Beach Photo Shoot

My animal lover's first trip to the zoo...Gulf Breeze, Florida

For some reason Jeanette and I had to pick the hottest day of our vacation to go to the zoo. It may not have "technically" been the hottest day, but since we weren't 15 feet from water it sure felt like it. Of course, the heat sure didn't put a damper on the day. The kids loved it! I'm not surprised since Carly seems to like any furry creature you put in front of her...reminds me of myself, especially as a kid. I could have had a house full of pets. The animals were pretty calm (except for the ostrich...who are much more aggressive than I realized) I guess the heat made them lazy.The kids were eating the goldfish crackers as fast as we could hand them out...

...or was it the peacock doing all the eating? Carly has a thing about sharing her food with Lacey. Why did I think that would change at the zoo? She loved throwing the crackers to the peacock...and the boys (and adults) joined in.

Here's the peacock. Unfortunately it never fanned it's feathers....bet it was a beauty.

Carly felt like a big girl pushing Carter around. So funny since she can barely see over the stroller.

I love monkeys....look at the little baby!Carly was a little nervous around the giraffe. Can't say I blame her considering how tall he was and how long his tongue was. Oh my! I didn't realize how LONG their tongues are!

It took a while, but I finally got Carly to feed him!

Same with the goats...it took a while for Carly to get used to them but pretty soon she was shoving food into their faces. I didn't think I would ever get her away from them.

There were baby goats too. I think they were about about 2 months old.

They were so adorable!

As you can tell the kids loved them.

I turned to put something in the diaper bag and when I turned back around Carly was carrying one of the baby goats around. It was the cutest thing but of course my camera was not in my hand and she never did it again. I hate when I miss photo opportunities like that!!

Saying bye-bye to the goat.

Aren't they cute! Jeanette and her boys!
OK...This is a terrible picture, but we went on a train ride before we left the zoo. Need I remind you how hot it was...and we were here for 4 hours or so. We headed straight to Navarre Beach to cool off. We were worn out but had a good time!

This is why I love my job!!!

Here is a group of students that I taught while I was living in Pensacola, FL. These kiddos are from the last class I had there. They were 1st graders who have now grown into 4th graders. I cannot believe how much they have changed. I guess I was still expecting my little babies. I was a little saddened to see that they have grown up so much. I wish I would have gotten a picture with all of my old students but didn't really think about it until the end. It was so good to see them all again though. Many of them came running out of their classrooms when they realized I was there. And I heard from several teachers that they still talk about me all the time. It's times like that I realize that I played a special part in the kids lives....that I actually made a difference. And that's what teaching is all about!!! I love the relationship that I made with these kids!

So far behind....

This morning I noticed that it has been over a month since my last post. I'm so far behind...guess I should start at the beginning of summer break. My sister and I were planning on taking Carly and the boys to the beach the second week of July, but because of the Gulf Coast Oil Spill we decided we better move our vacation up. And I am so thankful we did because the beaches were beautiful. The media was reporting that tar balls were washing up on the beaches while we were there but we saw no evidence of the spill. In fact, as I sat on the beach I often found it hard to believe that the oil spill was only about few miles away and would eventually ruin the beaches of Pensacola. I am so sad to say that now, a few weeks later, oil is covering Pensacola beach. :( The media lining the beach....searching for oil :(
Our week was jam-packed with fun! The kids were really good and had a blast. They were so funny. They played nonstop.....until we got in the truck. They were never awake longer than 5 or 10 minutes after we put them in their seats. While we were there we of course went to the beach, zoo, Gulfarium, water park, and on a dolphin cruise. Carly and I also went to my old school to visit with some of my old students. I will post pictures of all of these soon. But for now I am going to focus on our trips to the beach.
Walking to the water for the 1st time!
Jeanette and Ryan staying warm.


Julie with Carter

Mommy...please take me back out!
Shivering...but not ready to go bye-bye.

Carly's covering up Carol's yawn.


I was pleased to see that Carly liked the beach as much as I do. I think ALL of us could have stayed down there all day long...well, maybe not Ryan, he didn't much care for the sand. The first night we got there we went to the beach with Julie and met Carol, Conor, and his friend there. Carly loved it right away. In fact, she kept wanting to go out even though she was shivering. She took to it right away. She enjoyed playing on the beach and at the edge of the water, but most of all she liked it best when I took her out and jumped around in the waves. Carter, on the other hand, seemed to like sitting on the edge of the water the best. He didn't even seem to mind when the water tried to pull him back in. And Ryan had the best time the day there was a sand bar a few feet out making a nice 2 foot pool of water that he could roll, jump, and splash around in.

Check out our beach gear...OH MY!
Yep, I'm one of those tacky tourist but with 2 adults and 3 young kiddos there just aren't enough arms. So, I had my hubby rig up Carly's little pool into a pull along. haha...it worked!


I used to love lazing around and reading while soaking up the sun and going out past the breaking of waves and swimming or floating on a raft, but there was none of that on this trip. In fact, this trip to the beach was so different than any other time that I have been. There was no boogie boarding or riding waves, no walking for miles along the shore, no fruity drinks, no napping...but then again, this was the best beach trip I have ever had. Life is so much better with Carly...so blessed to have her in my life!

Mom -n- Me Monday

These pictures were taken Friday afternoon when we went to the park with Ginger and her cousins. There was an older lady who generously donated some bread to the kids. Carly would throw it but could never actually make it into the lake. And the ducks never got close to us, but we still had a good time.