Today started off bright and early with our Eco Tour. We got on a hydro speed boat thing that Navy Seals use for rescue missions, except we didn’t go much faster than 25 mph. But it was still neat. It felt so good to be out on the water. We even got to whoop it up a couple times when we went over some swells and caught a little air. We saw a lot of rare birds and if we were into that, it would have been really awesome beyond our wildest expectations. As it was, we really wanted to see dolphins and only got a glimpse of them the last 15 minutes of our 1 ½ hr tour. But we did see the flipper of a sea turtle, a manatee sighting, a blue crab with eggs on her back, and as I already mentioned a lot of very rare bird sightings. A couple fish jumped out right next to our boat, and one of our favorite moments of the excursion happened even before we left the pier – watching an egret balance on a rope and snatch up tiny little mullet fish right out of the water and gobble them down. Mike got photos.
One thing that happened on our first day that I forgot to mention, and I had hoped to see again, but haven’t, is there was a WATERSPOUT out on the ocean right in front of us! Actually, we saw two. The first wasn’t as good as the second. That one had an awesome funnel and you could see the water kicking up below it. It lasted a good 15-20 minutes too. Nobody seemed to think much of it so I thought it happened all the time.
We went back to the beach – I know everyone is tired of reading that! The boogie boards went unused today. The waves were choppy and pretty much nothing to them, and nobody even seemed to want to get into the water. It turned out to be a good thing because there was a strong riptide and we saw two rescues right in front of us! People just kept getting sucked into it. The scariest was a family of 4. It happened right as Indy walked up to the surf cool off her feet. The dad got him and his younger daughter out of it by sheer strength. Indy saw the mother and older daughter just get swept along 20 yards fighting to stay up as they got thrashed by waves and couldn’t get in no matter how hard they tried. I was laying down and heard a shout. I looked up and saw Indy, heard another shout that was clearly alarming, and urgently asked Mike if we had all the kids. Then I went over to stand with Indy and watch the rescue. I got there as the lifeguard was hauling out to sea to reach them. The daughter was coughing, the mom was fine. It must have been shock, because I would have been sobbing, but she seemed very calm. Then the lifeguard rescue truck arrived. We had our second conversation of the day with lifeguards warning us of the currents, and we assured them we weren’t going in at all. It was hot too, but not worth it!
Gib chose the restaurant tonight. He went with the recommendation of the Eco Tour guide who lives near the condos. It’s a place right down the road, where the street dead ends to the beach, called Beachcombers. It was pretty good. After that, we drove to the pier and paid the .50 cents to walk on it. We saw someone else caught in a riptide, but they got themselves out of it, luckily they could stand after a wave pushed them forward. We enjoyed the fresh air but it was a little chilly. Mike got photos.
And Gib wants everyone to know that he is The Man. When we got home, he told Mike that he noticed a key hole in the sliding glass door by where we park. Usually Mike parks and runs all around the building and lets us in the back door of the condo. Gib told him to try the key. Sure enough. We all got in! Of course tomorrow is our last day and we won’t be using that door more than 2 or 3 times, but he is so proud of himself for figuring it out! Mike just loves being shown up by his son.
So ends day 6. We are sad that tomorrow is the last day. We sure hope the ocean will be better on our last day. I’m still the brownest. Oh yeah J As we were walking around downtown after the tour and comparing arms, Indy said it didn’t count because she gets more yellow than brown – she must have some Oriental or Mediterranean genes or something. Then Mariah looks over her shoulder and pipes in, “You DO have Aisian kind of hair Indy, only it’s brown” We laughed. She cracks us up. But, I’m still the brownest.
2023
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Vacation Day 5
TARYN ATE SUISHI!!!
It was her first time trying that too. She is adventuresome. I didn’t even get to see what it looked like or watch her eat it before it was gone. I hear the wasabi took her by surprise, but it didn’t slow her down much, she just didn’t have any more of it! It was Mariah’s turn to chose the restaurant and she’d been craving Chinese food. It was a great choice as we really enjoyed the food and eating it back at the condo and then playing another rousing game of Phase 10. Actually, because we were getting up early for the Eco Tour, we only played a half game of Phase 10 and Mike won. Considering that all the kids play in favor of their mom and their mom pretty much cheats in favor of her kids, it’s quite an accomplishment for Mike to win. For example, he only had one card left and made a big announcement about how he was sparing us as he walked into the kitchen for ice cream. So the second his back was turned, I flipped over his last card and whispered “It’s a 7!” and turned it back over. Would’ve gotten away with it too, except Indy got the giggles and the kids gave me away.
We had another awesome day at the beach. Do we know how to relax or what?! Even Mariah can handle all this relaxation! I thought she’d be whining by now, but she’s held up just fine. There haven’t been many other kids for her to find “new friends”, but she did find a couple yesterday for the last hour or so. The waves weren’t as intense as the day before, but the boogie boards had lost all hope of ever boogying again. Gib has a big white band-aid tan line on the back of his leg. Yesterday, as I was just laying there, I wondered out loud if there would be a big white square where the band aid was. Then Gib took his off, he did! Hahaha!
We went to a store and bought two more boogie boards. Everyone found t-shirts and hoodies there, so that completed our St. Augustine logo shopping.
Funny moments of the day: The old people who showed up to tan, and stripped down to their speedos and were very brown and wrinkled. Group Ewww. They were taking photos of each other in the surf and really working the camera and then they’d go back to look at the camera to see the photo. Indy thought it was so cute and funny, she took pictures of them taking pictures of each other. While she was commentating, “Flaunt it! Flaunt it baby!” my strap on my top broke and if I hadn’t felt it going, I would’ve been the one flaunting something. Indy was laughing at me the whole time she tied my suit back together.
It was her first time trying that too. She is adventuresome. I didn’t even get to see what it looked like or watch her eat it before it was gone. I hear the wasabi took her by surprise, but it didn’t slow her down much, she just didn’t have any more of it! It was Mariah’s turn to chose the restaurant and she’d been craving Chinese food. It was a great choice as we really enjoyed the food and eating it back at the condo and then playing another rousing game of Phase 10. Actually, because we were getting up early for the Eco Tour, we only played a half game of Phase 10 and Mike won. Considering that all the kids play in favor of their mom and their mom pretty much cheats in favor of her kids, it’s quite an accomplishment for Mike to win. For example, he only had one card left and made a big announcement about how he was sparing us as he walked into the kitchen for ice cream. So the second his back was turned, I flipped over his last card and whispered “It’s a 7!” and turned it back over. Would’ve gotten away with it too, except Indy got the giggles and the kids gave me away.
We had another awesome day at the beach. Do we know how to relax or what?! Even Mariah can handle all this relaxation! I thought she’d be whining by now, but she’s held up just fine. There haven’t been many other kids for her to find “new friends”, but she did find a couple yesterday for the last hour or so. The waves weren’t as intense as the day before, but the boogie boards had lost all hope of ever boogying again. Gib has a big white band-aid tan line on the back of his leg. Yesterday, as I was just laying there, I wondered out loud if there would be a big white square where the band aid was. Then Gib took his off, he did! Hahaha!
We went to a store and bought two more boogie boards. Everyone found t-shirts and hoodies there, so that completed our St. Augustine logo shopping.
Funny moments of the day: The old people who showed up to tan, and stripped down to their speedos and were very brown and wrinkled. Group Ewww. They were taking photos of each other in the surf and really working the camera and then they’d go back to look at the camera to see the photo. Indy thought it was so cute and funny, she took pictures of them taking pictures of each other. While she was commentating, “Flaunt it! Flaunt it baby!” my strap on my top broke and if I hadn’t felt it going, I would’ve been the one flaunting something. Indy was laughing at me the whole time she tied my suit back together.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Vacation Day 4
Perfection. Sunshine. Challenging surf. Breezes. 5 lazy hours at the beach spent enjoying broiling under the sun, body surfing, boogie boarding, tossing the football, reading, Sodoku, picnic lunch, sand castles, a dead jelly fish on the shore to look at (well, that was gross) but the rest…ah, what a great day!!
The waves were incredibly strong today. Indy and I got thrashed around. One time we couldn’t even get out far enough to boogie board they were coming in right on top of each other and so strong. After getting slapped upside the head by one wave too many I gave up! One time when Indy was out boogie boarding with Mike, she totally got taken down by a massive wave, held under water in a squat on the sand for a second or two before she could get out of it. She came up gasping for air. She wasn’t too happy about that one. The rest of the time, you could hear her whenever she caught a ride whooping it up. I’d be reading or something and hear her laugh or shout and just smile.
It took some doing, but Mike taught Gib to body surf. I took photos that I hope turned out of him and Gib diving under the waves and riding them in, while Indy and Taryn boogie boarded nearby. Taryn was a beach potato most of the day. She’s trying to retake 3rd. Honestly, after seeing Gib brown up today, I think it’s going to take some serious effort (and maybe a few clandestine visits to fake bake) to overtake him now. Mariah concentrated on NOT getting any more burnt. We were doing so great until she changed suits the last hour. She didn’t put on new sunscreen where different skin was showing and now we have a nice red vee on her chest. Wonderful. I, however, WIN-WIN-WIN the Brownest Award!!!! Let’s all take note of that, because all these people with more Indian in them than I will overtake me soon. But for now, I am basking in my golden tone.
