One Last Trip to Imaginarium

We decided we better go to the children's museum one last time before our family pass expired.  Brent hadn't gone yet, so we met up with him one day.  The kids all had fun there and we spent many hours playing. 

Getting ready to watch the 3D show---usually the same one.

The stingray tank.

Kara, Janiel and Erin petting other sea creatures.

Kara getting ready to touch a sting ray.

Some pretty brave girls!

Kara and Ashleigh love the shopping.  Ashleigh was wearing sunglasses for some reason that day.

Kara with her wet belly and Ashleigh with her wet bum from petting the sting rays and other creatures.  Kara always asks for a card so she can do her shopping---a library card or our museum pass works for her!

Erin put on a play about dinosaurs.

Janiel and Kara in the hurricane simulator---not too strong of winds.

Wes, Brent, and Erin enjoying the breeze!

Erin does like to talk.

Ashleigh is more the behind the scenes kind of girl.

The Nail Fairy

Almost a month ago Kara got her thumb smashed in the hinge part of the door.  It took a day or so for it to turn purple but it was very sore.  It started to grow out and become loose.  We painted finger and toe nails the other night. Later that night Kara's nail was just flapping so I trimmed it off.  She ran down stairs and got a Ziploc bag.  (Ashleigh has lost a lot of teeth lately and Kara knows the procedure!) She said, "I'm going to put it under my pillow for the Nail Fairy!"  I didn't know there was such a thing!

Freshly painted, lost nail!

Kara's new fingernail!

So I played along. . . Kara was so excited to wake in the morning to two quarters!  Not quite as much as the tooth fairy leaves, but she was happy nonetheless.   

Creating

Our branch had a trip to the temple.  We were unable to find a babysitter for the girls-so we just stayed home and had Macey over (so she didn't have to travel to Orlando!)  It worked out good so that we could have Macey and Parker spend the night so that their parents could help the youth and also attend a sealing of a branch family.  I broke out the embroidery floss and some fabric and the girls went to town sewing their names.  Erin and Ashleigh really got into it.  Kara not so much.  Janiel and Macey did really well.

Ashleigh sewing her name.

This is how Kara contributed to the sewing.  She made a couple of stitches, and that was enough.

Janiel and Macey sewing the top of a pillow.

Erin did really well.  I should take pictures of the work of art.

 Macey and Janiel loved sewing their pajama pants and wanted to do more.  So we arranged to sew some skirts.  They did great and were pleased with the out comes!  

What cute girls.  We are so so so glad to have Macey in Florida.

More Creatures...(You might not want to look)

Ashleigh loves to catch lizards.  She found the tiniest one yet!  She loved holding this small guy and made a home for him in a flower pot.  She was moving him to get a better picture, and he escaped, leaving his tail in her fingers.  Poor little guy.  Good thing he is so young and has a lot of time left to grow a new one!

 A couple of weeks ago, I found a spider in the front window by the door.  It was a very familiar shape with the very distinctive hourglass shape on its underside.  It looked like a black widow, but it was brown with an orange hourglass.  I looked up brown widows online and sure enough they are found in Florida.  They are more poisonous than a black widow, but are very shy.  Yuck!!!!!  I grabbed the bug spray and ended her life.  Sorry.  Not by my house.  Then yesterday, I noticed a sticky messy web by the back screen door on the lanai.  Sure enough another brown widow with a nice egg sack.  Then I went on a spraying spree.  While I was spraying the garage, I found a huge black widow making a web behind some camp chairs.  Now I have to be careful when moving anything in the garage.  What is up with this?  No black (or any other color) widows for 18 months and now 3 within two weeks.  No thank you.  Go away!

The brown widow after I ended her life---all curled up.  YUCK!

Florida!

We were glad to be in Florida, although it is still 6 hours from the top to the bottom.  We got out at the rest stop and were greeted by the Florida Watermelon Queen 2011.  She was serving up some fresh cut watermelon and passing out coloring books.  Inside, we were served yummy orange juice!  What a welcome!

