Our Summer Trip to Cullman

Audrey, Claire and I made our summer trip to Cullman during the first week of June. Unfortunately, Brock was in Tokyo on business and wasn't able to make the trip with us. But the trip was still a lot of fun - feeding the ducks at Sportsman Lake, making BIG splashes in Pawpaw's creek, swimming at Uncle Steve's, feeding the animals on the farm, an exciting trip to the Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville and an awesome family cookout at Gramma and Pop's. I won't get too involved in details about everything, but I will share LOTS of photos from the trip...

Sportsman Lake Park with PawPaw



Rock Throwing from PawPaw's Bridge


Swimming at Uncle Steve's

Audrey and Claire loved swimming with Marty (my cousin Jennifer's husband). They are expecting their first child in August so this was good practice! :)

Space & Rocket Center with Gramma

Audrey tried the rock wall climbing exhibit at the Space Center too and she LOVED it!

Our Day at the Cason Farm
(My Grandmother Cason's)


A Photo Shoot with PawPaw


Family Cookout at Gramma and Pop's

Unfortunately we didn't get any photos... :(
But we did have a lot of fun, especially the game of kickball in the front yard!

Audrey's Piano Compositions

Audrey has always had a love of music. But she really enjoys the piano. She began playing the piano three years ago in Kindergarten. We found her current teacher, Ms. Donna, two years ago and Audrey loves her. Ms. Donna is very encouraging and has a unique approach to teaching - a mix of classical and freestyle. Audrey is encouraged to compose her own music and has risen remarkably to the challenge. The video below is a compilation of three of Audrey's compositions plus her favorite song - "The Star-Spangled Banner".

Enjoy!

Hello 30!

Today is a big day... for me at least... Today I turn 30! I have had mixed feelings about 30 for a while - 30 is old, or so Audrey tells me - 30 isn't even halfway - 30 is the new 20 - you get the idea. So now I have come to the conclusion that 30 is not as bad as I have feared. After all when I look at my twenties, I realize that they have been unforgettable. So many wonderful things happened in my twenties... I married the love of my life! I graduated college! I became a MOM - the best blessing ever! I moved to Denver with my little family of three. I realized that with my husband I could do whatever I set my mind to do. I learned that I could be a fabulous mom. Later, I moved to Florida and with another tiny addition, I had my perfect little family of four. I visited lots of wonderful places including a fairytale trip to Paris. It's extraordinary to know that I am among a very limited group of people (mainly kings and queens) who can say that they celebrated their birthday with 600+ guests at a gala party at the Castle de Versailles. So when I think about what my twenties gave to me I feel very, very blessed and if my thirties are even half as good to me then I will be a very lucky woman! So bring it on 30! I am ready for you!!! :)

Up to Date!!!

Okay! So, I have finally gotten everything up to date. I feel much better about myself and my blogging abilities. :) I hope that you enjoy the newest entries which have been "backdated" to be true to their actual date. The new entries include:

Simply Egg-tastic (April)
A Musical Evening (April)
Island Camping (May)
Audrey's First Surf (May)
Claire's First Surf (May)

I hope that you enjoy the entries and keep coming back for more exciting snip-its of our family life!

Horrible Blogger Alert!!!

I must apologize because I have been a very BAD blogger lately!!! Not to make excuses for myself, but we have been really busy and our computer needed some TLC. Now that the latter is remedied (because with two children I know the former will never slow down), I hope to be better with my posts. I am adding new posts of things that have been happening and "backdating" them so that they are true to the date. So if you haven't checked out this blog in a while, you probably haven't noticed my lack of posts. But for those of you who have been checking it out and not getting anything new, please know that I am going to do better... much better. So go back a few posts and catch up on the fun and crazy snip-its of our family life!

Claire's First Surf

While Claire isn't quite big enough to surf yet, that didn't stop her from getting in on the fun. She used the boogie board and made her own style. At first, Brock took her out a short distance and let her coast back toward shore. Although she squealed with delight and said it was "so much fun", she wasn't ready to go back out. She sat with me and we watched Audrey surf. Then she made big sand piles, sorry, castles and got really upset when the waves took them away. When we were starting to finish with everything, Claire decided she wanted one more go with the boogie board. However, this time going to the waves was not on the agenda. As everyone knows, if you are a princess (or a stubborn three-year-old) then things should come to you. This was Claire's approach to her final boogie board surf. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words, or in this case, a video...

Audrey's First Surf

Living minutes from the beach, I knew that this day would come... eventually... We have watched people surf the waves at Cocoa Beach since we moved here four years ago and every time Audrey would tell us how much she wanted to learn to do it.

Well, today was Audrey's first day of surfing. Our neighbor, Justin, had volunteered to teach her how to surf and Audrey was over the moon with excitement. While she didn't stand on the board or even kneel, lying down on her tummy was a good beginner position. She went out a few times with Justin and Brock. They would help her line up her board and then help her onto it and send her toward shore with the next wave. She was a bit nervous (as expected) with the bigger waves and clung to Brock's arm a few times. That said, the waves were never above her head - they just looked "big and scary" to her. She came in and said that she wasn't going back out. She was cold and tired. So not wanting to be the pushy parent, I let her build in the sand with Claire for a while. Then, on her own, she got up, grabbed her board and headed out to try it by herself. It was a very proud moment! She didn't go out quite as far as she did with Brock and Justin, but she went out alone and that was a huge step in itself. She was very proud of herself and you could tell that she was beginning to relax a bit in the water. She is really excited to go back again soon.

Enjoy some photos and a short video from the big day...

Justin and Brock lining up Audrey for her next wave


Surfing toward the shore


She had lots of fun!


Audrey in action...