Happy Birthday Richie...

This weekend was way too long for me...Richie was off work Friday and Monday and I am so not used to him being off for base family days and holidays. With Monday being his birthday he wanted seafood for his birthday dinner. He decided to do dinner on Sunday night instead of Monday. We went to the Crap Trap for dinner after enjoying a couple of hours at the beach with some friends. Monday we decided to go back to the beach for a couple of hours but before we did, we stopped at the store to pick up some things for riding the waves and searching for shells. This is also the first time I have taken the camera with us to get some pictures...We noticed a few more jelly fish in the water so Grace didn't go back in after she got stung. So she sat with me and made sand pies. Richie and Seth looked for shells and played with the boards. We were there for about 2 hours and Grace fell asleep about 1/2 before we headed home. Poor thing :(

After the beach, we came home and cleaned up...took a cat nap and then made dinner. Grilled pork chops with augratin potatoes and brocolli. After dinner was ICE CREAM CAKE!!!!!

Family Pictures...

For the past four years we have had our pictures taken by the fabulous McPeek-Smith Photography and we usually do it in Sept/Oct because that is between the kids birthdays. This year, we are in Florida and she is in Illinois...What to do???? We borrowed a tripod from Richie's work and headed to the beach...We will have to wait til next year to get the REAL ones done...LOL. I will say we had fun trying to figure it out!!!

Soccer Practice (Grace)...

About 6 months ago we bought a new car (a Chevy Traverse) and the kids have been teasing me that I am now a soccer mom...hahaha Well they weren't far from the truth. Last week Grace started her practices and somehow I decided to volunteer to be the team parent. LOL Soccer mom, here I come!!! All is good though, the parents are great and lots of help. The coach is terrific and knows what she is doing!! Seth was bored at practice so he took all the pictures you see...
Grace likes soccer and actually participates in the practice. Her first game is this Saturday!!

First Day of School!!!

Today was the BIG DAY!!! The first day of school for both kiddos...here in Florida the whole county has the same school schedule and it works out GREAT!! Same days off and since my kids will never go to the same school while we are here, that is great news for planning vacations. Seth is in second grade and was looking forward to meeting new friends and learning new things. He was also looking forward to riding the bus. I didn't let him ride the bus in Lebanon because there were highschoolers on the bus. It was easier to drive him. Here he is on the bus with K-5 which for me is a little easier to take. They both woke up with smiles on their faces, which always puts a smile on mine!!!

Grace was disappointed she couldn't go to school this morning, but quickly realized that she had the house to herself!! She got to hang out with Mommy for the morning and loved it. When it came time for lunch she perked up even more, knowing that school was getting ready to start. She goes to a Voluntary Pre-K program (free in the state of FL) about 2 miles from the house. She is there for 3 hours everyday!!!

I will say though, when the Seth got on the bus, I started to get really nervous and the house felt started feeling empty. Grace did a good job of keeping my in check and keeping my mind off of wondering about Seth. Once she went to school, I didn't have anyone to keep my mind off of the fact the kids weren't in the house yelling at each other, so I went to the grocery store...LOL Seth came home first, the bus dropped him off at 2:15 right in front of the house and I lit up when he jumped off the bus with a giant smile on his face. He had a GREAT day and loved the school. We had 45 minutes to ourselves before we had to get Grace from school. When time to get Grace, Seth was ready to tell her all about his day and ask about hers. Grace was painting when we picked her up and is in a class of 6. She had a GREAT time too, and they both had lots to tell us at dinner!! I sure hope they just as much fun everyday!!!!

Soccer Practice (Seth)...

Soccer has begun...and with two kids in the same sport but different age groups we are at the YMCA three night a week. LOL Seth started practice last week and has really begun to like the sport. He does a great job with the kids and meeting new people. He became fast friends with a kid on his team named Donovan. Grace was walking around with the camera and took all of these pictures. I think she did a pretty good job!!! His first game is the Saturday...

Panhandle Butterfly House...

Driving around our new town, we have come across a few things we would like to do. One is the Butterfly house at the park. It is not very big, but great for pictures and getting out of the house for a couple of hours. We decided that today we would go up to the park and see what it was like. The kids were GREAT and fscinated with the butterflies on display. They asked questions and the ladies there were more than ready to answer them. And just so you know, we have been reading A LOT of Fancy Nancy books lately. One in peticular is Explorer Extraordinaire. Fancy Nancy has all kinds of tips on nature collecting, butterflies and of what you should wear to a butterfly garden!!! We take our butterfly ensemble very serious around here. LOL

Exporeum, Mobile, AL...

Saturday we went to the Exploreum in Mobile, Al. It took us about 1 1/2 hours to get there but once we did we had a great time. Everything was hands on (except the reptile exhibit). The kids learned a lot (so did I). There was an entire section about medical things. It has virtual surgery section. You can even check in like a hospital and go thru stations with a card and check out and it will print out a "complete" medical evaluation. We weren't able to do the card thing, but we did go thru all the stations. It has a laser surgery, endoscopy surgery and much more. There is a station that tells you how much blood is in your body (measured in cups).

There is a TV station. The kids were anchors and I was the weather person. This is a hit with the kids. Seth played the producer and Richie read the news while I did the weather.

Our favorite section was the "Hands on Hall". This was very scientific. Optical illusions, sound, physics, and much more.

Grace and Richie playing tug of war. Grace's rope was at the top of the fixture and Richie was at the bottom. It taught the kids that the further away from the fullcrum you get the easier it is to pull it to one side.

This is a great place to visit, but is definitely a tourist thing. Don't get me wrong, we enjoyed ourselves while we were there. The kids had a blast and that is all that matters!!!