school break!!!

Friday at school Danny had an Easter Egg hunt that turned into musical chair eggs since it was yucky out. Danny and Victoria had a great time! School ended really early so we decided instead of heading out tomorrow for vacation we left about noon time. Luckily we knew he was getting out early that morning so we dropped the dogs off for boarding first thing and then finished up our packing and loading.
Our plan was to head up the coast to Cumberland Island to see the wild horses.

Settling right in!

Little did Danny realize he was having school! We had him reading off letters and numbers on the signs and navigational aides and then finding them on the charts!
He did really great!

You think I AM going to nap???

I finally had to sit with her to get her to nap and she slept for 1 1/2 hours.

A couple of dolphin playing in our boat wake while traveling up the FL intercoastal from Jax.


Chillin out after anchoring in Bells' River (right across from Fernandina Beach)


Danny took this picture so I could actually be in one vacation picture :)


Our first wake up on board (Saturday) and all the kids are in our bed!


Danny having a slight meltdown. He had a rough day on Saturday trying to settle himself down for the start of our adventure.


Right after crossing the GA/FL border we passed by Kings Bay Sub base. Danny had really hoped to see a sub pass us by :)


This is low tide in GA - water on one side of the dock and mud on the other!


I did it myself!! and so proud of it!


One of Victoria's favorite pasttimes! squishing bugs against the windows :)


Dan and Danny fishing off the boat in Cattle Pen Creek, GA


While I was down below I heard Dan yell down for my camera - here is what they saw:

a momma pig and 3 piglets!!

Watching tv by candlelight, the kids were mighty impressed :)

We were anchored in Cattle Pen Creek, GA

Sunrise and rain drops as we head up the narrows


The kids playing in the play room since it is too wet outside


Going through Hell's Gate, GA!! Very shallow on both sides


Having a dock built on the Wilmington River in Thunderbolt, GA


Because the weather was not looking good for Monday we decided to head to a marina for Sunday and Monday nights. We decided to head to Thunderbolt, GA where we had stayed back in 1995 when Dan and I traveled down the coast.
This is what Victoria did just as we got to the marina! I laid her down on the cushion and ran back to the helm to steer us into the dock. I did it in one shot!

Unfortunately she only napped for about 15 minutes and heard the commotion. That was it for the day. So we walked up the street and had a late lunch!

NanDan tied up at the dock


She is a blur here because she was undressing and dancing. We were all excited to be taking showers on board!! :)


I decided to try out our washer/dryer on the boat and did 3 loads of laundry. Since Monday the weather was iffy we knew we weren't going anywhere so I washed our warm clothes as we will be wearing them again :(


Victoria taking a much needed full nap in her room


Once again we discovered that we could not empty our holding tank. Luckily this marina has a pump out so we had to move the boat up to get it pumped out. Danny was fascinated by the whole process. We also got 275 gals of Diesel fuel (figure out THAT bill!!)

It is amazing to see how quick the kids will drink when you give it to them in a plastic wine glass!!


Sunrise this morning over Thunderbolt!!


It is cold today! In the 50's. We are going to take the bus into Savannah and spend the day there sightseeing. If it warms up we will take the horse and carriage tour, if not the trolley tour.

Is it monday yet?

I realized I forgot to post a picture of Danny's awesome pine derby car!!


Lexi and Ginger snoozin'


Monday afternoon Lexi had to see the base vet to get caught up on all her shots and meds. Then on Tuesday morning Lexi headed to the vet for her eye surgery. The vet said it was one of the worst cases she had seen.
Here is Lexi passed out after her cherry eye surgery:


She is so dangerous with this collar on! She comes up behind you and just about knocks you off your feet. She is constantly banging into everything! At night I hear it hitting the side of the bed as she changes positions on her pillow.

Both kids and the dogs have taken to looking over their shoulder to see if Lexi is coming up behind them so they can get out of the way. We keep telling her she is a bull in a china shop.

It was beautiful the other day so I put our comforter outside to air it and the kids decided it was tent time again!
Maggie couldn't figure out why the kids were in her house:


The kids playing under their "tent"

Luckily this kept them pretty busy for quite a while, long enough for Dan to have a beer and myself a glass of wine :)

We like to be adventurous in our house - so the other night I cooked up Octopus!


Here are the finished products! The kids loved them!! Something about eating the legs off first!! (I bought the long thin hotdogs, that is why there are only 4 legs. Next time I will get the shorter fatter hotdogs so I can cut them into 8 legs)

I saw this idea on another Guatamama blog and thought it was so cute and easy. Once you cut the hotdog slits while leaving about 1 inch intact at the top for the head they automatically curl up while cooking. We are all about easy here!