The guy we rent the umbrella and chairs from asked why we didn’t pre-pay for the week…..well, had we known! So he and Mike worked something out and now we are going to have 4 chairs and an umbrella and pay less than we were! Yay! How cool is that?!
Hardly any people are left here. We were totally surprised to only see 6 umbrellas set up today vs the 20 or more on the weekend. I guess things really die down during the week. I would have thought it would already be peak season but I guess we’re still early on. Double Yay!!
We went out to dinner at 8 pm to the Sunset Grille. We got a free t-shirt so that brings our t-shirt count up to 3, which makes half our souvenior shopping done as far as Mike’s concerned. Hah.
We ate too much dinner, so us girls had to take a little walk while Mike and Gib handled the bill….it’s only right that the guys do that chore, right?! Indy thought she recognized the buildings from our foray toward the pier so we crossed the street when I realized it had beach access to see where the pier was. Hello!! About 2 blocks north.
SkipBo is the order of the night for the older crowd. I don’t know what happened to the younger. Mariah is slathering on Aloe Vera while watching Disney.
Mike will post this when he finds a signal half in and half out of the door way that he can sometimes get from the Holiday Inn across the way.
Day 5 is more beach, maybe some beachwear shopping. Day 6 will start early with a Dolphin boat excursion.
The waves were incredibly strong today. Indy and I got thrashed around. One time we couldn’t even get out far enough to boogie board they were coming in right on top of each other and so strong. After getting slapped upside the head by one wave too many I gave up! One time when Indy was out boogie boarding with Mike, she totally got taken down by a massive wave, held under water in a squat on the sand for a second or two before she could get out of it. She came up gasping for air. She wasn’t too happy about that one. The rest of the time, you could hear her whenever she caught a ride whooping it up. I’d be reading or something and hear her laugh or shout and just smile.
It took some doing, but Mike taught Gib to body surf. I took photos that I hope turned out of him and Gib diving under the waves and riding them in, while Indy and Taryn boogie boarded nearby. Taryn was a beach potato most of the day. She’s trying to retake 3rd. Honestly, after seeing Gib brown up today, I think it’s going to take some serious effort (and maybe a few clandestine visits to fake bake) to overtake him now. Mariah concentrated on NOT getting any more burnt. We were doing so great until she changed suits the last hour. She didn’t put on new sunscreen where different skin was showing and now we have a nice red vee on her chest. Wonderful. I, however, WIN-WIN-WIN the Brownest Award!!!! Let’s all take note of that, because all these people with more Indian in them than I will overtake me soon. But for now, I am basking in my golden tone.
The guy we rent the umbrella and chairs from asked why we didn’t pre-pay for the week…..well, had we known! So he and Mike worked something out and now we are going to have 4 chairs and an umbrella and pay less than we were! Yay! How cool is that?!
Hardly any people are left here. We were totally surprised to only see 6 umbrellas set up today vs the 20 or more on the weekend. I guess things really die down during the week. I would have thought it would already be peak season but I guess we’re still early on. Double Yay!!
We went out to dinner at 8 pm to the Sunset Grille. We got a free t-shirt so that brings our t-shirt count up to 3, which makes half our souvenior shopping done as far as Mike’s concerned. Hah.
We ate too much dinner, so us girls had to take a little walk while Mike and Gib handled the bill….it’s only right that the guys do that chore, right?! Indy thought she recognized the buildings from our foray toward the pier so we crossed the street when I realized it had beach access to see where the pier was. Hello!! About 2 blocks north.
SkipBo is the order of the night for the older crowd. I don’t know what happened to the younger. Mariah is slathering on Aloe Vera while watching Disney.
Mike will post this when he finds a signal half in and half out of the door way that he can sometimes get from the Holiday Inn across the way.
Day 5 is more beach, maybe some beachwear shopping. Day 6 will start early with a Dolphin boat excursion.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Vacation Day 3
Taryn ate GATOR!!! More on that later…..
We went to Castillo de San Marcos. It was built by the Spanish in the 1600’s. It’s shaped kind of like a star and is two stories tall. It is right on the water and has fantastic views. It was a beautiful sunny day with a lot of breezes, and it felt wonderful on top of the fort. Also, it was rather fun, because as we were nearing the top of the stairs, a guy came over to tell a park ranger that someone was climbing up the outside walls. She goes over to look, and of course, we followed. Sure enough, some dufus in flip flops mind you, is scaling the stone walls and is almost to the top. It took him a really long time to get back down, and seriously, if he had just hurried up a little, he could have gotten away with it, but by the time he made it back to the ground there was another park ranger there to meet him. Then the police arrived. It was rather entertaining.
Then we went across the street to St. Augustine’s Old Town to browse the shops lining the cobblestone streets. This was a bit of a disappointment, not because of what was or wasn’t there, (we don’t know!) but because OF A SERIOUS LACK OF SHOPPING AMBITION ON THE PART OF ONE THIRD OF THE FAMILY!!! I think we only saw about a tenth of what’s there. Judging by the look of torture on the faces of ahem, the oldest and youngest amongst us, I figured a little food would boost ‘em. We had lunch at a nice outdoor restaurant in the Old Town where Taryn and Gib were excited to try the Fried Gator Tails. Yep, we don’t want to go see Alligators, just eat ‘em. We all tried it, and I gotta say I wasn’t too impressed. It’s too chewy to be normal and kind of a combo between fried clam and chicken taste. But Taryn really liked it! She and Gib polished it off. Mariah, the D.Q. to end all D.Q.’s, was still hanging off the table in extreme distress at the end of lunch, and since we needed to move condos anyway, we called it quits for anymore exploration of Old Town.
We were so happy to see our new condo is a vast improvement over the other one. It was definitely worth the hassle to move. It’s cute, cozy and much more comfy. I love the décor and the beds are about 10x better. Hopefully Indy’s neck will feel better. She sure is having a hard time recovering from the accident and just can’t seem to catch a break healing. One thing after another destabilizes her neck and she is having a lot of aches and pains because of it.
We took that walk TOWARD the pier. We could have made it. I didn’t think it was so far away. MIKE WAS RIGHT! There I said it. I guess it was about 4-5 miles after all. And when you stop to look at each and every shell and someone goes boogie boarding every 50 yards or so, it takes FOREVER to walk that far. And someone, who demands to remain nameless, is having a serious chafing issue, couldn’t walk like a normal person anymore, so we called it quits and turned around, maybe a half-mile or so from the pier. It was a really long walk back even without all the stopping. Mike made us walk up on the sand away from the distraction of the shells in the surf. What a spoilsport. Indy discovered that Taryn was stepping in all her footprints in the sand so she started walking all weird, then she ran all screwy, walked backwards, spelled Taryn’s name in footprints, stuff like that. It was pretty funny to watch. Mariah was so inspired she flopped down and made a sand angel.
When we got back, we made dinner out of fruit, popcorn and snacks and hunkered down to play Phase 10. Indy finally finished us off close to midnight with the winning hand. Go Indy! We ended up placing in the same order as the No Sunburn Contest! Weird huh?! By the way, we had to make an adjustment in that order and take the Bronze away from Taryn and award it to Gib. There was a protest, and a bodily comparison, and sure enough, Gib was clearly the 3rd place finisher.
Day 4 – Those of us who want to continue our tanning want to return to the beach. Those who are still too tender will have to wear a t-shirt and shorts to the beach…haha!
We went to Castillo de San Marcos. It was built by the Spanish in the 1600’s. It’s shaped kind of like a star and is two stories tall. It is right on the water and has fantastic views. It was a beautiful sunny day with a lot of breezes, and it felt wonderful on top of the fort. Also, it was rather fun, because as we were nearing the top of the stairs, a guy came over to tell a park ranger that someone was climbing up the outside walls. She goes over to look, and of course, we followed. Sure enough, some dufus in flip flops mind you, is scaling the stone walls and is almost to the top. It took him a really long time to get back down, and seriously, if he had just hurried up a little, he could have gotten away with it, but by the time he made it back to the ground there was another park ranger there to meet him. Then the police arrived. It was rather entertaining.
Then we went across the street to St. Augustine’s Old Town to browse the shops lining the cobblestone streets. This was a bit of a disappointment, not because of what was or wasn’t there, (we don’t know!) but because OF A SERIOUS LACK OF SHOPPING AMBITION ON THE PART OF ONE THIRD OF THE FAMILY!!! I think we only saw about a tenth of what’s there. Judging by the look of torture on the faces of ahem, the oldest and youngest amongst us, I figured a little food would boost ‘em. We had lunch at a nice outdoor restaurant in the Old Town where Taryn and Gib were excited to try the Fried Gator Tails. Yep, we don’t want to go see Alligators, just eat ‘em. We all tried it, and I gotta say I wasn’t too impressed. It’s too chewy to be normal and kind of a combo between fried clam and chicken taste. But Taryn really liked it! She and Gib polished it off. Mariah, the D.Q. to end all D.Q.’s, was still hanging off the table in extreme distress at the end of lunch, and since we needed to move condos anyway, we called it quits for anymore exploration of Old Town.
We were so happy to see our new condo is a vast improvement over the other one. It was definitely worth the hassle to move. It’s cute, cozy and much more comfy. I love the décor and the beds are about 10x better. Hopefully Indy’s neck will feel better. She sure is having a hard time recovering from the accident and just can’t seem to catch a break healing. One thing after another destabilizes her neck and she is having a lot of aches and pains because of it.
