Picnic in the backyard

Yesterday the little boys were in desperate need of an Adventure. I had the bright idea to have the big boys set up our smaller tent for them to play in at the back of our backyard. It was a big hit! Elijah wanted to have a picnic lunch there too! I thought you'd enjoy some pictures :)

Just call her Funyan Face.... hahahahaha

They played in the tent for hours and hours and had a blast. Now they want to sleep in it tonight! We'll have to see what Daddy says about that ;).

Visiting the Bakers on St George Island

On Feb 11, Sam's birthday, we drove down to St George Island to visit our dear friends who were vacationing there.

We just want to wade in ankle deep, Mama... really...


Ooops...I think Ike is All Done!

These pics were taken on the bay. Later we went to the ocean side:

The sun was really bright so ignore the shadows!

Charlana does the beach!!!

Charlotte and Dana!

(PS Mom and Tommy... *this* is really where you need to vacation -nodding- yes!!)

Our little creek...

Remember that little creek that trickles through our property. Well, it has rained and rained and rained for two days and look at it now! You can normally just step across it!!

A dress for Isabelle

My sweet friend Patty just recently returned from Guatemala with her newest daughter. I made this little outfit for Isabelle. The pinafore buttons in the back with pretty red buttons.

Haircuts for the little boys

Here they are in the tub after their haircuts!! bbzzzzzzz......

The Beaver Saga, Part 2

After doing some research yesterday (and discovering beaver can be rabid and they carry several parasites that transfer to humans that can be really nasty) we decided to call Environmental Health. They sent someone to pick up the beaver to check for rabies.

We should know something Wednesday. The agent said it was a 'low risk contact' so we really aren't expecting rabies to come back as positive but it was prudent to find out for sure.

Poor fellas... didn't get to skin the beaver...

BEAVER in our yard last night!!!

a Beaver. big furry animal, big orange teeth, long flat tail--- a beaver!!

IN our Yard!!!Our yard is entirely fenced! Three sides with dog fence and one side with field fencing.A beaver in our yard! The dogs killed her. Sorry Mrs. Beaver. She got a couple of them though... one got it in the nose and one got it in the leg. Beaver have sharp teeth. I don't think the dogs knew what to do with her. They've never seen a beaver before.

I've never seen a beaver up close before.

Why, oh why was there a beaver in my back yard? Where did she come from?

The boys saved her body because they want to skin her. I told them I didn't care as long as I didn't have to smell anything Am I a good homeschooling mommy or what?Is there any reason they shouldn't skin the beaver? Any health concerns or anything? Anybody know?

Wanna see a pic of the dead beaver? I don't want to gross anyone out... she has orange teeth. Like UT orange... very wierd. Elijah said they are orange because she doesn't brush them!

Molly has some better pics. I'll get them from her camera in a few minutes!

Joseph's new diaper

I think he likes it!

Happy 6th birthday Elijah

Isaac

Running Away... part 2

I just have to say...I love living in Florida! It was in the low 70s today. I love it. I wasn't built for cold weather...

Elijah, sweet boy, always finds flowers for his Mama!
Molly and Ike had a footrace in the SAND... Yes, they have re-done our favorite park and now it is in SAND. Brandy, Stop Laughing!!!

See how windy it was? Very windy...
Molly, sweet child that she is, fixed everyone's lunch while Caleb... well... looks like he's *reading*.... again...

ooohhh... the zip line... much more fun with your big brother pushes you so hard you so flying off the other end and land in SAND...
The slide... need I say more?

Look Nana! See how high I am. Next time you come you can climb up here with me :) And, Yes, they were both yelling 'as you wiiiiiish' as they rolled down the hill! LOL
And a great time was had by all...

THE END

Our "Running Away" Day in pictures

and, of course, dialog... you know me...

Okay, so we headed down the road toward Ocheessee Landing (there's a park there but when we got there I discovered the park is in SAND... and you know how I feel about SAND so we just kept going down the road).
We drove down to the actual landing (boat landing area) and walked up and down the ... 'shoreline'... river side? What would that be? The children found lots of rocks and shells and assorted unidentifiable metal bits. Great fun, no?
And we talked to two men there and the told the children stories of the Great Floods of 93 and 94 (or was it 92 and 93?) and showed them a catfish and what catfish filets look like. Oh and they pointed out a Live Oak that is reportedly over 400 years old and is the oldest Live Oak in Florida. Of course I had the camera the van and forgot to take any pics of part one of our adventure.

Then we headed the other way down Ocheessee Landing Road and drove over to Ocheessee Pond. I did take pics there... so here ya go!

And I took some photos of the children too. It's a very scenic area... even if it is a boat dock ;)

Then we drove back to our house to check on The Smell. It was almost gone but not quite so Molly and I packed a picnic and we headed to the park in Sneads. I remembered that I had told my new friend Traci (she lives in Sneads) that the next time we went to the park I would call her. She, bless her heart, is always up for spontaneous fun so she gathered up her crew and met us there. She and I had so much fun gabbing that I forgot to take any pics of our children playing together. I did take some pics of our children before she got there and I'll put them in the next post :)