Vacation Part I: The Beach

One of the reasons I took a (unintentional) blogging break is because our family spent 10 days in New Jersey on the Jersey Shore.  It's where we went last year (you can see those photos HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE) and were lucky enough to swing it again this year. 

Over the course of 10 days, I managed to take a whopping 1280 photos...and that's not an exaggeration. I actually counted! You'll have to bare with me as I edit them and get them posted. My posts might be a bit photo-heavy the next week or so. Like this one, it has 71! (Again, I counted.) 

We spent a few days at the beach and then headed to New York City and then spent a few more days at the beach. For organization's sake, I'm posting all the beach photos in this post. Most of our days were overcast, which made the lighting pretty nice...although Brad and I tend to look a little pasty. The only way you might be able to tell the days apart is by which swimsuits we're wearing. :) 

Our first steps in the ocean on the day we flew in. This always feels kind of sacred. Like encountering something great and awe-inspiring, yet familiar and welcoming at the same time. 

Day 1 at the beach.

This boy still loves to fight the waves.

Day 2 at the beach. Phoebe was so much braver this year than she ever has been before! She spent most of her time in the water on the boogie board or body surfing.

Our New York City-living friend, Erin, came down to visit with us again, too. She and Phoebe spent a little time looking for shells on the beach. I love the photos I got from this little hunt!

She also buried Eli in the sand.

Then it was time to check something else off our SUMMER FUN LIST...building a sand castle!

It was a group effort.

It was a masterpiece! The best on the beach!

These curls kill me! Maybe one of my favorite things about the seaside.

Can I tell you how much I love these two photos?!

Day 3

Day 4

I love this one, too!

Day 4. I didn't go to the beach on this day, so there weren't very many photos. :)

"For whatever we lose (like a you or a me)

 

  it's always ourselves we find in the sea." - e.e. cummings

Happy 4th of July...Only Three Weeks (And Counting)Late

I love the Fourth of July. There's just something so, oh I don't know, American about it! It's got food and friends and fireworks. It's a little loud and a little redneck and a little retro all rolled into one big ole' party that everyone you know is celebrating.  There were a few years in there after we were first married that I didn't enjoy July 4th. Years where we didn't have anyone to celebrate with or circumstances just didn't "feel" very festive. But that's all changed since our friends, the Newmans, have started having their annual Fourth of July party. Anyone is invited. Everyone brings something to go with the (fabulous) ribs Jimmy makes and enough fireworks to blow up Fort Knox. 

Like I said, a little redneck...at least here in the South. 

I took two photos of my kiddos on the 4th.

And neither one was good.

Sheesh.

I snapped a few good ones of friends, though.

What's a Fourth of July party without a water balloon fight?

After dinner, the firework "show" began. Phoebe was not a huge fan of the do-it-yourself fireworks. This photo might be blurry, but it sure sums up Phoebe's feelings about the whole situation.

She enjoyed her role in sparkler distribution much more.

While this photo isn't going to win any awards for composition or anything, it's a nice shot of the firework watching crowd. It has a nice, make-yourself-comfortable-in-a-lawn-chair-and-get-ready-for-the-show kind of vibe to it, don't you think? What's cool about this crowd is that it contained several folks from other countries. They got to experience a real, July 4th celebration. I even made them do some sparklers. No photos of that, though, but it was cool...and most definitely memorable.

Is there anything more American than shooting your own fireworks from the back of your pickup truck?

These are my favorite fireworks. They don't "scream" and you get a lot of bang for your buck. Eli set this one off for me.

There were even fireworks for our drinks! Maybe my favorite part of the whole shebang. :)

"You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4th, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness. You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism."  --Erma Bombeck

Helper Girl

While I wouldn't say this is exactly like the song BIG GREEN TRACTOR, but it's kinda close. 

And while we're on that note, I don't particularly care for that song much. I mean, really, who wants to get all dressed up and go ride on a tractor?! It seems a little far fetched to me. And he sounds like a cheapskate for suggesting it, too.

But I digress.

Phoebe is our little "helper girl". If you're at our house working on something, she's right there beside you. This summer, she's been helping her dad mow the yard.

But it isn't all just riding around on a big mower.

They have to dump out the bags at the back, too.

And while I'm not sure she's actually "helping" all that much, I think her daddy wouldn't want it any other way. 

Ten on Ten: July 2012

Y'all remember  TEN ON TEN, right?

I kind of forgot to do it last month (and it would have been so amazing since we were at my GRANDFATHER'S BIRTHDAY!) and it feels a little funny to skip ahead in my so-far-behind blogging, but I do love it. 

