Happy Birthday Smokey the Bear!

The Museum of Natural History was free along with cake and hotdogs in celebration of Smokey's birthday.

The school bell is ringing again!

In our county teachers had to go back on August 6th and students followed in on August 13th. Wakulla is one of the top 10 districts in the State of Florida, so we get to ignore the "Save Our Summers" law. Zac is now in 2nd grade and Gracie started kindergarten this year. Gracie was really excited about the first day of school, but Zac would have rather slept in! I can't believe how fast kids really do grow up. Gracie has Jacob Cardoza in her class (how cool, they were born 3 hours a part and now they sit next to each other in kindergarten). Gracie is also in class with my friend Haley's daughter Madison(Haley and I went to elementary school together). Zac and Gracie catch the bus from my school, so they have to get up pretty early. It's cute to see all of the teachers' kids together. Our wonderful friend and tech lady Molly sees that they all get safely on the bus.

Our last Wakulla Springs trip of summer break :(

We met up with a lot of friends over the summer at Wakulla Springs. It was great! The hardest part of the summer was dodging the Florida showers! Zac now jumps off of the bottom tower and Brandon and Sydney braved the top tower. Heck I jumped from the top for the first time in years, I had forgotten how fun/scary it is. The water is so cold, but it really is refreshing once you get in and get used to it. There is always a little shade available for those of us who prefer less exposure to the sun. You know it never really feels as hot at Wakulla Springs, very nice place to enjoy your picnic lunch.

Zoinks!

We went to Zoinks Kid Station in Tally on Tuesday (half on Tuesdays) with Divida, Melandie, and the kids. It has about seven or eight big blow up jumpy things for kids to go crazy on, games, snacks, a toddler area, and a parent stations with leather furniture and a t.v.

A Visit from Joe-Joe!

On Friday JoeJoe, Jenny, Abbie, and Grandma stopped in for a visit on their way to Gainesville. We were all amazed at how big JoeJoe has gotten and he looks just like Jenny-Bug! He was cooing and talking to us, and I think he and Wyatt had their first conversation. It was a nice visit!

The Mary Brogan Museum

On Friday, July 10th we went to the Mary Brogan Museum in downtown Tally with Mel, Brandon, and Sydney. We received a tour of the art gallery, on display were kites from different Asian countries. Zac found it interesting that the smallest kite ever flown was only five mm! Next we went to the discovery floor to play and learn about science all at the same time. We learned that a simple machine works with only one action, like a pulley. To demonstrate the kids were able to strap themselves on to a little seat and pull themselves up and down with a rope! After the discovery floor we literally crawled into an inflated dome in the pitch black dark to learn about constellations. Even Wyatt thought it was cool until he decided it was nap time. The final floor was all about energy and the weather. Of course the highlight was the hurrican simulator! After the museum we took our lunch to Lake Ella for a picnic.

4th of July in "sweet home Alabama!"

On Wednesday we left for Alabama to visit our good friends Chris and Vickie in Birmingham. Sad to admit, but it had been one whole year since we last saw each other. On a brighter note, it didn't feel like a whole year had passed. While we were there we went swimming, took the kids to the park, ate great food, went to three of Chance's baseball games, watched fireworks at the Morgan Creek Winery, and we celebrated Chance's 8th birthday! We ended our trip Monday, back to the real world (at least for Wes). Thanks Chris and Vic for having us! We miss y'all already!