We always get teased!

Our court house is getting too small, so 2 years ago they decided to take over the public library and build a new modern bigger library since it is too small as well. The court house and old Library are pretty much in walking distance of each other so it would work out good for people who have to go back and forth. Well, I forgot all about it from back then and saw an article which reminded me, 'hey yeah where's our new library???' well, scratch that :( The court is taking over the old DAVets building which is who knows where instead.(I think it's on the other side of us which is like a 15 minute drive away from the court house) We never get nothin' good here :(

A chick-fil-a is being build tho :) gah! Small towns!!

Is this not ridiculous?!?!?

3 phones, 2 ipods, 3 remotes...oh wait, one of our remotes is missing.

Hot Summer Daze

This is where you can find Sahara 3-4 days a week. She will be berry-brown when school starts :)

Getting ready for the BIG school

Even though Canyon doesn't stink at all even when he is pouring sweat, I decided since he is going into Jr. High this year, it would be a good idea to get him in the habit of using deodorant daily. This may actually take awhile for him to get used to so we are starting before it is something he desperately needs.

HaPpY 4th of JuLy

Our 4th of July started out with a bunch of failures. First off the house vacuum decided not to work. Again. It looses suction all the time and this was the last time I wanted to spend 45 minutes trying to get it to work to do a 5 minute job. My bedroom and Canyon's are the only rooms in the house with carpet (plus half an area rug in Sahara's room-the other half under her bed). BUT, this is the 3rd cheap vacuum I have had in about 5 years. I didn't want to buy a big one for such a small job. I took the thing and literally threw it out the front door. I used the shop vac with limited attachments to do the job.

Then I went to the store to get food for an impromptu BBQ. Then back to the house to try to finish cleaning out the pool for the 7th time of the mess Canyon made with the crawdad mounds. I finally figured how to suck out the dirt at the bottom without the filter just blowing it right back in. Yeah me! Then, into the house to try to get things put together for the meal. I was guessing Sahara found the package of hotdogs and put them in the fridge from the bags she brought in from the car. But wait, no hotdogs. Wait, where are the cans of baked beans? And the french onion dip??? CRAP! I must have left a bag at the store! So, back to the store with the receipt. The guy remembers me and rattles off what he had put back. YEA! Told me to go and get what I had. I flash him the goods and receipt and thank him and back to the house!

The BBQ was great. Even 10 minutes after I finished cleaning the pool and the down pour happened couldn't deter it now! Canyon even made banana pudding and I sliced up bananas to go in it.

After the BBQ, Mila and Joe left for home and Jared went to work so we all took a nap.

Then over to Mila's to get her and head to the park for some free festivities :)

They had a lot of inflatables. At first Canyon went in a jump house, but after he took waaaay too much coaxing to get him out of there, we headed to the more open-obstacle course inflatables.

Of course, Sahara had to bring the little guy with her. We ran into some of her old buds too. I should have gotten pictures of Trevor and Tristan, the twins who used to be around all the time, but now have moved hours away, were in town for the 4th.

Canyon's favorite with this inflatable that you run into and slip to the other side while it sprays water at you. He was nice and cool.

And gave me the thumbs up after.

Then, over to another park for fireworks. We could have stayed where we were for fireworks, but the other park was minutes from Jared's work and they were going to start just when he got off. But, when I hear reviews of the 2 shows, we may consider the other park next year. Not too impressed with the show here this year.

I loved this one though. The Mother Ship :)

The Mother Ship again with friends :)

Big blast

Sahara and her boys (Jared trying to locate his mom after the fireworks who ended up sitting 25 feet away and we didn't know it)

Back at the house, sparkler time. It was 10 now so very dark and the pictures didn't turn out too well. But that made the sparklers look cool :)

Sunset Buddies

Checking on the pool one last time before we were out of daylight (looking better but still a ways to go), I decided to get the camera and try some sunset pictures. Not sure how to do them that well. These were the best of the bunch. Trying to get the 2 dogs to cooperate together didn't work at all. That was mostly because the biting bugs like this time of the day best of all too. All of us were under attack.

Oh Great!

Anyone up for a dip in this lovely mud bath?!?

Me either! However, this picture was taken 2 hours after I was in there vacuuming the bottom and switching out 3 filters! It turns out this little man...

...who is looking pretty guilty to me, was dumping crawdad mounds into the pool while he was suppose to be sitting on the porch watching the guy on the tractor cut the fields down.

They were neat little mounds of mud in an otherwise clear pool. But as soon a water moved to try to clean them up, we had filth everywhere. And the filter can only do so much with silt. I think I will have to let it settle and try again tomorrow...and tomorrow...and tomorrow...

