Final days of summer 2011

This is our last full week of summer...unbelievable but true.  Next week Hannah has to attend an orientation day on Friday and I am counting that as school.  It is mandatory attendance and I will have to drive 2 hours one way to have her there for the day.  The next day I will have to go back with the dorm things and the next day I will be back yet again for the "walk-through" where you go to the different classes in their order and meet the teachers, etc.
Monday is the first "official" day of school. 
Whew.

Moriah doesn't head back to UAB until Aug. 24th so there will be a little more time to enjoy her company.  By the end of the month, Samuel will be back in class (he has been going this summer as well) and all 3 older girls will be back in school, and I will have the homeschoolers well under way, too.  Not sure when our music lessons begin at UA, but I will be finding out soon enough. 
Sigh. 
I hate for the summer to end, but as it has been so busy this year, getting back to the stricter schedule will almost be a relief. 

Anyway, to celebrate the end of the summer, we grabbed a few friends and drove down to southeast Alabama to visit Blue Springs State Park.  This is the place you go when the weather is HOT.  Why?  Because the water is COLD!  In fact, it is so cold, I can't get in it.  Don't really know how the kids can do it.  But they can!  The spring is beautiful...would love to be able to snorkel around in there and look down into it.  Lots of clear blue water, fish swimming about, white sandy bottom, etc.  But I can't get in past my ankles.  It is that cold.  Their webpage says it is 68 degrees year round.  But it feels more like 48 to me.  Most people jump in, yell about the temperature and then get right back out again.  The creek that is fed by the springs is much warmer and we played there a bit more..  But we all got to run around in the sun, splash in the cold water, eat a picnic lunch and have a great time.  Some of our state parks are a bit limited on fun potential unless you own a boat or like to fish and such, but this one is definitely a family favorite!

Here is the photographic evidence that they got into that frigid water:

Josh didn't stand still for 2 minutes the whole day.  The only shot I got of him was in the picnic area with his mouth full of food:

And here is the whole crowd (friends included) in the creek where the water temperature was a little more user-friendly:

Hope you are enjoying these last few schedule-free days, too!

Amy

Creature Feature....ew!

Only Hannah could see the beauty in this one.  It is a Southeastern Lubber Grasshopper (yes, really) also known as Romalea microptera.  Really gross. Ugh.

This one makes me think of the Ogden Nash poem "The Eel"...Abby's choir sang a version of this last year.  It goes like this:  "I don't mind eels, except as meals, and the way they feels".  And then the song adds on "Ew, ew, ew, yuck!"  It was very funny...and definitely describes the way I (and most other people) feel about this creature.

LOL

Amy

Comings and Goings

Lots happening here these days!

We just got back from a lovely family get-together at the beach at Portofino Resort.  Nana and Grandad hosted everybody for 5 days.  It was a fabulous time together...perfect weather, excellent company, delicious food...what more can you ask for?  My sister and her husband, my aunt and uncle and my cousin and their awesome dog were there as well.  Nothing quite like being surrounded by supportive family members!!   The kids behaved well and thus a truly memorable time was had by all (even me!)  Can't say "thank you" enough to my Mom and Dad for arranging this!

Abby's camp finished up just 2 days before our trip.  So Nana and Grandad went to Tallahassee for the closing concert and to bring her to Pensacola for our stay.  They said the concert was too fabulous for words...and they are seasoned concert go-ers, so I am taking their word for it.  Wish I could have been there, but it is a long way to Tallahassee from here, so we were more than happy to have them do the pick-up.   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2dJ2dHSIi4&feature=related  will take you to a recording of the concert...it is 39 minutes long but actually well worth a listen!  And in case you are intereseted, Abby is in the first violins, 4th row back from the conductor, 3rd chair in from the outside.  (Proud Mama moment!)

While we were at the beach, we celebrated Abby's 15th birthday. We went out to eat at Flounder's and Uncle Steve got the waitresses to do the embarassing birthday thing there. We all added to the "enjoyment" by singing as loud as we could! Back at the condo, we had her real birthday cake with candles.


