Confession....# 1

I have a confession to make....

I can't swim.

Okay, it may not be a big thing to some people, but to me it is. We would go to the pool when I was a kid, but it just really never came up for me to learn or really try. Unfortunately, when I was ten we went on vacation and my siblings pressured me to get on the diving board and jump off. When I got up there I became totally terrified and my brother wouldn't let me off. So in I go and I remember just going to the bottom of the 10 ft pool and struggling to get back up to the top. Since then I've been very scared of the water.

I've made it a priority that all three of my kids know how to swim. Especially since Ken is a great swimmer and I always felt like I missed out on some of the fun going on around me when I was a kid. I also don't want them to drown!

Anyway, the point of my confession is that I am taking swimming lessons!!! I've taken them twice before when I was in my late twenties, but I didn't learn much. The instructor was a young guy who was too busy flirting with all the young girls. I'm 42 now and our kids are getting older and we're do more family activities. It's time to get it done. Thank goodness my instructor now is great!

First lesson was today! 40 mins of hard work! I'm a mouth breather so it was really different trying to breathe in through my nose and blow bubbles. Now I know what my kids went through this past summer. We'll see how it goes!

Beach Vacation 2010

Just got back yesterday from a week on the beach in Florida. We had a very good time! My husband, Ken, of course had to break something before we went, but that's just typical. He apparently cracked the side of his big toe and was in a lot of pain the whole week, but he didn't let it stop him or get in the way of us having a good time.

We rented a house through VRBO which was interesting. The house itself was nice. I guess there are pros and cons on everything. My younger sister Christina and her family joined us for most of the week. We went to the beach two days, Big Kahunas, Crab Island, and dolphin watching while we were there. All in all it was a good time! We will definitely do something similar next year I think.

We stayed in Santa Rosa Beach which is between Destin and Panama City. There was a walkway through the preserve to the beach and the sand was beautiful! The water was a different story. There was a huge algae bloom known as the "June Bloom." One of the local waiters told us that it happens every year at the end of June and lasts through August. Interesting how no one mentions this. Everyone was concerned about the oil not allowing anyone into the water, but the algae was just as bad. The water looked nice, but as soon as you got in all the algae was constantly touching you and just felt icky. No one wanted to get in the water. Luckily the "Lake of Terror" was close by. The lake was part of a bigger lake that was maybe 20 feet from the beach filled with brackish water. It was gross, but the kids loved it. You could have sworn that the kids were swimming in Coca Cola.

Big Kahunas is a water park. Not the biggest, but it had a lot of slides and a few lazy rivers. We rented a cabana for the day and that was the best thing! We had the cabana with tables and chairs and lounge chairs. We also had our own personal waiter and didn't have to go get in line at the concessions. The kids had such a good time and their favorite was Thunder River. Ken and I were so proud of Brandon. The girls had taken off and were going up the stairs to Thunder River and he wanted to go with them. By the time he got to the stairs they were gone. He stood there and kept looking back at us and I could tell he was wondering if he should come back. Finally he mustered up his courage and after almost being run over by several adults he managed to get an inner tube and he drug it up the stairs and went down Thunder River by himself! He met up with the rest of the kids at the cabana after that first round and just kept up with them the rest of the time we were there.

I think our favorite thing to do was Crab Island! We rented a pontoon boat and took it to the bay where Crab Island is. It's not actually an island, more of a giant sand bar. The algae bloom wasn't there and the water is only about 3 feet deep and blue! The kids had a good time finding crabs all afternoon and Ken and I just floated around and relaxed. We really want a boat now!!

Dolphin watching was all right. Two hours on the boat with about 1/2 an hour of dolphins. Not bad except for the extreme heat. The kids were kind of done. (So were we.)

All in all a great vacation! Looking forward to next year!

Tutorials...

Found a good website for tutorials. http://www.mrssassycrafter.com/ Loved the corkscrew bow!

July 4th, 2010

These are pictures from this year's Camp Cullasaja in Highands, NC. My in-laws live there and every year they have a two day camp for the grandkids to come and participate in various activities. We hadn't been in a few years so it was due time for the kids to come back and have fun.

The first activity up was the fishing competition. It was a beautiful morning, chilly with a mist all around. The kids did all right. Noele caught four fish, Brandon caught one and Chloe' caught a 12" bass, winning for the largest fish.

After fishing the kids had karate and hula hooping. All three did karate and really enjoyed it. Ken and I would love to put all three back in it, just to find the time.... The girls did hula hooping. B says it's not for boys. There was a woman there that teaches it for fitness and makes hula hoops to sale. She gave a quick lesson and exhibition and then the kids got to make and decorate their own hula hoops. They are actually really good quality hula hoops. It's funny because about two weeks before I got my own quality hula hoop. haha..the girls and I will go on the road. Not!

Day two, well, the kids were kind of pooped out. In between karate and hula hooping the day before they went swimming. So, day two was supposed to be golf and tennis, but only Chloe' did tennis that day. Brandon played in the fountain and Noele ate a snow cone.

For the end of camp they always have a golf cart parade. We decorated the cart and the kids went for a ride w/Grandpa Hughie. After the parade there was a wild animal show and more time w/the grandparents.

Whale Shark.
Penguin.
The Georgia Aquarium, the world's largest aquarium, in Atlanta, Georgia of all places. It made for a really fun day with the kids. We got to pet stingrays, sharks, shrimp, horseshoe crabs and other sea animals. The best part was seeing the giant aquarium where the whale sharks and a manta ray are kept. There are all kinds of other fish in the tank, but the whale sharks and the manta ray were the stand outs.

Just starting....

Ha! This is my very first post on this blog so we'll see how this goes. Have a good one.