Kayaking & Cocoa Beach

When we were down in Orlando, we went to the Atlantic Ocean on Saturday. We essentially just drove east to Cocoa Beach.

We started the day on a kayak tour. We were lucky to get a spot with Cocoa Beach Kayaking. I booked the reservation with the owner, Kathleen. Ellen was our tour guide. We weren't quite sure what to expect. We just know we enjoy kayaking and wanted to see what was in the water!

Here the boys are waiting for the boat assignment. Gotta love Pumpkin's fashion sense. He purposely raised the glasses strap up to the top of his head. We won't talk about him forgetting his swim trunks. They were all back at home. For this tour, he wore Adam's soccer shorts. I also won't spend too much time on the fact that at 13 he still can't apply sunscreen evenly!

The Big Guy and Peanut got in one boat.

We were in the Banana River kayaking around an area referred to as 1,000 islands. If you look very closely, you can see the nose of manatees in the distance! We were impressed with this view.

Little did we know. The Big Guy and Peanut ended up having some quality manatee love time! Three came up to their kayak!! One who Peanut named Joe lifted his head and looked at them. He rolled over as if to ask to scratch his/her belly. He put is fin on the boat as if asking for a ride! The Big Guy said that it was amazing, an experience of a lifetime. I had the camera but was about 100 yards away. I did not want to get close for fear of scaring the guys off. Another kayaker took some pictures. They are incredible. She said she'd send them. We are still waiting. I will definitely post it when we get it.

Here Pumpkin and I are after beating the others back. The row back to dock was challenging against the wind. I only had a half paddle which made it harder to work together.

Here the Big Guy and I are after our kayaking tour. It was fun!!

We headed to a local grill for some fresh seafood for lunch. I think I mentioned that Pumpkin forgot his swim suit. After lunch we head to the enormous Ron Jon Surf Shop to pick up a new suit.

Then, we headed out to the ocean. The water was a bit chilly. I got in to my waist. The other three braved it and played their hearts out! Surprisingly, we did not bring any sand back to TN.

We had an amazing day. It was nice to mix a bit of nature in with the Magic of Disney!

Just in case the Big Guy is reading my blog and he happens to win the lottery, kayaks would make be a wonderful gift - any time!

Mr. ROY G. BIV

We've seen three rainbows in four days! Wow! One kept getting brighter and brighter.

Unfortunately, we've had some scary storms come through. Our house and trees were spared. Others were not as lucky. As the first storm hit on Friday, Pumpkin hopped in an indoor pool to warm up for a swim meet. I guess that is a safe place!?!? Friends lost power for about a day. Again, our power only blipped. I don't think they were tornadoes. I think it is all straight line winds.

Gotta go glimpse at the rainbow again before it disappears. May your week be bright and colorful!

Eleven Years and a Disney Celebration!

I can't believe it! My baby turned eleven last week!!

We started off the celebration with a simple dinner, tacos, here at home. Peanut had three friends over to join us. The boys were wonderful. They played outside, inside, ate and ended with flashlight tag. It was good, wholesome fun.

We continued the celebration with a trip to Disney!!! It was a wonderful long weekend in Orlando. Here we are getting ready to board the plane. Peanut hadn't flown in a couple years. I haven't flown in so long. I forgot what it was like. It was exciting for all of us! I am ready to fly again.

When we checked into our room, we joked about Peanut's birthday. Next thing we know, they are delivering a special basket just for him!! He was recovering from swimmer's ear. We just put the drops in when there was a knock at the door. He was thrilled just worried about those drops running out of his ear.

On Peanut's actual birthday, we headed here~

He got in free!! This year Disney is letting you in free on your birthday. We took advantage of that.

You can't help but smile on Main Street USA. Peanut had a pin on stating that it was his birthday. He had folks galore wishing him birthday wishes.


We had a great day at the park. The only bummer was Space Mountain is not open. It is undergoing a refurbishment. That was one of my favorites. Peanut was too small when we went five years ago. He would have enjoyed it. Even so, we had a wonderfully magical time.

We hit the pool at the resort when we got back. Then, we went for birthday ice cream. Yum! Peanut had a great day. I keep pinching myself to remind myself how old he really is. Time flies!

More pictures of our trip to come in the next post...

