Memories at the beach (part II)

Sooo not finished sharing about vacay with ya.
One day we got up and it was a wee bit overcast so we went to the Gulfarium.
It's kinda like a mini Sea World... pretty nifty 

Probably my favorite part of our visit to Gulfarium was the show Zach put on. He's a dolphin...

And he can jump, surf, and play ball... he's 17 yrs old I'm not sure if that's old in dolphin years

And who can resist a cutout... love Anthony's expression
he said he wasn't ready, but when Lyndy's got the cam aireebody better be ready at any time for a pic
and I've decided they always make the holes for your face too big...I mean, really... are they cutting them for like GIANTS or what?! They're always always too big!

The Sea lions were pretty entertaining. . .
I think the boys petted some sting rays, but seein' as how I can barely squish a spider, I am not tryin' to get that friendly with somethin slimy. They were river otters and sharks too (no worries, not for petting) and a big ole humongo sea turtle guy.

The kiddos... aren't they cute? 

So this dude caught our eye bein' as we're big Office fans... he's a dead ringer for a TAN version of Steve Carell, right? You see it? After we stared a few minutes, he happened to join us at a table in between shows. I, being the un-shy person I am, said so has anyone ever told you you look like Steve Carell? He smiles and says yeah, I get that a lot, it's kinda a running joke any time we go on a trip to see how many people will ask. I was the first to ask this trip. He's from North Carolina, but he should go on out to Hollywood and see if he could be a stunt double for S-C. Lol

Charlie the bird likes to sit on people's shoulders...

he nibbled Dawson's ear :-P

We made MEMORIES at the beach-yo!

  VACATIONS ROCK!!!!

And lemme tell ya BEEEEAUTIFUL it was...Fort Walton Beach is my kinda place, oh yeeeah.

I love fences along the sand dunes. Maybe I should've scooped up summathat sand and smuggled it back to the hills o' Tennessee, slung it in my back yard and put me up a fence... it's just a thought...
.

This here is the whole crazy crew. Anthony's parents, the sis and her 8 yr old, the stepbro and his fam-uh-lee. . .
they were pretty good company for the trip.
Mental notes: Ocean breeze interferes with hairdos and dresses... my dress kept gettin' poofy on me and made me look larger than life. Not cool. Next time will def pack tripod cuz if you know me, you know I HATE givin' my cam to anyone, especially an untrained stranger, and you never get the pic you want unless you take it yourself...but at least we memorialized the occasion and got a decent group pic.
Please know more pics and stories to come...you will get tired of hearin' bout our vacay. I will proly annoy ya with my hilarious tales and colorful anecdotes, but if you enjoy 'em, post me a comment.

A rare occasion...

Had a crappy week... husband came through with flowers just cuz he loves me...

Sure feels good to be loved...
smells good, too (the flowers that is...) 

Last weekend...a late post...

Last Saturday we had ourselves a house fulla boys!

You may be thinkin' oh, you poor thing. It was awesome!!!!

I invited 'em all and they played and behaved

and were pretty cool to hang out with.

Meet the fellas...

L-R Camden (10), Anthony (34 LOL),

Dawson (8) and Cullen (13 going on 20)

(disclaimer: it's not our pool...thank Heaven for neighbors that are family & have a cool pool)

Yeah, there was swimming, shooting, surfing,

cannon balls and can openers and even some wrestling...

boys will be boys...

There was Risk, Trouble, Cranium (cuz you know I love some board games!), wiffle ball and football (remember, they're all boys).

I spared you the pics of the old fogeys (me and Anth) playing the outdoor sports. ha!

 I love this pic of my man!

Anthony felt the urge to grab the ole Martin and play Dawson's favorite song: Toes by Zac Brown Band. You ain't ever seen such a grin on a kid's face... well, here it is -

He played shy a minute, but then sang along with Uncle Anthony. One o' these days maybe we'll get us one of them fancy dancy video camera thangs...

All three spent the night...a first for Dawson... so the living room becomes a dorm room... kinda like camping out, without the bugs and the stars and the critters and what not

The Carver brothers (as Anthony calls 'em)

were too cute handsome all dressed up for church.

A picture worth takin' dontcha think?!

Let freedom ring...

I'm sure every blogger has already posted their 4th of July weekend recap except me. I'm a loser. For someone who often complains of boredom, I catch myself saying how bizzy I am an awful lot lately... but any the whooo

Had a few late nights over the weekend for a couple reasons. A friend had some relationship woes that wise ole Anthony & Lyndy (aka relationship experts-wink, wink) had to sorta counsel her through. And when I say late, I'm just sayin' this ole gal ain't stayed up til 2 am since Friends was still airing first run epis, ya know what I mean? Anyway, all is well in lover's lane. Hmm, maybe we should start charging for our services. ha

Anth went to U2 Saturday night. Been talkin' bout it ever since. Glad he went. It was epic (so I'm told).
When he took off for that, I went to swim with Lisa & Riley (always fun) and when I got done with that, I ran me 5 miles (cuz I love the good feelin' after a run) and then I settled into the recliner for a little mind numbing tv. I had every intention of doing some scrapbooking, but I was mighty pooped. I fell asleep sometime after midnight (couldn't hold out for the hubby's return)... and btw, if you fall asleep watching Ice Cream Unwrapped on Food Network you will dream about milkshakes. Trust me.