We took that walk TOWARD the pier. We could have made it. I didn’t think it was so far away. MIKE WAS RIGHT! There I said it. I guess it was about 4-5 miles after all. And when you stop to look at each and every shell and someone goes boogie boarding every 50 yards or so, it takes FOREVER to walk that far. And someone, who demands to remain nameless, is having a serious chafing issue, couldn’t walk like a normal person anymore, so we called it quits and turned around, maybe a half-mile or so from the pier. It was a really long walk back even without all the stopping. Mike made us walk up on the sand away from the distraction of the shells in the surf. What a spoilsport. Indy discovered that Taryn was stepping in all her footprints in the sand so she started walking all weird, then she ran all screwy, walked backwards, spelled Taryn’s name in footprints, stuff like that. It was pretty funny to watch. Mariah was so inspired she flopped down and made a sand angel.
When we got back, we made dinner out of fruit, popcorn and snacks and hunkered down to play Phase 10. Indy finally finished us off close to midnight with the winning hand. Go Indy! We ended up placing in the same order as the No Sunburn Contest! Weird huh?! By the way, we had to make an adjustment in that order and take the Bronze away from Taryn and award it to Gib. There was a protest, and a bodily comparison, and sure enough, Gib was clearly the 3rd place finisher.
Day 4 – Those of us who want to continue our tanning want to return to the beach. Those who are still too tender will have to wear a t-shirt and shorts to the beach…haha!
Monday, May 26, 2008
Vacation Day 2
We hit the beach around 11 after a lazy morning. So nice to not worry about being late to school, and what time it is and where we need to be.
Beach Report: When we go to the shore we saw a whole bunch of matching umbrellas with two chaise chairs under them. We figured they were available to rent, so we claimed one of the last few available and Mike headed off for the matching tent to see what they charged. It was $25 for the day. We also rented a 3rd chair for $5 more and bought two boogie boards from the guy too. We were excited to see that the waves were much better than they were the evening before. Gib and Mariah couldn't wait. I look around and ask "Where's Mariah?" Indy and I look around and then immediately out to the ocean and there she is - hip deep within the first 30 seconds we were there. So Gib runs out to join her. They were very cute together. They even held hands in the ocean jumping waves and pulling each other back up. I got pictures if he tries to deny it. The waves were really quite strong and could knock you back aways, and when you're Mariah's size, they could take you down! When Mike got back with the boards, everybody took turns and we had a blast! The water is wonderful. The sand is really fine and soft until you get down to where everyone is parked out for the day. There it's wet and hard, almost like pavement.
Boogie Board Report: Gib was bragging to Taryn that he had never gotten flipped when a big wave crashed on top of him and flipped him. Taryn found that quite funny. Betcha she saw it coming too. Mariah got flipped 3 times when a wave came out on top of another wave and landed on her. I know what's she talking about because that happened to me too! When Mike and Indy went out together, Mike fell off the boogie board so many times, Indy was laughing at him constantly while they were out there. Then when Indy and I were out, she got all wrapped up in the cord and got hit by a wave and her board actually bent in half and it's kinda torqued now. We cracked up over that. I tried to talk her into riding it upside down, but she didn't go for it. I scratched up my knee on one of my first rides in on the shells and sand, not realizing I was already in shallow water. It bled forever. I'm not looking forward to putting it in saltwater today; that will sting. We saw several dinged up people bleeding so I guess it happened a lot. You also get a lot of shell fragments and sand in your suit from the wipeouts which can become quite uncomfortable. And that's all I am allowed to say about that.
Sunburn report: First place for No Sunburn goes to Indy! And she used the least sunscreen as usual too. She was happy to get a good tan in one day and almost wipe out her eczema too. She's all spotted up from it, but no more itching! 2nd Place goes to me - I got a teeny-tiny bit red on top of my shoulder, that was it. Taryn came in 3rd - she missed doing her face one time after swimming and suffered for it. Gib would come in 4th, he got a sunburn on his upper arms. Mike and Mariah tie for last. Poor Mariah, I forgot to spray one spot on her back and it was fried. The top of her thighs and her upper arms are pretty red too. Mike, as usual, blinded us by his whiteness and by the end of the week, after hurting us repeatedly with his sunburned neck, feet, arms, shoulders, etc., could possibly be the brownest when it's all said and done. If we can get him to take off his shirt that is. He was the most fully dressed person on the beach, and under an umbrella most of the day. All because the kids Easy Sudoku got the better of him in the morning and he can't give it up. He's an addict. He must prevail. Indy did pick it up and comment that his strategy was interesting and that was one thing you gotta say, dad always has a unique logical method going on for him.
Dining Report: Taryn chose the restaurant for dinner - We went to the Reef. She wolfed down a huge plate called the Seafood Trio Platter. Actually, almost everyone passed around a portion of their dinner to share with others, except for me and Indy because we kind of think that's gross. Plus, we had salads, and nobody wants a bite of salad! Mike and Gib shared Jambalaya, Mariah and Gib shared Fried Shrimp and Shrimp Ceviche, and Taryn shared portions of her giant platter with Mike. I did have a bite of the baked potato because it was rolled, and I mean rolled, in salt. Even more salt than I would have put on it. It was like going straight to the salt lick. Yum Yum.
The plan for Day 3 is to move to the new condo which will be farther from the beach, but we are really hoping the beds will be more comfortable. Indy has woken up with a horrible stiff neck both mornings. I'm almost out of ibuprofen, and as you may accurately assume, I came loaded. Since the littlest one is sunburned, maybe we'll do some sightseeing or go shopping for Florida T-Shirt and Hoodies today and limit our beach time to a couple of hours. I'd like to go out with our buckets and walk a couple miles on the shore in the late afternoon/early evening when the tide is out and collect shells. We have to change condo units between 3 and 5 so whatever we do has to revolve around that.
Beach Report: When we go to the shore we saw a whole bunch of matching umbrellas with two chaise chairs under them. We figured they were available to rent, so we claimed one of the last few available and Mike headed off for the matching tent to see what they charged. It was $25 for the day. We also rented a 3rd chair for $5 more and bought two boogie boards from the guy too. We were excited to see that the waves were much better than they were the evening before. Gib and Mariah couldn't wait. I look around and ask "Where's Mariah?" Indy and I look around and then immediately out to the ocean and there she is - hip deep within the first 30 seconds we were there. So Gib runs out to join her. They were very cute together. They even held hands in the ocean jumping waves and pulling each other back up. I got pictures if he tries to deny it. The waves were really quite strong and could knock you back aways, and when you're Mariah's size, they could take you down! When Mike got back with the boards, everybody took turns and we had a blast! The water is wonderful. The sand is really fine and soft until you get down to where everyone is parked out for the day. There it's wet and hard, almost like pavement.
Boogie Board Report: Gib was bragging to Taryn that he had never gotten flipped when a big wave crashed on top of him and flipped him. Taryn found that quite funny. Betcha she saw it coming too. Mariah got flipped 3 times when a wave came out on top of another wave and landed on her. I know what's she talking about because that happened to me too! When Mike and Indy went out together, Mike fell off the boogie board so many times, Indy was laughing at him constantly while they were out there. Then when Indy and I were out, she got all wrapped up in the cord and got hit by a wave and her board actually bent in half and it's kinda torqued now. We cracked up over that. I tried to talk her into riding it upside down, but she didn't go for it. I scratched up my knee on one of my first rides in on the shells and sand, not realizing I was already in shallow water. It bled forever. I'm not looking forward to putting it in saltwater today; that will sting. We saw several dinged up people bleeding so I guess it happened a lot. You also get a lot of shell fragments and sand in your suit from the wipeouts which can become quite uncomfortable. And that's all I am allowed to say about that.
Sunburn report: First place for No Sunburn goes to Indy! And she used the least sunscreen as usual too. She was happy to get a good tan in one day and almost wipe out her eczema too. She's all spotted up from it, but no more itching! 2nd Place goes to me - I got a teeny-tiny bit red on top of my shoulder, that was it. Taryn came in 3rd - she missed doing her face one time after swimming and suffered for it. Gib would come in 4th, he got a sunburn on his upper arms. Mike and Mariah tie for last. Poor Mariah, I forgot to spray one spot on her back and it was fried. The top of her thighs and her upper arms are pretty red too. Mike, as usual, blinded us by his whiteness and by the end of the week, after hurting us repeatedly with his sunburned neck, feet, arms, shoulders, etc., could possibly be the brownest when it's all said and done. If we can get him to take off his shirt that is. He was the most fully dressed person on the beach, and under an umbrella most of the day. All because the kids Easy Sudoku got the better of him in the morning and he can't give it up. He's an addict. He must prevail. Indy did pick it up and comment that his strategy was interesting and that was one thing you gotta say, dad always has a unique logical method going on for him.
Dining Report: Taryn chose the restaurant for dinner - We went to the Reef. She wolfed down a huge plate called the Seafood Trio Platter. Actually, almost everyone passed around a portion of their dinner to share with others, except for me and Indy because we kind of think that's gross. Plus, we had salads, and nobody wants a bite of salad! Mike and Gib shared Jambalaya, Mariah and Gib shared Fried Shrimp and Shrimp Ceviche, and Taryn shared portions of her giant platter with Mike. I did have a bite of the baked potato because it was rolled, and I mean rolled, in salt. Even more salt than I would have put on it. It was like going straight to the salt lick. Yum Yum.
