Memorial Day Weekend

Last weekend, we headed to Anna Maria Island to spend Memorial Day with most of Josh's extended family. It was a wonderful weekend. I hadn't seen most of them since Jasmine was a baby or even longer!

There were 4 kids close to the age of 4, plus Bekah and Jasmine. The girls all thought Jasmine was the best ever! Hudson was the only boy, but he's very comfortable playing with girls. He probably preferred it!



We watched the sunset two nights, since we were one block from the beach. It was so perfect!

(I'm printing this one HUGE for the wall!)

Saturday morning we took a sightseeing cruise that included time to get out on a sandbar to snorkel/look for sand dollars. Jasmine found a sand dollar, and the boat driver found this guy!

(I think it's hilarious that Bekah was willing to hold him, but Bekah would barely pet his back!)






We spent Sunday with dear friends. We usually see them in Orlando, so it was awesome that we could see them in their neck of the woods this time!
The kids get along perfectly. The moms are total kindred spirits, and the guys are two peas in a pod. Too bad we live 2 hours away, or we'd be inseparable!

And we spent a lot of time in the pool. Well, by "we" I mean the 4 of them. I did actually bring my suit, but I stayed out of the water. I'm starting to suspect I'm part-cat.

Jasmine, on the other hand, is part dolphin. She spends more time swimming underwater than she does on the surface. Incredible.

Came across this intersection on the way to our friends' church on Sunday. I'm printing this for his wall!!

Meadville

Last weekend, we made a day-trip to Meadville, PA, where my grandma grew up. It was a great test run for when we make the big trek to our new home, and just an overall amazing experience.
I met a woman who was one of my great-grandmother's foster children. She knew the Charlene who inspired Dad to give me this name. I think that's SO cool!! (Charlene was another of g-gma's foster children).
And I got pictures. Here's my favorite: the little red schoolhouse down the street from their house, where Grandma and her two sisters went to school.

We went to the farmers' market in Franklin, where my great-grandfather sold produce and flowers for years and years. We got a yummy lunch from there, and ate in the crisp fall air.

The kids enjoyed the day, we all enjoyed time on Sunday to relax and refresh before the week started, and it gave me confidence that the drive to our new home won't be such a huge ordeal.

A sweet glimpse

Just a couple pictures from yesterday:

Christmas

Josh is upstairs right now, wrapping my presents.

This is the one time of year when being oblivious pays off. I love that I can tune out things (um, though for once I can pretend I do it on purpose!) so Christmas morning is a surprise.
I guess I took mom's story about sneaking in early to see her presents, and being so disappointed the next day, stuck with me. I never wanted that disappointment.

Of course then things happen, like the receipt from Pacific Chai shows up in our mailbox, after Josh tries so hard to keep it all under wraps (having it shipped to the office so I wouldn't see it, ordering it online when I wasn't nearby).
But those just make for good "do you remember" stories years later!

Merry Christmas!!

From Josh, Charla, Jasmine, Bekah (Boo) and Hudson!

Farm Outing

Today was the fourth year in a row doing our favorite October event (well, second to celebrating Josh's birthday, that is): we visited the local family farm. We love it there. And not just because the woman who runs the place is named Charlene ;) (that's almost a point against her, since she goes by Char!)

This was an unusual trip, in that it was our homeschooling group instead of just the family. But Josh took the day off so it could still be our family outing, and we had a wonderful (cold) time.

This poor angora rabbit. I'm sure they love being touched...to a point.

This goat has a permanent grin!

All three kids tried milking the goat!

I thought it would be fun to take a pony ride down memory lane:

2008

 2011

2008

 2011

 2010

2011

I can't believe how much they've changed!

Celtic Day

We knew today was supposed to be "picture-perfect," which is music to my ears! But what did we want to do??
Thank goodness for the internet! Not only did it bring me Josh, but only slightly less valuable, it told us where to go today!

