Weekend - April 19-20, 2013

AMAZING!  That is my one word description of this past weekend.  It is always good to see family, but to enjoy a couple of days away from our busy schedules was truly wonderful.  Friday afternoon our family headed to Montgomery for the night, but not before we stopped for Austin Kieff to tell Silas goodbye.  This was Silas' first overnight trip away from home.  The kiddos were so excited to arrive in Montgomery.  The first question out of the mouths was "where are Jacob and Lily?"  And just who did we see waving from the window of their hotel room?  None other than Jacob and Lily.  David was the first to spot them, but once the rest of us did it was very hard to keep the kids from rushing across the street! 

We checked in and settled in our room.  We were lucky enough to have a fabulous view of the river front. 

The kids could not wait to see their cousins and Uncle Grady and Aunt Mary Margaret.  We all met up and went to pick up our registration packets from the train shed.  The kids were full of excitement.  They did not want to part ways for a minute.  In fact, I had two very upset little ones when we decided to grab a snack before the Biscuits' game.  On top of not being very happy with her parents, poor Caroline started feeling poorly.  She did color a little bit at Wintzell's but did not touch her food.  Austin Kieff on the other hand at every bit of his grilled cheese.  David and I split a fried shrimp dinner and a bowl of gumbo (far too spicy for me).  It was all delicious!!

The kids could not wait to go to the stadium.  As we approached the crosswalk, I happened to notice Mrs. Martha Roby there with her son.  No matter what a current official's political affiliation is, I think it is important to respect the position and to appreciate the sacrifice they and their families make.  Now, I happen to really like Martha Roby.  I have met her several times and have been privileged to be a part of a couple of sit downs with her.  While she did not remember my name, she did remember the location and circumstances we had met in the past.  That is amazing.  

This sweet boy posed for a picture with me!

Caroline was not feeling great and slept through most of the first inning

Dancing trying to get on the jumbotron

It did not take too long for Caroline to come alive!  She and Lily bundled up under the

blanket...it was FREEZING!

We left during the 4th inning because of how cold it was.  No trip to a Biscuits game is complete without going to Dreamland!  We have a favorite little waitress there and we try to always sit in her section.  We thought we might have missed the firework show.  This did not bother Austin Kieff because the noise level still bothers him.  However, after we made it back to our hotel room, I opened up the curtains.  It was not very long before we experienced the fireworks from the warm comfort of our room!

Morning came a little earlier than I would have liked, ha!  Race Day!  I was excited about all the day would hold.  The starting line is shown below

The fountain is one of my favorite parts!

We were all ready to run!

Our before pic:

After:

The pink "pig" was Caroline's favorite after-race perk.  She LOVED looking at her.  It took some convincing to get her to believe it was a pink cow.  Cows are not supposed to be pink!

The rest of these are some not so good i-Phone photos, but they are all I have to document, so they are being used!

Caroline was so excited to finish her race!

The awesome cousins.  They all did GREAT!  Austin Kieff even came in 2nd

in his division:

I am so glad Caroline is getting over her mascot/dressed up in a costume fear!

Beautiful Survivors

For the sake of actually posting, I will update on the remainder of our weekend later!  Saturday was an awesome day.  When we arrived back in Jack, Nanny and Aunt Sue were there!  The kids were on an excitement overload for sure.  More about this amazing weekend to come...and also several other updates...

Saturday = Fun Family Day

Saturday, April 13, 2013, was a very BUSY, yet VERY FUN day for the Jordans!  Caroline had her second T-Ball game at 10:00 Saturday morning.  David and I were responsible for concessions that morning for the 9:00.  Thankfully we live very close or we would have been very late, ha!  Caroline helped in the concession stand.  She was excellent at retrieving sodas from the cooler and giving them to our customers.  She even tried to help make decisions for a few!  Caroline was the sweetest little helper I could ask for.  While not the cutest picture, this is her giving me two thumbs up after retrieving several drinks from the cooler.  She said "see, I got this."  There is so much spunk in such a tiny package!

Caroline had fun during her game and was super excited (so excited she had to leave the playing field to come and tell me) that her friend Ben was playing on the Red team.

Just hanging out waiting to bat.  Caroline did not want to wear her hat Saturday

because it "smushed" her red ribbon!