The plan for Day 3 is to move to the new condo which will be farther from the beach, but we are really hoping the beds will be more comfortable. Indy has woken up with a horrible stiff neck both mornings. I'm almost out of ibuprofen, and as you may accurately assume, I came loaded. Since the littlest one is sunburned, maybe we'll do some sightseeing or go shopping for Florida T-Shirt and Hoodies today and limit our beach time to a couple of hours. I'd like to go out with our buckets and walk a couple miles on the shore in the late afternoon/early evening when the tide is out and collect shells. We have to change condo units between 3 and 5 so whatever we do has to revolve around that.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Vacation Day 1
Chrissie’s 4:03 decree: When a bug splat is loud enough to make you look, even though it’s too dark to see it, the immediate reaction should be to hit the washer and wipers.
Note: Even though I only drove 2 hrs, the windshield I turned over was much cleaner than the one we currently have! I thoroughly explained the 4:03 decree, so named because that was the time when a particularly large bug splattered its disgusting innards all over our windshield. It only took me about a mile going 70 mph to name the decree and come up with a nifty little rhyme to remember it by. But the other drivers did not obey the 4:03 Decree to keep a bug splat free windshield. Mike and Indy alternated the rest of the drive. I kept offering, but they drove the rest of the way. Probably because they are in a secret conspiracy to keep the bug splats on the windshield.
No problems getting here. But, we had some difficulty checking in. The office booked us for next week instead of this week. Luckily though, despite the busy holiday weekend, there was one condo left available. So we’re in it for a couple of days and then we move into the other one. We’re just glad we had a place to sleep in at all! I had visions of us sleeping in the van. Indy & Taryn are in one bedroom, Mariah has the sofa bed, Mike and I have the other bedroom, and Gib has an air mattress. Scouts has toughened him up so much he doesn't even mind it!! We were pleasantly surprised to have Internet access and hope the other condo does too.
We hit the beach to cool off and enjoy the last of the afternoon sun. The water was nice! A little colder than I expected, but the younger ones jumped right in. Too cold for me to go in past my feet, and Mike was busy taking photos, so Indy & Taryn finally decided they’d better join them out there 'cause they were scaring us a little. And of course, we already have a sizable shell collection going.
Our daily nutritional intake suffered after having our traditional travelling provisions of candy, cokes, sprite, & water, brunch at Waffle House at 11:00, and by 7:00 p.m. we were starving for real food! We had dinner at the Oasis and everybody had fish except for Mariah who had a hot dog. It was yummy and everyone cleaned their plates!
After dinner we went to the grocery store for supplies and food for breakfasts and lunches while we are here. We are going to take it easy the next couple days, then plan some excursions to sight see and tour the area. Skipbo and Smoothies have been the order of the day so far, and when the morning clouds lift, we are hitting the beach.
Note: Even though I only drove 2 hrs, the windshield I turned over was much cleaner than the one we currently have! I thoroughly explained the 4:03 decree, so named because that was the time when a particularly large bug splattered its disgusting innards all over our windshield. It only took me about a mile going 70 mph to name the decree and come up with a nifty little rhyme to remember it by. But the other drivers did not obey the 4:03 Decree to keep a bug splat free windshield. Mike and Indy alternated the rest of the drive. I kept offering, but they drove the rest of the way. Probably because they are in a secret conspiracy to keep the bug splats on the windshield.
No problems getting here. But, we had some difficulty checking in. The office booked us for next week instead of this week. Luckily though, despite the busy holiday weekend, there was one condo left available. So we’re in it for a couple of days and then we move into the other one. We’re just glad we had a place to sleep in at all! I had visions of us sleeping in the van. Indy & Taryn are in one bedroom, Mariah has the sofa bed, Mike and I have the other bedroom, and Gib has an air mattress. Scouts has toughened him up so much he doesn't even mind it!! We were pleasantly surprised to have Internet access and hope the other condo does too.
We hit the beach to cool off and enjoy the last of the afternoon sun. The water was nice! A little colder than I expected, but the younger ones jumped right in. Too cold for me to go in past my feet, and Mike was busy taking photos, so Indy & Taryn finally decided they’d better join them out there 'cause they were scaring us a little. And of course, we already have a sizable shell collection going.
Our daily nutritional intake suffered after having our traditional travelling provisions of candy, cokes, sprite, & water, brunch at Waffle House at 11:00, and by 7:00 p.m. we were starving for real food! We had dinner at the Oasis and everybody had fish except for Mariah who had a hot dog. It was yummy and everyone cleaned their plates!
After dinner we went to the grocery store for supplies and food for breakfasts and lunches while we are here. We are going to take it easy the next couple days, then plan some excursions to sight see and tour the area. Skipbo and Smoothies have been the order of the day so far, and when the morning clouds lift, we are hitting the beach.
Friday, May 23, 2008
3 a.m. Wake Up Call
That's the plan. We are going to try to leave in the middle of the night to get a chunk of the driving to Florida done while people sleep. We have 3 drivers, so it shouldn't be too bad. I'll take the first leg because I'm always a bundle of nerves before a trip, so I won't be sleeping anyway. My stomach has been burning all day. I don't know why, but it always happens. We - OK, me, I tried to get people to talk it over with, but it was hard to have a conversation that lasted longer than 5 minutes with anyone. So I debated pretty much just myself about taking 2 cars - more comfort, better individual vehicle gas mileage, or going in one car - our old beat up '97 Mazda van - less comfort, worse gas mileage, but technically less expensive. So "we" went with one car. Then we debated driving it all in one day or two. Mike actually chimed in and wanted to go for the straight shot to save on hotel. I hope my legs can take it - I get restless leg syndrome after about 4 hrs of sitting and it drives me crazy.
Well, it's been several hours since I started this blog. We had dinner, we packed, Mike went to the dr for an eye infection, and this was funny, Indy told me that she and Mike both thought they had the 3 am driving shift and I said, "no, I do!" so we all thought we were driving the first leg. I think I will end up with it now that Mike has to medicate his eye, and Indy can easily go back to sleep. The car is loaded. Tension fills the air. My Chino is very unhappy. And, we'll be off in just a few hours. I'll have my 3 am Diet Dr. Pepper and Immodium AD, and be good until 6 am!!
We're hoping to have Internet access from the condo. Maybe I'll try to write daily vacation bullets if we do stuff besides hang out at the beach. Can't wait to bake in the sun!!!
Well, it's been several hours since I started this blog. We had dinner, we packed, Mike went to the dr for an eye infection, and this was funny, Indy told me that she and Mike both thought they had the 3 am driving shift and I said, "no, I do!" so we all thought we were driving the first leg. I think I will end up with it now that Mike has to medicate his eye, and Indy can easily go back to sleep. The car is loaded. Tension fills the air. My Chino is very unhappy. And, we'll be off in just a few hours. I'll have my 3 am Diet Dr. Pepper and Immodium AD, and be good until 6 am!!
We're hoping to have Internet access from the condo. Maybe I'll try to write daily vacation bullets if we do stuff besides hang out at the beach. Can't wait to bake in the sun!!!
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Sand Castle Activity Night
Last night I got to have fun with the Activity Day Girls. We did an activity out of my favorite book, Team Building Activities for Every Group by Alanna Jones, called Sand Castles. Here are some of the photos that Gib or I took. Gib and Taryn came along to help. I'm so proud of my kids when they willingly pitch in and make things fun for those younger than they are. There's not too many older sisters and brothers who are willing to help fill 200 water balloons and then load them in the truck and carry them across the church lawn, followed by eight 50 lb bags of sand, buckets of water, sand toys, rakes and brooms, coolers, chairs, etc., and then hang out with girls 10-12 yrs old...of course, they knew they'd get to throw water balloons at each other, so I guess it's not that surprising after all!
Castle Cubicle
Here's our activity with the temple in the background.
We had two teams square off and build the best sand castle they could in 20 minutes
Castle Cubicle('cause it had hidden sides or something)
Castle Starbucks
(yes, I asked why - 'cause they are indestructible?)
Return Fire!
Goofy Kids
Wet Taryn
Castle Starbucks
(yes, I asked why - 'cause they are indestructible?)
Bombs Away!
Return Fire!
Goofy Kids
Wet Taryn
After the water ballon bombardment, we sang The Wise Man Built His House Upon the Rock and related the activity to life when we have times when someone may throw a verbal water balloon at us, maybe not even on purpose, but how does it feel, and how do we withstand it. Referenced 3 Nephi 14:24 and Matt 7:24. We talked about forgiveness and not harboring grudges so we'd have a loving heart towards others and keep our foundations strong.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Negotiation
Indy has just had her first experience in the art of negotiation.
Last year she got a part time job at a retail store and has been working there since. This store does annual raises in February and it is all handled by "Corporate", basically the local manager does not have much say in it. It is apparently based solely on meeting your monthly sales goal. Well, Indy had a rough patch of sickness last fall that ended up with the removal of her tonsils and this had an impact on her ability to meet her targets at work. That plus fewer hours worked resulted in less sales. So, come February she did not get a raise.
