Holiday Fun

Winter is not my favorite time of year. Driving on bad roads, the bitter cold, the very dry house, feeling trapped in side, just not my idea of fun. However we have been making the most of the winter weather and getting into the holiday spirit.


Our first snow was two weeks ago, and here is some fun we had outside. We made this huge snowman but my camera battery died before I got a good picture. He is still standing in the yard but has melted a lot and now you see all the grass and leaves we picked up along the way as we rolled our snowballs. He is not picture pretty anymore.

To get into the holiday spirit and to add a few personal touches to the decorations we decided to make snowflakes. A little paper, a couple glue sticks and this great glitter I found at Target that is in these little tubes that have salt shaker type tops.

Thomas did is own cutting and made his very own snowflakes. His favorite part however was the glue and glitter sprinkling. See my table....

Luke was a lot more neat about it and he made a Santa snowflake that was really cute also.

One of Thomas's finished snowflakes. Turned our really good!!!

Luke made lots and lots of little ones.

Our very messy process and my glitter table. Note to all, if you try this, cover your table first. I still have glitter stuck on my table. That might be because I got the bright idea to put glue on the paper and then had the boys turn it over and rub it on the table top to pick up all the excess glitter instead of shaking out more. Works great to stick to the snowflakes but it also does a great job making it stick to the table.

Then we hung them up in our entry way. Looks great! See Luke's Santa on the right.
These were lots of fun but every day I have a lovely glitter collection all over my floor as it falls off of the snowflakes.

Here are a couple more pictures of our snow fun.
Our dog really loves the snow. She is getting old but it doesn't stop her from getting out and rolling around in it. She is a golden retriever and the snow just cakes to her fur. Not very fun when it is time to go inside.
Then the babysitter had a party for all the kids and families she watches at her house. Guess who made a surprise visit. Thomas went nuts when Santa came in. There is no fear of Santa with this child. Luke wasn't so sure about Santa at 3 but Thomas was having a fit as Santa called each child, one by one to sit on his lap and Thomas was not getting a turn.

Luke was one of the first.
Finally, it was Thomas turn and he was so excited. Now he is telling me that Santa is going to bring him a motorcycle. Where did the motorcycle idea come from, no clue. Not sure what to do here because he thinks Santa is bringing him a real motorcycle. Hopefully he is not disappointed on Christmas morning.

I sure hope everyone is having a very Merry Christmas season and enjoying the fun of the season. On my list of things to do this year, I have about 10 different cookie, fudge, etc... type recipes and we are going to make a bunch of them up. Then the boys and I are going to head out and make deliveries and spread a little holiday cheer.

Have you been having some holiday fun baking, decorating, whats on your holiday list of things to do?

Our Path.....

I believe that in my life I have been given a path that has brought me to where I am today. I was thinking about this the other day as I can remember a big life changing moment in my life. It changed everything for me and I believe is how I got to this point in my life today.

I go back to being in Junior High 8th grade to be exact. I loved music at this age, my favorite class was choir. I love to sing. At that time I believe I was pretty good because in a couple of concerts I had a few solos of my own. Clearly your music teacher has to believe you have some talent if you are selected for a solo part. Now fast forward to the end of Junior High where every student who wanted to be part of the High school choir had to try out.

My love of singing of course led me to try out because I wanted to be in the choir. However, this was not my path to take. I did not make it into the choir as my tryout did not go very well. I am a very nervous person and I was very nervous at the tryout and I did not do well because I could not get past my nerves. My music teacher was shocked and very disappointed that I did not get selected, she even told me so. Giving me the advice to join the girls choir and prove myself to the teacher so that I would be part of the choir in 10th grade.

I had the option to be part of the girls glee choir in high school but I did elected not to be part of this due to trouble with some other girls who were also in the girls glee choir.

So because of that, my singing came to an end in the 8th grade. Who is to say I would not have done a lot more with music had I made it into the choir but instead I walked away from it all.

Because I walked away I became involved in other activities that lead to an entire new group of friends, that lead to meeting my husband, and the rest is history.

Had I not been part of those other activities (if I did music I would not have been) I would have never made those new friends, I would never have met my husband and so on.

So yes, I do believe we have life changing moments. Sometimes I think they are very obvious and other times not so much. Way back when, I did not see that moment of not making the choir as a life changing moment. Today, I would say this moment has most certainly brought me to where I am today.

Have you had a life changing moment?

