River Fun

We love the Suwannee River!  Even more so when you add some family and friends!

So after Bryan and I celebrated our 10yr anniversary down in Apalachicola we joined up with the Conrad’s & Overman’s for some Low Country Boil.  We had the best welcome with  2 little girls squealing with joy.  Adeline is now sleeping in the bottom bunk, with Essie on a mattress beside her on the floor.  Then Monday some friends (Borges’, Tilley’s, and Deluca’s) joined us for some bounce house/water slide, No Dog Beach, Boat riding, Kayaking, food fun.  It was a blast.  The best watermelon to kick summer off with.

Essie agrees:

 

We always have to swing at least once:

 

Adeline did the Tube behind the boat for the first time.  First with me and then later with Bryan.  She loved it.

At the end of the day we asked Adeline what was her favorite part and basically she listed off everything we did that day.  And I agree with her, it was so much fun you couldn’t pick just one thing!

Before the Morning

Before the Morning is a song by Josh Wilson that seems to keep talking to my heart and seems to come to mind all the time to share with folks going through some tough times. It also is something that I feel I can rejoice in those times that God has pulled me through already! Praise God I have many morning lights and am waiting only for a few to come!!!




So here are the lyrics and click here for the song:
Do you wonder why you have to,
feel the things that hurt you,
if there's a God who loves you,
where is He now?

Maybe, there are things you can't see
and all those things are happening
to bring a better ending
some day, some how, you'll see, you'll see

Chorus:
Would dare you, would you dare, to believe,
that you still have a reason to sing,
'cause the pain you've been feeling,
can't compare to the joy that's coming

so hold on, you got to wait for the light
press on, just fight the good fight
because the pain you've been feeling,
it's just the dark before the morning

My friend, you know how this all ends
and you know where you're going,
you just don't know how you get there
so just say a prayer.
and hold on, cause there's good who love God,
life is not a snapshot, it might take a little time,
but you'll see the bigger picture

Would dare you, would you dare, to believe,
that you still have a reason to sing,
'cause the pain you've been feeling,
can't compare to the joy that's coming

so hold on, you got to wait for the light
press on, just fight the good fight
because the pain you've been feeling,
it's just the dark before the morning
yeah, yeah,
before the morning,
yeah, yeah

Once you feel the way of glory,
all your pain will fade to memory
once you feel the way of glory,
all your pain will fade to memory
memory, memory, yeah

Would dare you, would you dare, to believe,
that you still have a reason to sing,
'cause the pain you've been feeling,
can't compare to the joy that's coming

Would dare you, would you dare, to believe,
that you still have a reason to sing,
'cause the pain you've been feeling,
can't compare to the joy that's coming

com'n, you got to wait for the light
press on, just fight the good fight
because the pain you've been feeling,
it's just the hurt before the healing
the pain you've been feeling,
just the dark before the morning
before the morning, yeah, yeah
before the morning



Christian lyrics - BEFORE THE MORNING LYRICS - JOSH WILSON

A Visit with friends!

It was quick, but included just about everything on our top 10 list: Ricketts, Disney, The River, and Backyard BBQ.

Have I mentioned I love Flip Video.  I just got the HD version.  And on top of that there was a recent upgrade that summarizes your movie for you.  I made a 30minute video and then had Flip summarize it down to 1min.  Pretty cool stuff: 

The girls love the carousel as do we adults as the line is SHORT!  Adeline waved the entire parade and through Its a Small World too.  The girls loved playing with Jamey.  Us Adults scammed in some PB & J into an air-conditioned eatery (That one little pizza for the 6 of us was delicious – thanks John).  Thanks to bryan for supplying the PB&J, we missed you.  Some cute hugs at the end of the day… Adeline was getting attached for sure.  We have talked about when we are going to see Jamey.  I keep having to remind Adeline of Jackson and parents.   Kudos to John and Jennifer for seeing the opening and closing of Disney Magic Kingdom (9am-10pm, no short day)

Camping

We had so much fun at Little Talbot Island at the end of April.  The saddest thing was that the Borges were not able to join us.  Adeline was very distraught.  Next time we hope to have them.  So yes that is a clue.  It went so well we hope to have a next time.

The park was in excellent condition.  We only had to walk 15 min to get to the beach and play chicken crossing a busy road.  But really it went just fine and the girls rode in the wagon.  Plus it gave us something to do.

 

Adventure:  The first night was got soaked when a toad strangler front passed through.  Praise God it was not like in NW Gainesville with trees down and all, just a lot of lightening and rain, rain, rain.  Essie woke up in a puddle nad I pulled her in between bryan and I where I thought was a dry area.  Then later found Adeline on her air mattress soaked (the blanket had soaked up all sorts of water and ergo she was soaked).  She promptly too went between bryan and I.  Now literally we all three were sleeping on our sides to fit on 2 sleeping bags.  Adeline went right back to sleep.  In the morning all blankets and bags were dripping with water.  However, Praise to God again, it was a very hot Saturday.  So much so it dried out pillows, blankets, sleeping bags, tent and all.  So Saturday wasn’t as memorable, we slept dry and very well that night.  Though we did eat some delicious burgers and mac-n-cheese.

