After dinner we decided to take a walk down to the beach. I had gone down a few nights before with my girlfriend and we saw a whole school?? of stingray. I was hoping we'd see some tonight but as soon as we got down to the beach it started to thunder and lightning. We stayed just long enough for Will to find a few mole crabs (and for Amelia to get soaked in the water) and we headed back home. Maybe next time we'll find the stingray.
I got the kids this little toy that powers itself by a small solar panel. It turns into a puppy, plane, car, boat, windmill, and another airplane. And according to the kids, a cellphone. You can see the puppy in these pictures and video.
It's a pretty cute little thing, but I thought the girls would get a kick out of seeing something move without batteries, powered by the sun. I told them that I have always been interested in solar power, even when I was their age. Abigail informed me that she has "always been interested in princesses."
No matter how hard she tried she couldn't get a signal, or numbers to dial for that matter. She just kept on saying sarcastically "Can you hear me now?" and "Why did Dad buy this pre-paid piece of junk?"
(By the way, none of these things actually occurred and no solar powered animals were harmed, except for the accidental kick. Happy Scrappy bounced back quickly.)
Playing with finger puppets
June 23, 2009
And I'm not sure how her legs even bend that way. :)
We went to the beach last night with our friends the Archers. The girls found out what 'sand fleas' are. That's what I've always called them growing up, but I haven't been able to find them with the girls. Turns out they are actually mole crabs.
Local fisherman use them for pompano bait. The girls were really brave. They each would dig them from the sand and take them over to the bucket. They're strange looking little bugs, sort of like a sea cockroach. Gina really appreciated me throwing them at her.
The End
Abigail has been in a coloring frenzy lately. She just can't get enough. She's colored so many pictures, she's run out of her own ideas on what to draw. She's asked me and Will for so many ideas, that now we're running low on suggestions. :) On some of her drawings she's also been writing; sounding out words all on her own.
Here's just a few of my favorites.
"Making Smoothies"
All three girls are watching Daddy make smoothies at the kitchen counter. The smoothie mixture is in the blender, and alongside the blender is a pineapple, a banana and a cherry. I'm holding a strawberry. Also on the counter is my electric can opener and my Kitchen Aid.
"Christmas Morning" 
All of us by the fire with our stockings. In Daddy's stocking there's a whoopie pie cake, in my stocking there's a Tiffany charm, just like the one I lost in Disney (so sweet), Amelia has a race car in hers, Abigail has a new sewing book in hers and Guinness's stocking has a tennis ball in it. She also drew my garland on the mantel.
"The Beach"
In the water there is a crab and a fish and a sailboat on top. There's a beautiful sunset on the top and in the sand is a shovel, bucket, some towels, a beach chair and a palm tree.
"Baby Animals"
A giraffe, a zebra, flamingos and a penguin.
All these pictures are just from the last two weeks!!!
My niece, Macie had a softball tournament this weekend in Panama City, about an hour east of us. We have been talking about going over to watch her for the last week, On Thursday at about 3:00, I decided to make a few phone calls to see if I could find a deal. After four attempts, I finally negotiated our stay at 'Splash', a water themed resort. I figured the kids would love it.
Our room was on the 19th floor, so Gina was a wreck the whole time. The walkway to the room was open and it had a walk out balcony. The view was pretty intense. As Abigail said, "Look outside. There are no houses, only water."
Grandma and Lawrence came along with us. The unit had a king size bed, a pull out sofa, and a set of bunk beds. After some deliberation, the girls called the bunk bed and Lawrence picked the king size. Gina and I took the living room with the view.
We spent Friday in the hotel's pools and on the beach. The girls had a blast. The bucket on top of the playground area fills up every minute or so and dumps a massive amount of water. The set up was really cool. They had a few other pools and a lazy river too.
We went to the beach to warm up. Grandma and I took the kids out into the waves so we could bob up and down. Lawrence enjoyed the chair and umbrella Grandma rented from the beach service. It was well worth it, even if they steal my mother's identity.
The sunset from the balcony was pretty cool. My mom got in her 10,000 steps on the balcony and walkway, much to Gina's chagrin.
The next day we watched Macie's game and headed home. It was a great, quick, little vacation. One day we might plan one, but this is a little more our style.
Abigail has been teaching Amelia the steps from her recital. I guess she decided Amelia was ready to perform today. She got herself and Amelia dressed, set up the playroom with the animals as the audience and set a chair in the middle of the room for me to watch. She asked me to come watch the show and I told her I was trying to find my camera. She called down and told me she'd knew I was going to want it and had already brought it up for me.
We rarely have soda in our house, but every now and then, mostly for cooking, I buy it. I got some root beer to cook with a little while ago and Amelia asked to try some. I let her have just a little sip. She loved it. She calls it "sour beer" and if I let her she'd drink it all the time. Abigail, on the other hand, took one sip and promptly spit it out on the ground. She hated it.
Playing at the the beach with Meg
