Day One Of Travel

The Florida Vacation Trip of 2011 has begun!

Yesterday I left the house (and my family) at 9 a.m. and drove 7 hours to my first way point in our cross country trek. Petit Jean State Park in Arkansas.

For those of you that don't know, we are vacationing in Florida for a week and a half in our popup camper. Eric is flying down with the kids on Thursday and his Mom is meeting us there. I'm driving our camper and supplies to meet them (but I had to leave earlier of course). Eric and his mom will be flying back to their homes after about a week and a half and I'll take my time driving the kids home and playing along the way. I hope it will be super fun and so far so good!

Petit Jean State Park is in the Ozark Mountains on the bluffs of the Arkansas River. It was a crazy winding drive, but the view was worth all the chugging and puffing. I was able to do some hiking and bird watching after I set up camp. Here is a photo of a super cool waterfall. And you can see for MILES up here!

And I checked out some "bear caves" but didn't see any bears. DARN!

Early this morning I packed up camp and hit the road bright and early. I drove the rest of the way through Arkansas, into part of Tennessee, a good portion of Mississippi, and I'm staying the night at Cheaha State Park in Alabama. Tomorrow will be another busy driving day. But I'll be in Florida at the quitting time!

12 Years!

Today marks the 12 year anniversary of our wedding day.

My, OH MY, how we have changed.

Our engagement day, December, 1998.

Our Wedding Day

May 29, 1999

Here we are today... 12 years later!

We can't predict if our marriage will be holding strong in 5, 10, even 20 more years, but we do know that we love each other more today than we did on this day 12 years ago and that is something special.

A Day Of "Lasts"

Thursday was Logan's last day of school as a 1st grader. We started this special morning with our traditional trek to the local donut shop. YUM!

After dropping him off for school, Amanda and I headed to her last gymnastic class.

She's had a lot of fun learning some new skills, and we will probably continue her lessons...

... but not at this YMCA with her very special friend, "V".

I decided to not put her in gymnastic this summer since we'll be so busy (and gone for half of it!) and next year she'll be in school at this time slot.

Eric picked Logan up from school (it was only a half day) and took him to a special Burger King lunch and we spent the rest of the day packing and organizing for our upcoming trip (ONLY 3 MORE DAYS!!!) Logan came home with a slew of papers and supplies and I found amongst them his report card and it's official! My boy will be a 2nd grader next year! : )

A New Doo For A Dude

Hurray! Logan's hair cutting strike is OVER! His "I'm never going to cut my hair again" stage only lasted 5 months! : ). Here is his before shot. We were having to wet it, gel it, and hair spray it before school every day and I don't think that bothered him. I think the deciding factor was when I went to brush his hair and he had TANGLES! OH THE HORROR!So now my little dude is sporting a cool new summer doo just in time for our big family trip!

I think the shorter hair makes him look younger. What do you all think?

Field Day

Logan's school had to postpone their Field Day (or as they call it, Super Skills Day) on Friday due to inclement weather. Monday was the reschedule day and here are a few pictures of Logan and his partner doing some Super Skills!

Run around the perimeter of the playground.

Three-legged race.

Soccer Dribble

Wheel Roll

Kindergarten, Here She Comes!

Today was graduation day at Amanda's preschool!

She is now an official Kindergartner and our lives are about to drastically change forever.

She's as cute as a button and super excited to be heading to Kindergarten.

But you have to wonder what her future will bring... Her teachers asked all the students what they wanted to be when they grew up. Amanda said she wants to be a "professional horse rider" (No kidding. Her own words.) but I don't know. She seems to really be into fashion and "working" the camera. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

A New Rider

Add another tally for another major milestone for my baby!
I took the training wheels off of her little Dora bike and she's been practicing but it was just too small for her. We took her shopping several times for a big girl bike until she found the bike of her dreams. This cute little Barbie bike with tassels and a handle bar pouch. Today she jumped on with no training wheels and just TOOK OFF! I guess she was ready! : )

Mommy Doesn't Make Idle Threats

We've been having a hard time getting Amanda to use good table manners (ie using a spoon and fork) and the other night I'd had enough. I told her that if she didn't start using her fork to eat her noodles then I was going to duct tape it to her hand. Well, I guess she needed a little reminder that I don't bluff.

She actually found the whole ordeal kind of fun. But since then she's been doing a better job with her utensils so I guess I made my point.

A Funny for Mother's day

Well, I've had a wonderful Mother's day. I was served breakfast in bed, was showered with gifts and was granted my every hearts desire... which was to work in the yard : ). However, during one of our breaks Logan, Amanda, and I were talking in the kitchen while making a snack. I was trying to use up the goat cheese we have in the fridge and it prompted a discussion about where milk comes from...
Me - "We usually drink cow's milk, but all mammals make milk."
Am - "Even Daddy's?"
Me - "No. Only Mommy's can make milk."
Lo - "And you make it with your boobies, right?"
Me - "Right." : )
Am - "But boys have boobies."
Me - "No. Boys have nipples."
Lo - "Why do boys have nipples?"
Me - "I have no idea."
Am - "But I don't HAVE boobies!"
Me - "You'll have boobies someday."
Lo - "Hey, Mom. How old were you when your boobies popped out?"

Awwwww. Kids! Makes you want to have a few more, huh?

Happy Mother's Day to you all.

Mother's Day Tea

See below for the rest of the posting... Blogger is being difficult today and won't let me do this all in one post.

And The Photos...

I was invited to attend Amanda's class Mother's Day Tea program today and let me just say... SUPER CUTE! They sang us some songs, played the bells, and presented us with homemade cards and a cute little flower pot of their own creation. They also made us a snack... yummy cake balls.

After the program, Amanda and I headed to a local park to take some Mother Daughter photos. Here are some of my favorites.