Beach Collage 2013

 Here are some miscellaneous pictures from our beach vacation.  One thing that we did was to make a "Hulk" picture.  That was a lot of fun to do. The one above was probably the best, even though Quincy is in the process of photoshopping all pictures taken to make a super-Hulk picture.  That should be interesting to see.

Quincy's improvised beach chair

The kids loved being thrown by Uncle Bobby

Bailey and her friend McKenzie are popular with the kids

Visiting the "shark"

Here's the kid version of the Hulk picture

Fishermen In Training

The private pier is one of the main reasons that we stay at the same condo complex every year.  The boys love to fish- especially at night (for sharks). One the last night of our vacation, the boys decided to take the kids out and let them fish a little.  The kids loved it.

 It's a little unnerving to realize that sharks are swimming a few feet from the the beach.  The boys pulling up fish like this doesn't help calm our nerves.

 For those of us who don't fish, the pier provides a nice view of the beach and ocean.

It's also a good place to blow bubbles.

Swimming Update

 We have been swimming quite a bit this summer- both in our pool and in the one at the beach.  Olivia has made great progress- as have Ava and Claire.  All three of these girls can swim anywhere they want to unassisted.  It has been really nice this year to be able to let the girls swim without having to be in the pool ourselves.  During our week at the beach swimming was a daily activity, and the girls improved even more as a result.  Even Natalie was swimming without floaties by the last day.

 Owen has not made much swimming progress this year, and we're really not pushing him to do so.  If you'll recall, Owen had tubes put into his ears last fall.  Water is not suppose to enter his ears, so whenever he swims he has to wear silicone plugs and his "ear bandit" (the green thing around his head).  We have decided that we will really start pushing the swimming with him once the ear situation is resolved.  For now, he is content to use the floaties and drift around the pool.

 Granny and Papa Buie's condo was located right above the pool this year, so they would often be on the balcony when we were swimming.  The kids like to wave up to them and show off their new moves.  Granny even got in the pool to show the kids how the pros do it.

Beach Vacation 2013

We had a great beach vacation this year.  As always, we spent our vacation on Amelia Island.  The weather was great.  A typical day would be to get up whenever we wanted, eat whenever we wanted, and do whatever we felt like doing (which usually involved either the beach or the pool).  I'm partial to the beach, so I was glad to see that my kids did not mind spending lots of time there. Boogie boarding was a favorite activity once again this year.  They are actually getting pretty good at it.

The kids were delighted to see a turtle walking along the beach one day.  Brian picked it up so that everyone could get a closer look.

One of the best parts about being at the beach is that we get to spend a lot of time with our family.  Since we shared a condo with the Murray family (and were only a few doors down from the Boyette kids), Owen and Olivia were never without someone to play with.  One night I walked into the kids room to find them all sleeping in the same bed (even though there were two in the room).  Making those memories- that's what it's all about.

My New Ride

After 12 years and more than 240,000 miles- Big Green (my CRV) finally died.  It was the best little car- so choosing a new one was a no-brainer- I got another CRV.  My new CRV- which Olivia has named "The Hogwarts Express"- is noticeably larger than my old one.  It has all sorts of gadgets that my old car didn't have- including a back-up camera, bluetooth, and keyless entry.  I look forward to many happy years with my new car.

Fourth of July

 The kids and I had a pleasant July 4th.  The kids had spent the night with Gigi and Papa on the 3rd so that I could run the Peachtree in Atlanta.  After the race, I drove back to Blackshear.  Gigi had cooked a delicious lunch-which included steaks (grilled by my dad) and boiled peanuts.  Later in the afternoon, Granny Mel came to visit us.  We didn't know if there would be fireworks or not because the weather had been bad all afternoon.  Luckily, the rain cleared up in time for the show.  

Peachtree Road Race

Participating in the Peachtree Road Race on the Fourth of July is quickly becoming one of my favorite yearly activities. This is the largest road race in the U.S.  Cassie, Quincy, and I entered the lottery this year, and we were excited to be chosen.  The plan was for me to go up to Atlanta early on the day before the race to pick up our race numbers.  Quincy had to work on the third, so she was going to come up later.  Although this plan sounded good when we made it, it didn't work out quite as we had hoped.  To begin with, my car started having issues about an hour before I had to leave.  I ended up having to rent the only car left at Enterprise (a Chevy Silverado extended cab) just so I could make it to Atlanta in time to pick up our packets.  Then, the forecast was showing that there would be heavy rain on the morning of the Fourth- meaning that the race could be cancelled or delayed.  Because of her late start in driving to Atlanta and the uncertainty of whether or not the race would take place, Quincy decided not to come.  This left Cassie and I as the only two racers this year.  We still had a great time.  We went to the expo and checked out all of the running merchandise.  I picked up several free samples of different items as well as a few brochures for upcoming running events.  I also purchased an armband for my iphone and 26.2 sticker for my car.  After leaving the expo, we went to eat at Pasta Vino.  We also needed to make a trip to Target to try and "rain-proof" ourselves.  We were planning to buy disposable rain ponchos, but they were sold out.  Apparently everyone else had the same idea that we had.  We ended up having to improvise.  Cassie decided to wear a raincoat.  I didn't bring one, so I created an outfit out of trash bags to wear over my clothes.  It was only sprinkling when we left Cassie's apartment, so I ended up just wearing my "trash-bag jacket"- which I discarded at the start line because it had stopped sprinkling by then.  The weather turned out to be better then expected.  It didn't rain, but it was overcast with 100% humidity.  I thought that I would do better than usual because it wasn't hot.  I was wrong.  I actually finished with the worst time I've ever had for this race- 59.12.  At least it was under an hour.  Even though the weather was iffy and the fan support was light this year (due to weather), it was still a great race.

St. Mary's Aquatic Center

Last week Gigi treated all of her grandkids to a fun day at the St. Mary's Aquatic Center.  This park is perfect for young kids.  The first thing that we did was to go to the splash-play area.  This was one of those play-sets that has the bucket that fills with water and then dumps out on everyone.  The play area had a couple of smallish slides and various wheels and levers that let you dump water on other people.  The kids had a great time here.  Even Julianna found a slide that she liked and went down it many, many times.

Another favorite feature of the park was the lazy river.  I really liked this lazy river because it was big without being too big.  I could stand on the side of the river and watch the kids as they went around (and see them the whole time) without having to get in myself.  We let the girls go around the river all by themselves.  They thought that they were big stuff because they didn't have an adult with them.  Of course we had eyes on them the entire time, but still we weren't "with them" which made a huge difference in their minds.  

 There is only one large slide at the park- the "Orange Crush".  You have to be 48 inches to ride.  They had a measuring stick at the entrance to the park and we sized the kids up before entering.  Claire was the only one who was definitely tall enough.  Ava looked to be right at the line, and Olivia seemed to be about half an inch too short.  Owen was no where near tall enough.  Well, Claire was not interested in going down the large slide, but the two shorter girls were.  Ava went up first, got measured, and came down the slide.  Olivia saw this and wanted to try too.  I let her try- even though I had a bad feeling that the lifeguard would turn her away once she reached the top of the tower.  I saw her climb, get measured, and then come down the slide.  She loved it, and I was relieved that she didn't get turned away.  Hannah and I stood there and watched the girls go down the slide several times- then Hannah got the bright idea that we should go down ourselves.  We did- and it was a little spooky- totally dark all the way down.

While the girls were going around the lazy river and down the waters slide, Owen kept busy by playing with the shuffleboard set.  Julianna also thought that this was big fun.  We were at the park for several hours, and had a great time.  We will definitely be back.