Baby Joshua

Mom, Paul, Sherry, Stephen, the kids and I drove and met my step-sister, Shawn, her daughters and her new grandson half way last Saturday morning.  I'm sure my boy thought he was cool enough, as far as babies go, but the girls FELL IN LOVE!

Papa holding first great-grandchild with new Grandma, Shaun looking on...

Nena holding Joshua....

Lucy holding Joshua and Iris trying to get closer to "the baby"....

Sherry and Joshua...

The Mom & baby shot :)

Lucy, Joshua and I...

Iris holding Joshua...she would blow at him to make him smile :)

Lu making Joshua smile while his Momma holds him...

Papa and Ashley hanging out...

Stephen and Joshua....

Joshua was VERY content with Stephen so I took that opportunity to get a close-up!

Days of Yesteryear

Every year my Dad participates in the "Days of Yesteryear" tractor show which takes place in his town.  And we've tried to go to it for, probably, the last 6 or 7 years....I have pictures there from when Iris was still in the oven.

This year he helped plan and organize it.  So when we got there he was easy to spot in his "day-glo" vest that had the word "STAFF" printed on it.

First thing Dad pointed me to shortly after I got there was a tractor that he said was the same make and model (possibly the same year, we don't know) as HIS dad's first tractor, which I recognized from this picture....

 That's my grandfather, Clyde, with his two kids.  The boy, is obviously my Dad, Billy.

So of course I had to get a picture of MY Clyde with it...

And then later when the girls walked over, I got Dad with them and the tractor.

The kids each tried the kiddie tractor pull, which is just like the real one except man-powered and tiny.  The further you go the heavier the weight in the sled. 

Clyde doing the "fruit toss"

The girls hulahooping...

The STAFF member and his eldest grand-daughter...

The STAFF and his lovely wife...

We took Clyde to visit the blacksmith and then...

 Iris got just a WEE bit obsessed with this dagger.  I'm serious......um....yeah.

Clyde grinding corn....

Iris and Lu on the train.  Normally they all three ride this, but alas, my boy is growing and preferred to watch the tractor pull and the "slow race"....yes, there really is a slow race.  I thought they were kidding.

Days of Yesteryear is ALWAYS fun and the kids ask about it every year to make sure we don't miss it!  Yay, STAFF, ya'll done better than a moose!

Fishing in the Gulf with the Boys

On Tuesday, Papa, Uncle David and Daddy took my boy fishing.  I was a little bit paranoid and gave each of the grown-ups a good grilling about keeping an eye on him.  No letting him climb.  Tie him to the pier.  No letting him get  pulled by a shark into the ocean.  Stephen swore that if my baby fell/got pulled in, he would jump in after him, lift him up out of the water and with his dying breath pass him to the other rescuers then sink slowly to the bottom like Leonardo in Titanic.

So I let him go.

David took them to Walmart and informed Stephen that he and Clyde would need a long-sleeve shirt for this adventure.  He also recommended matching ones!  Thank you, David!!!  I LOVE the shirts in these pictures :D  They bought rods and David bought squid.  (Eeeww...the stink!!  It is still in my bath scrunchee-it's gotta be tossed!)  Then they went out on the peir.

Papa took pictures.  Thank you, Papa!!!

And the fishing commenced.

They caught untold amounts of remora, apparently.  No other fish, but that was certainly enough for Clyde.  He was VERY excited.

Here he is suctioning a remora to one of the lights ;)

He was even more excited by what they SAW!  Many flounder, many dolphings, a seaturtle!, and a 6 FOOT HAMMERHEAD SHARK!!

So thankful he got to do this!

More Jolly Fun

During the first half of the week, when we weren't on the beach, we were at the Condo's pool, play fountain and lazy river area!  It was very cool!  I do believe that the little lazy river was the most popular part with our kids.

One day we watched the kids shop with their money.  It was interesting to see the different things they chose.

Iris bought a ukelele (because we don't let her play with Clyde's :).  Hers has a pink Hawaiian print on it.

Clyde bought a real puffer fish (to hang from the ceiling), a small turtle made of shells and a real dead shark in a jar of formaldehyde. YUCK!

Lucy bought this adorable necklace, where you crack open a oyster to retrieve the pearl that goes in your necklace.  The mystery of what color it would be was terribly exciting to her. (white)

After this, Iris thought her necklace was so spectacular, she went back and bought a starfish one.  Here is her pearl.  (lavender)

 One night Stephen and I got to go out by ourselves :)  We went to Margaritaville for dinner, played laser tag, then had dessert at a German restaurant.  Yum!!  I've never played laser tag before and I was surprised at how terrified I was at the suspense of Stephen jumping up and shooting me.  I got VERY into it, but he won :/

Sherry and David went on a date one night and the rest of us went to Margaritaville.  They did an EXCEPTIONAL job working with food allergies.  The manager even came to check on Lucy and make sure she was enjoying her food.

The plan was to spend the rest of the week in the water, but Lucy got a puncture wound in her foot.  We took her to an Doc-in-a-box and the Dr. wanted her to keep her foot out of the ocean and the pool.  So the next day we found some miniature golf.  Sherry and David had left that morning to head back home, so that's why they're not in the pics.

 oh...and Iris got a hole in one!
And I won!