Pizza and Ft. Pickens

We made home made pizzas on Father's Day and it was so good, we decided to make them again for lunch today. Instead of putting them in the oven, we put them on the grill. I will only be grilling pizza from now on. It was amazing!!!

After lunch, I some how managed to talk my parents into driving out to the beach with us to spend some time enjoying the sand and sun. We've taken the kids to the beach many times, but it's always been cold or they were too young to get in the water. The kids have never gotten anything in the water other than their toes. Today was a new adventure.

My Dad seemed to enjoy his spot under the umbrella

Jaelyn enjoying the water and the sand
My Mom helping the kids get their legs wet

Caden built himself a sound "mound"

Allie serving a sand pie

I took the kids into the water to enjoy the waves. Don't worry...I was on my knees and the kids had their feet on the sand the whole time.

Caden loved the waves crashing around us

Kelly, Caden, Allie and Jaelyn

Time To Scroll

I've spent the afternoon catching up my blog. I've added things by date so you might need to scroll down to read all the new news!

Big Kahunas

Of all the things we've done since we've been here, Friday was the one day I wished I could have taken my camera. Friday morning, we met my best friend, Jennifer, and her 4 children at Big Kahunas Water Park in Destin. We had an unbelievably amazing time. I was planning for us to stay till 3:30, maybe 4 at the latest. At 5:30, we finally decided it was time to go and that was only because I knew I had a 2 hour drive back to Pensacola and didn't want crabby kids. We slid down the water slides, Allie surfed the waves, we floated around the lazy river, we played in the kiddie area...we did it all and then we did it again. I really don't have the words to tell you how wonderful it was. Even though Jennifer's girls are older than my kids, they buddied up and took care of them. Jackson had a ball picking on Jaelyn and Brody was just Brode-Man, having a blast along with us. Thanks for coming down and meeting us, Jennifer. We came home tan, happy and tired!

Playing in the Backyard

We are continuing to love Grandma and Grandpa's yard. I miss, miss, miss the kids having a large area to play. Caden has turned into a little monkey and loves hanging out in the trees.

We discovered a sparrow's nest in the Chaste Tree. Jaelyn was in charge of googling bird's eggs to identify them. The nest had 4 eggs the first time, a few days later only 3 and now there are 2. My dad thinks a snakes is climbing the trees as well.

Allie is turning into a little artist as she paints the fence. Our fence is stained at home so we haven't gotten to do this fun summer activity in a long time. Between Jaelyn and Allie, the entire length of the fence got "painted."

Blooms on the Chaste Tree

Double Day Lilies

Jaelyn's Oops

We are trying to teach Jaelyn about responsibility. Unfortunately, there are some lessons, you just have to learn yourself. Jaelyn had one of those lessons last week. Tuesday morning, Jaelyn wanted to take a picture. She hunted and hunted for her camera, but she couldn't find it. The last picture she remembered taking was outside Monday afternoon...before the thunderstorm that continued through Wednesday. I sent her outside with an umbrella, but she had no luck finding it. I went out next and found it sitting in a lawn chair filled with water.



We left her camera in a bag of rice and when we got back from Destin yesterday, it was all dried out and working again!! Jaelyn is a lucky little girl because I was not replacing her very expensive for a 7 year old camera!

The Gulfarium

Fort Walton Beach has this place called the Gulfarium. My mom says I went when I was very young, but I don't remember it. I've never been as an adult, but thought it might be a place the kids would enjoy. Caleb and Grandmother met us there on Thursday. We had a few stops and starts on the way to the Gulfarium with my keys and a locked car, but it all worked out without help from roadside assistance thankfully. We made it just in time to see the first Sea Lion show.

I wish I could say the shows were awesome and the facilities wonderful, but I can't. The Gulfarium is old and run down. After you've been to places like SeaWorld or the National Aquarium near us, the Gulfarium just doesn't compare. The kids enjoyed it though and that's all that mattered.

We did enjoy the dolphin show once it got started (everything was at least 10 minutes late starting so take that into account if you ever go). Again, not anywhere near as good as the dolphin show at SeaWorld, but the kids ohhh'ed and ahhh'ed as the dolphins flipped around the pool.

I loved this penguin. He stood and stared at all the people as if to say "here I am...feed me." He must get fed a lot. The other penguins were hanging out under some rocks in the shade.

I love this picture of Caleb riding his little Ducky! We had a good time with him. After the Gulfarium, they came back to our hotel and the kids spent about 2 hours in the pool swimming together.

