A fun way to skip school

A couple of weeks ago, Jason and I took the boys down to Aquatica - a waterpark next to SeaWorld.  Going to a waterpark was on our Summer Fun list but summer had gotten away from us and we never made it.  So we surprised Brody on a Friday and took him down there.  He thought it was pretty cool that he didn't have to go to school, even though he had no clue where we were going.

Checking out the scenery because he has no clue where we are going - oh yeah, he's still in his pj's.

Aquatica had 2 kid areas - this one had little slides for the kids even one you could go down on a tube.  All kids under 48" had to wear a life jacket - it was actually a good thing because I didn't have to worry at all about them.

My 2 sweet boys enjoying the beautiful day at Aquatica.

This is the Dolphin tank with the Dolphin Plunge in the background.  The slide goes right through the tank - yeah it's pretty cool - Jason and I both rode it.

Here's the bigger kid area.  There was water spraying EVERYWHERE!!!

While Brody and Jason played in the big kid area, Trevor and I hung out and rested (and ate)

These slides were pretty fun.  Jason is on the blue one on the left.  Brody was actually big enough to ride it but he didn't want anything to do with it because he didn't want to go down by himself.  Brody did ride everything else he was allowed to ride even though it was just once.

Brody and I rode a big raft ride that had 3 big drops.  Brody's eyes got so big with each drop and when we hit the bottom he said "that was terrible" but no tears so that was a good sign.

This was the entrance of the Rapids which was one of the best things at the park.  It's like a Lazy River, but nothing lazy about it because it pushes you along through rapids in about 3 feet of water.  When we got there we saw all of these adults wearing life vests and we thought what in the world, but then we realized that they were wearing them to ride the Rapids.

 Somebody was so tired that he fell asleep before we got out of the parking lot.  We were hoping he would sleep most of the way home but we got stuck in some traffic and was stop and go so that woke little man up and he WAS NOT happy after that so it made it a LONG drive home.

It was a great day at the water park and I'm pretty sure the boys had fun because Brody kept saying this was a great way to spend a day off of school.

Mater comes to town

With 2 boys, Cars is an all time favorite in our house.  A few weeks ago when I picked Brody up from school, I took them to see a little surprise - Mater.  Well, this isn't the real Mater but boy is it real close.

Mater is located at Seldomridge's body shop in Hilliard, FL and Mr. Seldomridge did a really good job.  The boys were pretty excited to see it - my favorite part was Brody CONSTANTLY asking where we were going - I love surprises.  When we got out, someone from the shop came out and gave the boys coloring sheets - so sweet!!

For a couple of days, Trevor kept asking to go see Mater.  Oh boy, I can't wait until Disney in a month or so!!

A thankful heart

With my mom's recent retirement, she is definitely keeping busy and really hasn't even looked back.  A big advantage with her retirement is that she's available to watch the boys whenever needed.  She usually picks  up Brody from school and once a week she has a "Brody day".  They do all sorts of things - library, park,  and just hang out.

The weather has been quite nice lately and one day mom had both boys so she decided to have a picnic.  These boys love being outside and are so good when they are outside.

I am so thankful for my mom and all the help she gives us.  I couldn't ask for anything more.

My crazy 2 year old

Not a day goes by that we don't realize that Trevor is a crazy toddler but always making us laugh.  Here are a few of his crazy acts that of course we just shake our head and laugh!!

The typical "find and wear daddy's shoes"

One day Trevor decided to "help" me wash the car.  It started as just putting a foot in the bucket and then  before I knew it his whole body was in.  The funny part was that my OCD do everything by the book child, Brody, was about to flip out that Trevor was doing this.  I tried to explain that this is what boys are supposed to do when the car is being washed.  Brody does not like to get wet if he doesn't have his bathing suit on - craziness.

I have learned to be pretty nervous when the house is quiet and I can't find Trevor.  He is usually in the office and there is where I found him one morning with my garage sale stickers all over him.

He is definitely our typical toddler that we need to keep our eyes on at ALL times.