She has continued to work there because she has been focused on school. Now that school is ending, she has been considering changing jobs to a restaurant hostess, or other retail outlet that pays better. Her Mom helped her draft a letter of resignation and discussed with her some basic talking points about why she was leaving.
Monday was the day. She was scheduled to start just before the store manager was to leave for the day. Also, this is a new store manager that Indy has only worked with a short time. There has been a lot of turnover recently. Turns out that the store manager had changed shifts and was closing with Indy on Monday. She however did not know that until after giving him her two week notice. He was understanding of Indy's concerns and asked if she had already obtained new employment. She had not, so he asked her if she would consider holding off for few days while he tried to work something out.
For the remainder of the evening this manager spent a lot of time on the phone with the district manager and regional manager extolling Indy's value to the store in more ways than just the sales goals. At some point during these conversations he even asked Indy what it would take to keep her there. Indy, while not prepared for this turn of events, was quick enough to suggest a 15% increase at a minimum, and more preferably 20%, as well as more scheduled hours during the summer.
I have to point out, during this time, Indy made a significant sale that surpassed her goal for the month of May with that one sale. How about that for "excellent timing". It still remains to be seen if this will conclude with Indy remaining employed at this store, but the manager was confident that it could be worked out. Indy has agreed to temporarily not pursue new opportunities and the manager has agreed to honor the two week notice should they not be able to make it a win-win situation.
Last year she got a part time job at a retail store and has been working there since. This store does annual raises in February and it is all handled by "Corporate", basically the local manager does not have much say in it. It is apparently based solely on meeting your monthly sales goal. Well, Indy had a rough patch of sickness last fall that ended up with the removal of her tonsils and this had an impact on her ability to meet her targets at work. That plus fewer hours worked resulted in less sales. So, come February she did not get a raise.
She has continued to work there because she has been focused on school. Now that school is ending, she has been considering changing jobs to a restaurant hostess, or other retail outlet that pays better. Her Mom helped her draft a letter of resignation and discussed with her some basic talking points about why she was leaving.
Monday was the day. She was scheduled to start just before the store manager was to leave for the day. Also, this is a new store manager that Indy has only worked with a short time. There has been a lot of turnover recently. Turns out that the store manager had changed shifts and was closing with Indy on Monday. She however did not know that until after giving him her two week notice. He was understanding of Indy's concerns and asked if she had already obtained new employment. She had not, so he asked her if she would consider holding off for few days while he tried to work something out.
For the remainder of the evening this manager spent a lot of time on the phone with the district manager and regional manager extolling Indy's value to the store in more ways than just the sales goals. At some point during these conversations he even asked Indy what it would take to keep her there. Indy, while not prepared for this turn of events, was quick enough to suggest a 15% increase at a minimum, and more preferably 20%, as well as more scheduled hours during the summer.
I have to point out, during this time, Indy made a significant sale that surpassed her goal for the month of May with that one sale. How about that for "excellent timing". It still remains to be seen if this will conclude with Indy remaining employed at this store, but the manager was confident that it could be worked out. Indy has agreed to temporarily not pursue new opportunities and the manager has agreed to honor the two week notice should they not be able to make it a win-win situation.
Monday, May 19, 2008
This Is A Stick Up!
Starring:Pixie as The Annoying Little Sister
And Super Chino The Snake Hunter
Earlier this evening, Chino and I played his favorite kitten game of Chase the Stick. Pixie came out of the woods to investigate what new thrill we have that's exciting enough to make Chino run after it, capture it, and then sit on it. You can't tell, but the stick is about 2' long. The game goes like this: you wiggle the stick like it's a snake, then you throw it, and Chino runs after it and sits on it. It's tons of fun. You should try it with your cat, child, spouse...whatever you have at home.
Anyway, the photos just begged for a storyline, so here goes:
What an idiot...that's clearly just a stupid stick.
Aha! Another snake!
Nothing gets past Super Chino!
Oooh, look it's a Flying Snake! Not. 
My 3rd snake of the night, I'm not really hungry
anymore, but oh well, I can pretend it's Pixie's leg.
Hardy-Har-Har!
You know what you can do with that stick dontcha?
MOM!!!!!!
P.S. A couple hours later I found a real 2' long snake. I had just come home and opened the garage door and as I was walking in, I saw it lying where the door had been. I thought, wow, mom squished a snake when she closed the garage a while ago. It looked kinda like half of it was all messed up and I wasn't sure it was going to make it. So I grabbed a broom and poked it to see if it could still move. I figured if it was injured, I wasn't going to try to pick it up 'cause I'd probably get bit and even though it was clearly a garden snake, still, who wants to be bitten? So, I'm thinking maybe I can hook it on the broom and throw it into the woods, and the irony of it all made me a little complacent. Right about then, that sucker took off just fine. Headed right into the garage. So I'm trying to deflect it with the broom handle and make it slither the other way. About the time that the snake is figuring out how to bypass the broom handle, I figure out the sweeping end will do a better job. So I flip over the broom and the snake tries a little Garden Variety Cobra imitation. I scooshed it along anyway, and it finally chose to slither over to the other garage door crack. Later on, I went back and checked and saw no sign of it. I wonder if it can squeeze under the garage door? Good thing I'm not scared of snakes. I wonder if I should tell the girls?! Maybe we should watch where we walk for a few days. Then again, Pixie was having way too much fun to come in until after 10:30 pm, so maybe she caught the real thing!
Friday, May 16, 2008
T.G.I.L.F!!!
It's the LAST Friday of the school year!!! Yahoo!!
Only 3.5 more days left until Summer Vacation!! Yahoo!!!
I'm dreaming of sleeping in, Florida Beaches, lots & lots of sun, no more making school lunches, sleeping in, hot weather, fun at the pool, sleeping in.....ah, can't wait!!!
Only 3.5 more days left until Summer Vacation!! Yahoo!!!
I'm dreaming of sleeping in, Florida Beaches, lots & lots of sun, no more making school lunches, sleeping in, hot weather, fun at the pool, sleeping in.....ah, can't wait!!!
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
No Breaking News
It's been pretty boring around here the past couple days. Here's a few of the high lights or low lights depending on how desperate you are for news:
Mariah was home sick for 2 days with a cold. She missed the last Girl Scout meeting of the year. Bummer!
I had migraines with the last two systems that moved thru - Saturday and Monday. But they weren't too bad. Just enough to interfere with my plans. Pre-meds, these would have been doozies. So I think the stuff is working. I'll take 4 hrs of intense headache over 12 hrs of unbelievable pain & misery.
Mike was the soccer coach for Taryn & Indy's team last night. They won 2-0! Taryn played forward and mid-field. Mike says she played well with a couple break aways and shots on goal. Indy was a forward for the first half and Mike was evil and put her in the box for the second half. She is limping today. She said her knee felt like it needed to pop last night. They have another game tonight and Mike will coach again. Both are make up games from one of the 5 rained out games (aka The Season That Never Was). Indy has to work tonight and since her knee is messed up she probably wouldn't be playing anyway. Taryn will have to zip around for the both of them.
I'm going to the preschool tomorrow. It's the last day of the year for them, and it's the traditional Pizza Day. Everyone is so excited; well, the kids are anyway! :) I remember one year, the 2 yr olds ate so much pizza we ran out (one guy ate half a pizza by himself) and we had to make an emergency run for more so the 5 yr olds could eat!! Hopefully, they'll ration the slices this year. By the way, the Disney Day was busy, but lots of fun. We made Mickey Mouse pictures and they took so long, there wasn't time to do anything else. But I left Kay's ideas to follow up. We decorated the walls with their coloring pages and their Mickey Mouse or Minnie Mouse works of art. We glitter glued the ears, and after nap time we applied puff balls to the hair bows and dresses for our 4 Minnie's and to the bowties for our 3 Mickey's. Then kids got creative and made earrings, mouths, noses, etc., with them too. It was very cute, but I discovered that anything involving glue cannot be done as a group project because as soon as you turn your back to give something to one child another takes the cap off the glue and empties the entire bottle onto the paper. That happened twice - not the same kid, but wow, what a mess. I ran out of diaper wipes cleaning it up. I think it took the entire weekend for the glue to dry. I had to ask the director to go back in before the teacher returned to hang them up! But it all turned out great, because I got a phone call from the teacher saying what a wonderful surprise she had! All the kids were so excited to surprise her in their Disney costumes and t-shirts and to show her the room with their coloring pages and Mickey and Minnie's everywhere. She said it was neat to return to and the kids reporting having had a great time. I did too. Note to me though: Only craft projects using glue sticks for two year olds.
Only 5 1/2 days left of school!!!! Then we leave for St. Augustine, Florida!!! It's been a really long time since we all got to vacation together, and never at a beach during suntanning season!! We can't wait!
Mariah was home sick for 2 days with a cold. She missed the last Girl Scout meeting of the year. Bummer!
I had migraines with the last two systems that moved thru - Saturday and Monday. But they weren't too bad. Just enough to interfere with my plans. Pre-meds, these would have been doozies. So I think the stuff is working. I'll take 4 hrs of intense headache over 12 hrs of unbelievable pain & misery.
