Extended Family Fun

We were fortunate to be able to visit with some of our extended family while we were in town.  Sadly, there wasn't enough time to see everyone but maybe we'll get to do that over the summer when we visit longer.

We spent the better part of an afternoon with Lori, Jason, Maddie and Hayden.  Lori is my oldest cousin.  We weren't much of playmates when we were kids because of the age difference, but now we're as close as sisters.  My kids call her Aunt and hers call me the same...

Aren't these 4 just the cutest cousins?  I love how Sis and Maddie are holding hands!

I think someone thought a lot of her big cousin Ra...

Lori and I hope these two grow up to be as close as she and I are someday.

It was so great to see them!  They are coming to stay with us in March and all of us are super excited for their visit!

 Later that night we got together with my parents and my sister-in-law and her two kids.  Sadly, my bother had to coach a swim meet and wasn't able to join us for dinner.  I didn't get to see him at all while we were in town.  Kinda bummed about that...

It took a little while for these two to warm up, but once they did, they got along really well.

Here are all 4 of my parents grandkids together.

We were able to continue the cousin fun at a bounce house place nearby.  It was great to let them burn off some steam and enjoy each other's company.

All four kids got along super well and had fun playing together.  It was good for the kids to see their cousins and spend some quality time together.  They don't get to spend a lot of time together because we don't live near each other.  Hopefully someday they'll get more time together to solidify their relationships.  I miss seeing my nieces growing up in person!

We Are!

We flew home for the White Out game vs. Michigan.  It was a chilly day!  We were bundled up in our ski pants, coats and gloves!

3 Generations together 

We had fun snuggling up to keep warm.  I think the guy behind us was in last year's photo too.  He must be a season ticket holder like dad!

These two were talking formations and coverage all afternoon!  Ra thinks he wants to play football at Penn State someday...Glad he has big dreams!

After the game we headed over to the White Building to check out the gymnastics practice facility.  They recently upgraded their gym.  Sis was in HEAVEN!!!

PSU has both a men's and women's program.  They also offer a club and rec program for students.  If Sis decides to attend Penn State, she could always join the club and compete against other college clubs...but we'll keep our fingers crossed to continue to have a D1 female athlete in the family!

We did some shopping to update our PSU wardrobe and then headed over to the Allen Street Grille for dinner.  What a beautiful sight out the window onto E. College Ave and Old Main.

Even though they lost, we had a great time with my parents and seeing both kids enjoy something special at Penn State.

A Much Needed Reunion!

A much needed reunion took place between me and my oldest and dearest friend.  We've been friends since Toddler Gym when we were just 4!  Beth and I were both pregnant with Ra and Myles at the same time.  These boys are just like their moms.  They can go for months or years without seeing each other and then fall right back in step again.  Spending the night with my life long BFF was just what the doctor ordered for both of us!  I can't wait for her to come visit me sometime this spring! Just tell when when Beth!!!  ;)

Missing one - Jameo wasn't interested in getting in the pic.

Cutest photo bomber you ever did see!

Thanksgiving Day Feast

2nd Grade had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day feast in their classrooms.  We had such a fun time seeing Sis and her friends recite poems, sing songs and show thanks.

Here is her class in part of their performance.


Happy girl got to have her mom AND dad at her feast!


Her Thanksgiving turkey story.


The pumpkin artwork she created in art class.


Flat Stanley!!!  He was hanging on the wall and I got the chance to see everything he got to do while visiting Aunt Lori, Uncle Jason, Maddie and Hayden!  They made the cutest photo album to share all of his adventures in Pennsylvania.  It was one of the nicest presentations!


After the delicious feast, Sis and I stopped by Cinotti's to order our pumpkin pies for Thanksgiving and found these cuties.  We just had to take them home!


I am so thankful that we got to spend the day in school with Sis and her friends.

Comedy Relief Part 2

This is John Crist.   He was also touring with Tim Hawkins.  He was just as funny!  We enjoyed all the jokes!



It was one of the best date nights we've had!  We laughed all night.  Their humor was hilarious and proves that Christians can be fun and have fun without cursing or being rude like a lot of other comedians.  Next time either of them come to town, we're going again!

Comedy Relief

We went to see comedian Tim Hawkins on Friday night.  It was such a great date night!  Tim Hawkins is hilarious!  Andy laughed the entire time!

Here is one of our favorite clips from that night:

Ra was hoping I'd take him instead of Andy as my date for the night.  He LOVES Tim Hawkins.  We watch him on youtube a lot!

I Think We Should Build An Ark

We got 11+ inches of rain on Sunday.  CRAZY!!!  We had a lot of flooding in Atlantic Beach and on our street as well.  Both neighbors on either side of us have flooding issues and then their mulch, etc ends up in our front yard.  Flooding is always an issue here at the beach and in Jax in general.

This is from our neighbor's driveway looking towards our house.  Their driveway flooded and started flowing up into our yard.

Their garage flooded too.

Their entire back/side yard was flooded.

The next morning it was much easier to see the damage and debris.  Our pool overflowed from all the rain.  We need to drain some of the water out of it but we're waiting for the water table to drop a bit before pouring more water onto our soaked property!

I peeked over our fence into our neighbor's back yard.  It was a swamp - literally!

You can see the water levels on the tree trunks.

Remember the crazy neighbor who complained to the city about our drainage?  This is what you call Karma!

Their low spot was still holding water the next morning.

The view from the neighbor's side of our fence.

I guess this is what they mean when they talk about glass houses, huh?

I'm thankful that our drainage worked well.  The other neighbors are the low spot on the street.  Their mulch ended up in our front yard but that wasn't too challenging to clean up.  I just raked it out.  

I'm just glad we have flood insurance for the slim chance we'll get a tropical storm or hurricane!

What a Catch!

Ra's favorite pasttime is throwing football with his dad.  He asked me to take video of this catch and post it for everyone to see!

He loves football...He's looking forward to January when his flag league starts.

We're Having a Heat Wave...

A tropical heat wave!  Temperature's rising, it isn't surprising.  She certainly can, can-can!

Irving Berlin's lyrics ring true here in the Sunshine State this week!  Geesh!  We've had record breaking heat for November!

I took this on Tuesday in my car...What?!?  It actually hit 91 that day!

Meanwhile everywhere else in the country...

Maybe I'll get to wear my "fall clothes" sometime in February!  

The Tooth Fairy Comes Tonight!

This is what she presented me with this morning!  Another tooth has fallen out while she was sleeping!  Last night at gymnastics practice Coach Bekah tried to pull it out for her.  All her teammates were around her, watching and hoping it would come out, but no luck!  I even had the video ready to capture the moment!  

This is only the second tooth to fall out on it's own and it's also the second tooth to fall out over night.  She wants them pulled, but ends up resisting.  I'm just grateful she doesn't end up swallowing them!  She wouldn't smile for me this morning because she's missing most of her top front teeth and 2 of her bottom front teeth.  I'm sure glad school pictures have already been taken!