Bahamas 2010

I still don't have my other camera downloaded nor do I have photos from my sister in law but thought I would post a few of what I do have so far. We skipped the last day of school and flew to Nassau, Bahamas. From there we cruised for 11 days through the Bahamas on my parent's boat with them and my brother and his wife and two daughters. All ten of us on one boat for 11 days...I think it went pretty well!!! No one got thrown overboard! It was so beautiful and we had so much fun basically just swimming and beaching. Some islands had no buildings, some had a couple and one had a few more residents and an air strip.

First day - reunited with the cousins!

on the back deck one night

My sister in law and I still on the back deck!

On Fowl Cay where we took a water taxi for our only "fancy" dinner the whole trip. Lovely place.

If you look at the rope here...well, let's just say this did not end well for me.

Me and Husband#1 and Double A at Highbourne Cay...a private island with a marina and a store.

Me and my momma

Husband #1, me and Bumblebee taking a dinghy ride. The water was so clear everywhere you could see very deep...amazing sea life!

Husband #1 getting paddled around by Bumblebee in the kayak

T-Ball

Bumblebee played t-ball for the first time this year. Granted he is 5 and it was his first season, but Husband #1 and I are pretty sure this is not his game. We'll see what he wants to do next season. Keep in mind...I picked the photos where he was paying attention. I could do a whole other post with photos where he is facing the wrong way, waving his arms around, etc. He hated his hat because it "itched his head." He did like getting the team snack after the game was over!

Lucky Number 13

After the July 4th weekend festivities wrapped up Husband #1 and I jumped in the truck, left the kids behind and raced toward New Orleans before anyone caught on. Actually, it was pre-arranged but still fun! Monday July 5th was our 13th anniversary so we spent two nights in New Orleans being tourists. We ate all the seafood we could while it is still available non-oiled. We bought ourselves some art as our anniversary present.

We saw this street performer and at first glance he really looked like a construction worker until you noticed his ladder wasn't leaning on anything!

Where St. Louis meets Bourbon Street...literally and figuratively!!

Self portrait in front of St. Louis Cathedral in Jackson Square

Breakfast at Cafe du Monde!! Yummy beignets :)

Now we are home for almost two weeks without any children! I will drive down next week and pick them up and bring back my niece with us for a week long visit. We have various parties planned for this weekend and then I plan to strip the kitchen wallpaper next week. We have gone on trips without the kids but we have never spent time at home without them here. Well, there was a short period while we were packing to move here but that doesn't count since that whole two month period has been blocked out due to trauma :)

July 4th weekend

We traveled south for the July 4th weekend. Husband #1 had a family reunion in South Mississippi we attended on Saturday. It was held at his parents' cabin in the woods where they are building their forever home. We all agreed the reunion went very well and we got lucky on weather...no rain and not as hot and humid as it could have been. The next day we visited Husband #1's grandfather's grave for the first time. The kids had been asking about it and we wanted to see the stone and the military plaque. The kids put American flags on the grave on July 4th morning. Then we went to a mini, impromptu reunion for the other side of Husband #1's family.
Bumblebee with is crazy glasses from the pinata at the reunion...oh, and the prize possession, the pinata leg.

Double A putting a flag on her Greatdaddy's grave.

Us with Husband #1's parents and brother and sister at the reunion

Double A enjoying her lunch at the reunion

Bumblebee all decked out for the reunion. He does not have on his red, Cardinals "supervisor" in this photo but when he wears it he looks like he is ready for the pro golf tour!

Summer Zinnias

For the first time I can recall I have successfully grown something from seed. I chose zinnias in order to increase my success potential because I heard they were easy to grow. I decided to play around with my camera and take some photos of the blooms. I am pretty happy with the results of both!

Peter Pan

Just before the end of school Double A was in a first grade production of Peter Pan. She was a pirate and narrator. None of the parts had lines but instead they had about 25 narrators. All the kids sang songs and acted out their parts. I keep telling myself I will get the video on here but really have no idea how to do that and just haven't even tried yet!

She did a fantastic job as a narrator. She had tons of inflection and emotion in her voice, was loud enough and clear on the microphone. She was a cute, oops, a scary and mean pirate, too.

The pirate crew showing how mean and scary they are. LOOK OUT!!

A song at the end of the show that all the kids sang.

Double A doing her speaking part on the microphone. It was an adorable show and all of the children did a great job dancing, signing and memorizing lines. Amazing they were only first graders.

For the second show the next day at the school assembly Double A was so excited that she was chosen to give the thank you card to the piano player. Their class is lucky enough to have a student whose father is a professional piano player and has shows at the symphony hall and such, Peter Martin. He volunteered to practice with them and perform for the shows. Maybe one day I will get the video situation figured out :)

Camping - Update #3

So I have tons of new pictures to post here but am still playing catch up. Unlike some bloggers I know (looking at you TB) I am not post dating these and rather I am just owning up to being a slacker :).

My 700 pictures I just downloaded from ONE camera need to be sorted through and posted...after I download the gazillion on the "beach" camera and get the ones from my sister in law on her camera. Bahamas pictures are coming!!

This post is short and sweet (I think, just now starting it) with pictures and brief update from our Spring Break camping trip back in March. We arranged to meet our friends from Mississippi (and some of their friends) at a campground in Kentucky. It was tons of fun, even if it was chilly. We explored Mammoth Caverns, went horse back riding, fishing, roasted 400 pounds of marshmallows and just relaxed. One day we drove to the next large town for "provisions" after we discovered we were camping in a dry county. While we were there the older kids and dads toured the Corvette factory. Double A now wants an electric blue Corvette...her dad wants a black one. I told both of them to keep on dreaming the dream.

Unfortunately Husband #1 was only there three out of 7 days. He got called back to the hospital to do a pediatric liver transplant so had to go to the tiniest airport in Cave City, Kentucky and be flown home. We ended up leaving a day early since he was home alone and I was camping with two kids on my own and his birthday was the day we would have returned. We thought it would be nice to be home with him on his special day :)

Inside the cavern, on the ridiculously tight and steep stairwell going down in to the cave

all the kids on a hike on the hills above the caverns

My best bud and I in the cavern

Double A with the deer jaw bone we found at the river's edge while hiking. Other deer parts were claimed by other kids

all the kids down in the caverns
Husband #1 with Bumblebee (in his AWESOME miner's hat) and Double A. This was outside of a cave we went to that we rode in a boat through the cave. Saw bats inside and everything.
Reading around the campfire...this just made me smile. They also played flashlight tag and other fun games. They all stayed up WAY too late...so much so Double A kept waking up with stomachaches during the night and on the second or third night she even threw up. Once we started getting to bed earlier she was fine.

Our spring break is a wee bit too early for prime camping time, the weather is chillier than we would prefer and not all of the attractions are open in the tourist areas. We make do and have a great time anyway!