Monday, September 16, 2013

Myrtle Beach

We were able to go visit Grandmommy this week and we all went to the beach.  The weather was perfect and everyone had such a great time.  This was the one thing Benjamin wanted to do when we came to America.  He was one happy boy!
The kids (with lots of help from Daddy digging big holes) made a sand city.  They each wanted their own sand castle and they each wanted to be buried in the sand.  I have never seen so many sand castles. 
 This one was Katherine's.  They each had their own idea of how it should look. 
 This picture cracks me up because you can see their personalities.  Katherine is getting dirty and enjoying feeling the sand and water.  Regan and Lauren are paired up because they are a little more timid at first and are talking about everything they see.  Benjamin is just so excited and is not going to miss one minute in the water.
Jonathan and Katherine running into the water.
 posing with Grandmommy
 The smile says it all.
We were staying about 3 miles from some of our friends who were on vacation there at the same time.  We met up with them for a few hours and had a good time together...you can see the Myrtle Beach souvenirs in each of the kids' laps.
 This was their first time to play Putt-Putt.  We had the entire coarse to ourselves which was really nice.
 I was impressed that Lauren stuck with it for all 18 holes.  She never gave up and actually got the ball in on her own in a reasonable number of putts.  :)
This is Benjamin posing next to his hole-in-one.  Actually he and Regan both got TWO hole-in-ones. 
 We spent every morning and every evening at the beach.
 Enjoying every moment
 Running on the beach
Yes, we were STILL on the beach when the sun set and the moon was out!  The kids really did not want to come in.  We actually found several shark teeth while we were there.  It's pretty cool.
The kids also got to ride a horse and learn all about different saddles and caring for a horse.  They were so good with the kids and went out of their way to teach them whatever they could.  To top it off, they all got to put on full fireman gear and learn about that, too.
 We got back just after my best friend had her baby.  I drove straight over to meet Sarah Ann and we all went over later on the weekend.
 She is just precious.  It's hard to believe that they were that small not so long ago!
 This guy needed no instructions on holding the baby.  He was so excited!  He loves little ones!
Auntie Em holding the baby surrounded by her favorite nieces ;)
We also celebrated Nathan's birthday (Benjamin's best friend).  It has been good to see the kids play together.  Now it's time to start thinking about Katherine's birthday. 

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

American Culture at it's Best!

 Our kids have official been properly cultured.  We went to a Tennessee football game!  They had so much fun (and we did also)!
 

 
 It was the start of my "Roomie Reunion" Weekend.  All four of us had not been together at the same time in over 11 years.  Our group has certainly grown a lot since then.
 
 The original four :)  We sure did have a good time catching up and remembering all kinds of stories.
 
 One of the four couldn't make to the game for obvious reasons (baby coming any day!) We thought it was so funny to see that after all these years we still have similar tastes in things.  We all live in different parts of the country, but showed up independently with nearly the same shirts on.  How ironic!  Out of all the shirts out there, we would choose these.
 

 Jonathan explaining something before the game started.
 The Power T

 
 Benjamin and his Tennessee is #1 finger :)

 
 Now, this little girl did not see a single play during the entire game.  Everything was about the cheerleaders, and how strong those guys were to throw them in the air.  You cannot imagine how excited she was when they cam e up to our section of the stadium.  She was so excited to get a picture with one of them.
 

 We had a little party for Kelly and Brian to celebrate their upcoming wedding.
 Booms Day!  What Labor Day weekend would be complete without some fireworks by the river?
 
 Benjamin and his Auntie Em

 We also went swimming and relaxed with friends on Monday.  Benjamin was in heaven with their dog.
 
 We, of coarse, had our normal homeschool stuff. The kids are very excited because this year, I have added a "fun class" in the afternoons and we rotate the subject.  So the kids are getting to learn all sorts of things like P.E., art, and sewing. So far, Regan's favorite is art (those are her pictures that she has painted hanging on the refrigerator) and Benjamin likes sewing.