Spring Break 2016 {aka, Drive Me to Sunshine}

With the big kids in school and living in a wonderful neighborhood with lots of kids, I have realized that it can be hard to find family time that we all agree on.  Third year in school and I finally caught onto the idea that spring break is family vacation time.  Its not just time to "make do" at home with the kids while Daddy goes to work all week.  And I often have an itch to go and see new places.  So with all of those in mind, I decided we were taking a trip for spring break!  

The driving thought was 'where can we go that's warm?'.  I played around with distances & locations we could reasonably travel to in Florida, and settled on Amelia Island.

So off we headed on Easter Sunday.  We travelled about 6 hours to South Carolina, spent the night in a cheap Days Inn, let the kids wake us up early the next morning, then headed for Florida!

Ben got to forward-face and watch his first movie!  The world opened up for him!

Our condo wasn't available until the afternoon but write it down that we arrived very early, had a lunch of our leftover car snacks, then had the whole afternoon on the public beach area!  

It was lovely, & sunny, & warm.

Our 3rd floor condo was beachfront so we got an amazing view of the sunrise each morning!

 One day we drove to Fort Clinch State Park.  It backs up to the Cumberland River between Florida and Georgia.  We had most certainly brought along our kayak so after exploring that beach area, Mike & the big kids kayaked over to Cumberland Island, Georgia.

Ben & I stayed behind to nap & throw rocks. :)

 "Daddy, Hold You!"

Treasures found on the other side :)

A safe return!

We stepped back in time & explored the fort at Fort Clinch.

 That eve we went into the cute downtown area for pizza & ice cream.

 Another day was cooler but perfect for long sleeves and shorts! :)

Books and coffee on the day - oh, what a good day!

 Mike got to go surfing every day! :)

Thumbs up that his mini-van has a kayak on top!

Maw gave each kid $10 to get a treat.  It was for sure a highlight of their week.

 There was lots of Uno playing & a daily happy hour.  :)  Cherry 7-Up for the kids (maybe their second time ever to have soda?!)

 Lily perfected the selfie. :)

On our final morning, we hit the beach as early as we could. Run to the beach to squeeze in every last drop of salt water, air, and sand! And these pictures show the prettiest time of the day.

Final stop on the way home was a Railway Museum in Savannah.

 This will be their album cover when they're famous.

It was such a great week!  Oh, I loved it & am so thankful for the time away together and a little adventure!

Jan 2016 Snow Storm

In late January, we had a really fun & substantial snow storm- 14+ inches in all!

School (& everything else!) was cancelled on a Friday because of the forecast.  Like clockwork, the snow began falling mid morning and the kids were outside right away!  It continued to snow heavily for nearly 48 hours- all day Friday, Saturday, and into Saturday night.  Going into the storm, I tend to get antsy, worried about being stuck inside.  I felt so thankful for the community in our neighborhood during this storm!  The timing of the storm was also so perfect- because if fell on a Friday, workplaces shut down in advance and then we had the whole weekend to play together- Mike ended up working from home on Monday as well.  Having him home for the whole storm makes ALL the difference.  Can I get an AMEN?!

{the facial expression in this picture says SO much.}

This girl is so rambunctious.  She has to cartwheel and handstand everywhere she goes.

The snow fell hard for two days.  Ben's breath is taken!

neighborhood kids in the backyard

We enjoyed neighbors here on Friday eve, and Bingo for the kids at a neighbor's on Saturday.

Mike and I had a date on the second afternoon- we got all three kids to nap and headed outside together- we visited the creek and sledded together :)  

  It snowed into the night and then we woke up to gorgeous sunshine on Sunday morning.  We walked to a neighbor's house for Church with three other families.  The whole neighborhood was out on Sunday, so we enjoyed sledding, sunshine and shoveling! 

The kids were out of school until Thursday, which was a two hour delay.  We fared well mentally with Mike home on Monday.  Lily set up a "banquet lunch"- we did tell her that generally its nice if guests can look at and converse with one another. :)

We had gymnastics for Ben on Tuesday (the cuteness!) & some general craft/activity ideas, but we began to go south by Wednesday so were thrilled to head back to school on Thursday!

The neighborhood squad, plus two boys & two babies who aren't pictured.

So long, snow.  Until next year---

November

Our sweet baby boy turned one and a half.

And sister had to be right there beside him. ;)

 Isn't he a doll?  Thank you, Jesus.

 Second grade had their PTA musical performance.

Peter led his class in (probably because he is THE tallest kid- and so handsome).

 (top center)

 This special lady has been giving Peter extra help this year. 

She is so wonderful and once again, one of God's perfect provisions for Peter and us.  

We are always so thankful for all of the many ways He provides for us.

Peter loves his time with her (just not having his picture taken) & has been doing a tremendous job in school this year.  We are so thankful for all the wonderful ways God has made & helped him.

 Pop had a birthday in November.  We were happy to oblige with a little celebration.

We also celebrated Maw's Birthday and Thanksgiving but I don't have pics of those uploaded quite yet. :)