Beach photos....part 1

Wow....I took a ton of beach photos! I finally found some time to sit down and go through them so I could post some on here. I'll spare you and won't share all 450+ photos with you, but here are some of my favorites. As usual, I have a lot of favorites, so stay tuned for beach photos part 2 and 3 and....

Day 1....Tropical Storm Cristobal

Our home for the week....


We were able to get a beach wheelchair from the police department for Becca to use on the beach and in the water. Of course, everyone else had to try it out.

Chris' dad.....

Becca and Chris....

Jacob and Jenna...


Our ever-growing shell collection on the deck. There was a great shell bed right in front of our house and we found tons of shells, especially after the tropical storm.

Home....

After spending an awesome week at the beach in Surf City, NC we are home. We rented a house right on the beach with Chris' parents, Ryan and Becca, and Ryan's mom and his sister. I am in the process of uploading 400+ photos onto my computer (can't wait to see them!), so in the meantime I'll hit some of the highlights of our beach week:

-being right on the ocean, which meant listening to the ocean all the time and an awesome view!
-searching for shells on the beach
-searching for sharks teeth...and actually finding them!
-lots of yummy food!
-walks on the beach
-practically living in our swimsuits
-no make up for a week
-great beach tans....and no sunburns (we got a little red on Thursday, but it never actually turned into a full blown sunburn)
-reading on the beach (I finished 4 1/2 books)
-exploring the souvenir shops
-turtle fudge from one of the shops - incredible!
-banana pudding ice cream from a local ice cream shop - really yummy!
- watching the sunset over the intercoastal waterway
-driving up and down the island, looking at houses, and dreaming about owning one
-seeing dolphins
-watching the pelicans
-avoiding Tropical Storm Cristobal on the first day!
-meeting new friends on the beach
-sweet tea
-spending time with family
-RELAXING for a whole week - no appointments, no baseball games, no tumbling, no errands to run...it was perfect!
-taking lots and lots of photos on the beach
-boogie boarding and body surfing in the waves
-sand EVERYWHERE!

Tournament time...

Baseball season is finally coming to a close. I know Jacob will be sad for it to end, but after a minimum of 2 games a week every week since the 2nd week of May, this Mom is definitely ready for a break. I have to admit I will miss my social time at the games though. Last night was the first round of tournament games. Jacob's team was winning 4-1 in the bottom of the 4th inning....and then the game had to be called due to darkness. I'm not sure why you would schedule a 7:45pm game on a field with no lights, but someone thought that would be a good idea. So, we are on our way back to the park tonite to finish innings #5 and 6....and hope they can keep the lead that they had last night. Here are just a few photos from last night, taken with my new lens. I love using it, but still need to get used to using it. I also need to start lifting weights to use it...it's really heavy!

Fooling around with Cade during warm ups....
I was trying to be a little "artsy". I like the end result, but most of you are probably wondering why I have a photo of the grass in focus and Jacob's feet blurry....and why I chopped off his head.

Love this photo....this is exactly why I wanted a new lens...so I could get awesome action shots like this one. Unfortunately, the catcher threw the ball past Jacob and the runner was safe at 2nd. I didn't realize until I was uploading my photos that I caught this whole sequence. Kind of fun!

On deck....

Up to bat....

Stealing second....

Stealing third....
Hanging out with Coach Covey at third base....

...and he scores!!

Today I let my kids draw on the wall.....

I really did. I let my kids draw on the wall today. In fact, I even joined them in the fun. I have had a vision for a fun project for about a year and finally took the time this weekend to complete it. I wanted a space to hang all the kids' artwork, spelling lists, A papers, etc. Our refrigerator is covered with wood panels to look like our kitchen cabinets, so we can't use the refrigerator like most people. I finally decided I wanted to paint a portion of the wall in the entry way off the garage to be a magnetic/chalkboard wall. I ended up putting on 3 coats of magnetic paint and then 2 coats of chalkboard paint over that. I love the way it looks, but I wish it was more magnetic. Today the kids and I had fun breaking in the new chalkboard wall and creating some grafitti to fill it. I have visions of leaving each other notes, discovering new drawings they've left, and even having our visitors leave us a note or picture.

The finished product....it was hard to get a good photo of it because it's such a narrow hall, but you get the idea. The papers at the top are stuck on with magnets.

Leaving their mark.....

My masterpiece.....a count down to our beach vacation! The little box under it is a cute magnetic box I found to hold our colored chalk. I will confess that I let my eyes wander for just a moment as I passed the school supplies at WalMart and saw it. I grabbed it quickly and got far, far away from that section!

It was bound to happen...

....but why did it have to be so soon? Over the past few days I made trips to both WalMart and Target...and both stores had their school supplies out. We're not just talking some random school supplies, but the whole fancy display and all the supplies to go with it. Jacob was so excited to pick up his list of supplies for 5th grade. I didn't know whether to laugh, cry, scream, or run away. Instead I just tried to ignore it and pretend like it just didn't even exist. Basically, I'm in denial.

Vintage Fun....

Yesterday Cheryl and I headed to Ft Wayne for a fun field trip. She was looking for some accessories and furniture for her house, so we headed to downtown Ft Wayne to check out some antique/thrift stores. The first one we went to - Finders Keepers - was 3 stories of antique furniture...but we didn't find anything we absolutely had to buy. At the recommendation of the interesting man working there, we walked down the street to Calhoun Street Emporium...and hit the jackpot! The store was packed full of fun vintagey things. We literally spent hours just looking around. In fact, we even had to take a break part way through our browsing and go get lunch at Casa De Angelo - YUMMY! We had so much fun looking at all the treasures, trying out funky hats and clothes, and of course taking photos. The owner was so nice about letting us wander around and take photos. In fact, she asked for our blog addresses so she could check them out. We definitely recommend her store and will be going back. Cheryl found an awesome table for her scraproom and some fun toys. I found shutters for Jenna's room and the cutest little yellow chair...which will be making an appearance soon in photoshoots!

In front of the store....

And inside..... Having fun with hats and mirrors.....
Cheryl's find.....a table for her scrap space. I totally forgot to take a photo of my purchases!


Later we ventured up the street to a thrift store...it was ummm, interesting to say the least. We didn't buy anything there, but found a treasure across the street - an awesome blue wall perfect for backdrops for photos. So, we had an impromptu photo session and had tons of fun shooting photos. I can't even tell you the last time I was the subject of a photo shoot! We ended our day with a trip through DQ for slushies and then headed home.

In the "unique" thrift store....and no, she didn't buy it. :)
Photo shoot time.....


It was a GREAT day.....and I am so glad Miss Cheryl has moved back to NW Ohio. I love having someone to create with again.

Birthday Fun....part 1

Jenna invited 6 friends over to celebrate her birthday last Wednesday. She decided she wanted to just do things outside - so we set up the sprinkler and also had lots of bubbles and sidewalk chalk. They had a great time playing in the water and trying to make huge bubbles. Later she opened gifts and they ate chocolate chip ice cream sandwiches (with sprinkles!) on the patio. She doesn't really like cake much, so we always have to get creative when it comes to birthday treats. The ice cream sandwiches were a huge hit!! We also had her beads set up on the patio, and they spent some time making bracelets before it was time to go home. The whole thing went really smoothly, thanks to a little help from Grandpa and Grandma Davis and Chris, great weather, and a good bunch of kids.