An Elvis Birthday

My birthday was 2 weeks ago, and our friend Shaunnah's birthday was last Friday. We had big plans to celebrate the two together, but Friday afternoon we still hadn't thought of anyplace we'd like to be other than home. Reed's old friend Kris was in town for the weekend, and Reed had a surprise that he'd hired for my birthday gift. An Elvis impersonator!! For those of you that know the Mike stories, Mike is the lot guy at Reed's work and is a source of near constant entertainment for Reed...and anyone who listens to Reed's stories about him. If you don't know the stories and would like to, give us a call! Reed will gladly tell you some of the funny things that go on at the dealership these days. In any case, when Reed found out that he does Elvis impersonations on the side, he thought it'd be a hoot to hire him for my b-day. I was pretty skeptical but I have to admit, it was a blast. All of the neighborhood kids clapped and cheered and danced with the music. The adults were pretty tickled and Elvis himself wasn't half bad....he just needs a real microphone instead of using his fist. Yes, he used his fist. We set up lights so he could see, and had the fire pit going, so the lights plus the smoke from the fire made a pretty dramatic stage! This is one birthday present I certainly won't forget! And Shaunnah probably won't either! LOL
Our neighbor John took great video with his camcorder, but all I have right now is my crappy camera video. I'll get a link to his up soon.

Sweatmore Strawberry Farm

Friday Carson's class took a field trip to Sweatmore Strawberry Farm and I was asked to chaperone. Trevor got to come along too, and felt VERY big going to school. We loved it! The weather was HOT but the kids were too busy enjoying the activities to complain. We saw animals in the barn--chickens, roosters, turkeys, peacocks, goats, cows and pigs! We played horseshoes and rode on a tractor ride. And of course, picked strawberries. YUM! You could eat them right off the vine and they were warm and super sweet. Trevor was tinted pink before we left, he probably ate more than he gathered for his basket!

"did you see that turkey??"

picking berries with brother

"I got a good one!"

tractor ride with mom

St. Andrews State Park

After freezing our booties off in Alabama, we came home to awesome weather. For my birthday I really wanted a picnic on the beach with my family, so we loaded up the car and went to St. Andrews State Park which is at the end of our little "strip" of beach. The jettys make for calm "pools" of water that the kids can swim in without fear, it's shallow FAR out into it so we aren't worried about anyone getting in over their heads, and the water, as you can see, is CRYSTAL CLEAR. You could probably count grains of sand on the bottom. So beautiful! The water was still a bit cold yet, but that didn't stop the boys from getting in and playing! We can't wait till the water warms up a bit so that Reed and I can enjoy it as well.

the clear/green water is only about waist deep at the most, and extends pretty far out. The rocks mark the barrier where the water gets deeper.

Athens

Earlier in the month we went to Athens, AL to see Reed's family. It had been a long time since we were there! We didn't get many pictures because the weather was pretty uncooperative most of the weekend, but we did go to the lake and feed the many many many ducks they have there. I think it's going to be a tradition when we visit to take bread to the duckies. Reed's family also had a birthday dinner for me since my birthday was a few days later. How sweet!

Tyndall Air Show

I'm WAY behind on this blog, so I have to backtrack a bit. At the beginning of April we went to the Tyndall Air Show. It was super fun and the boys loved seeing all the planes up close. They did tricks and twists that just looked unreal. I thought these hearts were cute. :)

Easter Sunday

We celebrated Easter in our neighborhood on Saturday so that everyone could spend time with family and do the church thing on Sunday. What a BLAST! There was TONS for them to do:

It started out with an Easter Egg Hunt--everyone got tons of eggs with candy and even dollar bills inside!


A visit with the Easter Bunny!



New Puppies say Spring, don't they?

Carson and Andrew play kiddie-sized pool in front of our house.

Just one of the food tables--burgers and dogs and snacks galore!

A huge inflatable water slide at another house!

He seriously loved it.

Plus we played football, rode bikes, threw water balloons and ate until we were stuffed. I don't think we came inside until well after dark, and it started at 11 AM! LOVE this neighborhood...LOVE it.

Sunday morning we awoke to freshly cut grass--our own! Neighbors knew our mower is in the shop so they cut it for us! And helped clean the yard of palm tree leaves that Reed cleaned out. Then we hung out in the circle some while the kids played, and ordered pizza as a group for dinner. It really doesn't get any easier to hang out with people!

A Study of Trevor

Chillin' Trevor

Here's my Heart, Mommy

Sleepy Trevor

Serious Trevor

Thinkin' (Finkin') Trevor

Cutie-Pie Trevor

Whirlpool

New tub, and Trevor had to try out the jets! I think he liked it! :) It was one of my "must haves" in a house, I know, I'm spoiled. But luckily we found a great one with a great tub!

Big Boy!

Look what our big boy can do! Since we're in a cul de sac, all the kids play outside almost every day. Of course, there is plenty of bike riding. He probably could have lost the training wheels alot sooner, but he was nervous. Seeing Big Boys riding without them gave him that extra motivation, and as soon as we took them off, so did he! Like a pro! And all of the neighbors outside (about 12?) began clapping and cheering as he took off. I thought his face would split from that huge smile. And it was all he talked about for days, how everyone was proud of him and cheered him on. And for that, I will ALWAYS love my neighbors.

First Trips to the beach

We've actually been a few times now, which is why their bathing suits are different. We're within walking distance of the beach, but we drove a bit to Saint Andrews State Park for a change of scenery one of these days. It's amazing how much the beach changes in just a few miles. St. Andrews was much more "Myrtle Beach"-ish than Destin ever is--wilder waves and wind and not quite as picturesque. The water is usually much more clear and aqua colored, but we went the day after some thunderstorms had kicked things around. The boys, of course, didn't mind a bit. One of our sweet new neighbors saw us packing our trunk with a picnic for the beach and brought over some new beach toys to give to the boys. They're both ecstatic to be able to go play at the beach on weekends, and it's fun and relaxing just watching them have a blast!