Will Be Back Soon

... in the middle of a major redo of master bedroom and bath

...up to my eyeballs in mess

...will be back in a few days

ReWind Wednesday

Still one of my all time favorite photos and layouts...

Taking the Plunge

If you were to ask the kids, the best part of their vacation would be the lake house.  It was the center of most of our activities.

That opening on the upper deck served as the majority of the entertainment for the younger set.

Meg wasn't quite sure at first but she soon got into the action.

We adults all jumped off at least once during our stay.  Yes, even moi. Granted, it took me all week to get up the nerve but I eventually took the plunge.  (And for those of you wondering, duh....alcohol was involved.)  But you'll have to take my word for it because lucky for me, there are no photos.  :-)

ReWind Wednesday

This one is for my baby brother who, last weekend, lovingly teased me about ReWind Wednesdays. One day he'll be grateful that he had a sis who had the time to document the little things in our family's lives.  :-)

I created this page after spending a weekend with his family at my parent's home.  

Love ya bro! Knowing you read my blog makes me happy.   xoxoxox

Daredevils

The outdoor center that offered the guided river tours also had a new zip line adventure and an incredible obstacle course in the sky.  Before you could experience the thrill you had to sign waiver after waiver and get yourself all geared up.

Pretty brave of me, huh?

Ha!  I'm a poser.  :-)  (I had to wear the hard hat to get close enough for photos.)  

Here comes Meg (on the left) ...

 

And now Randy...

Randy opted out of the obstacle course but Meg proved to be quite the monkey.

This photo gives you a much better idea of just how high they really were...

It was definitely not for the faint of heart.

Mountain Vacation

Randy, Meg and I recently joined several other families in the mountains of northeastern Georgia for a wonderful week of fun and relaxation.  Humor me as I bore you with a few photos over the course of the next several days.

The ten of us spent one afternoon rafting the Nantahala River in North Carolina. Pictured in our boat are Meg, Michelle, Randy and I along with a newlywed couple and our guide.  The water was ice cold and while we got splashed quite a bit, it made for a very fun day.

The experience was a deja vu of sorts for Randy and I as we made this same "voyage" exactly 25 years ago.  A few years later we revisited the area and Jay was able to rapid this same river.  (Unfortunately Randy stayed behind to hang out with Jay's buddy who didn't meet the weight requirement.)  Here's a similar photo of Jay and I rafting the Nantahala in 1993.

Meg enjoyed the journey just as much as her brother did so many years ago.  It makes for wonderful memories.

reWind Wednesday

Time for another round of reWind Wednesday.  Today's selection...

The journaling reads...

Wow, does that

top photo ever bring back memories.

That oh so familiar disgusted look that you had when

it was time to go to Kung Fu practice.  Naturally it didn’t start

out that way.  You begged to try new sports and truly enjoyed them for

the first couple of months but it wasn’t long before a pattern developed.

Initial excitement would turn to a dwindling lack of interest followed not long

afterwards by constant moaning, groaning and complaining which led to absolute

and total loathing of the sport on your part, insistence to commitment on my part,

and inevitable battles between the two of us.  Funny, it was never about your ability

or the sport itself but rather the idea that someone else was dictating just when you

were to enjoy it.  You HATED that.  So just like Little League baseball and the

diving lessons that came before it, you became a Kung Fu drop out.  Organized

activities were soon replaced with skateboarding, golfing and beach bumming,

all of which fit your interests and lifestyle perfectly.  You were finally

having fun doing what you enjoyed, on your own terms, and

I was grateful that our nightly battles had at long

last come to a halt.   Photos 1995/96

Journaling 2006

An exasperating footnote - I could easily copy and paste this journaling into a layout about Meg.   Ballet, Acrobats, Soccer, Brownies, Chorus. You name it, she's done it... briefly.  Beg, Beg, Beg....followed by...Whine, Whine, Whine. Like her brother before her, she'd rather spend her days at home doing things with her friends on her own terms.   She's not attending gymnastics this summer (due to evening only scheduling) so it will be very interesting to see how it all unfolds this fall when it's time to re-register.   

A Recent Layout

A really quick post to share a layout showcasing a recent photo of Meg.  I'm soooo loving my new DSLR camera.

Thanks for stopping by!

Father's Day - belated post

Randy is a very difficult person to buy for but he let it be known loud and clear that he wanted a hammock for the yard....so on Father's Day, a hammock he did receive.

Of course, Meg had to have the first turn.

After she'd had her fun she let Daddy in on some action.

It will be interesting to see who actually uses this the most.

reWind Wednesday

Man, am I ever having a hard time choosing!  It's been fun to go back through my pages (something I rarely do) and remember the little things.

Today's page....

This particular summer we had a really wet period and our culvert ditch remained swampy for quite some time.  Time enough, in fact, to learn about the life cycle of the frog.

Meg and I would go sit at the base of our driveway (sometimes several times a day) and catch what she used to call "pole-tads".  She loved to  count them, fondle them, name them, etc.  Most of them were released back into the ditch to hunt down another day however several did become dinner for Fish, Jay's aquarium monster that he left behind when he moved away.  Meg wasn't too keen on that in the beginning but soon looked forward to giving Fish his next meal.  He ate very well that summer.  :-)

Happy 4th!

Embracing Her Inner Katniss

Meg's only birthday request was an archery set.  It took me off guard but after thinking about it for a minute, I thought it was an awesome idea.  We certainly have plenty of yard and it would get her outside a bit more.  Her desire was undoubtedly was spurred on by the popularity of the Hunger Games but that doesn't take away from the cool factor.

The day before her birthday we traveled to West Palm and our first stop was to Gander Mountain, the sporting goods store.  After some careful consideration, we decided on a youth compound bow.  We don't have a good target quite yet (so far we've been shooting at a cardboard box) but it's been loads of fun for us and her friends.  

READY

AIM

FIRE

Way cool, huh?