Editor's apology: I am making all kinds of mistakes lately in my writing! I see it. If it bugs you you're in good company with me. I'll try to be more grammatically correct from now on. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some more schoolwork to do with Josh...

Fun Fall Day!

It's autumn at Silver Dollar City! Last Friday it looked AND felt like it. It was a 'frost on the pumpkin and the hay is in the barn' sort of chilly (thank you James Taylor) but the seasonal decoration they have everywhere just warm you right up. We measured up Olivia to see if she's big enough for the giant roller coasters but she has a little growing to do, which means...

...someday Josh will have someone other than me for the very scariest ride of all -- that elephant gets at least 10 feet high.

We ran into Madeline, a friend from school, and they had fun racing rubber frogs back and forth using old-fashioned water pumps. Of all the rides they have, this really was the hit of the day!

Madeline's Mom took one for the team and crawled under the water to get more frogs. You're a good sport Megan!

The Punkin Patch

Yes, it was called 'Punkin'. This was a little field trip Josh's class went on and it was quite educational, actually. The man in the picture is the farmer of this little pumpkin place and he gave the kids a lesson on how they grow all the different kinds of 'punkins' and what they're ideal for. For example, did you know that a homemade pumpkin pie is made best from a Cinderella pumpkin? This man was distracting though, because he was reminding me of someone else. Who was it?? "Have a Holly Jolly Christmas" was singing in my head. Then I kept thinking he needed to dress up like a snowman and tell the Rudolph story. Burl Ives is who he was! Once I figured it out, I wanted to give him a hug and have him sing a punkin song.

This was Josh's pick although him took him longer than anyone else because he was busy finding grasshoppers and caterpillars first. There were a few of the little orange gourds that were a kind of wet and he informed me that they had just been born. I don't think he was listening to Mr. Ives...

Goodbye

Joshua's face says it ALL right here! Thankfully, we got to gradually say goodbye to everyone else to this point but, bless his heart, just moments after this was our final goodbye to the cousins and a parting of the ways toward home. He and Cole had been best buds all week long and who wants to end that? You'd never know that just a few years ago Josh threw a train at Cole and gashed his head wide open. Oh yes. No events like that this time, though, which made the oncoming breakdown of tears that much more heartbreaking. I understand, honey.

I understand this, too. We were a satisfied exhausted by the end of our trip and happy to be home. I hear the collective sigh of agreement that you're happy we're done too. Thanks for essentially letting me trap you in my living room for the 2-hour slideshow presentation of 'My Vacation'. You can go home now!

My Favorite Beach

City folks go to parks to play but when I was a kid we went to the beach. And, yeah, we had THE parks (Disney, et al) but the ocean was free! Gosh, we used to have so much fun. And we were so fearless too. Well, for my brother and I, it was pretty cool to bring our own families back to watch our kids splash and dig in the same places we did. There's nothing special about this little stretch. In fact, really only the local folks know about it but it's another reason for why it IS special to me.

We even stayed in the same condo we used to stay in forever ago -- we played in this same pool!

I'm all corny and sentimental now of how our kids have created their own fun memories at this very familiar place. It was hard to say good-bye.

Oh Blissful Sea!

We parked and they went. I noticed Grammy and Josh didn't stick around to check out the room or unload bags out of the car. The sea was calling! Recognizing that they had the right idea, I secretly took off too. They didn't see me at first so I was able to get two great pictures -- this one and the one below. We were the only three souls on the beach and the rain soon came, but for a little while the world just belonged to us.

Grammy told Josh not to worry if he just got the bottom of pants wet. His interpretation of that was to dive right in as you can tell by his soaked clothes.

What a discovery! Every time you throw this block out in the ocean it comes right back. There were actual shells that we enjoyed collecting too but they don't float like this did.

My Brother

I love this picture. My brother had the honor of being asked to preach at my Dad's church the day after the wedding and we ALL (I think we doubled the attendance that Sunday) got to go hear him. John is the Pastor of a very fast-growing church in their rural Pennsylvania town and now I know why. He was great!! The message was straight from the Scripture, alive, challenging, full of hope and complete with an invitation to know Jesus. I don't have to tell you that we were all bursting with pride -- the good kind, of course! So, here is my Mom, totally in her element with 3 grandkids to hover her wing over while watching her son preach. In her own words, it was a "magical moment". I wanted to get a picture of John, too, but Greg said I was distracting so no pulpit shot. However,....