I was tagged about a week ago by my friend T-Rex mom to play along with this fun posting game. What I have to do is answer the four questions she has given and then ask four new questions before passing it along.

So here goes.....

1. What is one of your most embarrassing mom-moments? After Thomas was born and I returned to work I was still breastfeeding. Lucky for me I have a private office but I work with 4 men all in the age range between 49 and 60. We are a small company. My first day back I took my pump into the office and sent an email telling them all that if my door was closed do not enter because I will be pumping my milk. Not exactly an email I wanted to send but I didn't want anyone walking in on me either. Don't worry they all stayed away. I think they were all fine with it except for one of them was made very uncomfortable from it. A side story, I got a good laugh from one day. I had my door closed and the warehouse next to ours had a very loud air compressor running. One of the guys said to the man who was always uncomfortable with my pumping "that noise must be Nina's new pump". I got a good laugh from it but I guess he ran away from that moment so fast.

2. What is the weirdest advice anyone has ever given you regarding parenting or regarding your child? What was your response? My mother-in-law was not a fan of breastfeeding. She didn't do it and she didn't want me to do it. I can remember her telling me after a couple short months of feeding Thomas that I really needed to switch him to formula. Oh how I drove her crazy as I nursed for about 16 months.

3. While you were pregnant, did you ever have the random stranger stop and tell you the most intimate details of the birth of her child? How did this make you feel and did you say anything in response? I do not remember ever having anyone do this to me. I was never real big when I was pregnant so I am not sure people felt it was time yet.


4. What do you do to maintain your sanity when you've had a long day and/or night with the kids? Oh how I love the ice cream also. At the moment I can not think what I do but often I give myself alone time when I have half work days and the kids are still at the sitters and school. Thomas is napping at that time so I don't rush to pick them up, instead I have some me time. It is very nice!!!


Please join in and answer any of the above questions or my new questions below. I'd love to hear your experiences. As for Tagging.... I am inviting any of you to play along if you would like.

Now for my questions:
1. What was your favorite childhood television cartoon? Scooby-Doo Where are you? I loved Scooby and now I am watching them all over again as Thomas loves Scooby. The funny part is we have Scooby cartoons starting from 1969 all the way to 2010 with the new episodes. Amazing that a cartoon can still be so popular after all theses years. Of course I think the original 1969 "Where Are You?" are the best ones.

2. Are you a minivan mom? LOL.... my mom always had a minivan and still does today. As a kid this was the best thing because my mom took us all everywhere. Me, I refuse to ever own one. I have a small SUV and I can only haul two children in my car but I don't care. My next car (in about 4 more years) will be one of these new crossovers with three rows of seats because we are fast approaching the age of friends and the need to take more than just my two children.

3. Do you find time for exercise? I try but lately I have not. I do find when I make that time for me and squeeze it in, I am happier and more motivated. A new gym opened near my work and it is actually a great monthly price so I am seriously considering joining. I will always go on my half days and occasionally on my lunch hour.

4. Do your children still believe in Santa? How old were they when they stopped believing? Luke is at the delicate age as he is about to turn 8 and is in second grade. Last year one of his friends told him and his other friends there was no Santa. We did a good job convincing him other wise (thank you Polar Express). It has not come up this year but I have a feeling it will. I am not sure I am ready for him to know the truth but at some point he is going to know. A friend of mine tells her oldest that he will get no presents if he doesn't believe because she doesn't want him ruining it for his little sister. I do want to make sure that magic is in Thomas for many years but it will be hard with an older brother.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING & HALLOWEEN

OK so it is almost Thanksgiving so I am sending out my blessings to all of you for this wonderful holiday filled with great family time.

Now for my very late Halloween pictures.
Thomas and his pumpkin that he was so proud of. We left for a bit and came home to find this pumpkin chewed up by the dogs. Lucky for us, Thomas was asleep so we got to replace the pumpkin with out him ever knowing.

Luke took a long time on his but first time doing it 100% by himself. Oh and shame on me, I did not get a photo of the finished product.
Time for trick or treat. Oh how I hated them wearing masks. Especially Luke's plastic on. I opposed to this but hey, what do I know.
Ever seen Batman in cowboy boots? A fashion statement don't you think?

Star Wars is just the best, Luke is one of the Fet's but don't ask me.

Finally, Luke decides this mask is not working and it came off. Lets see if they listen to me next year.