It makes me happy and makes me think a little more creatively to find the life and beauty among the ordinary things of my day on the "tens" of ten consecutive hours. This, more than any other photo, will help me remember what it was like during this brief time in our family. 

And it was a pretty ordinary day. A little errand running. A little park time due to the crazy cool weather we've been having. Just an everyday. 

Thanks for sharing it with me.  

I've linked up with the other participants HERE. So many "normal" lives. So many beautiful things to see. 

Summer Fun List: Go To A Drive-In Movie

Ah, the Drive-In.

One of those vestiges of a time gone by that everyone needs to experience at least once in their lives. We have one in Amarillo. We haven't been able to go the last few summers because we've been out of town when the "kid" feature was shown (it's always double feature night at the drive-in!) or the "kid" feature was second movie and the first movie wasn't one I'd be willing to let my kids see. This summer, though, it all worked out.

Well, sort of. 

We packed up one Thursday night in our pajamas (because that's what you wear to the drive-in) with all of our pillows and blankets and such and drove all the way out there only to discover it was closed on that particular night. Sigh. Not that it was stated anywhere on the website, mind you, but still closed. 

So we rallied with some snow cones and tried again the next Tuesday. It was $10 Tuesday. If you let them put an advertising bumper sticker on your car, or if you already have one, everyone in your car gets in for $10. We just pulled it off the next day. This time we brought friends.  And Rice Krispy Treats. :)

It was great fun in a dusty, white trash kind of way. I think it's kind of like the circus. As a kid, you only see the magic and sparkle of the circus. But when you take your children, you see how creepy and strange the circus really is. The magic is tempered with good ole' fashioned judgement. The drive-in is kind of the same.  It's fun (you get to watch a movie in your car!!) and different (you wear your pajamas!!) so the old man (or three) ordering popcorn from the concession stand without his shirt on or the dust blowing 40mph in the 100 degree heat doesn't make that much of an impression. 

The first feature that night was BRAVE. I liked it. Not quite as much as I liked TANGLED, but a lot more than I liked THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG. Someday I'm going to have to write a post about my love of Disney Princess movies. Oh sure, I know as a modern mom raising a strong girl, I shouldn't like them or encourage them. but there are some that I truly and deeply love. 

Before moving to Amarillo, my only experience with the drive-in had been THIS so it's still kind of disappointing when John Travolta doesn't hop out of a car and swagger around singing. But I got over it and a good time was had by all. 

Show and Tell: Abby's Gift Basket

At this point, I'm pretty sure apologizing for being so far behind and posting so infrequently is getting a little redundant. However, I do want to keep posting (and I even have big ideas to post more frequently), but it seems like my summer keeps getting in the way! I'll get caught up (eventually) and maybe even get back to posting more than once or twice a week. Really.

We drove with my parents, my sister, and her kiddos to Dallas (that's when we went to the ZOO) after they were at my house for a few days. The timing was mostly so I could attend Sarah's baby shower for Baby Abby. That plan went a little awry when Sarah was put in the hospital the Friday before the shower on Saturday due to a fever and ended up having Abby on Sunday (Father's Day)! It was kind of a crazy few days. The shower was cancelled, so I took my basket o' baby stuff up to the hospital so Sarah wouldn't be totally bummed. 

I made her some wall art, like the ONE I made for Mrs. Grider, but Abby's was a lot smaller. I used a 10x20 canvas so I could print the words onto the paper and not have to cut and tape them to make them fit. It made for a less "air-bubbly" canvas in the end. I also made her a little oval frame with her initial and a bird. Just a little something cute. Both were easy-peasy. 

I stuffed them into a crate from JoAnn's (purchased with my 50% off coupon!), along with some other baby goodies. I also made her a bow holder like the one I MADE for Lola, but I forgot to take a photo of it. The frame was painted gray, the background fabric was a white dot, and I used pink ribbon to hold the bows. Don'tcha just love that owl?!

As it turned out, Carrie and I had all the cousins while Sarah was having Abby. It was kind of a crazy day with events changing every few minutes, it seemed, but we were glad to tell Isaac that his baby sister was here and everyone was healthy! 

When we told him that his baby sister was here, he said, "No. No. Gobbedy-gook". This boy talks a bunch, but I can only understand about every fourth word! :) We could tell by his tone, though, that he thought we were crazy. 

Lincoln was trying to explain to him that having a little sister changed everything, but I guess it's just one of those things you have to experience for yourself. 

** Finally! New recipes up over at Eating at the Taj McCall! Recipe for PIZZA QUESADILLAS, ROASTED VEGETABLE AND SMOKED SAUSAGE PASTA, GREEN CHILI CHICKEN ENCHILADA CASSEROLE, and SHRIMP TACOS.