To Mississippi and Back: Part 3 "At the Aquarium"

Camp ended Friday morning, one week after we had left home.  The sad goodbye that we had with all of our new friends was softened by the expectation of 'next year' and our fun plans for that day.  We drove back to Atlanta and spent an awesome afternoon at the Georgia Aquarium!  It was a very different experience from our own Baltimore aquarium and I couldn't say which one I like better.  The Georgia one is smaller, but features many large tanks where you are encouraged to sit and watch these enormous viewing areas.  They also are the only aquarium in America to have whale sharks!  It was amazing to watch these 3 large plankton-eating sharks swim around in their huge tank.  Personally, I enjoyed a small side display that chronicled the whale sharks being shipped to the aquarium via UPS!  "What can brown do for you?", indeed!!

Our admission came with tickets to see the dolphin show which incorporated the usual dolphin tricks into a small broadway-type musical performance.  The trainers spent a great deal of time in the water with the dolphins which I hadn't seen recently and was definitely a fun addition!

That night we drove just outside of the city and stayed with Steve's aunt.  Aunt Judy had dinner ready for us when we got in and then she prepared a huge breakfast spread in the morning before sending us off for our drive back to Durham.  In Durham, we reluctantly traded in our rental van and picked up our own transportation again.  Unfortunately, although we timed our entrance into that night's hotel perfectly, Zach came down with a fever and was not interested in the swimming and poolside dinner that we had planned.  So while Zach slept on a lounge chair, Marcus and Eli expended all their excess energy in the pool!

Sunday morning we were off again, this time to meet up with my family at the beach!

The underside of the whale shark swimming
over our heads in the tunnel!

To Mississippi and Back: Part 2 "Lake Forest Ranch"

After a semi-successful execution of another hotel night outside of Atlanta, we loaded up and drove to Alabama.  (I could do a whole post on the joys of staying in a hotel with small children who have ridden in a car for many hours--but all I will say is that I don't think we were favorably looked upon by our neighbors...  Our entries were loud and late at night and alway ended with someone crying loudly.) We stopped in Tuscaloosa for some southern ribs at the original Dreamland location, which definitely looked as sketchy as the neighborhood where it was located.  This place had no windows and the inside was dark and had walls and ceiling covered with license plates.  They only serve ribs, sausage and white Wonder bread but everything was delicious and absolutely worth the stop!

An actual Marcus smile!!

After our finger-lickin' lunch, we drove the final leg to the camp (4 hours total that day)!  We spent a wonderful time at LFR making many new friends!  The majority of the kids at camp were high-school age campers, but there are many families who live there year round with children of similar ages as our family.  This little crew of kids ran around together, commandeered a table to themselves in the cafeteria and spent many hours fishing, swimming, and exploring the lakeside.  Zach loved the sudden freedom to do these things without mom watching him all the time.  For me, there were many hours spent on the porch in rocking chairs visiting with the other parents of the LFR kid gang.

Steve was able to share the messages that the Lord had given him throughout the year, and I really enjoyed hearing them presented instead of only second-hand!

To Mississippi and Back!

It's a parasaurolophus--can't you see the head crest!

After much anticipation, we have finally traveled to Mississippi for Steve's 12th year speaking at Lake Forest Ranch.  It is the first time Marcus has ever gone and it has been 5 years since Zach, Eli and I have gone.  The boys had been looking forward to the trip all year and with our beach vacation schedule right afterwards, we made it one long 2 week journey.

It began Friday afternoon, June 5th.  Steve came home at lunch and the boys and I had: everything packed, the van loaded, frogs fed, bunny and plants taken care of-- and we were ready to go!  That night we drove to Durham, NC (6 hours) and picked up our rental van (a huge luxury compared to our old, high mileage van) and stayed the night in a hotel.  The next morning we took the time to go to the Museum of Life and Science.  We spent a very hot morning looking at butterflies in the arboretum, taking a dinosaur walk, sailing remote sailboats, and taking a short train ride.  The butterfly arboretum was a real treat since we had studied butterflies in great detail this year.  We timed our visit during the daily butterfly release (which is when the newly emerged butterflies get to join the others in the arboretum).  These 'baby' butterflies tired quickly which meant that each one of us (including small family members who don't like to hold still) got to have at least one perch on our fingers!  Steve had many, many butterflies land on his brightly colored hat during our visit, which, alas, shows that the butterflies do not have discerning taste--or at least not in football teams.

By 2pm we were on the road again having spent a lot of pent up energy and ready to face another 6 hour drive to Atlanta, GA!