Poor Ms V has been sick all week! There is nothing worse for her than not being able to breath through her nose and she has had a runny snotty nose all week! At first we just thought she was teething, but it has been going on quite a while and I don't feel anything. She has been up and down at night, waking up early and generally cranky, stubborn and crying. so needless to say we are very tired!
I taped this the other day because her breathing was so LOUD! Make sure your volume is up so you can appreciate this:

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Poor Dan had to put some lotion on his face to take care of some precancerous skin issues and after 1 1/2 weeks had to stop as his face hurt so bad. The dr told him "that is exactly the reaction you are supposed to have! this is great! Didn't you read the brochure I gave you?". Needless to say Dan was not very happy about it and no he did not read the brochure. Luckily they gave him some cream to help cool it off, but it has taken another week for it to settle down and peel off! So there have been no pics taken of him for a bit :)

Saturday was the grand opening of the North Florida Military Museum. We have been over several times to visit while they were getting organized, but it was so cool to see it officially open. A local boy scout troop even had a table for hotdogs and hamburgers!


Not surprisingly this is where the kids were hanging out. The guy had it rigged to set off caps. Everytime you heard "fire in the hole" everyone would flinch :)


Lots of people in period costumes and so many items going back a very long time:


All this cool equipment


I think Dan called this a tagalong?


How cool is this LARC??


Checking out the inside of the LARC:


This gives you a little perspective of the size of the tires!


Danny has a field trip tomorrow to the Alligator Farm and he is very excited about it. He has been a bit off the wall this weekend. I don't know if it is just his age (6)? But he lies about really silly stuff, talks back and does things that he knows he shouldn't! We try to be consistent with his discipline but at times it is so draining. I feel like all I do is yell sometimes :(

My hip has really been bothering me and I am going to have to break down and see the orthopedic dr again :( This time I will see the hip specialist and hope he has something besides surgery or shot up his sleeve!
I have been having female problems so my dr had my hormones tested. I am being referred to a gyn to see about something called a uterine ablation. The first response would have been birth control pills or progesterone cream or some kind of hormone treatment, but my oncologist said absolutely not.
Dan just figures it is time to trade me in for a healthier model!!
(I am ready to get off this health roller coaster! Enough already!)

very busy weekend :)

Just relaxin! Taking a nap with daddy:


Danny had his next belt karate test on Saturday morning.
We were a bit worried as last time he had a meltdown and would not do it with the regular group. This time he was great! He went right in and DID IT!! Dan said you could really see his confidence!
Starting with a warm up and stretching!


Of course - some kicking!!


The kids were kicking with one foot, then spinning, then kicking with the other foot. Pretty funny :)


Danny broke the board on his first try!!


Danny getting his new belt put on!!!!


Danny's school had a folk festival. Unfortunately it started at the same time as danny's karate test. So Victoria and I went to the school where I had volunteered to man the ticket booth from 10-11, while Dan and Danny went to karate.
Victoria had so much fun.

2nd graders and up showing off their musical skills


Danny and Dan showed up just as the violins finished.
Victoria taking some daddy time:


Danny making macrame'. That is his teacher on his right.


The cupcake making station was a big hit!

Victoria kept taking the decorations and shoving them in her mouth instead of putting them on her cupcake :)

They had face painting, Danny got spider man:


Victoria got a princess on her cheek. She stayed completely still!


Lunch was a great pinic spread.
Danny was showing off his hotdog and his corn husk doll that he made :)


Just chillin out :)


Dan took Victoria home for a nap and Danny & I stayed.
Danny put this all on and then yelled take the pic! I guess it was really heavy :)


Danny doing the cake walk (he didn't win)


Danny making a bead bracelet


The cheerleaders did several songs and they were so cute!


The fun with music class singing La Bamba! Danny has been singing it ever since.


The highlight of the day was the Pine Box Derby, here are the cars all lined up after the official weigh in:


The car on the far left (yellow line) is Danny's. He and Dan worked very hard on it!

He got passed right at the end of the race. The car that beat him won it all so I was pretty impressed. He was not :(

Here is the final heat, the two block cars are from the two sisters in front of my camera. Believe it or not they came in first and second!! So cute!

The really funny thing is that the older boys that had really worked/chiseled their cars just could not understand how the winners were blocks of wood :) :0

We went out to dinner and Ms V was very tired as she refused to nap more than 10 minutes today. So here she is just as the waiter brought our salads:

There were lots of laughs from people. We let her nap for about half an hour then gently woke her up. When I asked her if she was ok, she responded "momma I tired".
She ate most of her meal while Dan & I had delicious coffee.

Today was yard work day. Lots of weed pulling and planting (me) and grill cleaning and mulching (Dan). The kids were pretending that our comforter that was hung over the railing was a fort. They played for hours! Victoria napped for 2 1/2 hours today, making up for yesterday.
Danny has two more weeks of school before break. We are planning to take the boat up the coast to GA.
Lexi goes to the base vet tomorrow to get checked over, shots and bloodwork.
Tuesday is her eye surgery for her cherry eye, then she gets to wear a plastic collar for a week :)