Mike was the soccer coach for Taryn & Indy's team last night. They won 2-0! Taryn played forward and mid-field. Mike says she played well with a couple break aways and shots on goal. Indy was a forward for the first half and Mike was evil and put her in the box for the second half. She is limping today. She said her knee felt like it needed to pop last night. They have another game tonight and Mike will coach again. Both are make up games from one of the 5 rained out games (aka The Season That Never Was). Indy has to work tonight and since her knee is messed up she probably wouldn't be playing anyway. Taryn will have to zip around for the both of them.
I'm going to the preschool tomorrow. It's the last day of the year for them, and it's the traditional Pizza Day. Everyone is so excited; well, the kids are anyway! :) I remember one year, the 2 yr olds ate so much pizza we ran out (one guy ate half a pizza by himself) and we had to make an emergency run for more so the 5 yr olds could eat!! Hopefully, they'll ration the slices this year. By the way, the Disney Day was busy, but lots of fun. We made Mickey Mouse pictures and they took so long, there wasn't time to do anything else. But I left Kay's ideas to follow up. We decorated the walls with their coloring pages and their Mickey Mouse or Minnie Mouse works of art. We glitter glued the ears, and after nap time we applied puff balls to the hair bows and dresses for our 4 Minnie's and to the bowties for our 3 Mickey's. Then kids got creative and made earrings, mouths, noses, etc., with them too. It was very cute, but I discovered that anything involving glue cannot be done as a group project because as soon as you turn your back to give something to one child another takes the cap off the glue and empties the entire bottle onto the paper. That happened twice - not the same kid, but wow, what a mess. I ran out of diaper wipes cleaning it up. I think it took the entire weekend for the glue to dry. I had to ask the director to go back in before the teacher returned to hang them up! But it all turned out great, because I got a phone call from the teacher saying what a wonderful surprise she had! All the kids were so excited to surprise her in their Disney costumes and t-shirts and to show her the room with their coloring pages and Mickey and Minnie's everywhere. She said it was neat to return to and the kids reporting having had a great time. I did too. Note to me though: Only craft projects using glue sticks for two year olds.
Only 5 1/2 days left of school!!!! Then we leave for St. Augustine, Florida!!! It's been a really long time since we all got to vacation together, and never at a beach during suntanning season!! We can't wait!
Monday, May 12, 2008
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Kay said...
I love looking over the past posts...its quite comical how you were the "poster" until Chrissie caught on. Oh don't get me wrong, I love Chrissie's posts, but maybe you should type an entry too? (Okay, I'm one to talk. I have enough trouble just keeping up with everyone else's blogs!)
I have always said that Chrissie's talent for writing is far superior to mine. In fact, if you were to look back at my very first post you would see this:
"I have never considered myself a very talented writer, that honor belongs to my wife. It is a struggle for me to put my thoughts into words, but I will make the attempt."
Composing a post often takes me hours and has taken up to a week. I have found that when I try to relate the various activities of our family, it is often dry and mundane. Chrissie, however, has the ability to make it fun and humorous, and it just rolls right off her fingertips. She has the gift of storytelling. And I am more than happy to let her take front and center.
She is also a comment junkie!! So, all of you lurkers out there, throw her a bone!! Even I got called on the carpet for not commenting on her posts. By the way, Will, you would be the prime reason for that little attitude adjustment I received. But keep on, I enjoy reading your comments as well.
Most of my "occasional" posts will be history related, stock related, or thoughts on subjects that I think are interesting and want to share with others. Some of my slants on things, you may or may not agree with, but perhaps it will make you think about it from a different angle.
All right - this one only took half an hour.
I have always said that Chrissie's talent for writing is far superior to mine. In fact, if you were to look back at my very first post you would see this:
"I have never considered myself a very talented writer, that honor belongs to my wife. It is a struggle for me to put my thoughts into words, but I will make the attempt."
Composing a post often takes me hours and has taken up to a week. I have found that when I try to relate the various activities of our family, it is often dry and mundane. Chrissie, however, has the ability to make it fun and humorous, and it just rolls right off her fingertips. She has the gift of storytelling. And I am more than happy to let her take front and center.
She is also a comment junkie!! So, all of you lurkers out there, throw her a bone!! Even I got called on the carpet for not commenting on her posts. By the way, Will, you would be the prime reason for that little attitude adjustment I received. But keep on, I enjoy reading your comments as well.
Most of my "occasional" posts will be history related, stock related, or thoughts on subjects that I think are interesting and want to share with others. Some of my slants on things, you may or may not agree with, but perhaps it will make you think about it from a different angle.
All right - this one only took half an hour.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Disney Ideas
Thursday, I'm back in the saddle at preschool. The regular teacher is at Disney and I thought we'd do some fun Disney stuff since she's off visiting Mickey and his friends. Kind of have our own Disney Day. I wonder how Mickey Mouse ears out of construction paper would turn out?! They could decorate them with glitter glue. And I could handwrite their names on the hatband. They can save them for when their teacher gets back as a surprise from their Disney Day. I can probably find some Disney stories in the preschool/church library, but I'd love other some other ideas if anyone has suggestions!
So who wants to hear about how today went?! I subbed in the young 2's - that means they're in the 2 to 2.5 range - the era of No I Don't Have To Go (when they really do). There was kind of a lack of basic instructions, such as who sleeps where, what routine we follow prior to eating lunch, etc. I was told which child was the best source of information - my go to gal, if you will. Mind you, this is a 2.5 yr old. Who delighted in tricking me. Whooo-weeee. That was fun. Do we say a prayer BEFORE we open our lunches? No. Yes, we do!! Haahahah, I tricked Ms. Chrissie! What prayer do you say? Blank stares, except for one gal kept saying the same thing over and over, but I have no idea what she said. I could understand everything else she said all day but that was a mystery. Then for some reason they started singing ABC's. I don't know a prayer song to bless lunch that goes with the ABC's do you? I ask them if that was their prayer song. My go to gal says YES! I gave her a skeptical look, and she goes, Hahahaha, I tricked Ms. Chrissie again! OK, that's getting a little old girlie. So I sang the lunch prayer song I knew and was told that was not it. I replied, "It is now! Everyone eat!"
Then there was naptime. Curiously, there was NO helpful information to be had from any of them to facilitate that. Where are your nap mats? Blank stares. Found the mats. They all ended up together which I know is not where they sleep! Luckily, a T.A. came in and helped me put the kids where they belonged for naptime. One kid ended up on the floor with no pillow, no blanket, no nap mat. I have no idea where his stuff was. 10 minutes into nap time he exclaimed that some other girl had his pillow. Hello?! Was I not asking endlessly what stuff was his?!
So, Thursday, I definitely need more structure and I will be my own Go To Gal, thank you!!
So who wants to hear about how today went?! I subbed in the young 2's - that means they're in the 2 to 2.5 range - the era of No I Don't Have To Go (when they really do). There was kind of a lack of basic instructions, such as who sleeps where, what routine we follow prior to eating lunch, etc. I was told which child was the best source of information - my go to gal, if you will. Mind you, this is a 2.5 yr old. Who delighted in tricking me. Whooo-weeee. That was fun. Do we say a prayer BEFORE we open our lunches? No. Yes, we do!! Haahahah, I tricked Ms. Chrissie! What prayer do you say? Blank stares, except for one gal kept saying the same thing over and over, but I have no idea what she said. I could understand everything else she said all day but that was a mystery. Then for some reason they started singing ABC's. I don't know a prayer song to bless lunch that goes with the ABC's do you? I ask them if that was their prayer song. My go to gal says YES! I gave her a skeptical look, and she goes, Hahahaha, I tricked Ms. Chrissie again! OK, that's getting a little old girlie. So I sang the lunch prayer song I knew and was told that was not it. I replied, "It is now! Everyone eat!"
Then there was naptime. Curiously, there was NO helpful information to be had from any of them to facilitate that. Where are your nap mats? Blank stares. Found the mats. They all ended up together which I know is not where they sleep! Luckily, a T.A. came in and helped me put the kids where they belonged for naptime. One kid ended up on the floor with no pillow, no blanket, no nap mat. I have no idea where his stuff was. 10 minutes into nap time he exclaimed that some other girl had his pillow. Hello?! Was I not asking endlessly what stuff was his?!
So, Thursday, I definitely need more structure and I will be my own Go To Gal, thank you!!
Monday, May 5, 2008
Pullin' a Stephanie
I'm pulling a stephanie with a multiple post blog tonight! I think she still has first place though.
Anyway, I'm off to bed, gotta get some sleep to keep up with eight 2 yr olds tomorrow. But, here are the other band photos from tonight's concert to take you thru some of the Percussion instruments Gib played. I realized you couldn't really see the new haircut in the caveman one so here's some others. Still no photos of me, gosh, what a bummer. Always the photographer never the model.
Anyway, I'm off to bed, gotta get some sleep to keep up with eight 2 yr olds tomorrow. But, here are the other band photos from tonight's concert to take you thru some of the Percussion instruments Gib played. I realized you couldn't really see the new haircut in the caveman one so here's some others. Still no photos of me, gosh, what a bummer. Always the photographer never the model.
Camporee Photos
Mike and Gib went on a Scout Camporee weekend. They were supposed to leave Friday night, but due to a storm, the troop decided to head out early Saturday morning instead. Last year our troop won 1st place and they hoped for a repeat. Maybe they'll know by tomorrow night at the troop meeting.
The Monkey Bridge after it was assembled.
The troop built a monkey bridge.
Gib's receiving instructions from
Mr. Green, the Troop Master.