Sunday night was our church pic-uh-nic and far-works. It was right nice. Had myself a goot ole time. Riley poo came and I played with him and snapped his pic a few dozen times.

Good times, it was good times I tell ya.

It was a vacation day...

So since dedicated worker Anth couldn't take a day off, I of course asked my sister-in-law/best friend if me, her and the boys might be able to work out a swim day... and we did!

 Yeah, Cullen is like me...has to hold his nose jumpin' in the H20.

 Tough guys... too cool for school

Right now you're jealous because my nephews are so hunky... but please don't sin on my account. The good book says "Thou shalt not covet" (Lyndy's hunky nephews)
Oh, and it just so happens that the 13 yr old had his first driving experience this week, too. Do it Cullen! Um, well it was only from the driveway to the grass. Leslie text me and said: Oh my goodness, he has lots to learn :-)

This is what Saturdays are made for...

Got up and ran 3 miles. Now you're sayin' 'Good for you Lyndy.'
Went to swim with my sweetheart (the 3 yr old one, not my hunky hubby)

Went back that night to have grilled burgers (yum)...

And to play with stuffed animals, cars, dinosaurs, and playdoh (pretty much anything Riley wants to do)

This is what a Playdoh gun fight looks like.

And we watched a movie...the Unknown... and had awesome popcorn... what's a movie without popcorn?! and then there was apple pie (a la mode no less) and of course lotsa great fellowshippin' with our friendses...

Ahhh... this my friends...this is what Saturdays are made for.

100th post ... hurrah for me!!!

Not sure if it's a good thing or a bad thing that this here is my 100th post since starting this lovely blogaroo... Am I overblogging? Underblogging? Or is my bloggy just right, like Baby Bear's porridge, chair and bed?


Well, lemme tell ya a quick story. I never watched the Wizard of Oz as a kid. Not sure why. Just didn't. Well, many moons ago I hung out a whole bunch with some distant cousins of mine (and their uber cool parents) and the little gal was just straight hung up on Oz. Watched it almost every day I think. Her name's Bridgett and yeah, I've mentioned her on this blog before. She's like 23 now, but still seems like a kid sis to me. We hang out cuz she's cool (like me). Anyway, I was in 9th grade I think and one day they threw the ole VHS tape in (or maybe it was on tv like it always was every year) of Oz. Well, when it came on it was in black & white. I thought this is lame and got up off the couch. I remember it like it was yesterday. Bridgett's dad ("Uncle Dave" is what I call him) snapped his fingers at me and said sit down, you're gonna watch this. I complied. Out.of.fear. ;-P So I watched it. And I loved it. When it turned to color, I was amaaaaazed. The story was wonderful. The music was great. And I wanted to be Dorothy. Cuz there's really no place like home.


Fast forward to today, June 23rd, in the year of our Lord 2011... me and Bridge decided we're gonna go see Wicked when it comes to town in a few months so today we bought us some sweet seats and that showtime ....
can't get here soon enough.

A recap of Father's Day weekend

Go see this. We did. It was GREAT.

We went to O'chucks for Joey's (belated) birthday...
it mighta been his celebration, but I had some dessert to celebrate. he he he Those mini donuts are R-I-G-H-T! I mighta used my phalange to get every last drop o' that icing, but I'll never tell.

 And then there's the Father's Day stuff..

Anthony usually gets Terry a thing (?) of Copenhagen, but this year he threw in a can of peanuts. If you're a girl, you might be thinkin' to yourself, what a weird (or bad) gift. Terry's reaction? MY TWO FAVORITE THINGS!!!

I gave my daddy a goody basket bowl of coffee and stuff that goes with it like a Crossword puzzle book, some sugar free coffee cakes, his fave creamer (thanks Karen!) and a mug in his fave color ... I think he liked it, as much as you can like a sorta impersonal gifto... I'll do better next year Daddy. You rock! I just stink at creative gift giving. My card was real sweet - told him how even though I'm not a little girl any more, I'll always be his little girl. Mushy stuff like that. Cuz I love him and all...

We took a day off...

First stop... 

Doesn't everyone start their vacation day with breakfast at the Barrel? The tough choice is whether to have eggs and biscuits or sweet delish ooey gooey pancakeys?! It was eggs for us. Pancakes'll be there next time.

Then...

We squeezed on a little newborn cousin... him's little and cute and smelled sweet like a baby should. (Little is a relative term... he was little bitty compared to Anth, who commented that he didn't mind holdin' him cuz he wasn't so tiny and fragile like most newborns...and I think there was a comment about holding him like a football, but I can't be sure...he's only the second newborn Anth has ever held, but doesn't he look like a pro?!)

Then...

 Cannon baaaaalllllll

Cappin' it off with a swim (with Anthony's mom and nephew)
ahhh, love them vacay days.