Easter

Our Easter celebration was held at Larry and Kamala's this year and thankfully, the weather was beautiful.  Austin (yes, Austin) blessed the food for us and did a great job! The main course was fried chicken and ham and we had a number of side dishes including potato salad, oriental salad, rice salad, deviled eggs, baked beans, green beans, rolls and biscuits and for dessert, pound cake, key lime pie, cookies and cupcakes.  Yum, Yum!  Afterwards, those so incline enjoyed a swim in the pool.  The water was a bit "brisk", but didn't seem to deter anyone as you can see from the pictures.  Aubrey and Brinkley were the star diving board jumpers.  None of the little ones were in floaty things this year, but still needed the assistance of Moms, Dads, Aunts, Uncles or whomever was there to help.  The next event was the egg hunt and other than the trampling of some flowers (oops!) went off without a hitch.  The hunt was soon followed by the pinata wacking.  There were two pinatas (made by yours truly) and we began with the older kids.  Normally, it takes multiple wacks for the contents to spill, but either Brinkley ate a double dose of Wheaties that morning, or Aunt Teresa just makes a lousy pinata because he took one swing, made contact and split that baby in half dumping the entire contents at once!  After the shock of that wore off, the kids all swarmed in to reap the bounty!  Next came the little tykes' turn at their pinata.  I think almost all got a turn before we brought in the "big guns" again and Aidan wacked it and sent it flying and then tumbling to the ground still fully in tact.  That didn't stop him though.  He gave it the once over and then finally dove in with his bare hands and ripped that sucker open showing no mercy what-so-ever!  Then, in came the swarm again like looters after a disaster! 

In summary, it was a very nice day and was enjoyed by all.  Here are some pics.  If you double-click on them you can view a larger version.





The Pinata

Have you ever had one of those really brilliant ideas that you wish had never entered your mind?  Well mine was the homemade pinata.  They sell them every day, all day long in various stores and online for as little as $12.99 but it is said that you can make one for around $2.00.  Anyway, since Easter was just around the corner, I thought I would make an Easter egg pinata and while I was at it I would not simply make "one" I would just go ahead and make two or three.  Sounds reasonable right?  I found several sites on the web with varying methods so I used a little of this from one and a little of that from another. 

I believe I started the process on April 16 and finally completed two of them on April 22, so as you can see it's not an immediate gratification project.  Basically, you blow up a balloon, make a mixture of flour and water, tear up strips of newspaper and dredge them in the paste and apply them overlapping on the balloon. Piece of cake.  No, this ain't just a "piece" of cake, this is a whole entire 3 layer cake with icing and decorations!  On my first balloon, I felt I needed to blow it up as big as possible and so I did.  Seemed like a good idea at the time.  However, upon placing my very first piece of gooey paper on it, I discovered it was not a good idea at all.  Either that, or I had a defective balloon.  What happened next was quite comical.  All of a sudden there was this loud "kapow" and next thing I know, I have been sprayed with flour goo from the exploding over-filled balloon.  It wasn't until a bit later when I reached up to scratch my head that I felt a blob of gooey paper mache in my hair!  I wound up having to take a shower to get the mess out of my hair!  Anyway, on with the process.  You have to put at least three layers of paper mache on the balloon and one layer has to dry overnight before applying the other.  After the paper mache layers are all done, you put a coat of paint on it if you want to and then decorate as you please.  Most folks seem to use tissue paper or crepe paper.  One method was to cut 2x2 pieces of tissue paper and glue them on so that the four corners are poking up.  Seemed like the way to go, but not so much.  It was a slow and tedious process and didn't cover a lot of space to boot!  So I did some of that but also did some bands horizontal and verticle using party streamers.  Gary says the first one looks like a hot air balloon.  Oh and before you completely decorate it you have to cut an opening for the candy & treats to be stuffed inside and connect a string so that you have a way to hang it up. 