....here we are later that day at the beach with him in the foreground. His AWESOME wife, Suzie is the little head between my Mom and neice (Where is a better picture of you, Suzie?? ANOTHER fumble of the sorry photographer). They are a great family with truly amazing kids. Ready for this? Emily has Bible studies with other kids on the playground during recess. LOVE IT! And Cole? He can complete a Rubik's Cube in 60 seconds. Wow! Ok, I'm verging into the sinful sort of pride aren't I....

Anyway, more to come on our special beach time next!

....And The Reception

The bride and groom....

....and the father of the bride.

The sunset at the reception hall was absolutely gorgeous.

Funny story. You see the practically empty wine glasses in the foreground? As soon as we were seated, a very thirsty Joshua and Cole immediately downed them both -- and asked us for another!! Rest assured, we're all model parents and decided one was enough and gave them water. I'll tell ya though, those boys were dancin' fools out on the floor that night! Once again, where's my picture? I've definitely kicked myself over missing that one.

The Wedding....

Amanda was beautiful. She is a jewel because she is so lovely inside and out. I am so proud of who my youngest sister has become in wisdom and godliness. She is very smart and driven but so desirous of following God's plan for her life. Amanda, I am so confident that you are that path! I love you and it was such an honor to be a part of your wedding.

Up next, the reception! Oh, and by the way, God was gracious and allowed me to not be "the big flub". Chrisy Nockels I am not (Amanda goes to her church!!), but it was so much fun to sing her song 'Captivate Us'.

The Rehearsal

This is my Dad and all four of his kids (Carolyn, Me, Amanda & John) which means that Sean & Amanda's rehearsal was really a reunion of historic proportions. The last time we were all together at the same place and time was 14 years ago! I got to meet Carolyn's husband, James, and my niece, Anna, for the very first time (they live in New Zealand) and they're a blessed addition to the family. Wish they lived here.

The kids had a blast together at the rehearsal dinner at Sean's parents' home, running around the pool and playing out by the lake. Bragging announcement: I have the sweetest, smartest, most adorable nephew and nieces! From left to right: Anna, and Emily & Cole (John & Suzie's kids). Joshua caught lots of lizards for them, which was really of no interest to them, and he also didn't hesitate in leading the way to getting soaked, fully clothed.

Brother-bonding time between James, Dad, Greg and John. Where's my picture of the girls?!? That's the casualty of always being the photographer, I guess!

The Bridal Luncheon

Amanda's Aunts-in-law hosted a charming luncheon in this fabulous, classic, old south home that was actually built by their great-grandparents. I enjoyed meeting all of Amanda's sweet bridesmaids. I was fortunate to be included as the wedding singer (trust me, I've been praying for months that I would not be the butt of "the big wedding flub" story that every bride gets to tell her friends about for years to come. My luck would be that Simon Cowell is a friend of the family). Anyway, we had delicious food, each lady was treated to a shoulder and neck massage (!) and we were each sent home with a lovely rose straight from the farm of the family rose business.

And here are my girls! From left to right: my sister, Carolyn (who flew in from New Zealand), my stepmother, Lynnette (the great, non-Cinderella kind), and my sister, Amanda, the BRIDE! Aren't they beautiful??

My Hometown

We went back to Orlando for my sister's wedding this last week and it was absolutely wonderful. There were so many great things about it that I'll have blogging subject matter for a month probably, so I'll divide the days and events over several posts. First up: my childhood neighborhood. You're looking at it! We were as midtown as you could ever be, living in walking distance of this spot (Lake Eola). They have a great fireworks display on the 4th and lots of neat little places to eat and walk to. Eat and walk we did on this first day of our trip. We spent the whole day wandering around with my Mom and stepdad (Pop), sweetening the old memories with new ones.

We had lunch here at this outdoor cafe before heading across the street to walk around the lake.

Lake Eola has a great playground now (something they didn't have when I was a kid) and Grammy helped Josh explore every bit of it!

There are SO MANY different kinds of tropical birds that hang out here, FASCINATING to Mr. Critter. He tried so desperately to catch someone but they all managed to fly away. I don't know if swans qualify as tropical but they were the only thing I recognized. We followed-up our excursion by driving by my old school and home. We even stopped and visited with our old neighbors -- folks our family continues to keep in touch with. It was a lovely day and I hope Joshua remembers it all so he can keep a piece of my history for his own.