Everyone have a Happy and Safe Holiday.

Furry Little Critters

I have been having an extremely hard time living in my home these days. I say this because the mice have been as bad this year as they were 9 years ago (our first fall) in this house.

We live in a 100 year old home, half of which is originally an old log cabin. Our basement is an old stone foundation and I believe at one point was a dirt floor that someone filled with concrete (very poorly I might ad).

When we bought this house it was a bank repo that was in total disarray and had been sitting empty for a very long time. Needless to say that with no residence in side the mice took up occupancy. We bought the house in June, gutted 90% of our home and moved in to a very unfinished home in September. Basically we replaced the downstairs bathroom, left the kitchen in tack with a few modifications (new counter tops, redone wood floors) and we had a dining room that we used as our living quarters. The remainder of our home was closed off and under construction.

Not long after our move in I keep seeing a mouse. Note to self when you see a mouse often it does not mean you have one single mouse. Oh no, as a matter of fact in two days we caught 10 mice.

They have never bothered me and we get one or two every fall. I can remember when Luke was little and being potty trained we were in the bathroom and out one walks from behind the laundry and out in to the kitchen behind the fridge. I did not react but to look at Luke and say, we have a mouse.

This year something is different with me. Evey time I come across one it scares the life right out of me. I don't get it, I don't get why this year I am so bothered by them.

One was spotted in the living room, only to go into the kitchen and have one run across the counter and stove (big scream that time). I told Eric the one in the living room was playing the look out while the other one enjoyed the pizza we had on the counter.

My next encounter was even worse. Home alone, I go to take the trash out. We keep our trash cans in a cabinet because of our dogs. I go to pull the bag out and it rips the draw string part right off the bag. It was to heavy because Thomas's pumpkin was in the can (thank you dogs for eating half of it). So I get a second bag and pull off the top layer of trash and remove the heavy pumpkin. Now I can pull this bag out as well. I pull it out and sit it on the floor to try and figure out how to tie it up before taking it out. Well before I get it tied it starts moving frantically in the bottom. Remember, me home alone? Anyway in my shear panic I grab it and fling it out onto the front porch where it spills everywhere. I was not about to go pick it up either and now I have let that stupid mouse free to come back into my home.

Anyway, since those two I have seen several more but we have not had any success at trapping them. We have had a lot of warm/cold weather mix so they are probably coming and going.

The part for me is Eric doesn't seem to care and I can't sleep at night because all I can think about is one of these things climbing across me in my bed or worse yet, one of my children.

I don't understand why I am having such a hard time this year. I do believe this year they are bad because for 9 years in this house our field behind us has always been a grass field grown for straw and is always very tall grass in the winter months (great home for mice). This year the farmer planted corn instead and the mice really started coming in after he plowed that corn field down in early October.

Needless to say, I am ready to pack my children up and move into a new home. So do you have anything that just freaks you out? How would you handle sharing your home with these furry little critters?

WHAT HAVE I BEEN DOING

So is everyone ready for a three month whirl-wind tour? Get ready to be worn out because let me tell you I am worn out.

In August I started my little break. Mostly because I had lots of projects on my plate that I really wanted to give my all.

First up..... my dinning room. My husband added this beautiful wood work around my walls and I had to prime it twice, and paint it with the high gloss white. Then I had the maroon paint for the top portion.

My camera is not giving the room the justice it needs. Excuse the box in the corner it contains on of those projects we have not finished yet.

Next up, I painted a section of wall in my kitchen with magnetic paint. I also have the chalkboard paint to add but have not completed that yet. Soon....

School started and we are off to second grade.
Meet Cowboy Thomas...... Yes we bought these boots and new tennis shoes and we will not wear anything but the boots. He is in love with these things. I am thinking I need to go buy the next size up so when he out grows these we still have some boots.
Now lets head outside. This metal thing was the ugly cover that sat on top of our well in the front yard for the last 9 years. A very scary thing for a mother to have in your front yard.


Finally we have filled it and capped it off and topped it off with dirt. Big project and my back hurt for days after moving the rocks and dirt. BIG JOB!!! Oh and we did this project on my birthday. Happy birthday to me.... haha
Then I had all the tomato's that my garden produced. Sad to say but I let a lot of them go bad out in the garden. This is a fraction of the tomato's that I had.

I canned 12 jars of spaghetti sauce (two rounds of canning the sauce). I also canned six jars of salsa and 10 jars of pickles.

