A visit to my old stomping grounds

A few weekends ago, the kids and I made a trip to Jacksonville and stayed the night at Jax Beach. My old stomping grounds from high school/college days, the Jax Beach in my memory was always crowded and a bit, well, dirty. I decided that we'd stay one night, and we'd get a few hours of play on the beach. We stayed at the Hampton Inn, and we started with dinner at the bar/grill on the beach.

After dinner, we ventured out onto the near empty beach to look for shells and sharks' teeth. Megan, true to form, brought her book along.

I got some great shots of both kids as the sun went down, and they enjoyed a few hours in the sand

and then, while Danny and I swam in the hotel pool, Megan got comfy in the room.

The next morning, we all got up early enough to enjoy the sunrise on the beach, something I enjoyed much more than my two grumpy sleepyheads. I tried to explain that the east coast sunrise is something that we don't get to see at home. The beauty of that morning's sunrise took my breath away.

After a quick hotel breakfast, we went down to the beach again to enjoy the waves before it was too hot or crowded. Danny had a great time in the waves

while Megan again searched for shells.

We saw jellies

and shrimp,

and we enjoyed the beauty for a little while.

After a few hours, we checked out and spent the rest of the day with Mom and Dad Gilbert and visiting my Granny in her new and improved digs. After a dinner at Sweet Tomatoes,

We headed back to Tallahassee to George and Harley. It was a short visit, but we enjoyed it very much. My memories of Jax Beach have been changed forever, and the kids got some time with grandparents who love them so.

4th of July/Outlander weekend

Just because the 4th was over doesn't mean that our fun ended this weekend. George and I just finished the 8th installment, Written in my Own Heart's Blood or MOBY as its fans affectionately call it,, in Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series (soon to be a Starz series in case you've been living under a rock), and we decided to mix it up this weekend. We started with some of our traditional summer activities like making our homemade vanilla,

and smoking some wonderful ribs paired with franks (grilled from the night before) and beans.

As George says, he smoked 'em low and slow.

While George downed his signature drink (a Boulevardiere),

I sipped a Jack Rose with one of George Washington's favorites, Apple Jack Brandy (which is mentioned quite a lot in MOBY

while baking some awesome chocolate chip cookies.

Along with the traditional activities, we threw in some Outlander-inspired things as well. We made two different batches of Cherry Bounce (another of George Washington's favorites)

I got the different recipes from a blog called Outlander Kitchen, and they should be ready in 3-6 months. I'll let you know what we think! Outlander Kitchen just recently published a Tastebook, and I got a copy. It's full of excellent recipes, and I decided during this cooking/baking spree that I would make Black Jack Randall's Lavender Fudge.

While my picture is nowhere near as good as the blog's or the Tastebook's, the fudge was delicious. The lavender gives it a unique flavor, and I even spruced it up with some of my homemade vanilla. Yummy!

Now I know you're thinking, There can't possibly be more. Oh, but there is.

Sunday after church, Danny's had a friend over to play video games and ride bikes for a while. Here they are chowing down on some corn dogs.

Megan went to a friend's house, and George and I continued our Outlander weekend by making Outlander Kitchen's Shepherd's Pie from An Echo in the Bone.

All I can say is, Oh My Goodness. I believe we'll be having another weekend soon, as George has requested this as a staple in our house now. Glad to oblige on this one.

What a fantastic July 4th/Outlander weekend!

A very happy 4th of July

Our 4th of July was a quiet one, filled with fun at the Killearn Country Club pool and then enjoying a night of doing nothing but grilling hamburgers and hot dogs and watching America The Story of Us on the History Channel.  George did not have to work for the first time in 15 years (either on the street or working the fireworks somewhere), and we decided that we would skip the fireworks and enjoy the quiet of a night at home.  It was wonderful! As usual, George and I got some good pics from the day at the pool.

 

 

Nice photobomb, Zachary!

The kids had a blast, and by the end we were all sunburnt and ready to call it a day. We hope everyone had a safe and happy 4th of July!

Underwater fun

George got a new underwater camera for an early Father's Day present, and he tested it out at the Country Club pool just to see what kind of pictures it would take. He took Megan, Danny and Danny's friend Chase swimming, and I'd say he got some great shots, wouldn't you?

An Educational Field Trip and a Happy Mom's Day

Mother's Day weekend, we decided to take a trip to WDW for an educational field trip. Danny's class was going to Epcot, and we gave him the choice of Epcot with hundreds of 4th graders or a weekend at Animal Kingdom. He chose Animal Kingdom with the family (see...I knew he was truly intelligent), and we headed down on Friday of Mother's Day weekend. We checked in at Animal Kingdom Lodge

on Friday and spent the evening enjoying the resort and the wildlife outside our back door.

The weather was beautiful, and we really enjoyed an afternoon swim, dinner at Boma, movies by the pool, and night vision animal watching. The next day, after an African-inspired breakfast, we made our way to Animal Kingdom park. We skipped most of the rides and opted to learn about the animals. The kids enjoyed Rafiki's conservation center, and we all loved Kilimanjaro Safaris. We saw giraffes,

rhinos,

elephants,

and zebras up close...

really close.

The kids went around to all of the explorer badge stops and took the time to learn about each animal or insect. George got some great shots of the birds

and the monkeys.

Oh yeah, and he got some great shots of our monkeys, too!

We all has a great weekend, and after a Sunday at Downtown Disney and lunch at Raglan Road, we made it back home for the rest of Mother's Day. Thank you, George,

for an awesome weekend and an awesome Mom's Day!