Pensacola~Day 3

These first 2 pictures are of our campground. We have been staying at the Emerald Beach RV Park which is right on the bay. You can see the water through the trees and campers in the 2nd picture. Those people in those RVs can easily throw their flip flops into the water from there :)



Last night Matt and Robin were walking on the beach where you can find dozens of hermit crabs. They caught this on in the net and brought it back to camp to share. As Matt was getting it out of the net it grabbed him so he was screaming, Kamryn was screaming just to scream and Bryttaney was yelling "You have to put it back in the ocean" over and over as loud as she could. All this was going on after 10pm so I am sure our neighbors were thrilled!



Today we went into Destin again and hopped on board the Hannah Marie for a 2 hour cruise of the bay and a small part of the gulf. We saw a bunch of dolphins almost immediatly...my vacation is no complete :o) Kamryn got 'Captain' the ship so now we call her Kaptain Kamryn.

After our cruise we stopped played in the bay in Destin and did alot of snorkeling and saw some really cool things...but you have to wait for me to get the water camera developed to see those.

Then we stopped in Fort Walton because they were having their annual pirate festival where they reinact the priates overtaking this area many years ago. They had a pirate ship shooting at the harbor with lots of people dressed in costumes from the period. There were lots and lots of pirates walking around. After the reinactment they had a fireworks show which we stayed for. Then when we were heading back to the truck there were some people throwing beaded necklaces from their 2nd story condo so we hung out there and caught about a dozen necklaces :o) So we stopped by a pretty bush so I could take pictures of the kids with their necklaces and unbeknown to the kids a pirate jumped into our picture...it was great :o)

Pensacola~Day 2

We woke up this morning and it was beautiful out so we spent most of today playing in the gulf. We drove into Destin Florida to check it out then came back to Navarre and played in the waves. We came back to camp, did some laundry then went and played in the bay by our campground where it is really calm. We had our snorkeling stuff and a net and managed to snag a few very small fish. Of course we let them go immediately...it was more the thrill of the hunt...or more like just being able to say that we caught a little fish with a net :o)

We are all sporting some interesting sunburns. You can easily tell where we missed with sunblock, yesterday Robin was sporting a hand print on his shoulder :o)

These pictures were all taken today. The cool thing is that the floatation device we are playing on Robins parents bought in the early 80's when they took a trip to Daytona Beach. There is a picture similar to this one of Robin and his dad. Robin thought it would be cool to have a picture of himself and his son with it at a Florida beach...



Kamryn totally rocked on it but I didn't get any still pictures of her only video. But because she weighs the least the wave would carry her all the way up on shore.











Hugs from the Sunshine State,

Tracy, Robin, Matt, Bryttaney & Kamryn

Pensacola~Day 1

Boy did we make good time getting here! We left home on Sunday afternoon and really had no problems at all except the price of gas! We spent our first 2 nights 'camping for free' in Wal-Mart parking lots. I thought I would have an issue with this but by the time we'd roll in I was so tired I didn't really care where we sleep lol! It amazed me that the only living wildlife we saw was in Colorado and we saw antelope and coyote there...we saw alot of dead raccoons and dead opossums after that! Everything went well except Kamryn lost a tooth in Jackson, Mississippi.

We got to Pensacola (we are actually in Navarre which is right next to Pensacola but really all the same lol) on Tuesday around 1:30, checked into our RV park then hit the beach/bay (which is right next to our camper...all we had to do was walk over there). After that we drove across the Navarre bridge and played in the waves as the water was alot more active on this side of the beach and full of shells which Kamryn collected way to many of!

This morning we got up and went to the Naval Museum of Aviation. Since Matt will be joining the Navy next year we thought this would be a great thing to see on this vacation. We got there early to watch the Blue Angels practice. As soon as we got in the bleachers they announced that they weren't going to be able to fly because of the weather. About that time the sky's opened up and we didn't just get wet, we got soaked. I think I came out of the gulf yesterday dryer! We ran to the museum and stood there and dripped for awhile then went inside and bought t-shirts off the clearance rack which helped even though our denim shorts didn't dry until later this afternoon.

After that we toured Fort Barrancas which was pretty cool. It was on the Naval Base and full of cool information and history.

From there we went to Pensacola Beach and played in the waves. The water has been really rough so we stayed right next to shore and played in the waves.

Not sure what is on the plate for tomorrow...we are waiting to see what the weather does...pray for sunshine!

Hugs~Tracy, Robin, Matt, Bryttaney & Kamryn

Mothers Day

This year for Mothers Day we did something that was really exciting! Kamryn is in a sign choir at school. There are about 20 kids in it...all deaf or hard of hearing except Kamryn and one other little girl. On Mothers Day they had the opportunity to sign the National Anthem at a Colorado Rockies game. It was so stinkin hot but so totally worth it! We weren't at a very good angle for pictures so this is the best I got. She is the only whose face I didn't blur wearing the white headband. You can't see Kam very well, but she is in the middle on the JumboTron thingy on the last picture. Thank you Megan, Bill & Zach for the 2nd two pictures!


After the game we went back to my dad and step-moms with my inlaws and had a yummy dinner (Thanks Lin!!) then headed home!

End of School Year

I think I am going to make it. Tomorrow is our final day with kids and then Thursday is my last day until mid August!! The end of the year is always a frenzy of field trips, school parties, track and field days and banquets. I don't feel like I have time to do much more then just breath.

Kamryn had been playing with the little boy down the street last week and came home wearing this 'tractor'. I thought it was hysterical so brought out the camera and took a picture...

Medium

I took these pictures of Medium last night. She cracks me up when she wants to play. Winston (our Beagle) will fetch a ball and then keep it, Sebastian (lab/chow) will fetch it, bring it back but never give it to you. Medium will not only bring it back but throw it at you and she will do this for hours if you let her!

The journaling says:

There isn’t much that compares to the energy of a Border Collie. All she wants to do is fetch and she doesn’t care what she is fetching! If she can’t find a ball she will bring you what is left of it. This is what she brought me the other night. It is a piece of tennis ball, about the size of a nickel and she will go after that little scrap for hours!

The kit I used was Hearts & Paw Prints by Chris Stone, Font was Cry Kitty, Pea Carrie & Bradley Hand

New Toys

Spring has finally arrived. I was starting to think that maybe we wouldn't get our usual wet spring snow but I was proven wrong (which is typical lately!). The Friday before Easter we started getting some sleety rain that froze my tulips.




By Easter it had changed to snow and we had a very white Easter. It almost felt like we should be putting up a Christmas Tree, not coloring Easter Eggs. The Easter bunny hid eggs in the house this year. Mom, Bunk, Jen and Justin's girlfriend came over. We played pool in the garage (which is a very unorganized, fire hazard)! It was a hoot!







It never really warmed up after that and today it has been very cold and snowy. They are talking about blizzard warnings and everything! We woke up this morning to a very cold house, apparently the furnace croaked during the night so the house has been really cold! We have little room heaters going and electric blankets warming. Hopefully Robin can find the part we need soon!


This week Robin purchased a new 'used' toy: a 1994 travel trailer for camping. We brought it home on Wednesday, I am surprised he didn't sleep in it last night! We are itching to get our stuff moved out of the old one and into the new one, just need some warmer weather. It is like moving out of a shack and into a castle for us. Bryttaney is excited, I think the canvas sides of the old camper didn't maker her feel very secure, so we will see.