After the T-Ball game we had to hurry over to the Troop 99 Hut in Enterprise for the Pinewood Derby.  This was a bit funny.  The Hut is located on S. Main Street, so finding it should have been fairly easy, right?  Not at all!  The GPS on my phone was of no use.  David did find the Hut after about 10 minutes of driving up and down Main Street. 

Here is our Tiger Cub waiting to go in and register.

Registering to compete.

We were so proud of Austin Kieff on Saturday.  He was asked to call the colors,

a task that he has never participated in before.  He did a GREAT job for his first time.

Austin Kieff placed second in the Tiger Cub competition.  The little boy who won his

division was the overall champion as well.  He placed 4th overall, not too shabby for his first year!

After the Pinewood Derby, David had to go to work and the kids and I went to Grandmomma and Papa's for a visit.  Papa had a surprise for the kiddos (well not really "for" the kiddos, but they will enjoy them!).  We went outside before checking on the surprise.  Caroline had to ride the tractor.  Papa said this was a "big violation" and she asked him not to "put the beat down on her."

Silas joined us for the visit.  We are taking a Gator ride to see

the surprise.  Grandmomma was driving not me, ha!

Baby Chicks!  The kids have been wanting Papa's eggs to

hatch since the first gathering.  Papa's eggs don't last long

enough to hatch!

I love Spring!

Our sweet boy is growing!

Papa's hay fields are full of wildflowers.  I love the visual, but not

the effects on my allergies!!

Austin Kieff helped Papa clean up his tools. 

She was not supposed to be in the dirt...Guilty!

David rejoined us and we spent some time cleaning up the livingroom.  It is amazing how many toys can accumulate if not put away nightly!!  It was definitley a FUN, if BUSY Saturday.

Is it over?

Can it be? We can hardly believe it to be true. Really, we are in a state of disbelief. Austin Kieff surely is. We haven’t even finished posting about our vacation. This period of time we could hardly fathom a few short months ago has flown by. With only one week left, we are in bit of a quandary. What do we do? How do we end Austin Kieff's first summer vacation? Well, we are still working on that one. But, this past week was definitely a good start!

On Wednesday we left for Tuscaloosa, but more on this trip later. Thursday afternoon we left Tuscaloosa for Cullman. Specifically, we were on our way to Grandmother and Granddaddy's house where we would of course make a trip (or several trips) to the Lake. Not to be confused with just any ole' lake...the Lake is Granddaddy's Lake. He shares it with lots of other people, but it is his. At least that is what Caroline thinks. She asked several times, "what are these people doing on Granddaddy's Lake." I guess we go to Papa's Pond...so it must be Granddaddy's Lake...

The kids were super excited for several reasons. First, we were arriving in the daytime! While this may not seem like much to our friends and family, arriving in the daytime is a really big deal for our kids. We usually leave Jack, Alabama after work on a Friday evening somewhere around 6:30 or 7:00. We stop for supper (by stop I mean, order to go and let the kids go to the restroom). Sometimes we stop in Alabaster to pick up a few things we need from Wal-Mart because I forgot them. This turns into our arriving somewhere around 11:00…sometimes later depending on traffic.

How exciting it was to arrive at Grandmother and Granddaddy’s and not have to go straight to bed!! Second, not only were Grandmother and Granddaddy awake and not ready for bed when we arrived, but Uncle Tickle Monster was there, too!! And, to top it all off, Hunter was there! My kiddos were in a state of pure bliss. Neither was too keen on going to dinner (or eating dinner for that matter), they were ready to play! Austin Kieff was also ready to fish. And of course, fish he did…Thursday night, Friday night and Saturday evening!! There were even several fishing attempts during the day!

While the boys went fishing Thursday night, Caroline, the proud new owner of a wardrobe fit for a princess, was only too happy to model for the camera (see previous post here). Grandmother, an excellent seamstress, has made Caroline some of the most beautiful clothes since she was born. Most recently, Grandmother made a dress with matching slip that can be worn as a sundress in yellow and blue, an adorable black/red/white sundress that Caroline LOVES, and a short set from one of my favorite patterns. I know I am biased, but Caroline is beautiful in all of them!!