The Monkey Bridge after it was assembled.
The Tents
The guys had a good time. Even though Gib's patrol had a little lunch mishap. Something about somebody not showing up with their food. Mike's not sure if "somebody" didn't just forget to plan adequately. But that is how the boys learn. The troop is scout run and scout led, with adults standing by to teach and extinguish fires (literally and figuratively). So there's a big learning curve going on at all times.
The guys had a good time. Even though Gib's patrol had a little lunch mishap. Something about somebody not showing up with their food. Mike's not sure if "somebody" didn't just forget to plan adequately. But that is how the boys learn. The troop is scout run and scout led, with adults standing by to teach and extinguish fires (literally and figuratively). So there's a big learning curve going on at all times. All the boys had was leftover eggs from breakfast. Now, mind you, the adults on these trips eat GREAT! And it just kills the hungry boys when their menu ends up, shall we say, skimpy or in this case, non-existent?! Now, Gib's patrol needed to borrow some butter to cook their eggs. And the adults made them all sing "I'm a Little Teapot" WITH actions for it!! Don't feel too bad for Gib though. I misunderstood him and packed a big lunch for him and Mike, but Mike didn't need one. So he ate the extra sub sandwich sack lunch while the rest of his patrol had eggs. I don't think that will bode well for him in the next Patrol Leader election - do you?!
Lyrics to "I Love This Ward"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q85rPq1u9sc
CHRISSIE'S LYRICS TO “I LOVE THIS WARD”
From TOBY KEITH'S "I LOVE THIS BAR"
(the irony alone makes me laugh)
WE GOT WINNERS
AIN'T NO LOSERS,
NO CHAIN SMOKERS OR BOOZERS
WE GOT SEMINARY
MISSIONARY BIKERS,
WE GOT THIRSTY BOY SCOUT HIKERS
AND THE YOUNG WOMEN, THEY DRESS UP LIKE MOVIE STARS
HMMM, HMMM, HMMM, HMMM, HMMMM – I LOVE THIS WARD
WE GOT BAWLERS
WE GOT SCRIPTURE READERS
THE BEST INSPIRED LEADERS
WE’RE ALWAYS HUSTLIN’
TO GO HOME TEACHIN’
OFF AGAIN TO ANOTHER MEETIN’
AND THE HIGH PRIESTS TALK ABOUT THEIR NAPPIN' HOURS
HMMM, HMMM, HMMM, HMMM, HMMMM – I LOVE THIS WARD
I LOVE THIS WARD
IT’S MY KIND OF PLACE
JUST WALKIN' THROUGH THE FRONT DOORS
PUTS A BIG SMILE ON MY FACE
IT AIN'T TOO FAR, COME AS YOU ARE
HMMM, HMMM, HMMM, HMMM, HMMMM – I LOVE THIS WARD
WE ALWAYS GO TO SONIC
AND WARD PICNICS
PRIMARY KIDS SINGING IN PHONICS
YOUNG MEN PLAYIN' HOOP BALL
AND LOTS OF LOOKERS
AND YOU ALWAYS SEE THOSE RELIEF SOCIETY WORKERS
AND WE LIKE TO DRINK OUR KOOL-AID FROM A MASON JAR
HMMM, HMMM, HMMM, HMMM, HMMMM – I LOVE THIS WARD, YES I DO
I LIKE MY HOME TEACHERS (REPEAT)
I LIKE MY FAMILY (REPEAT)
I LIKE TO TAKE EM OUT TO DINNER
I LIKE A G - RATED MOVIE NOW & THEN
BUT I LOVE THIS WARD,
IT’ MY KIND OF PLACE,
JUST TROLLIN’ AROUND THE CULTURAL HALL
PUTS A BIG SMILE ON MY FACE
NO COVER CHARGE, COME AS YOU ARE
HMMM, HMMM, HMMM, HMMM, HMMMM – I LOVE THIS WARD
HMMM, HMMM, HMMM, HMMM, HMMMM – I LOVE THIS WARD (fill in your ward name)
CHRISSIE'S LYRICS TO “I LOVE THIS WARD”
From TOBY KEITH'S "I LOVE THIS BAR"
(the irony alone makes me laugh)
WE GOT WINNERS
AIN'T NO LOSERS,
NO CHAIN SMOKERS OR BOOZERS
WE GOT SEMINARY
MISSIONARY BIKERS,
WE GOT THIRSTY BOY SCOUT HIKERS
AND THE YOUNG WOMEN, THEY DRESS UP LIKE MOVIE STARS
HMMM, HMMM, HMMM, HMMM, HMMMM – I LOVE THIS WARD
WE GOT BAWLERS
WE GOT SCRIPTURE READERS
THE BEST INSPIRED LEADERS
WE’RE ALWAYS HUSTLIN’
TO GO HOME TEACHIN’
OFF AGAIN TO ANOTHER MEETIN’
AND THE HIGH PRIESTS TALK ABOUT THEIR NAPPIN' HOURS
HMMM, HMMM, HMMM, HMMM, HMMMM – I LOVE THIS WARD
I LOVE THIS WARD
IT’S MY KIND OF PLACE
JUST WALKIN' THROUGH THE FRONT DOORS
PUTS A BIG SMILE ON MY FACE
IT AIN'T TOO FAR, COME AS YOU ARE
HMMM, HMMM, HMMM, HMMM, HMMMM – I LOVE THIS WARD
WE ALWAYS GO TO SONIC
AND WARD PICNICS
PRIMARY KIDS SINGING IN PHONICS
YOUNG MEN PLAYIN' HOOP BALL
AND LOTS OF LOOKERS
AND YOU ALWAYS SEE THOSE RELIEF SOCIETY WORKERS
AND WE LIKE TO DRINK OUR KOOL-AID FROM A MASON JAR
HMMM, HMMM, HMMM, HMMM, HMMMM – I LOVE THIS WARD, YES I DO
I LIKE MY HOME TEACHERS (REPEAT)
I LIKE MY FAMILY (REPEAT)
I LIKE TO TAKE EM OUT TO DINNER
I LIKE A G - RATED MOVIE NOW & THEN
BUT I LOVE THIS WARD,
IT’ MY KIND OF PLACE,
JUST TROLLIN’ AROUND THE CULTURAL HALL
PUTS A BIG SMILE ON MY FACE
NO COVER CHARGE, COME AS YOU ARE
HMMM, HMMM, HMMM, HMMM, HMMMM – I LOVE THIS WARD
HMMM, HMMM, HMMM, HMMM, HMMMM – I LOVE THIS WARD (fill in your ward name)
Caveman Band Night
Tonight the band director finally utilizied the true, untapped strengths of his percussion ensemble and let their inner cavemen come out to play (for one musical piece anyway).
Shiny Bright Halo
Usually it's a little tarnished, but my halo is shining ever so brightly these days. I've been doing so many good deeds I'm getting a little sick of myself. It all started with taking my friends mom to the dentist. The next day, another friend's daughter broke her arm at school, so I went to the hospital and helped out with their little girl, Amy Mei, who was turning 4 that day. We left to go get her birthday cake in a huge downpour and got soaking wet, visited two public restrooms, told everybody it was her birthday in our new conversational English, and scored a free teddy bear and a book! Then Scary Nick came over that afternoon and stayed for dinner. The next day I didn't do much but bask in my glorious reflection since Mike and Gib were at a scout camporee, but I did get some gardening done. Today I made cinnamin rolls from scratch for Indy's study til midnite session at school for the AP Calculus exam. In between risings, I went to the material store and got faux fur for a caveman outfit for Gib's band concert. And, this isn't really halo material - but it's gotta be saintly to make cinnamin rolls, a costume, AND mop and wax my wood floors all in one day!
By the end of the week my halo will probably be twisted, tarnished, and possibly trashed, since I have 2 days of subbing for the young 2's class at preschool, and helping set up and serve for the Mother Daughter's Activity Day thing on Wednesday.
But wait, there's one more shiny halo thing (oooh, and now that I think about it, it was accepting the new calling and agreeing to this right after sacrament that started the whole chain reaction!). So, I'm in a skit next Sunday for the Visiting Teaching conference. It wasn't like I could say no since I kinda wrote the darn thing. Oh well, one of my favorite's, Last Minute Lucy, was still up for grabs, so I'm her. I've gotta create a hat for my character who lives by the motto, "if it wasn't for the last minute, nothing would get done!". I hope the skit goes over as funny as it seemed to me when I put it together. It's always a little scary, because I am a great source of amusement to myself, but I find alot of people don't get my sense of humor at church. That reminds me, they didn't do my song at the talent show, but it was OK, because we had all sorts of changes of plans here and I ended up not going anyway. I'll put it up in case anyone wants to see it.
And in case anyone was wondering, if that was all it takes for this girl to think her halo is bright? The answer is: Yup! Pretty much. It's all downhill from here baby!!
By the end of the week my halo will probably be twisted, tarnished, and possibly trashed, since I have 2 days of subbing for the young 2's class at preschool, and helping set up and serve for the Mother Daughter's Activity Day thing on Wednesday.