In my hours of boiling and canning I broke my old stove. I think all the boiling and splashing water shorted something out and broke the oven. My hubby offered to try and fix it but I have had it for 9 years and it was my mother-in-laws for about 10 years before they gave them to us.
And lead me to this.... a nice new stove. This took several shopping trips to figure out what we wanted. (stopped blogger rotated my picture and I can't get it turned back)


In the process of my new appliances I wanted to repaint my kitchen and had an issue with on of my old plaster walls. The wall had lots of cracks and issues so we took the plaster down to replace it with drywall.
Yes, this is what you find in my old log cabin house when you get behind the walls.
New wall up, and I also wanted to mention I did not stop with the new stove. I had to have a new refrigerator also. We decided to buy both since my fridge is also just as old. The new fridge did not fit where the old one did, it over lapped the doorway into the bathroom. So it moved to the new wall and I added a couple new cabinets. OK, not new but new to me and are perfect to fill the space for now. Eventually I will have an all new kitchen. Oh and remember the box in the dinning room, that is a new microwave/vent hood combo that needs to go above my new stove. I am not holding my breath for that to go up anytime soon.


Finally, we have the birthday cake that I did for Thomas third birthday. I really do love decorating my own cakes and I am learning new tricks all the time.
A lot of this was done for the birthday party we had last Sunday for Thomas.

Why are we laughing you ask? The scooby card talks and then when you close it scooby burps because he ate all the cake. If you are a mother with little boys you understand.

Among all of this we also had soccer season for Luke, I took zero pictures this season. School is back in and Luke is also taking Piano lessons through the school. Our first grading period came to an end and Luke got straight A's and I am so proud of him.

Also, I will share that Thomas has not been to the doctor since August. Yeah!!! He has been gaining weight again and seems to be doing so much better. We have added a special vitamin to our diet and either it is making a big difference or he is just getting past all this craziness.

So with all my painting, well filling, drywall sanding, gardening, canning and parenting....... it has been an exhausting 3 months.

Can't wait to catch up on everyone's happenings.

Happy Birthday!!!

Wow, it has been awhile hasn't it.

I am on here today because today is my babies birthday. Oh yes, my little guy is now 3. We celebrated is birthday on Sunday with friends and family. Here are a couple shots from our big day.


Any guesses as to what we are totally into right now? Oh and yes, I made the cake. Love my Scooby and Shaggy (Shacky as little one says) but my writing skills on the cake need a lot of work.

I have a million things to share and now that a lot has settled down I will be posting all the craziness that I have gotten myself into these last couple months.


But today we are just wishing my baby happy birthday.

TAKING A BREAK

I have really been thinking long and very hard about this over the past week and I have come to the conclusion that I need to take a break from blogging.

It will probably be a short one but a much needed one. Lately things have just been way to crazy in my life.

First I have a child that always seems to be sick. This is both mentally and emotionally exhausting and I have no clue how to fix it.

Second Luke goes back to school in almost two weeks. We really need to start getting ready for the new school year and organized for all that goes along with school. The amount of work increased a great deal from Kindergarten to First grade and I am expecting another increase as we head into second grade.

Third, my garden is in full crazy mode. I never do learn! I have pulled probably 200 cucumbers from the garden already and they just keep coming. Giving them away right and left, made 12 jars of pickles and lots of cucumber salad but still have way to many. My tomato's are probably in the surplus of 200, they are just all green and will probably all turn red at the same time. I really don't want any of this to go to waist so I will be canning and doing what I can to get the most out of my crazy garden.

Fourth, soccer season is starting. I am really hoping that burning up some of Luke's energy will help with his mood. I sometimes think kids really need to be active and not get board or they start to struggle. These days I think Luke just needs more to do. So bring on the soccer.

Finally, my house. It seems the only way I can get my husband working on it is if I start something and he then jumps in to help because he doesn't like how I do things. This summer was supposed to be the year, the rotten old well was to be removed from the front yard, the rotten old porch ripped off the front, a new door installed in a new location, new porch railing, and siding was to start. Yet, we have not done any of these things. I think it is because of the heat that we have not done a lot of it but I am on a mission and if I have to get out their and rip that old porch off myself, so be it.

