Eatin' his name

Another weekend of fun was in store for us.  The kids finished up week with 2 days off split around a week of half days for exams.  So, we planned a short drive up to Holiday, FL to visit with grandpa/great grandpa Chester (and little Suzzie) was sure to greet us with many stories of flea market and garage sale purchases.  No sooner did we hit the driveway and we were looking at the latest haul.  All I can say is that it keeps him busy and entertained, so that's fine with me.

We drove over the SkyWay Bridge over the gulf and the kids were thrilled. Up over the choppy water and seeing some para sailing, the view was awesome.  Plan to make another trip up later to spend some more time and maybe actually enjoy the bridge as it was too windy and cold for the day.

Not my picture but pretty damn awesome.

After messing around at grandpa's we headed out for some supper with him.  Of course, we passed a restaurant called Cody's Steakhouse, so at that point, there wasn't a real option for where the kids were going to ask to go.  Thankfully, grandpa likes the food there so we were good.  After a yummy meal, we dropped grandpa off and headed back home.

Cody and Grandpa Chester.....who's the oldest in that picture??

Making plans to go back in a few weeks to spend the weekend and hit the sponge docks get grandpa lined up with some extra dinners.

Living the Salt Life

I guess one of the crazy benefits that we've missed for years is having weekends to make plans.  Time to have fun, time to do things as a family and just have...well, time.

Heading out to Sanibel Island to see some birds, see where Jenny works (Bailey's General Store), cruise around, soak up the rays and dip the toes in the water.  We hit one of the beaches and saw some massive osprey nests.  Not quite as imposing as Eagles but darn, those things look nasty.

Dang that sucker was big....

Next we popped over to the beach to see the original light house on Sanibel beach.  Not open for tours, not that there would be room, but still cool to see.  Being that old, I'm sure it has stories and would give a haunting a big thumbs up.  :)

Someone forgot to change the bulb....

Both Amberlyn and Cody had different agendas on the beach.  Cody was hard at work continuing his sea shell collection while Amberlyn was determined to build the perfect sand castle.  Off we went and managed to accomplish both.

Yeah, like she wasn't born to live on the beach.

Lost in thought....I bet it is something about Star Wars.

We stopped to see Jenny's store and grab a bite to eat (Island Cow - yummy!!!).  The kids got to see more of the island and we snagged another beach spot on the way before leaving the island.  Different side of the island and more shells for Cody to grab.  Amberlyn was all about soaking up the tan at that point.

At the end of the day, we had a fun and relaxing day with lots of fun things to see.  All that being said, time to give everyone The Bird!

It's been a year???

Holy cow, what happened to 2010?  It has been a long and trying year but one that we've put behind us and are looking forward.  The kids had to contain their excitement through the Winter break in order to get to Christmas.  Their lists were long (and sometimes obscure) but we been lucky to have them be pretty happy with whatever they've opened.

Cody's big ticket item was anything Nerf related and he was able to come away with that in spades.  An adjustable Nerf gun that can be made multiple ways will keep his brain occupied.  Oh, the stories that have already spun out of his head.  Add to that, multiple Star Wars and Bakugan (don't ask, just nod and realize this is a game that boys his age love) and the boy was in Christmas heaven.  Sprinkle a dash of Scooby Doo on top and he'll be set for awhile.

Amberlyn, heh, anything Taylor Swift is good in her book.  So big brother came through and found a T.S. calendar for her.  And the fashion girl that she is, the Sketchers TwinkleToes shoes (pink with charms and lightup) were a must have.  And the big ask for her was a new bike.  And in true Red Rider BB Gun fashion, it wasn't under the tree when the main presents were opened.  Great to see that some kids can still get fooled.

So, now that Christmas has come and gone, they're back to school and remembering how much "fun" the school grind can be.  But at least in the evenings, they have some fun things to do!