Our camp site:

The Beach where we flew our kite every time we were out there.  Adeline was so excited.  Much time was spent digging, building and breaking down sand creations:

Essie wouldn’t have much to do with the water and insisted on being held when my feet were all that was getting wet.  Now to figure how to undo that fear!  Where as Adeline LOVED the water and kept asking to go out deep.  Deep to her thankfully was to her waist.  That’s my girl – cautious (or at least for now).

We awoke to some fierce gnats.  So that lead to breakfast in the tent.  Which we already had prepared – biscuits and honey.  Go figure, we had already had this a couple of times, but this time (in the tent) the lid of the honey popped off and went just about everywhere.  Adeline enjoyed that biscuit for sure!  After beach time Sunday morning we had lunch at their picnic tables, and then we headed home (girls fast asleep).  Once home we promptly started on the Dora slip n slide.  It was a great weekend packed with fun!  And a huge side note… about 7 loads of laundry got done before we went to bed Sunday night.  Thanks Bryan!!!

Bryan did all the cooking that required fire or heat… and the dishes!  Thanks Babe:

God is good!  What a beautiful world he has created:

A family photo (hard to come by):

 

A more artistic photo:

Conversation with Adeline

Just to remember how cute and smart of a 3.5yr old she is.  It all starts on our beach camping trip to Little Talbot Island with the beach right across the street.  So we all went for a walk on the beach.  Adeline and Bryan start racing back to the home base (wagon, drinks, towels, and a few snacks).  Bryan is winning.  Adeline calls him back by saying:  Daddy I have a secret to tell you.  (note: usually she whispers “I love you”).

Bryan comes back to her.

Adeline whispers “I love you.  You can’t beat me to the blanket.”

Adventures of a Flower Girl

Did my Mama tell you I love South Beach? I loved the pool too – both of them just in case she didn’t mention that. She let us swim before heading back to Gainesville. She was right, it had us super tired. We took a great nap. So the trip that started at 9:45 and ended us in Gainesville at 6:30 for the rehearsal dinner flew by. We even had ice cream at Wendy’s in Ocala. Yum yum. We arrived right on time at Austin Cary Memorial Forest for some dinner. Then on to the practice. Essie had a blast and you wouldn’t have guessed any of us had been traveling all day. We lined up pine cones as the isle:

We played with Brylan:

Essie is a sweet little sister and is really in to doing all I do. I am glad I did such a good job otherwise she is ready to take over flower girl duties:

Then Saturday came. We met up with Meme and Papa in Newberry for the Watermelon Parade. Essie got to have special time with them while Mom and I went off on our special day. It started with new high heel shoes. And I love them. Then we picked up my dress and headed over the the Gateway Grand for lunch and having my hair done. I love Ms. Stephanie (even before she bribed me with tons of gum):

Here is my hair with glitter and flowers (though I don’t understand why Mama won’t let me put my dress on yet, she says it won’t fit in the car seat).

I had a quick nap over to the Wedding site location for lots and lots of pictures. I love Monica:

Mom didn’t get a picture of me with all the bridesmaids, but I love em all. Mary Katherine, Jenny, and Miriam (who loves the Disney princess maybe even more than I do).

I love my dress, shoes and hair:

Here is the video of my entrance if you have almost 2 more minutes to spare:

I started off a little shy, but it wore off real quick:

Well, I thought running would get it over a little bit quicker:

After dumping all the petals out I thought I would sit for a bit:

Time for a little break after all that walking:

My Mom wanted one more photo:

Job done, it is time to party:

I was busy zipping inside and out to watch their first dance, see the alligator that visited the reception and watch up close the cutting of the cake. I don’t know why Ms. Stephanie and Mr. Jason made such a mess. They should have had bibs on:

Time to dance, so dance we did:

More South Beach

We love the place we stayed – The Savoy Hotel. Tony the doorman is wonderful and keeps us laughing as we come and go. The suite is super sweet. They have chairs, umbrella, and a specially groomed kiddy area with sand toys! Anyway… on to the real reason you checked this out, cute pics (thank you bryan for my awesome camera):

Here Adeline saw our first sunrise and came running to get Bryan and I saying "look, look a beautiful sunset". She had to have her picture taken with it. Though is is a great photo of her, I missed a beautiful sunrise. That's okay by me :)

Then Essie wanted her picture taken, just like her big sister!

Adeline gets dressed every morning before she eats breakfast in our room, then she will get into her swimming suit. Thank goodness she can dress herself these days. It speeds up the process.

Bryan was with us for the afternoon on Wednesday after the morning session. The below pics are after our afternoon beach and swim. Can you believe Adeline can touch the bottom of the pool (3ft). I didn’t even think to let her try until we saw another little girl do it. So Bryan ran out at nap time and got wings and a tube for the girls.

This picture is of Bryan try to get proof I was here and it wasn’t just he and the girls in South Beach. Adeline was ready for dinner and not in the mood for much of anything until we fed her. I understand… I get grumpy when I am hungry too.