But wait, there's one more shiny halo thing (oooh, and now that I think about it, it was accepting the new calling and agreeing to this right after sacrament that started the whole chain reaction!). So, I'm in a skit next Sunday for the Visiting Teaching conference. It wasn't like I could say no since I kinda wrote the darn thing. Oh well, one of my favorite's, Last Minute Lucy, was still up for grabs, so I'm her. I've gotta create a hat for my character who lives by the motto, "if it wasn't for the last minute, nothing would get done!". I hope the skit goes over as funny as it seemed to me when I put it together. It's always a little scary, because I am a great source of amusement to myself, but I find alot of people don't get my sense of humor at church. That reminds me, they didn't do my song at the talent show, but it was OK, because we had all sorts of changes of plans here and I ended up not going anyway. I'll put it up in case anyone wants to see it.
And in case anyone was wondering, if that was all it takes for this girl to think her halo is bright? The answer is: Yup! Pretty much. It's all downhill from here baby!!
Friday, May 2, 2008
New Scary Nick
Taryn and New Scary Nick
Poor Nick - I love that nickname (hahaha)!!
He's a very cool guy and has nice manners. I like him. They took the nature hike to find the bone pile today. Mariah went with them, but they couldn't find it. They did find several ticks though. Yuck.
Mike and Mariah off to the Daddy Daughter Luau
They won the wrap the Mummy in TP contest.
They won the wrap the Mummy in TP contest.
Mike was the Mummy!
Indy and Joe at the Award Ceremony
"Can you believe how stupid this is?!"
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Too Old For Lists?!
Yup, it's official. I'm old. I've come to this conclusion because of the following reasons:
1) I can't go a week without a medical complaint. Whoo-hoo, this was a fun week too. A little UTI made itself known this weekend. I don't do so well on antibiotics so I try the cranberry & homeopathic route first. I almost had it beat, but had to go on antibiotics yesterday after 4 days and 3 gallons of cranberry juice. By the way, 3 gallons of cranberry juice creates its own little set of problems. It wasn't a very good day for me yesterday. And I had a migraine on Monday. It was heading for capital M status, but I pulled the Midrin trick 4 hrs into it. I was feeling a little wiped out and cranky with the two issues combined. This month's migraine tally is 5, but only one was mega-humongous. I actually consider April a vast improvement over the previous 3 months. Once the new meds got cranking, I only had 2 little migraines. Between Topamax and the worst of weird spring weather easing off, I hope I get to reclaim my health (and ooooh, possibly my youth?!)
2) My #1 was so long I forgot what else I was going to say......
3) Oh well, I guess this applies - I got called as R.S. Enrichment Leader, and I have to say, this time around, it feels like an old lady calling. I've been in enrichment before (10 yrs worth) but I feel like I had alot more energy and resiliency then. So, PLEASE, I'm begging you, whenever you hear of any ideas, send them my way. I obviously need all the help I can get.
Since my first list didn't work so well, here's a list of some exciting things! Let's see how far I get before I get distracted and forget what else I was going to say.
1) Gib FINALLY got a haircut!!!!!!!! It took forever, but it's done. There's a boy under all that hair. A friend who's a hairdresser took pity on us, probably because her fingers were itching last Sunday just looking at that mop. I took Gib out of school early, and she squoze us into her schedule and cut his hair for an hour. I warned her. He has a ton of hair. He looks very nice. I just wish he could wear it longer; I know, odd for a mother, but I guess his hair is just too thick and there's too much of it, growing in some weird whorly pattern on his abnormally large head. Sorry Gib! That's a Wellpott gene, and you get that from Grammy!! If he'd just style it the way I keep telling him, but no apparently, that part of my Perfect Man Programming hasn't taken hold yet. So he has a "long-short" hair cut now. Anyway, he is dreading all the compliments his teachers will give him (but probably secretly looking forward to the attention). He's also warning me in advance that because his eyebrows can now be seen, he'll probably get in trouble with his teachers since he's not used to censoring them! What a goof.
2) When we turned the calendar page this morning, there was a note to myself (because I am so old I have to write notes to myself) to remind me to sign Mariah up for youth Volleyball. She is so excited!!
3) Taryn is bringing New Scary Nick over after school tomorrow. I sense a photo op. I hear he wants a mohawk now. I don't know, Mohawk Nick just doesn't have that "ring" to it.
4) As part of her Senior Project, Indy needs to complete 25 hours of community volunteer service. We considered a couple options, but her first choice was with WAVES http://www.wavesinc.com/. A coworker at my preschool works there, so I suggested it to Indy because I thought it might give her firsthand experience in the field she's interested in majoring in while at the same time meeting the graduation requirement for her senior project. She just heard back, and the director said she'd "LOVE to have her volunteer this summer" and indicated Indy would probably be in the 3-4 yr old classrooms a couple days a week from 9 am to noon. Indy hopes she loves it enough to continue volunteering there even after her hours are completed for the senior project.
5) Well, this isn't exactly exciting, (a huge relief is more like it) but Mike came back home after leaving for work this morning to remove a tiny tick from the back of Mariah's neck. I am sooo glad he was willing to turn around and come back to do that for us. Mariah was ready to choose the school nurse over putting me through it, so she was happy to have such a nice Dad too. I was brave and watched. It was gross. I hate ticks.
6) It's MAY! While May is admittedly a very exciting month (feels like summer is around the corner, school is wrapping up, etc), it also means a new payday and I can go grocery shopping! I am taking my friend's mother to the dentist (waaaaay out in the country) this afternoon and we are very food-challenged right now. So I'd better get crackin' and stock the pantry before doing my good deed. That will be my entire day. Hope yours is great!
1) I can't go a week without a medical complaint. Whoo-hoo, this was a fun week too. A little UTI made itself known this weekend. I don't do so well on antibiotics so I try the cranberry & homeopathic route first. I almost had it beat, but had to go on antibiotics yesterday after 4 days and 3 gallons of cranberry juice. By the way, 3 gallons of cranberry juice creates its own little set of problems. It wasn't a very good day for me yesterday. And I had a migraine on Monday. It was heading for capital M status, but I pulled the Midrin trick 4 hrs into it. I was feeling a little wiped out and cranky with the two issues combined. This month's migraine tally is 5, but only one was mega-humongous. I actually consider April a vast improvement over the previous 3 months. Once the new meds got cranking, I only had 2 little migraines. Between Topamax and the worst of weird spring weather easing off, I hope I get to reclaim my health (and ooooh, possibly my youth?!)
2) My #1 was so long I forgot what else I was going to say......
3) Oh well, I guess this applies - I got called as R.S. Enrichment Leader, and I have to say, this time around, it feels like an old lady calling. I've been in enrichment before (10 yrs worth) but I feel like I had alot more energy and resiliency then. So, PLEASE, I'm begging you, whenever you hear of any ideas, send them my way. I obviously need all the help I can get.
Since my first list didn't work so well, here's a list of some exciting things! Let's see how far I get before I get distracted and forget what else I was going to say.
1) Gib FINALLY got a haircut!!!!!!!! It took forever, but it's done. There's a boy under all that hair. A friend who's a hairdresser took pity on us, probably because her fingers were itching last Sunday just looking at that mop. I took Gib out of school early, and she squoze us into her schedule and cut his hair for an hour. I warned her. He has a ton of hair. He looks very nice. I just wish he could wear it longer; I know, odd for a mother, but I guess his hair is just too thick and there's too much of it, growing in some weird whorly pattern on his abnormally large head. Sorry Gib! That's a Wellpott gene, and you get that from Grammy!! If he'd just style it the way I keep telling him, but no apparently, that part of my Perfect Man Programming hasn't taken hold yet. So he has a "long-short" hair cut now. Anyway, he is dreading all the compliments his teachers will give him (but probably secretly looking forward to the attention). He's also warning me in advance that because his eyebrows can now be seen, he'll probably get in trouble with his teachers since he's not used to censoring them! What a goof.
2) When we turned the calendar page this morning, there was a note to myself (because I am so old I have to write notes to myself) to remind me to sign Mariah up for youth Volleyball. She is so excited!!
3) Taryn is bringing New Scary Nick over after school tomorrow. I sense a photo op. I hear he wants a mohawk now. I don't know, Mohawk Nick just doesn't have that "ring" to it.
4) As part of her Senior Project, Indy needs to complete 25 hours of community volunteer service. We considered a couple options, but her first choice was with WAVES http://www.wavesinc.com/. A coworker at my preschool works there, so I suggested it to Indy because I thought it might give her firsthand experience in the field she's interested in majoring in while at the same time meeting the graduation requirement for her senior project. She just heard back, and the director said she'd "LOVE to have her volunteer this summer" and indicated Indy would probably be in the 3-4 yr old classrooms a couple days a week from 9 am to noon. Indy hopes she loves it enough to continue volunteering there even after her hours are completed for the senior project.
5) Well, this isn't exactly exciting, (a huge relief is more like it) but Mike came back home after leaving for work this morning to remove a tiny tick from the back of Mariah's neck. I am sooo glad he was willing to turn around and come back to do that for us. Mariah was ready to choose the school nurse over putting me through it, so she was happy to have such a nice Dad too. I was brave and watched. It was gross. I hate ticks.
6) It's MAY! While May is admittedly a very exciting month (feels like summer is around the corner, school is wrapping up, etc), it also means a new payday and I can go grocery shopping! I am taking my friend's mother to the dentist (waaaaay out in the country) this afternoon and we are very food-challenged right now. So I'd better get crackin' and stock the pantry before doing my good deed. That will be my entire day. Hope yours is great!
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