Peanut is 6 today!

It's the birthday girl! After a favorite breakfast of sausage and pancakes, we are heading off to Seaworld to visit Shamu. I love you, Shelby!

Look what popped up in our living room!

Camping is on the agenda this fall, and of course we needed a tent. Well, we purchased on online, and it came in yesterday. Of course the kids wanted to put it up right away. Unfortunately, we had bad storms in the area, lightning and hail. So, being the fair weather campers that we are, the kids set up the tent in the dining room. All 17x10 of it:) Our living and dining furniture is currently pushed up against the front wall. Still, they had lots of fun, slept in it (not mom, no airmattress yet!), and are looking forward to our next adventure.

To the Zoo we go!

For the little kids birthdays this year, Grandma and Papa bought the kids a season pass to the Zoo. So, we made our first trip last weekend. It was also homeschool day (presenting classes for next year), and Garry won a semester in foreign language from a raffle at the event (go Garry!). We saw cats, Bryce's brother(monkeys), elephants and more. Shelby was especially excited about the kangaroos. A special thanks to Grandma and Papa for this fun gift, and we plan to use it many times this next year.

Shelby loungin'Yes, honey, you were there!Admiring the elephantsWhat's in there?

Can't leave without hitting the splash pad!Ribbit!Aidan's having lots of fun!

Picnic time!Yummy:)

Santa Sighting:)

We spotted "Sleigh 2" as we were heading to the zoo. Must be taking one last vacation before the big rush. Although the windows were tinted and it was hard to see in, Santa was in passenger seat (the beard gave it away). Santa, Shelby's got her letter started, so look out!

(reindeer faces are painted with the bells along the bottom of the car)

Marine Science Center

As we haven't seen Gage in almost a month (GASP!), we decided to scoot on up her way today. So this morning, I made some potato salad, baked beans and oatmeal raisin cookies (sorry Kevin, I forgot you weren't eating sugar at the moment!), thru them and hot dogs in the cooler and headed that way. Since it was such a nice afternoon, we picked Sara and Gage and headed on down to the Marine Science Center in Ponce Inlet. Although a small museum, there was plenty of turtles, fish and birds to see. Down the street from the museum was a little park where we ran off some steam, and then headed back to Sara's to go swimming (Gage's first swim) and have dinner. It was a fun day, and none of the little people protested going to bed when we got home!A happy boy (as long as we weren't in the car!)See the lil' head peeking out? It was the only way he would ride in the carrier!

Getting photos with the screech owl

Talking about injured animals at the museumHappy boy!
Ok, I know this wasn't fair:)
Fun in the sun
My first swim!
Shelby floatin'

Goodbye Sallie!

Did you notice the ticker? It FINALLY made it's way down to zero. WOO HOO! Now the only thing left on the ticker is the car (almost there) and the house. Wow! Who knew one could get to the bottom of $40,000+( Us a little over 2 years ago)! In light that Bert is for sure going to lose some of his off-duty, it sure is a relief to know that that money we're losing from our budget is not necessary (although we are really good at spending ALL that comes in!). So, I'm restarting the ticker to mark off the car. (flowers and butterflies per Shelby) We aren't too much in a hurry as we are saving up to pay cash for a vehicle for Bert, hopefully by the end of the year. Honestly, if I wasn't so good at spending money, we would probably have the car paid off by now. However, we do have a life and of course, all those kids. Still, it's a pretty good feeling to be almost to the bottom of the pile!

DEAR SIS

April 18, 1990

Dear Sis,
As usual, I'm behind on my writing, but here goes. Ok, I'm trying to decide which to do for the summer. I don't know if I can fit all the above in; besides, won't I look silly in a tutu? Still, I'm game for whatever comes our way. I can't wait to do it all--together (did you realize together would include 5 children!?!) . I forgive you for the way you acted, I'm sure I'm not the perfect sister that everybody else believes me to be (snicker). On second thought, I think a tutu would do wonders for my figure:)
Love ya too,
Your big sis.
PS-You are not a brat (at least all the time!)

LOL-as I'm cleaning out my garage tonight I came across this-thought I would share!

Pics from trip

Lake Eola Playground

If only he could drive:)

Playin' in the water downtown.

Papa and his boys (some of them!)

Eating icecream!

Wild week

Following the exciting week at VBS, we, the little people, grandparents and my foster son (as he refers to himself) headed up to Georgia on Sunday to drop the big boys off at camp.
This is where it gets wild:)
Sun-to Cousins in Tallahassee after dropping boys off
Mon-back home with cousins in tow
Tue-riding the bus downtown, eatin' ice cream, walking around the lake and feeding the swans
Wed-back to Tallahassee
Thur-out to splash pad and more ice cream
Fri-back to Georgia to pick up the boys and head home
Sat - kids had a birthday party to go to
Sun - repack for Monday
Monday-head to Fort Pierce (unexpected trip)
Tuesday-BACK HOME!!!!
Whew! I don't know about you, but I'm tired. Including the ride on the bus downtown, we logged over 1,500 miles in the course of the week. Now, being that we had 6 kids; 9, 7, 5, 4, 3, 1 yr olds, you would think that woudl be an episode of Trips gone Bad....but, we all had a great time, minimal meltdowns and lots of laughs. It sure helps that these are the favorite cousins (sorry, other cousins, you are too young/old!). Everybody had a buddy to play with (Hope switched between Shelby and Aidan). We look forward to camp again next year:)