A Night at the Beach

The kids and I drove down to Destin on Wednesday to spend a few evenings with Dan. We played in the pool until he got home from his class and then we had dinner at Longhorn (it's all about the food, remember?). After dinner, we changed into our bathing suits and headed to the beach. As we were getting set up on the beach, someone came over to tell us to watch the kids near the water because there were tar balls everywhere. It looked like a small animal pooped all along the beach and in the water. TMI I know, but ewwww....it is so sad. With every article I read, it gets worse. The pictures from Pensacola Beach on Thursday were horrible and there's no end in sight.

Dan and I relaxed while the kids played in the sand. The weather was perfect and no one seemed to mind that they couldn't get in the water. The kids had a ball playing in the sand and burying each other.

Bass Pro Summer Camp

We had the BEST time today (I know I keep saying that). I recently saw an advertisement for Bass Pro Shop's Summer Camp. We headed back to Malbis today to meet Grandmother and cousin Caleb. We did several activities today. We attented 3 different "workshops" on fishing, archery and animal identification. I'd like to go back and let the kids go through the camping, plant and insect identification and hiking. After listening to a little 20 minute talk, they received pins sort of like our girl scout try-its. You should have heard my kids explaining animal "skat" to my parents over dinner. Skat is poop encase you didn't know. Hilarious.


Outside, they had areas to practice castings and to shoot a BB gun and a compound bow. Caleb, Allie and Caden shot the bow first. Allie and Caden both hit the target. I was impressed.

Allie's arrow is the one on the far left and the one in the middle. Caden's arrow is the one towards the right.
While waiting in line to shoot, the kids practiced casting their lines.
Normally, you have to pay to use the shooting gallery. We never do it, but it was free today so the kids had fun shooting the little targets. Caden weighs as much the gun so he struggled to hold it just a little.Our last activity was BB gun shooting and that was SCARY. No one hit the target and Allie was pointing all over the place. I know the guy running it was glad to have us leave for the day.

Minus Two

We had the BEST week with Nick and Jared. It was crazy, crazy at times with 5 kids ages 5, 7, 7, 8 and 12 and really loud, but this morning was a little too quiet. Chad and Karen, my brother and sister in law, came yesterday to have dinner with us (home-made pizza Kendra style) and then took the boys home. We'll miss you boys. Thanks for letting them come, Karen!

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all the men in my life. We started out by letting Dan open his present. I was so proud of myself.

Dan collects pockets knives for anyone who doesn't know. He is a snob and only collects really fancy, expensive knives of a certain brand. I'm constantly complaining about this hobby. It's expensive and pointless to me. He keeps the knives locked in a lock box and he can only carry 1 at a time. Does he really need 20 others in a box??? His answer would emphatically be "YES!" :p Anyway, his computer wallpaper is a collection of 6 new knives he wants. He's facebook friends with his spyderco sales rep so I sent her a message to see if any of the 6 are available. One was just released and she ordered it for me at his almost 50% discount. I'll have to remember to thank him for all the money he's saving us with his discount. The next week, she emailed me and told me Dan had emailed to order the same knife. Ughhh. She was awesome and told him it was backordered for a few weeks. He loves his new knife!

We had lunch with Dan's family. His dad made us fried chicken and NO ONE fries chicken like Larry. Caden even gave it a thumb's up and if you know Caden well, that's the ultimate compliment. We are looking forward to a trip to the Gulfarium with cousin Caleb this week and then cheering him on at a baseball game next week.

Dan headed back to Destin after lunch and Nick and Jared went home :(. I put my kids to bed at 7:15. They so need a good night's sleep.

Playing at the Base

One of my favorite Pensacola destinations in the Naval Air Station. I love to take the kids and let them run through Ft. Barrancas. It was hot, but they had a great time.

Jaelyn, Nick, Grandma, Kelly, Nick, Allie, Dan, Caden and Grandpa

Monkey Jaelyn is the perfect size to climb the walls. I think I'd climb the walls if I had to be a Civil Way soldier fighting inside this claustrophibic fort.

If only we could lock them in for real :pAfter tiring ourselves out at the fort, we headed for air conditioning and cockpits.Dad always gets excited at the museum. He took serial numbers pictures of the types of planes he flew to compare to his flight logs. Who knows...maybe one of the planes my Dad flew is now in our museum.

We had a great time. The only downer was driving past the water and seeing the skimmers and booms out. The sign "Beach Closed Until Further Notice." Sad!

Late Night Kaboodl

This video needs an explanation most likely, but I'll have to add it later :). We are on our way to fly with the Blue Angels (well, not really, but we are heading to the museum.)

Here's the explanation; although I'm sure this is one of those late night activities that is funnier while it is happening than later when everyone has had plenty of sleep.

