There's No Place Like Roam

Friday....WHAT.A.DAY! Friday we finally were able to Kayak the Ecofina Creek. 7 miles if smooth paddling that passes 6 beautiful springs. It was a long day and Carter & Graham both ended up in the creek, but I absolutely loved it!

On Wednesday we had a "dry run" on the kayaks, since we plan to have a 3 hour paddle on Friday. We had no problems. Graham & Hunter sat nicely in the boats and Carter was a big help with the paddling.  Later in the afternoon, we hit the pool for a bit and then took out the bikes to get ice cream. That trip was quite comical. Jason & I took turns pushing our bikes and hanging back with Graham. It took much longer than expected, but the ice cream was very yummy! Later that evening, Jason and Hunter fished in the lake, but still no luck! On Thursday there were "double red flags" due to Tropical Storm Andrea. The waves were 5-7 feet high and there is a strong rip tide. So, though we couldn't go into the ocean, we went to the beach to check out the 5-7 foot waves. We were able to see how the ocean comes into the coastal lake, which makes the lake brackish. My friend Laura and her son Lawson came for a visit in the afternoon and we went to the pool and to dinn...

We started off Tuesday with a swim in one of the pools. Sanctuary at Redfish has four pools and is not crowded at all. Everyone at the pools had an entire pool to themselves!  After lunch in the condo we headed to Grayton Beach State Park. We took a hike on a one mile trail through the coastal dunes and around a costal lake (brackish water). You would have thought we forced them to traverse Death Valley, but we all survived! The boys were hoping to see an alligator, but no such luck today. After we cooled off at the hotel, we headed shopping get bike helmets and buy bait for surf fishing. We headed out at sunset and the boys chased fish, crabs and a big crane while Jason fished in the surf and Big Redfish Lake. It was a great day! The boys fell fast asleep in minutes and Jason and I had a few minutes to enjoy the stars, waves crashing and lightning in the distance in peace. :-)

Monday contained a huge surprise! There are 20+ miles of flat bike trails adjacent to  Hwy 30-A, perfect for traveling to all the shops and restaurants with the family. Our condo included several adult bikes, so we didn't bring ours down. We headed over to the bike rental place to get some bikes for the guys, but they were pretty pricey for they entire week. So, since we already had my bike rack attached to the van, and the boys have all outgrown their current bikes at home, AND the bike shop happened to have the perfect sized bikes just calling their names...Jason bought all three of them brand new bikes! They were very excited and spent a good while driving them in the parking deck of the condo. Later in the day we headed into Destin to play mini-golf and ate dinner at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co, where Carter ordered his first meal off the adult menu....gulp!

Today we started our summer vacation. Technically, we headed almost halfway last night and stayed in Clanton, AL so we could visit my dad, brother and their families. We had ice cream at Peach Park, played on a really cool playground and picked strawberries at Sunshine Farm. We had lunch at my dad's favorite Mexican restaurant and headed down to Santa Rosa Beach, FL. This is our first visit to the "Highway 30-A" area and I love it already! Much more like an island feel, with colorful houses and small shops...instead of high rise condos and mini golf! Looking forward to a relaxing week!

Today we joined Church of the Highlands! We have visited since January and we really feel that this is the place for our family to grow our faith, connect with the community and actively participate with mission work. This church has replanted from downtown, to property they own on Harrison Bay after the tornadoes last year went through the lake property. They really have an amazing story to tell and we can't wait to get plugged in! I don't think we could ever replace the family-like atmosphere of West Park Heights, but we are excited for this new adventure! http://www.thehighlands.cc/

Mother's Day was fairly uneventful this year. We didn't go to Alabama since we are planning to go for Memorial Day in a couple of weeks. We went to church and then enjoyed the perfect weather at home. Jason did convince the boys to pose for a pic before church. They are growing so fast!

I had my 36th birthday today and I received the most beautiful flowers at work and came home to a double decker cookie cake. YUM!

Uncle Scott, Aunt Lisa and Patrick came for a visit Easter weekend. We attended an egg hunt and Easter services at Church of the Highlands, and we all really enjoyed it. We dyed eggs, had a visit from the Easter Bunny and just enjoyed the family time.

We were at the kitchen table a month or so ago and Hunter ask "What time is it?" We all looked at the microwave and then looked back at him...we were speechless. He promptly gets up and walks closer to the microwave, turns around, returns to his seat and begins eating. Well, Hunter thought NONE of us could see the clock, and that we were speechless because it would have been rude to ask US to get up to go check the time for him. Poor thing had no idea that we were just astonished that he couldn't see the clock. So, I immediately get some optometrist recommendations, and we survive the month long wait for the first new patient appointment. We fill the time with "Can you see this? What about now? How about this"? Hunter begged me the entire month to let him get contacts. He was REFUSING to wear glasses at school. He finally went to his appointment this week and he is nearsighted. No other issues, just could only see the big E before, and with lenses, he coul...

I needed to update our "bios" on our blog, but I just couldn't stand the thought of deleting them. So much has changed in the past few years!   Jason - Awesome Dad, Husband of 12+ years, Quality Specialist, Returning Outdoorsman after 5+ year Hiatus, Hot Rod addict Kay - Mom, Wife of 12+years, Sidetracked Home Executive, Public Relations Specialist, Wanna-be Do-gooder   Carter Michael - Oldest Child, Big Brother, 8 going on 18, reformed Wii addict, future marathon runner, future entrepreneur, Farmer   Hunter Kale - Middle Child, potential hot rod addict, baby entertainer, eyelash batter, all around trouble maker, professional pouter, loves to take care of his mommy   Graham Fisher - Baby Brother, makes the silliest faces, loves to make you laugh, currently working on perfecting a tantrum, wants to go SWING!

I was horrifed when I FINALLY logged into my Blogger account and realized that my last post had been in January 2012, and the post before that was 6 months prior! You see, with only one laptop in the house, and 3 hi-tech kids, 2 of which use the computer for their homework, I rarely ever use the laptop. I've resorted to using my iPhone for almost everything, yet for some reason I neglected to find a way to continue my blog online. Last week I found the Blogger app, and next week I'm upgrading my iPhone for a better camera. I should be able to easily keep the blog up to date with pics and details about the ongoings of our family. So, in 2011 - 2012, I basically used Facebook to keep everyone updated. In January of 2013, I decided to take a less active role in the whole FB world, as it seemed less and less people are actually keeping in touch that way. Below I am posting my favorite pics from my blogging sabbatical.   Graham attended Open House with his brothers in Nov of ...