 

Eventually, we had to bid a fond farewell to the white sand beaches, the cool sea breezes, the sparkling golden sunsets, all the fabulous wildlife - dolphins, skates, sea turtles, schools of fish, shorebirds (saw my first-ever frigatebird!woot!woot!) and everything and head back home again.  Sigh! 

But, the very next day, we were off to T-town for the premiere of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 2.  We loved it!  Some serious Potter Maniacs here...Hannah just finished reading all of the books, Josh is working on book 4 and enjoying his HP lego collection/costumes/toys.  We all thought this last movie was easily the best of the whole lot...definitely got 2 thumb's up from this crowd:

So, now that brings us up to date.  Only 3 more weeks left of summer here in west Alabama.  That means we have very little time left to enjoy swimming in our pool, take our day trip to Blue Springs State Park (a must do for the hottest weather days here), shop for school supplies, organize clothes and dorm room furnishings, etc. etc.  More to do...always more to do!

Hope everyone else is cherishing every moment of their summer!  Make the most of it...it will slip away!

Amy

Happy Independence Day!

Down to only 3 kids this weekend...practically an empty nest!  LOL
But we are celebrating with food, fun and fireworks just the same!

Have a great holiday everyone!

Amy

Mach 5 with our hair on fire....

That is how we are living this summer! 
I swore that I would carve out time for those "lazy hazy days" atleast for the month of July, but it is not really working out like that. 
Here is what I have been up to lately:

We cleaned out the farm pool (got some help on the pressure washing - THANKS everybody!) filled it up and have been testing water, managing the aging pump and filter equipment, and generally checking on things daily since then.

Moriah got back from China, but picked up some deadly strain of influenza B on the way home.  Cousin Allison was there in Atlanta to pick up the pieces at the airport until we could get there (THANKS Allison!)  Jim and I both had to drive over to pick her up...and get her car.  Then we spent quite a bit of time at the doctor's office.  But, a few bags of fluids + a round of Tamiflu + antibiotics + inhalers + some serious decongestants got that straightened out pretty quickly.  Thank heavens for modern medicine!

Abby headed off to string orchestra camp at FSU.  We drove to Pensacola and left the little kids off with Nana and Granddad for the day, drove to Tallahassee, got Abby settled in for 2 weeks and drove back to Pensacola for the night.  Next day we spent half the day at the beach, had a nice lunch at Nana's and drove home again.  (THANKS Nana and Granddad!)

Here at home we have been keeping the road hot going to doctors' appointments, doing some school work (we usually keep studying math atleast), practicing our musical instruments (lessons continued until the end of June), hitting the library for fun summer reading, cleaning the house and organizing things (or trying to), and working on adoption paperwork. 
YES!  I said "adoption paperwork"!!!  We have decided to attempt an adoption of a "pre-identified child" from China.  I can't say much about it...we will have to wait and see if/how it all works out.  Gonna' take a lot of work and patience and prayer, but we are moving forward and just trusting that it will happen, if it is meant to happen...please pray for her and for us!  We are SO smitten with this beautiful child!  Really feeling called to add her to our family!  (Though it will mean a lot of sacrifices for all of us.)

And of course, admidst all this we are 'doing' summer.  The kids have been playing on the trampoline with the hose.  Swimming in the pool.  Making homemade popsicles.  Eating watermelon.  Tent camping in the yard (was supposed to be a family thing, but I wimped out! LOL)  Making big messes with their toys.  Picking and eating fresh corn.  Getting mosquito bites.  And on and on and on...

Up ahead, family fun for the 4th of July...Abby's camp will end just in time to spend a week at the beach with extended family...we will start celebrating our birthdays...we will do Blue Springs State Park again (a must for the REALLY hot weather!)...and HOPEFULLY we will get to have atleast a little bit of relaxing and taking it easy before the beginning of August when we have to crank it all up again for another school year!

Amy