I figure I have probably 8 or 10 hours if not more invested and probably another $5 or so in materials.  Let's just say I make $10 and hour, that would put my labor at around $80-$100, plus the $5 for three of these $12 store bought pinatas.  Hello?  I know, I know, it's the personal satisfaction of actually making something that's important, the sense of accomplishment right?  Of course it is and I did have sort of a warm fuzzy feeling when I saw them hanging from the Bradley Pear tree that Aunt Robbie gave Larry and Kamala soon after they built their house.  Yes sir, I actually made them and they are quite pretty if I do say so myself.  Well let the games begin then!  Like I said, I made two and that was so the older kids would have one and the younger kids would have one.  My great nephew Brinkley was the first up and with his very first swing anialated the one for the big kids.  I think he was shocked himself!  At this point I'm thinking maybe I should have used more layers because it seems like it should have taken more than one wack to bust it open.  The little kids went next and I think almost all of them got a swing before it was knocked off the string by another of my great nephews - Aidan.  It went tumbling to the ground and once on the ground, he continued to wack at it and then finally went at it with his bare hands!  It was very fun to watch and almost made the effort put into making them worthwhile!  Here are some photos of the construction process.  See my Easter post for the destruction phase.

ready for the next layer

2nd layer on and still wet

all layers finished, balloon popped and being pulled out

after balloons removed and a layer of paint

2 inch square paper applied

horizontal and vertical banding

finished product for big kids

finished product for little kids



Not Double Trouble, But Twice Blessed - A Weekend with the Twins

 Two faces to wash, and four dirty hands
Two insistent voices, making demands
Twice as much crying, when things go wrong
The four eyes closing, with slumber song
Twice as many garments, blowing on the line
Two cherubs in the wagon, soaking up sunshine
Work I do for twins, naturally comes double
But four arms to hug me, repay all my trouble.
~Author Unknown

This past weekend Thomas and Gracie came to spend the weekend with us for the very first time ever all by themselves.  Christie brought them down Friday afternoon around 5:45 p.m. and we took them back home Sunday around 3:00 p.m.  They did exceptionally well and you would have never known this was their first time being away from Mommy and  Daddy for two whole nights!  They did ask where they were when they woke up Saturday morning and Thomas called out "Mommy" during the night on Saturday night, but it was more like a dream thing.  It only last about a minute and then not another peep out of him.  On Saturday morning I heard Gracie ask "Where's Mommy" and Thomas said "At work".  I would have loved to keep listening to what they had to say, but was afraid they may try to climb out of the pack-n-plays.  On both nights at bedtime, they went right to bed and quickly to sleep with no fussing at all.  In fact, on Saturday night, Thomas told us he wanted to go to bed.  They did stay up a little later than their normal bedtime, but that's okay at Geema's and Gampa's house right? On Friday, after Christie left, we went for a golf cart ride to the Osprey nest and to see the sunset. We started out in our golf cart, but it started skipping and jumping so we called Steve-O and asked to use his.  On Saturday after breakfast, we headed to the new Estuarine in East Point.  That was lots of fun and we got to see lots of sea life and other exhibits.  After that we headed over the Apalachicola and had lunch at Burger King and played for a little while at the playground where the Seafood Festival is held.  After we got back home, it was nap time.  Thomas fell asleep quickly, but Miss Gracie took about 20 more minutes before she fell asleep.  She sang several songs including, but not limited to, Happy Birthday, Row, Row The Boat and Old McDonald Had a Farm.  She's quite the singer and Thomas is quite the sleeper to be able to sleep through all of her singing!  Of course, she woke up before him too.  She was yacking her head off asking him questions.  I never heard him say a word, but she was saying "huh Thomas, huh Thomas" over and over.  I finally went in and got them to put Thomas out of his misery!  After nap time, we took the golf cart down to the bay in front of Harry A's and had a grand ole time.  Thomas loved playing in the water - Gracie not so much, but I did finally dunk her in a few times and she seemed to like it. They played in the sand, chased seagulls and explored.   On Sunday we took the golf cart to the Lighthouse Park and they played on the playground a little while.  We came back home, had lunch and got ready to take them back home.  Thomas fell asleep on the bridge and Gracie fell asleep just before us reaching Carrabelle.  Gracie woke up around Crawfordville and Thomas woke up just outside Southwood.  They were very happy to see Mommy and Daddy when they got home.  Here's a "few" of the over 200 pictures we took from the weekend.  Hey, it was two kids and three days, what can I say?  Ya get carried away with the ease of digital photography!  If you click on the picture, you can view a larger version. 