May adventures

Before we head out for our long road trip to Mississippi and the Outer Banks, I thought I should probably post some pictures from our May adventures.  We have finished up school (Hurray!), been strawberry picking twice, attended a Shorebirds game and had dinner on Yia yia and Papa's sailboat.

The boat may have been the favorite as the boys enjoyed exploring every inch of the boat.  My father grilled chicken and we all squeezed into the cabin for a cozy dinner, then we took a short jaunt out into the Nanticoke River.  The highlight came when each child was able to successfully use 'the head' (they are boys after all)!

Baseball wind-down

As we gear up for summer, here are some pictures from our spring baseball seasons.  Both of my older boys really enjoyed playing and being with their teams.  Zach was outstanding in the field and even assisted in a triple play! (He got 2 out of the 3 outs-caught a high pop, tagged first and then threw to second!!)  Eli continues to be a natural on the field, his coach was nervous to pitch standing so close to him.

I didn't bring my camera until Eli's last game of the season and I had to planned to do the same for Zach's--but unfortunately, it was rained out and we will be away for its rescheduled date.  I will need to grab him for some action shots in the yard.

Big guy birthdays

This guy turned 3 years old on Saturday.

Marcus has a lot of promises to fulfill now that he is three, such as: using the potty, no longer hitting or calling anyone 'stupid'.  I am skeptical that these things will actually take place in the immediate future. (sigh)  

While there are many big-guy behaviors that I hope come sooner rather then later, there are some that I don't want him to phase out of.  My favorite expressions are: "My love you" and "Can I be full?" (when he wants to be done with dinner).  Marcus loves to tease.  He has to 'beat' you going up the stairs, and down the stairs, and into his bedroom, and into the bathroom.....  He wipes off almost every kiss he receives.  And he and Steve always play-fight over baths versus showers; Marcus loudly declaring, "My take bath.  Shower's are crushy!"  This precious, exhausting baby, toddler, preschooler(???) loves chewing gum, making funny faces, playing baseball, sleeping with a blanket over his face, and keeping up with his brothers.  We are learning to parent this extremely determined child, who never ever forgets what he has been denied.

On the front lawn

No.  He is not playing hide-n-seek.
(Yes, he does play hide-n-seek by covering his eyes only!)
No, he did not have a late night.
No, he is not sick.
No, he is not pretending.
He is sound asleep.  In his glove.  During a game.

Yes, apparently he needed a nap.

Next Stop: Fenway Park

Last month brought us back to the Newport area for a family wedding--and when you're in Newport, you're only 1 hour away from Boston, which proved to be too close without making a detour to Fenway Park!  The Red Sox were kind enough to at least win the game we attended which made the whole long day (plus the bleacher climb to the last-row-possible-while still-in-the-park), worth it!  We dragged Steve's mom and his brother, John along with us since they were riding in our car and we had to assist Lillian up all those steps (we didn't consider this aspect when purchasing our last-minute tickets).  Once seated we informed her that she couldn't leave her seat until the end of the game.

After the game, we did actually arrive at our intended destination and enjoyed a beautiful wedding in Newport!

Photo credit: Paul Greenlee

One thumb, two thumbs. Where is my thumb?

Last week, during a rapid fire exchange at dinner, Steve gave Marcus a 'thumbs up'.  Marcus quickly tried to respond in kind by pointing his index finger at Steve.  After some smiles and reminiscing about how Eli used to do this, I gave Marcus another 'thumbs up' and asked if he could do it?  He stared intently as his fist, lifting each finger multiple times and then rejected them as 'the right one'.  Finally, he tried his thumb and held it up triumphantly as if to say, "I found it!"

Unfortunately, I did not catch his first thumb discovery on video and the subsequent requests were accomplished much more quickly, but this little video will give you the general idea.

Hard Work

We received a few more inches of sloppy, wet snow yesterday and after homeschool we went outside to start clearing it off of the driveways and steps.  Lillian entertained the boys by building a snowman while I worked their snowblower(!!)--which beats shoveling any day of the week!  We were only outside for an hour and a half but when I was done I found this sight waiting for me at the door in the garage:

Here is a picture of the snowman that was apparently very exhausting to build (Please enjoy the missing nose-Zach ate it, and the egg eyes!!):

And this picture is just because he is so cute!

A Snowy Valentine

This February has provided us with plenty of unusually cold days and snow!  We started our Valentines Weekend by going to visit our friends, the Nelsons, where we had -4 degree highs! and plenty of snow and sledding for the stout of heart (which most of us finally enjoyed this year...except for Marcus...oh well).  We came home to more of the same (except for the sledding part) and now....enough snow.... I am ready for spring!

Stamping our Valentines for Co-op

Sledding!