The best part of waking up…is Folgers in your cup…NOT…it’s breakfast and Grandmother’s biscuits! Every morning, (did I type every morning? Yes, EVERY morning) Grandmother bakes fresh homemade buttermilk biscuits. She could stop there…my crew would be happy (well all of us but David!). But, does she just stop there? NO. SHE. DOES. NOT. Grandmother, sometimes with Granddaddy’s help (not mine again because I let the sausage burn…hey, David’s our meat cooker, ha!), scrambles eggs, fries bacon and sausage. She slices fresh fruit (peaches, cantaloupe, canary melon [more on this discovery later]) and cooks grits for Caroline…sometimes gravy. And everyone sits around the dining room table to eat. The kids take turn saying grace. Austin Kieff, a little nervous about praying out loud generally sticks to his tried and true “God is Great…” when we are there. Caroline sings her sweet blessing from school.

After breakfast on Friday, we began packing our necessities for a trip to the Lake. I am not sure who was more excited Austin Kieff, Caroline, or…David! We were barely unloaded when the question of swim or ride the “tube” was posed. Oh, the life…for the toughest question of the day to be, “do I swim or do I ride the tube”…I almost forgot for the boys, fishing was a third option! I love summer time!

Caroline elected to swim while the guys changed into swimsuits and did a few other things.  This momma, after almost eleven years is still a little leery of the lake water and was all to happy to sit on the steps and watch.  I will, on rare occasion as I believe my sweet husband captured this past weekend, join in the water fun...for a quick swim or ride, but prefer to be on dry land, the dock or in the boat!

I can only describe the expressions on the kids and adults faces as sheer joy when the boat first gets going. Of course there are always the impatient, “is it my turn yet” from Austin Kieff and Caroline’s “it’s my turn now. Isn’t it my turn now?” (only to determine 5 seconds after takeoff that it is decidedly not her turn). Austin Kieff, still rather timid in his Dad’s and Uncle’s opinion, smart and cautious in my opinion, likes to go fast on smooth water and slow it down and wait for the water to calm a bit once things get a little rough. This weekend he did hang on through some areas I wish he had just let go. I was so worried he was going to jerk his shoulders out of socket from hanging on for dear life! There was no way he was letting go, no matter how high he bounced. Towards the end of the weekend, he did let go a few times…finally gaining some approval from his Dad and Uncle Chris. Let me reiterate, I am perfectly okay with him NEVER riding the way his cousin, Dad or Uncle like to ride. Did I mention that he did not get hurt, and was not the least bit sore the mornings after? This cannot be said for any of the other three!

Dinner at the Lake is always a feast. Mr. Charles and Granddaddy usually grill. This trip it was chicken on Friday and ham steak on Saturday. Grandmother, Mrs. Brenda and Great Grandmother always make sure there are plenty of yummy accompaniments to the main course. This trip there were fresh green beans, grilled potatoes with peppers and onions, salad, Mississippi Mud, Corner-less Chocolate Fudge Cake, chocolate éclair, baked beans, potato salad, cantaloupe and I am sure something else I have forgotten! Needless to say I was very thankful to get in a couple of good run/walks in over the weekend. I am afraid they were more of a necessity than anything!

The return home from the Lake on Friday and Saturday night (despite the delicious food we enjoyed) was followed by ice cream. David and Austin Kieff enjoyed chocolate shakes from Whitlock’s General Store while Caroline requested a strawberry shake. I had a cup of soft serve vanilla that was delicious!!

Did I mention, every morning begins with Grandmother’s breakfast? Saturday morning, after breakfast (and by breakfast I mean: homemade biscuits, bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs, grits…just want to make sure we emphasize how much our family loves Grandmother’s breakfast) we took Austin Kieff to get a haircut. My schedule has not permitted me to take him for several months. We had planned to take care of it while on vacation, but the place we had used in Pensacola twice before did not have any availability when we wanted to go. So, needless to say he was a little overdue on Saturday morning. The wife of one of David’s friends has a hair salon next to her house. As Caroline says, “the beauty shop girl” cut Austin Kieff’s hair, one of the best cuts he has had, and let her pet the kitty cat. The “kitty cat” was a mounted bobcat the “beauty shop girl” killed last year. David enjoyed catching up with his friend Jon afterwards and Austin Kieff drooled over an outside toy watched their son ride his motorbike.

After the haircut and a trip to the farmer’s market for a couple of canary melons, blueberries for Caroline and a jar of honey for me, it was time to head to the Lake. David was itching to ski a little and boy did he! Austin Kieff and Caroline had so much fun watching their Daddy ski. Austin Kieff begs David to ski almost every time we go, so the little guy was super excited to watch his Dad. David even showed off a little on the slalom course and received some applause and thumbs up from several onlookers. I am fairly certain his arms and legs felt the course much more than he admits!!