My mom bought this crazy game called Kaboodl, but has never played it. I got out the directions and decided we'd play it. This was after we'd had some issues with Clue and I'd run Dan off because he called my strategy stupid (well, he didn't say it was stupid, but he thought it!!!) Anyway, it was late and we were tired. We started laughing while kwilding and kabamming each other's kaboodls and kaboshing the kabams. It got very hilarious very quickly. I was laughing so hard I had tears running down my face. Jared kept slobbering everywhere from his laughter. It was awesome and a great memory. If you see this game somewhere, you should grab it. It's loads of fun and slightly educational.

Happy Birthday Dad!

My Dad turned 65 today. I took Allie to visit Dr. Karen and Baba who was working to get some advice about Allie's teeth and then I got all 5 kids and took them to Walmart. It was quite the adventure. I think it deserves a T-Shirt..."I shopped with 5 kids and SURVIVED!" Wow and I thought 3 was an adventure. We bought a cake mix, icing and birthday decorations. After lunch, we sent my Dad to the garage to work on his carving and the kids and I got to work. Everyone helped with mixing cupcake batter and blowing up balloons. There's nothing like tying slobbery balloons 7 year olds blew up. Next, we strung crepe paper all around the living room. Jared was kind enough to hold the rolling chair I was standing in while I was lecturing "Don't even do this on your own. It's not safe." When we were all ready, Nick, my hilarious 8 year old nephew, ran into the garage and told Dad to hurry and help because the house was on fire. 3 minutes later, he casually came in and the kids screamed "happy birthday" to him. It was perfect. We had our own little party for him with his Grandkids before my kids had to go to Grandmother's for a slumber party. Happy Birthday, Dad!

The Referee

Guest Blogger Entry by The Jae-Byrd (can you tell Junie B. Jones is still a favorite - sounds just like her)

Last night Jared was the referee and came in to our room to say , ''I will get a plain and put you on it with the car. I will throw the car out with you going home." Then he made deials about him me and Caden and was a lier. I didn't care beacase any ways why would he do that to his cosand. I dont know at all so that is why I dont care. I bet he would not be aloud to ither but he said he would! Finilly me and Caden screamed for BaBa and she did not come. Nither did the refery. So finilly...I got to sleep! Yes finilly!!!!

My Guest Blogger ~ Dictator J

My aunt missed the evil dictator that came to visit. My cousins were acting like little ragga muffins in the middle of the night. They yelled, screamed, cried and tormented everything in their path. Luckily we had the aid of the almighty and powerful, Dictator J. He opened the door to their bedroom and cracked his mighty, verbal whip. With a cold scold, he threatened to pack my poor cousins on a plane back home, with the mini van. He told them that Grandma was old and tired. I was sad. The End.

My Night Away

I had a truly wonderful lunch with my friends, Nancy and Kathy, before heading to Destin yesterday. It was so good to catch up with them. It doesn't seem like that long ago that I worked with them, but it has been. Their youngest daughters were Jaelyn's age when I met them and they are college aged now. Time flies, they tell me!

The drive over was uneventful and I had perfect timing. I beat Dan to his hotel by about 2 minutes. We had an okay seafood dinner at Captain Dave's before looking for a few geocaches. I know, it's becoming an obsession, but it's fun and something to do together which is the most important thing to me. We found 3 geocaches - 2 were those teeny tiny wickedly small micro-caches and the other was at the top of a sand dune. Do you know how hard it is to climb a sand dune in sandals??? It was a fun date night.

Look at Dan's hand...that's a micro-cache!

One cache led us to this really cool plam tree. It looks like it fell over and then refused to die.

We walked on the beach after dinner. We saw some pretty cool sand castles. This one was my favorite ~ it's the onion domes. They remind me of Russia.There is NOTHING like Florida sand. There's white sand at the beach we go to in Delaware, but it's coarse and grainy. You can't sink you feet into it like this soft, white sand.

Today, Dan's morning started at 5 which means mine started at 5 as well when his alarm and his light in my eyes got me up. He went to school and I headed for a morning walk on the beach with my camera. I was hoping to collect a few sea shells, but I didn't find any good ones. I was tired, but I really enjoyed my early morning walk. Watching the rising sun sparkle off the water is one of those God things. How can you see that and not believe there's a God who created it?

This sand castle survived high tide last night.

The clouds were awesome this morning...I love this wave cloud mimmicing the water wave crashing on the beach.

Thankfully, the oil hasn't hit Destin and the beaches are pristine. Pensacola Beach has not faired as well.

After my walk, I picked up breakfast. I couldn't believe I had been in Pensacola for 5 days and had not even thought about Krispy Kreme once until I drove past it on the beach road.

The kids didn't seem to appreciate their hats as much as I thought they would....hmmm...maybe I should have brought them some donuts too :)!