Since, I have all of these things on my plate right now I have decided a break is needed. I might struggle with this since often times I blog on my lunch hour at work (doing that now). Who knows my lunch time might bring me around to do some reading but I really am going to try and stop blogging for the next month or so. Just until I feel like my life finds a good place again and I feel like lots more things are getting done these days. So for now, I will really miss all of you but will let you know the minute I am back in full swing.


As a side note about Luke, thank you all for your thoughts on him. I am really trying with him and it is a challenge these days. Home life has not changed, the only real change we had was the new sitter for the summer. He did learn some things from older kids this summer that I did not like but he is a good kid and does know the difference between what is write and wrong. Soccer starts this week, we only have two more weeks at the sitters and school starts so I am really hoping when we get back to a busier routine things will get better. Lets hope anyway!!!

Growing Up

Can someone tell me how it happens? Why must they grow up?

These days I am missing my sweet little boy.
This little boy who use to be so happy and full of love.

He was such a mommy's boy!
He wanted to do everything with mommy & always there helping out.

Excited about the next adventure that life would bring, the next fun thing.

Always so happy and on the go.....

Where did he go????

It seems these days that happy little boy who I miss dearly has grown up.
Don't misunderstand, he is still here, he is still loved very much, he has just changed, he has changed in a very big way.

While he is only 7, it seems he has this built up anger and it all started this summer. Not real sure where it has all come from but he has closed himself off. He has a bad attitude most of the time, he is very mean to me more than anyone.

We are really struggling these day to get along. Every night I hug him and tell him how much I love him but the rest of the time we are doing nothing but butting heads. I can't seem to break down the attitude or get past the aggression that he has.

Is this just a phase that he is going through? Part of the aging process? Are these learned things from the world around him? Whatever it is, it is very new to me and very hard for me to accept. I want that happy, loving and sweet little boy back. I miss him so much!!!!

SOMETHING OLD HAS NEW LIFE AGAIN

A long, long time ago my sweet little Luke had a huge love for Thomas the Train. We had lots of different types of Thomas trains including these motorized ones.

(Luke age 3)

Living in a small house requires us to keep life simple and not hold onto to many things. We had lots of these trains and I just did not have the heart to get rid of such a wonderful collection of trains. So I boxed them up into two large totes and they made their way to the garage a few years ago.
Packed up long before a second child, long before any thought of another boy finding joy in such a fun set of trains.
Yesterday, we pulled those totes from the garage shelves and the playing began.
(Also, note the Bob the Builder computer that had been tucked away also.)
Now, little brother has a whole lot of new toys to play with. The best part, big brother still wants to play and he is now big enough that he can build the tracks and mom doesn't have to.
Now, if I can just figure out how to get them to play nice together. Oh yes after a few hours of play and a little one who skipped his nap, the playing wasn't so nice anymore. Even still with the disagreements it was so wonderful to pull out a little bit of the past and share it with the present.

Have you passed down anything special from one child to the next?

Gardening

Once again this year I decided to grow a garden. I find great peace hanging out, tending to the plants, pulling weeds and just spending time in my garden.

First up in the producing department this year, cucumbers. I always tend to go over board in my planting, last weekend I pulled 22 cucumbers (large ones) out of the garden. This did not include the small ones that are not ready to come out yet.

Last year zucchini was the wild vegi, I really scaled back on it this year because I am still sick of it from last year. I have pulled a few zucchini out now as well.

Tomato's also going crazy however they are still green. We love tomato's around here so really looking forward to them turning red.

Finally, I pulled a large bag of green beans from the garden this past weekend. I really want to can these but have never canned before. I am seeking advice or help. Have you canned? Canned green beans? Any tips or suggestions you can throw my way would be a huge help.

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On a side note, hanging out today at home with my little guy. He picked up the cold that his brother had last week. However Thomas little chest was heaving up and down very hard yesterday. Took him to the doctor and after a couple x-rays and a doctors exam, he has pneumonia. He has fluid on both lungs, the doctor gave him a three day antibiotic and told me if he has breathing trouble I am to take him directly to the hospital. I don't handle this type of pressure well so I am watching him closely and trying not to over react and rush him to the hospital for every little thing. I really don't do these things well.

Since writing this post earlier today, we had to go back to the doctor, not the hospital just the doctor. Thomas developed welts all over his body, he had an allergic reaction to the medicine the doctor put him on. We now have new medicine that we have to take for 10 days, not three (bummer). I am a bit worried as the new medicine is the same that he was on last time he developed all those mouth sores. I will be watching that closely now also. You all don't care if I let out a big sigh do you?????