Our last entrance into Florida was at night, so this is a better picture of the Welcome to Florida sign.

We were very glad to be home.  Brent was also glad for us to be home.  He sure misses us when we are gone.  That is a good thing!  We had a wonderful time in Nashville.  We would love to go again sometime! Thank you so much Heather and Lance for putting up with us!  We love you!

On Our Way Home

 After a nice visit and lots of fun (as you can see from all the posts and pictures) it was time to head back to Florida!  This day's journey seemed to take forever!  I think we left Heather's at 10 and didn't get to Tifton, Georgia until 8:30.  We stopped to play and also hit Atlanta rush hour.  (Yuck!  I'm not used to being stuck in traffic anymore.  Kind of like the retirement town!)  We decided to stop in Chattanooga, Tennessee for a trip to a splash park and to run some energy off. (We got some new "Kid Songs" to listen to in the car, and one of them was The Chattanooga Choo Choo---so now I always get that song stuck in my head when I hear Chattanooga...won't you choo choo me home!)

Making some music!

Ashleigh loves horses.  She ran straight to this for a picture.

Kara on the lion's back.

Erin taking a horsey ride.

Wes told the girls who ever could touch him would get a treat at the next gas station.  I don't think anyone caught him---but it was sure good for burning some pent up energy!

A view of some of Chattanooga and some running kids.

They did have fun splashing in the water too.

 It was about lunch time, but there wasn't really a place for drive-thru and I didn't want to get the kids out.  It was kind of a tourist-y downtown.  So we just got back on the freeway until I found a place with several choices (not that we needed more than one, but options are good).  We got to Ringgold and it listed 4 or 5 different food places so I got off.  Then, this is what we saw...

Apparently, this is where a tornado ripped through a couple months ago.  The only opened place was Taco Bell and it looked brand-new.  So tacos (a great deal at 12 tacos for $10!) it was for lunch.

Wesley Wakeboarding

Wesley was so excited to try water skiing and wake boarding.  He was lucky that Uncle Lance got the boat trailer and truck up and running again, so that we could go out one more time.  This time they brought dish soap so that Wes' feet could slide into the boots.  Heather or Lance had not wake boarded before, so Wes didn't have any guidance of how to do it.  But after two or three attempts, he was able to figure it out!  He did great and even tried jumping the wake a few times.  Uncle Lance decided to try as well.  Lance is an awesome water skier, but it took him a few more times to get up.  But I'm sure with practice and time Lance will be doing all sorts of wake boarding tricks and flips!

Tea Party

Aunt Heather is so cute.  She was watching some friend's girls and so she decided to have a tea party with 8 girls.  The had little sandwiches, goldfish crackers, root beer floats and rice crispy treats!  What a fun memory!  Wesley and I ran to the store during the festivities. 

Percy Priest Lake Beach

Heather took us to their beach.  It was nice.  A tractor combed the beach right when we got there so we had nice smooth sand.  We were the only ones there for a while.  The kids all enjoyed splashing and digging.  The water was just right.  There were little fish that nibbled at our toes if we stood in one place too long.  It was a perfect morning for the beach.  When we got back to Heather's house, the lightening and rain came.  Now for a lot of pictures!

Brooke was very safe wearing her life jacket.

Kara enjoyed splashing!

Ashleigh and her cute smile.

Janiel, Erin and Wes swimming.

Wes thinking of what he could do next to tease, I'm sure!  Janiel hanging around just in case he needed her.

Erin making big waves!

Cicely loved the water and had no fear of crawling in it or in the sand.

Best buddies, Janiel and Cicely!

Nice view of the lake and some cute girls.

Wes and Ashleigh built some sand castles to destroy later.

Wesley's floating head!

There are the two builders.

Erin and Brooke having some lunch.  We had a lot of picnics and loved it!