All in all I think everyone had a fun time catching up and just spending a little time together. Sunday morning, after breakfast, of course, we endured the long (thankfully only a little over 3 ½ hours) drive home so that I could get to a meeting and Monday came way too early! With both of us back to work and the kids back to their routines after several days off, we were not the happiest of campers this morning! I think we are all looking forward to our last weekend of summer!

Here are a few pictures from our stay:    

Vacation Day 2

What a week! My one goal was to make some lasting memories for my kids, memories like I have of summer vacation spent in Pensacola. I truly think this goal was achieved. Our day-by-day: Day 2


Sunday, July 1, 2012, was to be spent taking Nanny to Three Rivers Baptist Church, visiting and relaxing while we waited for Daddy to arrive. Getting two kids, who stayed up way past their bedtime were too excited to sleep because so much vacation excitement, ready for Church Sunday morning proved to be a little bit of a chore. But, believe it or not, we arrive at Nanny’s house, 30 minutes across town, on time. Well, “on time” for what we thought was the start of Worship Service. However, about ten minutes from Nanny’s house we discovered that Worship Service actually started in oh ten minutes!! Being late did not deter us from our plans. We escorted Nanny to Three Rivers Baptist Church, where we arrived fashionably late and made a grand entrance, ha! Thankfully, they were having a special July 4th service and we arrived during the special music program so there was not really an interruption!! The pastor and his wife were so excited to see Nanny and Nanny was so happy to be there. I was just thankful to spend Sunday morning in Church with my Nanny. Service was followed by a potluck lunch…yum!

We could not leave Seminole, Alabama without paying Aunt Ann (also known as Amen) and Uncle M.T. (called Uncle T by Caroline) a visit. We officially met Pal who is the most adorable and loving little dog, I mean family member. The kids had so much fun playing with Aunt Ann, Uncle M.T. and of course Pal! We couldn’t leave Aunt Ann’s without a prize…that violates some longstanding rule, right? Well the kids each had a banana and I left with fresh tomatoes, cucumbers and a few hot peppers for David. I have such fond memories of going to Aunt Ann’s house (which is where Nanny lives now) when I was a child. She always had a prize drawer full of the best cereal prizes and toys she picked up here in there. Uncle M.T. always supplied cool pens and order books to play office. They are the same with my kids. There is always a prize, a toy and SO MUCH love!

Nanny was not feeling well so we dropped her off at her house before heading back to change clothes and spend a little time in the…WATER! I didn’t realize how bad Nanny felt until later in the week :(.  Once back at the Bayou House we changed our clothes and had a snack.  It seems like when we are on vacation these kids are ALWAYS hungry!

I forgot to mention that on the way back from Nanny's on Saturday evening we did a little exploring and discovered Perdido Kids Park.  We literally just did a drive by to check it out before calling it a day.  But, on Sunday after some time in the water we decided it was time to pay the park a real visit!

So back to the WATER...the kids packed there things in the wagon and were ready to spend the afternoon playing!!  And, boy did they play!  We swam, we built sand castles, we caught minnows and tried to catch blue crabs.  We searched for hermit crabs.  We watched the birds and the jets.  We had a WONDERFUL time together!!

We played in the water for a couple of hours before deciding to change out of swimsuits and try out that park we found.  What. A. Park.  Perdido Kids Park is an awesome place take children of all ages to play.  There is a Big Kid area and Tot area.  There are misters that are fun for children and nice for adults if you are just a little hot.  The kids of course made quick friends of other children there...Austin met a sweet little girl and Caroline met a mischievous little boy! 

After leaving the park, since we did not have anywhere we had to be, we took a right towards the water instead of heading back to the Bayou House.  Well, what did we discover but Big Lagoon Park!  The super friendly Park Ranger gave us a free pass to tour the park before sunset (well 8:00).  Another place was added to our "places to visit while on vacation" list!

We made a quick trip to Publix before heading back to the Bayou House.  It was almost time for Daddy to arrive and our family time to officially begin!!

Here are a few pictures:

Caroline before church

Austin Kieff on our way to church

Playing in the water AT LAST!

Hot and read to play...not take pictures!

Future Blue Angel Pilot

My busy bee

My wall climber

Big Lagoon Park