Campsite Fun with the Rogowskis and Destradas!

I can't get Photobucket to post the slideshow of our pictures we took when we spent the afternoon at Mary and Stan and Theresa and Jason's campsites this past weekend, so I just decided to load the pictures the old fashioned way. We had a great time at Flamingo Lake with the Rogowskis and Destradas. There was a really awesome lake that had a wonderful beach area. There was a dock that the kids got to jump off of, and the boys seemed to particularly like that. Our nephew, Logan, stayed busy searching for fish. Benjamin and our nephew, Ethan, kept busy jumping into their daddies' arms. Olivia and I enjoyed cooling off in the beautiful lake. Uncle Jason came to the rescue when Liv lost part of her snorkle. I still don't know how he found that tiny, clear, plastic ring! Amazing! :) After some time at the beach area (which I forgot to bring my camera down for, bummer), we went back to their campsites. Papa had been grilling burgers and dogs, and Mary and Theresa had all the trimmings ready for us to enjoy. Dinner was followed by some relaxing time by the lake. Their RV's were right by the lake, so we had a really nice view as the sun was beginning to sink. Then we went down to the playground and the kids played, swung on the swings, played hide-n-seek and got wonderfully hot, sandy and sweaty. We went back to the campsite and enjoyed fellowshipping until around 8pm, and then we headed home. As you can see in the pictures, it was a fun day, and we're grateful for our family.

Our Olivia is 7 Years Old!!

What a fun weekend we had! I enjoyed taking cupcakes to lunch for Olivia at school on Friday. Then Saturday morning she and I chatted while she gobbled up her breakfast in bed (a request she made!) :) We invited 6 class mates to spend the day with us at the Aquatic Center to celebrate. Five of them were able to come for cake and party time, and then 4 of them were able to hang around for the fun in the sun! We were very grateful that the good weather held out for us until the last 20 minutes when the SKY FELL OUT!! :) We were double drenched, but the day was great! After we got home, dried off and ate a little, we drove to the airport, picked up Nonny who was on her way home via the JAX airport after her stay with the Miller family. She was there assisting and cheering them all on as they welcomed their newest addition, Georgia Kay Miller on May 8th! When we got home Carrie Beth and her boys arrived for the night, and we enjoyed a second celebration with them. I know that driving all that way for one night was a loving sacrifice, and we soooo appreciate it, Carrie Beth! Sunday morning was a sweet time as our children's choirs sang a few songs from the musical they presented last Wednesday (I'll try to do a post about that whole experience sometime later) during the church services. We walked over to the old little white chapel after church and took some photos. Mom has such fond memories of her days in the church as a little girl with Poppy preaching, so that was fun to be able to walk down memory lane with her a little. We sent Mom and CB and the boys on their way home after lunch, and then we went and spent some time over at Grammy and Papas. I'm totally frustrated with myself that I left my camera at home, because I chose not to take my purse since Stan was driving. I always keep it in there so I can try to be ready to snap shots, but I realized when I got there that I'd left it behind. Papa took a few pictures of the sweet gifts they gave her as she opened them, so hopefully we'll get to see those sometime. They got her a precious new outfit, a Littlest Pet Shop toy, and a big pretend makeup kit. The thing she loved the best from Grammy and Papa, though, were these precious little fake fingernails!! She insisted on wearing them to school today, and I can only imagine how silly she looked trying to do simple tasks throughout the day with those claws on!! She came home, and said, "I've got sand all underneath my nails!! Can I please take them off??" I said, "Yes, of course, silly!" :)
It was a very special weekend, and we are grateful for all of the sweet friends and family who have made it a special time for her and us, too! Olivia also felt like a celebrity when Aunt Karen and Uncle Nick posted a birthday greeting to her on their family blog with a picture of Olivia on it. Thanks, Holland crew, for this loving gesture!!

Daisy Scouts Bridging Ceremony May 6, 2011

Olivia is now officially a Brownie! We attended a sweet ceremony that had some fun and goofy moments as well as some serious ceremonial moments. They had one Brownie troop of girls talking about how to make a good batch of Brownies, and then after they finished, Olivia's Daisy troop came out of a make believe oven as new "brownies" ! :) Pretty cute! I hope this next year of scouting will be as sweet and fun as her first year. We are very grateful for Kim Huyer, her troop leader, and we're sad to be saying goodbye to her, but the two ladies who will lead her Brownie troop are very kind ladies, and we look forward to getting to know them better in this next year.
Side note: it is really hard for those girls to hold up their right hand with their three fingers up and then shake hands with their left hand!! They have to do that when they get pinned, and there were a couple of hysterical moments where girls kept thrusting a three fingered hand into the hand of the person shaking hands. I'm getting hysterial just thinking about how ridiculous it got a time or two.
Second side note: we sang our blessing at the end to the tune of the Addams Family TV theme song--felt fitting (as I grew up hearing that song sung to me repeatedly as an Adams child) and mildly awkward with parents and grandparents attempting to sing along. :) Funny!

Field Day 2011

I was so glad it worked out for me to be able to participate in the afternoon half of Olivia's field day at school! I had a lot of fun! I even played Twister with the kids. Supposedly there are pictures of that, but they're probably better left unseen! :) I'm very grateful for Olivia's school, her teachers, her friends, her precious principal. We are blessed!

Wild Adventures April 30, 2011

Stan sweetly included us in his 7th grade band trip to Wild Adventures this year, and the kids were ecstatic to be able to tag along, of course! We rode in a school bus to Valdosta which is always a bit of an adventure--plenty of interesting odors, lots of noise, and a fair amount of heat on the ride home. It was still a very very fun day. We were also pleasantly surprised to run into good friends of ours, the Hickox family! They are our precious friends from Baxley. This was particularly funny, because when we were at Disney World in November, we also ran into them! We're following one another around! It was great to see them and visit a bit. We enjoyed the water park inside Wild Adventures. I joked and told Stan that Olivia and I definitely had a "wild adventure" when we attempted to shower and get dressed at the end of the day. I felt like I should've been given a badge of courage when I came out of that showerhouse! I know many of you have been in similar situations--the curtain wouldn't close properly, the water wouldn't drain completely, there was no where to put your dry clothes except for a trashcan lid that was just almost out of reach from behind the shower curtain. I could go on, but you ladies know how these kinds of experiences go when you're trying to get you and your child bathed and out of there quickly. Crazeballs!! We had lovely weather all day, and we were wiped out on the ride home.