it is pretty cold. Well, cold for Alabama. I think it's supposed to be 52 today with a windchill factor, so it will feel like it's in the 40's. Brrrrr! But I thought some summery beach scenes could help to , at least, warm our hearts.
These pictures are from our summer vacation that we took with my parents to Panama City Beach, FL. Boy was it hot! It was nice to see the beach again and smell the ocean. It was gorgeous! The kids, especially, had a blast playing around in the ocean, building and burying in the sand and swimming in the pool. It was a fun trip! Are you warm yet?????

Granddad buried them in the sand.

Trent and Laci spent a lot of time in the hotel pool to cool off. Here they are clownin' around!

Dressed and ready for the beach!