Vacation: Part One

I hesitate to say "Part One" because then I typically don't get around to posting "Part Two." But here are some photos from the first two days of our trip to Jacksonville, Florida, last week.

The first day was spent mostly in the car. I won't show you all the pictures I took of Grace with her babies (she brought Emily, Emily, and Emily), but I'll show you a picture of her talking on her "phone," a.k.a. a box of Tic Tacs.


Who was she calling? Her baby Bella, of course. She wanted to see how things were at home. I took pictures as we drove because that's always a good way to pass the time. (And, naturally, many of them didn't turn out. But it still helped pass the time.)


The next day we tried to sleep in after a restless night. We ate a late breakfast

Robert on his iPod while we waited for our order.

and headed over to Neptune Beach just to get our feet in the sand, much to the disappointment of Josiah and Grace.




We didn't have swimsuits on yet--Jason and I prefer late afternoon to avoid the crowds and much of the sun--but the kids enjoyed wading in a little...

and these two could have run back and forth in the shallow waves for hours.


That night, we went to a minor league baseball game. The Jacksonville Suns played the Huntsville Stars--and the Suns won! It was an exciting game, especially with such an entertaining pitcher. Seriously, how can he pitch like this? He looks more like he's doing some kind of dance. That's his leg blurred above his head. I'm tellin' ya, ballet dancers and gymnasts are envious of his flexibility.


Robert enjoyed some pre-game time on his iPod. (Do you see a pattern yet? There was certainly a pattern.)


Josiah, who usually likes baseball enough to watch a game, said he was just waiting for cotton candy and for the fireworks after the game...and I think he said more than a couple of times that he was just waiting to get back to the beach. Apparently, we were torturing the poor child by choosing the game over the beach.


Grace enjoyed seeing the mascot, South Paw (a dog), and his friend Sunny the Bunny, as well as a bright red snow-cone and the fireworks.


Ah...the fireworks...


Lots of fireworks.



Want to see more of our Jacksonville vacation pics? Check out these posts:
You Capture: Smiles
Vacation: Part One
Vacation: Part Two...The Zoo
Vacation: Part Three...Quirky Photos
Vacation: Part Four...The Beach(es)!

You Capture: Smiles

From our recent vacation in Jacksonville FL...

Grace (5) and Josiah (8) with a painted turtle at Neptune Beach

Josiah smiling (nearly constantly) just because he's finally at the beach

Robert even smiled at the beach ;)

I'm pretty sure this fella we found at the Jacksonville Zoo was smiling, too.

Want to see more of our Jacksonville vacation pics? Check out these posts:
You Capture: Smiles
Vacation: Part One
Vacation: Part Two...The Zoo
Vacation: Part Three...Quirky Photos
Vacation: Part Four...The Beach(es)!

Overheard: The best day of my life!

As I was getting Grace (5) settled down at bedtime, she gave me a big hug and told me,

"Remember, Mommy, tomorrow is the best day of my life! And the next day, too!"

I asked her why in particular tomorrow would be the best day of her life, and she immediately answered,

"Because it's Sunday and I get to learn about Jesus!"

Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” (Matthew 19:14 NIV)

You Capture: Vibrance

When I saw that this week's photography theme was vibrance, I thought about just following Josiah (8) and Grace (5) around with the camera and catching all their energy in photographs.

I didn't. But I thought about it. And the thought made me a little tired.

So, instead, I focused on the bright colors around me, like the wisteria climbing high into the trees. One day, I hope to have wisteria in our yard. Until then, I can enjoy what grows along the road and in other people's yards. (There's a lot of it around here. How about in your area?)


And then there's the vibrant colors in the produce department...

Bright yellow pansies in front of one of the stores that sells all the supplies you could possibly need to grow bright yellow pansies, or nearly anything else...


And my own vibrant little purple phlox blooming around the lovebirds.

Works For Me Wednesday: Kitchen hint

I don't know about you, but I almost always buy the cheap trash bags without the bells and whistles...OK, without the drawstring or another feature that might help the trash bag stay in place around the top of the kitchen trash can. The thing I have found to help keep the trash bag from falling in (since these cheaper bags also tend to be shorter) is to keep a diaper wipes box in the bottom of the trash can.


The diaper wipes box supports the bottom of the (shorter) bag and also comes in handy as a place to store trash bags so they are conveniently placed and kept clean. I would recommend using a diaper wipes box with a solid lid (unlike the one in our trash can) so the clean bags would stay clean even if the trash bag in use should leak.

An added bonus? Since the box is supporting the bottom of the trash bag, it helps improve the accuracy of children who are being trained to take out the trash and haven't quite gotten the hang of securing all four corners. ;)

Want more WFMW posts on kitchen topics? Check out an easy way to keep up with leftovers/keeping recipes in a notebook and chopping onions without the tears!

Funny boy...

I was looking through my photos on the computer just now and ran across these photos from a recent trip to Athens.




I noticed that my 13 year old

had renamed those two photo files with "greatest place on earth" in the file name. ;)

When I can't think of anything to say, I show you photos of Grace sleeping

It has been quite a week. Nothing terrible...I certainly can't complain (except perhaps about Algebra), but it just felt like a really long week.

So, instead of talking about Algebra and boring the vast majority of you to death with details about how unmotivated my teenage son is to learn this subject, I will just show you photos of Grace sleeping. She's so photogenic even when she's sleeping (yes, perhaps I am biased) and I apparently can't resist taking her picture when she's asleep, since all of these were taken within the last month.

Here is Grace (now age 5) sleeping with one of her beloved babies...


and fairy wings...


with an impressive stack of books...


and, last but not least, there is pictorial proof that she does sleep in her own bed at night!


As a bonus, here's one where she should be sleeping but she's not. There is a stethoscope peeking out from under the "pillow" she made...she has a thing for stethoscopes. She's apparently a well-rounded child, judging from the things she adores enough to sleep with.


I hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend!