Honor Society

We are so proud of our little Olivia.  She works very hard at school, and her hard work has paid off. She was invited to join the National Elementary Honor Society.  Brian and I attended the induction ceremony and reception. Olivia was all smiles as she received her pin, certificate, and signed the book.  We hope that she keeps her love of learning.

Science Fair

Olivia participated in the region science fair this year.  Her project tested the flammability of common household beauty products.  She worked really hard and earned a second place ribbon.  Olivia got to miss a day of school to travel to the science fair.  During the judging, the students were able to go to two different "wacky science" shows.  Olivia enjoyed her day and is already planning to participate again next year.

The Beach Boys

 Two summers ago I decided to get into that summer spirit by popping my Beach Boys Greatest Hits CD into the car.  From that moment on, my children have been obsessed with the Beach Boys.  They are the kids' favorite band, and the kids know the lyrics to most of the songs on the CD.  When I saw that the band was coming to Jacksonville, I had to get tickets.  The big night came and we, along with Gigi and Papa, headed to the show.  It was really good.  The band played for about three hours and covered all of our favorites.  Both Owen's and Olivia's favorite songs (Kokomo and Fun, Fun, Fun) came toward the end.  We got home late, but it was worth it.

Christmas Visit to Wild Adventures

 Here it is the end of 2016, and we still haven't used our "Bring-a-Friend" tickets to Wild Adventures.  To rectify this, we took a trip today with some friends of ours.  I could not believe how busy the park was.  I guess a lot of other people had the same idea that we had.  We usually only get passes every other year, but we've decided to go ahead and renew for next year because: (1) Owen's 3rd grade field trip will be going here and this will save us money on the tickets, (2) three of the concerts for next summer have been announced and there is one that I would definitely like to see, and (3) they are adding a new section to the water park and it looks like something that we would be interested in.  So, it's so long to Wild Adventures until the Spring- and then another year of fun.  Whoo-hoo!

Day Trip to Jekyll

While the guys stayed home to watch football, the kids and I took Nana on a tour of Jekyll Island.  Our first stop was the Sea Turtle Center.  We were able to see some of the turtles receiving care and we even had one of the workers talk to us for about ten minutes about some of the patients and other common issues they see at the center.  It was very interesting, and Barb especially seemed to enjoy it.

 After leaving the Sea Turtle Center, we drove around the historic district and had lunch in the grand dining room at the Jekyll Island Club Hotel.

 Of course no trip to Jekyll would be complete without a stop at  Driftwood Beach.  It was so foggy on this side of the island that we could hardly see anything.  I was disappointed because I really wanted Barb to see how neat the beach was.  I figured that pictures wouldn't turn out well due to the fog, so I only took a few.  As it turns out, the fog made the pictures look eerie and interesting.  I wish I had taken more.

The kids were insistent that we let them go down to the beach.  So, this was our last stop.  I knew what was going to happen, and sure enough one of the kids (Owen) came back soaked.

El Castillo de San Marcos

 The Sanders family was planning to stay a visit for a few days following Christmas, so we decided to take them around and show them the sites.  Our first stop was one of my favorite cities, St. Augustine.  We ended up getting a late start and the city was the most crowded that I'd ever seen it, so we only ended up having enough time to visit the El Castillo de San Marcos (the fort) and to do a little eating and shopping on St. George St.  We drove all around the city looking for a parking spot, so I guess you could say that we also got a driving tour.

Christmas with the Sanders

 As I mentioned in the previous post, we hosted the Sanders' for Christmas this year.  This is the first Christmas that we've had the opportunity to spend with Brian's family, so it was really special.  The kids woke us up on Christmas morning so that we could see all of the wonderful gifts that Santa had delivered.  They received several new clothing items and a programmable robot.  Since Christmas fell on Sunday, we got dressed and attended the Sunday morning service.  Afterward, we returned to the house to prepare the lunch.  Since I knew there would be a short turn-around time between church and lunch, I ordered part of the meal from Walls and cooked the other half.  I thought it turned out pretty well.  

 After lunch we opened gifts.  We all received so many wonderful things.  I "went rogue" on a couple of gifts this year, but they were all well received.

 One of the "rogue" gifts was a bicycle for Brian.  He didn't ask for this, but he likes to ride the bike around the neighborhood with the kids so now he will be riding in style and comfort.

 The kids both received laptops from their daddy and I.  They have been using my laptop a lot this year to do various projects for school, so now they have a place of their own where they can do and store their work.

We spent the whole day at the house eating, chatting, and playing basketball.  It was a great day.