We went to the Lake, where there was a huge Celtic Festival. What fun!
I love my Scottish heritage. I love Irish food, music, dancing. I knew this would be a good time!

We watched some Scottish dancing.

In the sword dance, it gets continually faster, while they are supposed to dance around, but not touch, the two swords. They did great! It was fun to watch.

Question: How can you pick out a father of girls?

Answer:

There was a Viking Storyteller. They unwisely placed his tent right near the Kids' Corner, so only kids and young families even noticed him, but most of his stories were *not* intended for kids. Vikings, after all, weren't exactly Rated G.
But he did have one cute story to tell them:

(loved the boots)

Bekah decided at the end that she wanted to get her face painted, and the other two followed suit. They were very proud:

Hudson's is a clover, but the black-and-white showed off his eyes so you'll just have to trust me ;)

It was so much fun! I can't wait for next year! More bagpipes! More dancing!!

Apple Picking: Second Annual

Last year we heard about a place that had good apple picking from a friend of mine, and we loved it there. So this year, we went to the same place.
And ran into that friend!

It was a wonderful surprise! The kids played for awhile, we talked for awhile, and they went home with their loot when we were ready to start collecting ours!

"Picture me?"

 He knows when he's cute, which is why I'm always taking his picture.

He just doesn't realize that he is still the smallest in the family.

(side story: at night sometimes Bekah falls asleep on the couch. Every time it happens, he suggests being the one to carry her up to bed. Isn't that the cutest?
And the other night, this was the conversation:

Hudson's telling Josh to carry a sleeping Bekah up to bed.
H: You. Carry her. You.
Josh: can you do it?
H: (too) Heavy.
Josh: what about Jasmine?
H: Heavy.
Josh: what about Mommy?
H (thinking for a second): Help.)

Okay, back to today!

We came home with 2 pie pumpkins, and about 20-25 pounds of apples. That should do for awhile!

Vacation: the rest of the week

I don't think I'll ever get these pictures done if I keep chipping away at the rate I'm on.
So I'll just post the rest of the week now, with not nearly as many pictures as there could be. Maybe someday I'll show more of them. Maybe.

So, without further ado, here's the list of memories, mostly from the mouths of our very cute kids.

Monday
Jasmine's favorite part: holding the "red bird" (Macaw).
Bekah now likes to demonstrate having us hold her toy snake so she can take our pictures.

Tuesday
At the border crossing, coming home from a couple hours with my grandmother and two of her dear friends, the kids were asked if they had been out with Mommy and Daddy. They gave their deer-in-the-headlights stare. I whispered to them that they needed to answer the man when he asked them anything. So when he asked what we'd been doing for the afternoon, Hudson very quietly answered: "Grandma Kay!"

Bekah and Jasmine's favorite part of the rest of Tuesday was the musket demonstrator (not the demonstration itself, but the man who has so much fun doing the demonstrations) at Old Fort Niagara.

Wednesday
After Josh's flight in the morning, Jasmine asked:
did you enjoy your flight? 
was it good exercise?
why did you need headphones?
When Josh answered, she replied,"I think that makes sense."

After asking each of the kids for their favorite moments of the day (the county fair after Josh's flight), they replied:
My new magic wand (Jasmine)
The bouncing....no, the hamster wheel (Bekah)

ammals (translation: animals) (Hudson)
(when Josh heard that, he said, "you know all those animals were horses, right?" and Hudson answered, "Yes.")

Jasmine: I waved because I was saying 'hi' to everyone in Bethlehem.
(i.e. she was a Magi)

Bekah, to the horse named Boo: Hi, Boo. My name is Boo, too! 

Thursday
Bekah, at the playground, made friends with "little 'kids" (i.e. younger than her).

Saturday
After horseback riding lesson, Bekah said the following:
it would be fun to be a horse
but horses don't eat chicken nuggets
and chicken nuggets are my favorite food.
so I don't want to be a horse.

Hudson spent the evening hugging my sister's cat, and looking for her whenever she took a reprieve from his affections.