Figured I should post something as no one posted anything last week. This last week was BUSY for me. Started the job search and after a few nibbles I landed a job-ending a two week search (awesome considering the economy!). I am the new administrative assistant for Bailey's General Store on Sanibel Island. It will be Mon-Fri 8:30-5 and no weekends and a little better pay than the last job! Looking forward to starting tomorrow. The down side is it is a 50 minute drive although it does not seem like that long of a drive. The scenery on the drive is awesome! I have to drive over a couple big bridges to get there. So tomorrow the whole family will be out of the house by 7:15am. Both schools offer before and after school care, so no need to look for child care.

The kids are both getting active in some of the church activities. Grace U.M. Church offers a childrens service during the duration of the comtemporary service. Amberlyn is making some new friends there. Cody being in middle school has to sit with us (terrible). He is learning to not fidget so much. He sits in a plush chair compaired to the wooden pews we grew up with. Every Wednesday night he is going to Octane and seems to be making some friends there.

Both kids have received mid-term grades and it looks like they are doing pretty well adjusting to all the changes we have thrown at them.

Saturday we started the Christmas shopping. Of course we got hungry and checked out a Five Guys Burgers and Fries. Yumm E!!!! It was great!

With the upcoming holiday I am guessing we will not be doing much site seeing. Depends on the weather. It is 55-75 down here. The weekend was warm but it has rained this afternoon. Tonight it is supposed to get windy and cool again. Tomorrow's high will be 55. Guess it is a good thing we brought the warm clothes down too!

Here is a closing thought to start the new week with-"we can grumble or we can be grateful-which will you chose?"

Have a good one and if you are an Ohioan-keep warm!

Jenny

Words from a Chicky-Butt

GUEST BLOGGER:

Florida is very neat. Last Saturday, we went to the beach. And at the beach we saw three or four dolphins. I wanted to have a slushie at Dairy Queen but she had a Blizzard instead. We found a lot of shells with pretty colors. The first day we got our new house we slept on the floor which was really fun. I was wearing summer clothes, like every day. I made 11 friends at school.

This Saturday we went to the Shell Factory. At the store, we saw lots of big shells and shell nightlights, fake shells. One shell had a face of a tree frog on it which was very cool. We saw wind chimes but they were wooden. We saw bamboo shades with pictures on them. There was a history part with some fossils. There was a Quartz rock with pretty shells. There was some food there but mostly shells. And we saw big and little fake turtles.

**Note, the above was a recap of our adventure so far from the journal of Amberlyn.**

Breaking Ground

And here we go....

Well, no surprise but it was a long drive.  It did not help that the Penske truck could not go over 2500 RPM!  Which, let me tell you was great fun in the mountains.  The drive in Georgia was absolutely beautiful!  Did not realize that the fall foliage would still be in full force, made the drive more pleasant.  We drove thru Atlanta at sunset on Saturday night.  The kids loved it!  The buildings had their outside lights on.  Pat and I were more focused on the traffic, though.  It was 6-8 lanes going in one direction.  Thank goodness that it was not too heavy!  

We finally arrived at the house at 6pm on Sunday.  All thankful that the trip was done.  Pat picked out a nice house.  There will be pictures once we get a little more settled in.  We were able to cram all we own in the truck but it will take weeks to unload it all from the garage to the house!

Pat went back to work on Wednesday and I took the kids to their new schools on Thursday.  Amberlyn is at Patriot Elementary and Cody is at Challenger Middle school.  The kids are used to getting up at 6:30 am and being on the bus by 7:10.  We leave the house at 9am and her school starts at 9:15 and his at 9:45.  It is a 2 hour delay all the time!

We decided to check out Fort Myers Beach on Saturday.  Know that you may not want to hear it but the weather here has been mid-80’s all week.  Gorgeous!  A little cool for swimming but felt good on the feet.  We were there at the right time and saw a few dolphins swimming close to the shore and boardwalk area.  Cody counted over hundred times that he saw them surface.  We also saw pelicans catching lunch.  We had a picnic at the shelter area and there was not one bug that invaded.  It was a great first adventure and no one got  sunburned!

Finally, here is the new digs.  Hopefully the kids find this a nice place to put up their feet and soak up the sun!