Mom's Birthday and Movie Milestone

My mom celebrates another birthday this week. Happy Birthday, Mom!

I struggled with what to get her. I decided to order some pictures from Pumpkin's Confirmation. I thought it'd be easy to a picture frame for two 5 X 7s. No such luck. I came up with this idea to tie two frames together with a ribbon. Here is what I came up with. The bow is going to need to massaged when she gets this in the mail. I hope she likes it and can find a place to hang it. If not, she can always just display the frames.

I am going to include the dishcloth in her box when I send it tomorrow. The dishcloth was for Mother's Day. I am just a few weeks late. I'll post a picture of it in the next day or so.

Today we passed another milestone. The boys went to the movies. They saw Up in 3D. Pumpkin got invited by a group of kids. Peanut tagged along. I was a bit leary. But, they did great! They said the movie was good. The 3D glasses were fancy. I got to run a few errands while they enjoyed the A/C in the movie theater!

Singing Tonight!

I had a hard time getting ready for this concert. Now that it is here, I am glad I stuck with it. The music is fun, light, and entertaining. I hope the audience enjoys it!

Last Day of School

School's Out! School's Out! Teachers let the monkeys out!!!

After the 8th grade festivities ended, we ran by the farmer to pick up our veggies for the week. This is the 5th week of the season. Their sunflowers are in full bloom and I could not resist picking up one. Love it!

We got some pretty good stuff this week. I've accummulated potatoes. I need to cook some today. I am not too sure about the small onions. They are pretty dirty requiring lots of work before cooking:(

I got all the veggies put away and snuck over to Peanut's school. I tied five balloons on to his bike to celebrate the end of the year. I waited for him at my usual spot.

Here he is coming off the school path. The wind was pretty strong. The balloons just trailed behind his bike.

We stopped at the top of the hill to capture another shot.

When he got home, Pumpkin bombarded him with water balloons. I know they felt great. It was over 90 degrees. They had a water balloon fight in the driveway. I loved the laughter and genuine fun.

Here's to summer of 2009!

Eighth Grade Promotion Ceremony

My Pumpkin graduated from 8th grade yesterday. The ceremony was very nice. He received a few honors. He got recognized for honor roll this year, honor roll all three years, presidential award, and the all west choir medal.

I grabbed my camera at the last minute. The lighting is awful. Here he is after he received his awards.

The 8th grade choir sang Embrace the Music. It was well done. I like the message of the song.

We snapped one shot before we headed to lunch to celebrate.

His middle school years flew by. As I reflected on the three years, these memories came to mind~

Pumpkin switched to the public school in 6th grade. It was quite a bigger larger than he was used to. I was so proud of him for stepping up and fitting in. He expanded his horizons trying new classes and associating with new people. He reunited with a friend from his tee ball days. They had moved from the area and came back. They continue their friendship today. I was very apprehensive with the school switch. It did not take long to calm my fears. I am so thankful we did it. Pumpkin is too.

In seventh grade, Pumpkin switched to chorus. He did not waste any time. He auditioned for All West successfully making it in 7th and 8th grades. There is something about music. It is healing. It is spiritual and the messages can be very powerful. I hope he takes that with him for the rest of his life.

In eighth grade, he ended up on a team with lots of folks he did not really know. He impressed his home room teacher right away receiving a few leadership honors from her. We are still sad that she moved in December. Pumpkin settled in and made new friends. The girls are on his radar screen or should I say his texting screen. He's been to one boy/girl party and is heading to another one this weekend. I am happy to say it still seems pretty innocent. As he says, he just happens to have some friends that are girls. I have watched him morph into a young man. I know more changes are coming. But, these are pretty dramatic. I feel more of an urge to pat him on the bag, analyze his hands, or stare at his face. They are changing all the time!

He has built a strong foundation. I pray it will be stable enough to carry him through the high school years. We'll all be here cheering him on. If only there was a way to slow the clock down. From what I hear, the next four years may go faster than these three.

Congratulations, Pumpkin!!

As a graduation gift, we gave him the book, Wicked, and tickets to see the show. It will be in Memphis in June/July. He was thrilled. All of us have to get the book read in the next month.
Image copied from http://www.wickedthemusical.com/page.php?#AboutWicked