Beach 2013

In June my family (mamaw, papaw, Amy's family, and Carol's family) went to Virginia beach for a short vacation.

We had a wonderful hotel that had pools inside and out and a movie theater among many other attractions.  But in Glen's mind no attraction could beat SAND!

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 And In Grace's mind, no attraction could beat WATER!  My kids were loving the beach.  Between the sand, water, and so many people to play with...it was perfect.

Glen could find someone to help him dig and build at almost all times.

 And Grace could convince almost anyone to get out in the water with her, no matter if they were wearing bathing suits or not.

 At breakfast we got a picture of all of the grandsons with papaw.

 This is what I did during most of the vacation.  I was taking a literature class at a local college to get re-certification points for my teaching license so I was reading book after book after book.

 One day the hotel brought out their pet turtles in order to feed them.  We got to watch them eat in the lobby.

 The next few pictures are a good example of what happens to sand when Glen got a hold of it.

 Glen also liked to cover up people's feet.

 Did I mention that Grace loved the water and could get almost anyone in it no matter what they were wearing? :)

It was a great trip.  This was the first time that my kids got to go to the ocean (they had been to large lakes before but never the ocean).  I am so glad that we were able to have this relaxing, fun time with the family.

Highland and Pictures of Glen

Every year there are two good chances for us to go camping during the summer.  One chance is during our church campout (but this year it rained), another is during the steak bbq (but we were needing our beds after some vacations away).  So we did not go camping this year, but we are looking forward to getting back into camping next year.

We did however go to the camp grounds and have a fun time.

 

 Glen loved the water.
We all had fun running around the grounds but the creek was the favorite of both Glen and Grace.

 Since this post had all pictures of Glen, I thought I would add one of him in his toddler bed with his dog.  He has taken to getting rid of his crib very well and likes the freedom of getting in and out of his bed on his own.

Luray Zoo

Our library has a summer reading program that is for children from ages 0-17.  Since my children are in that age range (though not reading yet) I signed them up.  One of the benefits of this reading program is what is called "Free Fridays."  Different locations around the area will allow free access if you have a purple wrist band that indicates that you are with the library program.

A few weeks ago the free Friday was at the Luray Zoo.  Luray is about 45 minutes away from here so Amy and I decided to car pool.  Amy and Adam hopped into the car with Grace, Glen and I and off we went.

They got to see lots of animals.  They got to "drive" the safari jeep.

 Glen loved getting up close and personal with the animals at the petting zoo.

Grace and Glen got to feed the animals.

And they worked hard to get all of the food that they could get.  Doesn't she just look like a country girl?

Glen was smart and fed the animals by picking up all of the pellets off of the floor and feeding them the "free" food.

Some cute picture cut outs at the exit of the zoo.  Glen would have nothing to do with them, so here is Grace.

And here is Grace and Adam.

The zoo was crowded because a lot of other people wanted to take part of the free Friday, but it was a lot of fun.  We loved watching the monkeys and the lion.  The snake was one of Grace's favorites and Adam even got to HOLD a snake, that was really neat.

What a great adventure that was, and we finished it off with some ice cream and a LONG nap!

Family Photo Shoot

Lori at Heartstrings Photography was kind enough to take our pictures this past weekend.  We are not the easiest group to take pictures of, so thank you for putting up with all of our craziness!

The following is just our family pictures (I may add a few comments here and there, but mostly it is just pictures.  Enjoy!

 There was a dirt patch to play in at the photography site.  The kids LOVED it!

 Just look at those eyes!

 It is times like these that I think, they MIGHT like each other.  They may become good friends...

 "Look at daddy's face while I smack his head"

 "Now look at daddy's face while I discover his ear"

 "Oh, I can stick my finger in his ear!"

 "Yeah, I'm a little stinker and I know it :)"