It's a Bird, It's a Plane...

...It's Super-Owen.

(There is no story behind this picture- I just really like it and want to share.)

August...ugh

Here's the deal with this picture: the look on Ava's face illustrates my feelings about the month of August, while the look on Olivia's face shows how I will feel when August is over. That's right, I strongly dislike August. It, along with January and February, are my least favorite months. Why is August so bad? Well, to begin with there is absolutely nothing fun that happens in August. Let's look at the facts: 1. There are no holidays 2. The fall TV season hasn't started yet- so there is nothing good on TV. 3. Football season hasn't started yet. 4. It's too hot to do much outside and even if it cools down, the mosquitos are still bad. 5. School and college start back, so all of the stress related to work returns. Although this stress will last all year, it is especially rough in August because you are coming out of a stress-free summer.

You may have noticed that I haven't updated my blog all month. The reason for this is that we have done nothing interesting all month. Since it has been such a while, I think I'll give a quick update on what everyone has been doing. I'll start with Brian. He has been working hard at Toys R Us. They are re-setting the store, so he has been focused on that. He is also itching for football season to begin and he has already joined several fantasy football leagues. I have been working hard at school and have been spending my weekends working on my dissertation. It is not going quickly- I actually think that it is going to take me forever to write this thing.

Olivia is still as sweet as ever. She got promoted to the "nursery 2" class at Sunday School. Gigi has been filling in for the regular teacher while she recovers from a medical procedure, so Olivia has done well in the new class so far. We'll see how things go when the regular teacher returns. After church last Sunday, I took Olivia to the local children's theater to see "Alice in Wonderland". Hannah and Ava came, too (that's where the picture on this post was taken). Although the play was too long and really weird, Olivia liked it and has been talking about it all week. I think that the Queen of Hearts made the biggest impression. I don't know what it is with Olivia liking the bad guys. And, yes, she still wants an "Ursula" cake for her birthday.

Owen is so easy-going. He adjusted to daycare in no time (it took Olivia over 3 weeks). He is just growing too fast. He has started identifying animals, and we are considering moving him to his big-boy bed. I'm trying to enjoy these baby days because I know that they'll be gone before I realize it.

Remy and Reecee (who we now refer to as the "thousand dollar dog" because of all the medical expenses) are also doing well. Reecee's wound is still not healing like we would like. The vet told my daddy that she could probably live with that big ole hole in her side. It's looking like she may just have to do that. The kids love her, and she is a good dog. I hope she continues to do well because I don't want to have to put her down.

I guess that covers everything that has been happening around here. I'm happy that August is all but over, and I hope that September brings more interesting news.

Another Year Begins

After a very short summer, school has begun once again. For me, this is more of a "beginning" to the year than is Jan. 1st. Along with new classes and students, I also make new resolutions that I sincerely hope to keep (like turning in my lesson plans on time). Even though the kids are too young to attend formal school, this is still a beginning for them, too because they get to move up to the next class in daycare. Speaking of daycare- you may recall that the kids' old daycare closed in May, so we have had to start at a new place. Owen had no problem adjusting, but Olivia has had a little bit of trouble. Thankfully, it is getting a little better for her every day. Here are some pictures of the kids on their "first" day of the new school year. I am also posting a picture of Bailey, who is riding to school with me again this year.

Quarno "Cook"-out

My Aunt and Uncle from Delaware and my cousin from Germany have been visiting for the past several days. Yesterday we all got together for a cook-out at my sister's house to catch up. Here are five things that I discovered during the course of the evening: 1) Zachary is now taller than me, 2) I'm apparently the last person on Earth without a facebook account (which I now have), 3) you are never too old to jump on a trampoline, 4) if you need a puppy, go to Hannah's house, and 5) it's great to see family. Okay- so I already knew the last one to be true, but it's good to be reminded. I hope that Aunt Connie, Uncle Mike, Pam, and the kids have a good time at Disney, and I look forward to seeing them again soon.

Fort George Island Segway Tour

It always happens that we are at the beach during Brian's birthday. For me, time doesn't really exist at the beach, which may explain why I forgot Brian's birthday last year. Yes, I felt terrible for forgetting and have continued feeling bad because Brian hasn't let me live it down. I thought that I should really try to do something special this year to make up for last year. After a lot of searching on the Internet, I came up with the perfect thing: a Segway tour on Fort George Island. I thought it would be neat, but "neat" doesn't quite do the experience justice- it was awesome! I never knew a Segway was so much fun. The tour lasted two hours and went off-road onto the paths of Fort George Island. We had earpieces on under our helmets so that we could hear the tour guide. The history of the island was pretty interesting, and I found myself acutally paying attention (a lot of times I don't on guided tours). About half-way through the tour, we stopped at the Kingsley Plantation, the oldest plantation still standing in Florida. We walked around for about twenty minutes, and saw the grounds- which were beautifully situated on the Fort George Inlet. After our visit to the plantation, we hopped back on the Segways and completed the last leg of the tour.



I was surprised by how easy the machines were to operate. Before the tour, we had to go through a 15-minute training course to learn how to ride them. It's funny because there is no button or pedal to make the Segway go- you have to use your body's center of gravity. So, you lean forward to go straight, and you lean backward to back up. There was one handle of side that made you turn and there was one button to turn the machine off and on. Other than that- operating it was all about your balance. Of course, the tour operators made sure that we could do the basic maneuvers- including weaving in and out of cones- before we began. I tended to be cautious; Brian- not so much. He was zipping around on that thing and leaving the rest of us trainees in a cloud of dust. I know that he had a lot of fun. Hopefully this will make up for me forgetting his birthday last year and he'll quit giving me grief about it.

Beach Vacation 09

We had a great time this year during our annual beach vacation. Like always, we stayed at Amelia-by-the-Sea. The kids enjoyed playing on the beach, pier, and in the pool. With five kids age 3 and under, there was never a dull moment. Owen spent most of his beach time digging in the sand and collecting seashells. It took him a while to get use to the ocean, but once he did, he spent hours playing in the shallows. Even though Olivia had loved the beach last year, it took her a day or two to adjust to it this year. As a matter of fact, for the first entire day she kept trying to leave and walk back up to the condo. I think that she was scared of the waves. After a few days she got used to it, and then she even started liking the ocean. By the end of the week she was playing and having a big time. Here are some of my favorite pictures of this year's trip.

Fireworks on the Fourth

This evening we went to Waycross to watch the fireworks. We met up with Hannah, Kelly, and the girls at our "usual" spot. Mr. and Mrs. Murray also came, and they were prepared. They brought drinks, popcorn, and boiled peanuts. I think that Owen and Olivia were more excited to have the snacks than they were to watch the fireworks. The show was pretty good this year, and the kids seemed to enjoy it. I am only posting a few of the many pictures that I took. I had to delete a lot of them because it is really hard to get a good picture of fireworks (for me anyway- Brian had better luck).