Osprey Couple (nest not quite complete yet) just down the road on W. Pine



Observing the Osprey Couple



Watching the Sunset (but not really interested)

Sunset at Land Street

Sacked Out

It's All About Taggies Even When Asleep

Nice Turtle

....and then your Geema jumped in the water and caught all of these fish.......

No, Gampa, we don't want turtle stew for dinner tonight!

Run Thomas! Run!



Hollywood, here I come!





The "After Bath".  Thomas got a sink bath too, but we didn't get a picture of it.





Family, Fun, Free, Fog, Frustration, Food, Firsts

Our Family stayed at a 4-bedroom beachfront house called B&D's on the Beach the weekend of March 18.  It was a great house with a private heated pool and a hot tub on the East end of the island and best of all it was a free!  Friday started off with nice, warm, sunny weather.  Christie, Joey, Thomas & Gracie got there early and it was a good thing they did, because the weather went downhill later that afternoon.  By the time Gary and I and Ryan, Ashley and Sy got there later that afternoon, the fog had begun to roll in and settled through the remainder of the weekend.  On Friday night, we mostly hung out and had steak, baked potatoe and salad for dinner.  The next day, we were still fogged in, but did play a bit on the beach with the kids. Christie, Gary, Ashley, Thomas, Gracie and Sy got into the very warm pool for a while and Ryan, Steven and Austin checked out the hot tub.  That night, we had fresh fried shrimp, snapper and french fries - yummy!  We also did a sand art project with the kiddies that was fun, and Gracie had her toenails painted for the very first time.  Daisey, the boxer doggie came with Ryan, Ashley and Sy, but Thomas and Gracie do not like dogs and were freaking out a bit, so she stayed upstairs most of the time.  They warmed up to her a bit gradually, but did not want her around them.  I fixed a bucket of goodies for the kids that had squirt bottles, sun glasses, glasses with noses and some arts and crafts things.

Here are some pictures from the weekend. 



April Outing

Today we were FINALLY able to take the boat out.  It was our first boat outing this year and the weather was perfect.  We started out slow and headed towards the Cut. The wind was coming out of the North so it was pretty smooth in the bay, but got a bit choppy as we got nearer to the Cut.  Just as we were about there, I saw a dolphin just ahead of us and we tried to follow it so I could take some pictures, but it disappeared.  We beached the boat just past the Cut and I got out and combed the beaches for driftwood (after going over the dune into the bushes to pee!) while Gary fished off the back of the boat with his new rod & reel. It was smaller and more flexible that his others and he said he thought he was going to like it.   I didn't get to fish because my license has expired.   After leaving that spot, we went down a little further and noticed two osprey on their nest so we beached the boat again and I got out and took some pictures.  We also saw schools of bait fish and watched some birds (not sure what kind they were) diving after them.  It was pretty cool when the little fish would all jump up out of the water at the same time - sort of like synchronized swimmers!  They were also stupid swimmers because that made them more visible to the birds!  The water was very clear near the shore so I also took some pictures of some critters in shells crawling around under water.  Here are some pictures from our day.



Gary Waiting On Me to Pee and Comb the Beach



Shrimp Boat Headed to the Cut



Driftwood Log



Cool Dead Pine Tree



Look Very, Very Close - This is a bird diving for bait fish!



Osprey



Two Osprey