Fender Bender :(

On the way home from the movies, Jared and Sahara were in a little fender bender. Well, bumper bender I should say. Sahara called me as soon as it happened and I drove there as quickly as possible. At the time police had not been called, but an officer was there when I got there and Jared and the other guy were doing paperwork. Jared got the ticket even tho it seemed to be both their fault. He is all upset about it. Poor kid just had a bad day all together. They had to put his dog down this morning because it was really old and not getting around by himself anymore. But, in the accident, they are fine and so is the other guy, who isn't much older, and that's all that matters.

Orlando vacation 2011 :)

After a 17 hour drive with a stay at a Super 8, we made it to Orlando. We met up with:

Nana and Papa

Kristy, Caleb and Emily

Brian, Mel, Jason, Parker, Tobey and Zoey

Uncle Jim, Aunt Carol, Tony, Jimmy and Levi

Our first adventure out was to a swamp tour air boat ride.

While waiting for our boat, we got to play with this cutie in the gift shop.

He really loved people.

He would say he was a pretty bird.

Then he would ask if you were a pretty bird too.

The boat's fan and engine were really loud so we wore headphones.

After awhile, Canyon was the only one left wearing them.

There were a lot of alligators out there, but they would dive when we got up to them.

The boat captain took us to a swimming hole and there was this guy hanging out in the sun. We thought at first it was a log. Yes, people swim with the alligators.

Hanging at the Cypress Point Resort :)

A panoramic shot I tried to do, but people kept moving around.

In this one Uncle Jim is in the mirror, but not at the table!

The playground by one of the 3 pools we visited with Parker and Zoey.

Kristy and Brian taking their own picture.

Dinner at Red Lobster gave Kristy and Sahara a chance to wear and show off their new dresses :)

Levi and Jimmy don't look too thrilled to have their picture taken.

Tony tried to get hugs from Emily the whole trip.

Aunt carol and Misty at Red Lobster.

Universal Studios Islands of Adventure!

Some of the rides there made us get totally drenched!

This splash zone area would completely soak anyone standing near. It was the river boat ride of Jurassic Park. Being wet made for a much cooler day at the park

.

Some of the dinosaurs at the Jurassic Park area of the park. They did a great job! The dinosaurs looked pretty real and the ride was nice and tropical.

Canyon loved all the water rides the best here.

Welcome to Hogwarts !

This was amazing!

While in line, the kids get their picture with Buckbeak.

He would bow as the ride went by.

I didn't get to go on the dragon ride the first time because they wouldn't allow bags on the rides. We hadn't figured out that lockers, using our finger or thumb prints as ID, were free as long as you were on the ride. So the second time I got to ride and even though it's a looooong walk through the cattle gates, we got right up to the front and were next on the ride without even a wait :)

The Harry Potter ride in the castle was amazing! Waiting in line, you are toured through the castle in different rooms like Dumbledor's office, or the Griffindor's common room. The pictures on the walls talk and move and look just like they do in the movies. The ride itself was the best! I totally freaked out the first time I went at the spider part!!

We all look like we are enjoying our butterbeer a little too much here outside the Hogs Head.

We only tried the frozen kind but it was de-lish :)

When we asked Canyon if he liked the butterbeer, he said, "It makes me feel happy!"

More pictures of the castle and the town. It was so life-size and realistic.

We hit a down pour and a lot of rides were down due to lightning. Inside and undercover rides were open so we hung at "the Storm" while in 'the storm' for a few rounds.

Kennedy Space Center

This was a prop from Star Trek.

Caleb at the controls of the Enterprise.

A lot of shuttles and rockets of the space program.

We went for a simulated take off ride. Lots of effects, sounds, and smoke.

Cocoa Beach.

A couple more panoramics of the beach and the pier.

It was cloudy and a little stormy, but a nice visit. Best of all, dolphins were out there swimming right along the people. they stayed their distance, but were pretty close up!

End of the trip pictures.

The whole gang shot.

Nana and Papa with the grandkids.

Sahara and Jason. At Christmas the year before, these 2 were the same height!

This year, Canyon has about 1/2 an inch on Caleb. Next time, I'm sure Caleb will tower Canyon. I can't wait till next time to find out!

On the drive home we stopped at a local farmers market and got some things for Mila.

It was a really cute place.

After a crazy night...

We stopped in jasper, Al. and people were everywhere! There were no hotel rooms available except for a dive called Budget Inn. I don't think it was linked to the chain of Budget Inns however. It was nasty and dirty and completely unsafe. We left after an hour and drove to the next town. Well, it wasn't a town but just this newly developed area. We stayed at the Hampton Inn. MUCH nicer!!! The next morning we went a little out of the way to see Natural Bridge. It was beautiful!

The ocean carved rock bridges 200 million years ago. Even some of the trees here still looked prehistoric.

The water still leaks in the cracks and crevices and makes a pretty trickling noise.

It was a nice stop to break up the loooong road trip.

We also stopped in Memphis to have lunch with James (and a nap!)

Then the last 3 hours of the trip home!

and

of course

Jared came right over

and the precious little love birds

who have been separated for 10 days

were reunited again :)