summer

Grandma's Marathon weekend was F U N fun at our house. I even took a few random pictures. Looky here...

Amy supervising giant marshmallow roasting. Clearly Steve does not know what he's doing (I just know that's what she's thinking - HA!)

Did I mention they were GIANT marshmallows???

How cute are little girls? Seriously cute.


You know you're a redneck when...you use the air compressor to get your fire started. Ok, this is probably not safe.


Ah summer....

run a 5K, check

I keep telling myself should make a bucket list of all the things I want to do before I die. Like writing them down will make me actually do them. I never actually follow through on the whole making of the list though. Probably because I'm just too lazy. Or maybe because I have more determination than I give myself credit. If I really want something, maybe I don't need a list...

List or no list, running a race was never on it. I'm not a runner. Then last summer Joe's cousin Jen highly encouraged me to take up running. This spring she asked me to join her in the William A. Irvin 5K. So I did. I know it's only a 5K, but I'm pretty proud of myself for setting a a goal that was difficult for me and sticking to it. I really hated the running, but really loved the feeling of accomplishment and having my family there cheering me on. I can still picture Gabe jumping out of the crowd waving and yelling like crazy when he saw me. It was really awesome.

Here's proof I did it, don't mind my lack of style.


Thanks for all your encouragement Jen, you rock! And make me laugh REALLY hard!


And no, I won't be running the Marathon or even the half next year, so don't even ask.

The End

oh yeah...we went to FL

...in April! Ok, so I don't blog much anymore, whatever. We've been to Orlando so many times, but this was the best trip yet. Largely because we went with Carrie and family again AND our kids are older and more self-sufficient which means they require less supervision and leave us alone more. Yet they are still young enough to want us around, lovely. Our trip was the perfect balance of downtime and activities. So much fun...let's do it again guys!

We were there over Easter. Easter egg hunt, steak and shrimp on the grill, Vicki racing the kids around the pond after a few glasses of wine...it's a long story, don't ask. Very fun night.




We topped off a great evening with a late night drive to Merrit Island near Cocoa Beach where we spent the night so we could get up at 4:30 AM and watch the Space Shuttle launch. So worth the drive and the lack of sleep!


We never go to Orlando without hitting Fun Spot. It's a great park with carnival type rides. The kids seem just as happy here as they are at any of the big parks. Why we continue to torture ourselves is beyond me. It was beautiful out each day of our trip. The colors at Fun Spot with the evening sky were gorgeous.

Although I kind of like this one better in sepia.


I hope these boys are friends forever. Makes my heart happy.







We also did Universal, went out a lot and had a ton of pool time. Those pictures are all apparently on Ava's camera, which I just don't have energy for at the moment.