The busy but wonderful life

The past 2 weeks have been quite crazy - let's see:

- I have started 2 new Bible study groups - 1 is Couple Checkup on Sunday nights for Jason and I. 

There are about 15 couples and has been a lot of fun and very eye opening.  We just took the Couple Checkup "test" to see how we are doing as a couple and let's just say we have some areas for growth.  However, it is nice to see that other couples may experience the same thing.  If I could just bite my tongue sometimes and say things nicer :)

The 2nd Bible study is Brave by Angela Thomas. 

It is a women's study on Wednesday nights and it is wonderful to be able to fellowship with other women and be able to pray for their struggles.  Being part of the youth department doesn't allow me to be around other ladies my age, which I feel that I need.

With these 2 Bible studies, comes a lot of dedication.  It can be so difficult to get us all to church on Sunday night and Wednesday night and having to deal with dinner, soccer practice, baths, and getting to bed - Whew, I get worn out by the end of those days.  I pray that God will speak to me during these Bible studies and show me the things in my life that need to change.

Speaking of soccer, Brody is really not a fan of playing so we have a long month ahead of us.  We are making him stick it out even though I would love to have my Mon & Wed afternoons and Saturday's back, but I feel that we have to teach him about committment.  This past Saturday, he really showed that he didn't want to be at the game.  He just stood around the field and even asked the coach to come out of the game.  This is so not how Jason and I are - especially Jason.  Jason has never wanted to stop playing even if he was sick or hurt, however our son is not like this.  We have realized that contact sports may not be his thing so I think we are going to stick with tennis, golf and baseball.  We understand that he may not be the best on the field but come on can't a little boy run want to run after a ball and kick it?  This is so hard for me to understand and wasn't much of a sports player.  Lots of parenting lessons to be learned in our future.

Last weekend, I coordinated Crystal "Thompson" Scarbrough's wedding.  Jason and I teach 12th grade with her parents and I taught her in Sunday school several years ago.  It was absolutely beautiful.  The wedding was at Riverside Baptist Church, which is so pretty and the reception was at the Main Library downtown.  This wedding was so much fun and I really enjoyed being a part of it.  With all of the weddings I coordinate, Jason is usually right there to help me out with anything I may need help with and I am so thankful for this.  He was right there with me on this one as well even went to the rehearsal dinner which was a great time since we didn't have the kids with us and we were able to relax with 2 other couples who were kidless as well that night.  We almost left after the bride and groom because we were having so much fun. 

I couldn't believe how tired I was after that wedding - I definitely didn't wear the right kind of shoes. 

And a picture to leave you with of my 2 "sweet" boys having a blast in the tub.

We will never forget!!

The 10th anniversary of 9/11 was such an emotional roller coaster for me.  Like so many other people, I remember exactly where I was when I heard about the attacks.  My Grandmother had just passed away on the Saturday before the Tuesday of 9/11.  One of the thoughts I remember having was wow my Grandmother was just able to meet a whole lot of new people in heaven.

This year I watched several different documentaries about that day and different people's experiences - wow what a surge of emotion this brought on.  I can't remember the last time I cried so much.  I guess this is what happens when you have a family and it's hard to think if something like that had affected us - I had such empathy for those people.

We spent the special day attending church with some powerful music and a video that scrolled ALL of the victims of that day.  The list went on and on and on - truly amazing to actually see the list.  After church we headed to the first Jags game for our HOT season opener.  There was an awesome flyover and lots of other ways to help commemorate the 10th anniversary of 9/11.  Here are a couple of pictures of our HOT afternoon at Everbank field.

A TON of balloons released.

A little playtime to celebrate

After Brody's first soccer game, Jason headed to play golf and mom and I took the boys to Fernandina to play on the playground.  Fernandina has such a great playground - lots of different things to climb on and nice big oak trees to keep everything in the shade.  I actually packed a picnic lunch for us and the afternoon turned out great.

Trevor thought he was such a big boy.  Nothing was too big for him to try and climb.

Of course a trip to Fernandina isn't complete without a stop at Dairy Queen.  Trevor was so tired that he was barely able to hold his eyes open while drinking his milkshake.