Gone Fishing

We have a big fishing trip planned for the near future.
We will be going out on grandpa's boat fishing, tubing, and swimming.

Someone can not wait!

MY FAVORITE

I love Target! It is one of those stores that I just love shopping in. Trust me this is a very hard thing because I don't like shopping. So for me to love your store is a good thing. It is never over crowded, it is never cluttered with to much stuff in the isles, it is always extremely clean and well organized and the people (when you need them are so helpful). I can't say that about most other stores that cause me to hate shopping.

Anyway, on one of my weekly trips to Target this week they had filled up the $1 bins with some new things. I often think of the dollar bins as items of junk but Target really does have some great things in the dollar bins. They had just stocked them for back to school and I found all these wonderful flashcards for $1.

They had so many different types and these are just as nice of flash cards as the packs back by the books that cost $5 a box. Anyway, I found some for both my boys.

For Luke:

• Addition
• Subtraction
• Division
• Multiplication
• Harmoniums
• Phonics (level 1 & level 2)
  
• Site words
  

For Thomas:

• Shapes & colors
• ABC's

It was so great last night as we sat on the floor playing with our new flash cards.
Luke was going through the phonics ones and I would hold up a card "Tr" and he would give me words using "Tr" and tell me the sound. I told him we should pick two cards every night and he write out words for me so he can practice his spelling at the same time.

Thomas was loving the shapes and colors. I really liked these as they had three of every shape, in different colors and different sizes. So I would ask which one was bigger or smaller, I would ask which circle was yellow, etc... It was really great and both boys were having fun. If their was any frustration it was coming from the two of them competing for my attention.

Before it was all said and done, all the boxes of flash cards were all over the rug (sorry no picture of that mess). This was just two boxes to start. Also, sad to say they are still all over the living room floor today.
Target also had this great teachers daily planner book ($1) and I bought it for the school year. Luke is headed into 2nd grade and it is time to make him document when things are do, what needs to be turned in when, you get the idea. Mom can't hold his hand forever so no time like the present to start learning.

WHERE HAS MY ENERGY GONE

Here recently I have been making myself crazy. I have 100's of things I want to do and I tend to get nothing done.

This summer I have my garden again, the weeds are keeping me extra busy this year. I truly love working in my garden but my energy level is very down these days so I am not doing as much as I need to.

I really want to fill my flower beds with flowers again this year like I did last year. Instead, I have planted nothing by way of annuals (my lilies came up and are over grown) and we are growing weeds like crazy. I spent last weekend cleaning them out but still no drive to put some color into them even though I very much want to.

Then their is the house. We managed to paint the front porch but that was out of necessity. We had carpenter bee's drilling big holes through our wood. For years now we have said we are going to side our house, since we plan to side we have done nothing to the house by way of upkeep. A lot of the paint had peeled off and carpenter bee's (look like bumble bee's) love unpainted wood. They drill these perfect holes that are about as big as a dime. This is really not good for the structure of a home so we painted.

I also very much want to put a new front door on, rip off our rotten front porch and fill the 100 year old well that is in my front yard. Visually, I have big dreams for the exterior of my home this year. If I can't muster up some motivation it will be fall soon and nothing will be done.

Does anyone have any recommendations for boosting ones energy? I could really use some help and motivation.

In case I don't get around to it, EVERYONE HAVE A HAPPY 4th of JULY.

VACATION 2010

Summer vacation is one of those things we just love. This year the weather was extra hot but we still managed to get out every single day and enjoy the sun and water.

Here are some pictures that just bring a smile to my face.

This watering whole slowly filled up as the tides came in. The little ones had a blast with this one.

We jumped off the side of the pool so many times my poor arms hurt from all the catching and lifting to do it again.
Botany Bay is this beautiful run of beach that is preserved by the State of South Carolina. It is covered with lots of beautiful shells that are protected by the state. You can't take any from the beach. I think it is OK because it makes the beach so beautiful.

This child climbed every fallen try along our beach front walk.

My youngest wanted nothing more than to see Dolphins in the Ocean. Every trip to the beach the question was raised. So a trip on a boat tour was a must and yes we got to see Dolphins. See this smile, it was because he saw them.
Luke got to go fishing in the ocean with his grandpa and daddy this year.
I really don't want to say much. I think the photo's tell a great story of our vacation and all the fun we had.