lunch at the club

Posted on August 19, 2015 by Shanda

Another full day has come and gone. At this very moment, I am sitting on a wooden balcony of the big beautiful Sans Souci Cottage in a rocking chair with my tanned bare feet up on a small white table. The evening sky is a multitude of blues, marbled with gray clouds and one small streak of orange sunset. Amazingly loud cicadas are filling the air with their sounds. Mom and Dad walked by on the paved sidewalk underneath me and we said hello, then Amanda and her family, then Rich and the children. They are all returning from an evening swim at the pool which I was too tired to participate in. As I sit and look at the photos we took today, my heart is filled with gratitude for this State, this Island, the land of our vacation of dreams.

Most importantly, the family–my family–is continuing to grow and bond through loving hearts, words, play, laughter, food, prayers, small gifts, and joy — making memories underneath a big Georgia sky.

greetings from jekyll island

Posted on August 17, 2015 by Shanda

I changed the theme to the blog in order to post vacation photos nice and big!

We had a long drive from Connecticut to Georgia. This picture was taken at one of our many rest stops along the way.

Grace picked me some wild flowers.

I rode up front with Rich but switched seats with Jacob now and then so Seth could be with me. He lost his first tooth!

We ate at a frozen yogurt place.

And then we all made it to the Island. We arrived on Sunday afternoon…my parents, my siblings, and all their families. The pool has been the main attraction so far. It’s so special to see all the cousins together.

Ethan showed his Grandma (my mom) a picture of the girl he likes.

The kids all loved hanging off Uncle Nate.

Yesterday evening we had a fantastic dinner at the restaurant at the pier.

My brother Nate.

My sister Amanda.

We have rooms at the San Souci, a big beautiful old building.

The beach was stunning last night.

My son Ethan.

Me and Sarah

Caleb had his light sabers taken away shortly after this photo because Seth was hit very hard in the mouth with one. Thankfully he was fine and today he just has a slightly swollen upper lip. But it was a bad moment and we left soon afterwards because it was starting to get dark. Seth had taken his jersey off, when I asked him where it was he said he had buried it! After wandering for a while Rich found it.

brother Dave

push ups!

This morning we went to some of the little shops in the historical section of the island.

“the day was quite warm and we walked along leisurely……”

We went through the museum and watched a video about the Island.

They were playing with an old telephone.

Seth, my Dad, my Mom, and Caleb

Seth and Gregory in one of the gift shops.

Caleb with his Grandma

My brother Isaac and brother in law Jason coincidentally wore the same clothes today.

We met a little dog named Lady at the shopping center.

Grace read books in the Jekyll Island lending library.

David was determined to catch one! When he caught it, it was brown, then it turned green in his hand.

We were all hanging out at the pool and I caught this sweet moment when David came back over to join us he went straight to his brother and patted him on the head.

We are currently on the balcony off my sister’s room. Mom french braided Naomi’s hair, and then Makayla’s.

And the little ones played a game with their little toes.

We are talking about what to do for dinner. I had fried shrimp and sweet potato fries for lunch and am not very hungry, but all the boys need some food.

hi

Posted on August 13, 2015 by Shanda

Last night, when I was already in bed, Dave brought in a toad to show me….and it promptly hopped under it.

He returned covered in dust and fuzz.

We cleaned him up and Dave set him free.

This morning my little Caleb went to the hair salon with me.

I asked him if I looked weird and told him to tell the truth…..”yes”……

We went to Moe’s for lunch. I had two steak tacos with pinto beans, grilled mushrooms, sour cream, guacamole, cheese, salsa, cilantro, and chipolte ranch dressing.

I told him he was one of the best boys in the world.

We walked hand in hand to the bookstore. He said, “You should do a blog about this and call it ‘A Fun Day With Mom.'” He mentioned my blog because he was reading it while he waited for my hair to get done.

We went to the bookstore and he asked me for a Darth Vador light saber and I said yes. (did you notice the shirt he was wearing in the “moe’s” picture?)

We stopped to pick up forms from the doctor’s office and then went to the school to drop one off. When we came home I went outside to go for a walk and saw Ethan and Grace walking home with the neighbor girls.

Dave was with me. We had a nice time together looking at all the creatures. He pointed at a honeybee and caught a big grasshopper.

We have a small swampy pond in the bushes next to the garage that Dave wanted to look in, and sure enough he saw several bull frogs.

There was one a pretty chicken,
but his friends were pretty few,
For he thought that there was nothing
in the world but what he knew.

~Marion Douglas

We went back in the house with two fresh eggs and found Jacob just about to leave for the neighbor’s house, to mow the lawn for him.

We are leaving tomorrow to drive to Georgia. We have Michael coming to stay in the house and take care of the animals for us and Emily will be coming over now and then, too.

Things are actually pretty organized in my mind…..on the table is a collapsable cooler (black) that I bought at Costco to hold cold food for the drive down. I made potato salad and will take cheese sticks and fruit. There is a second cooler for drinks. There are granola bars and applesauce pouches in the rubbermaid containers and I bought 24 single serving cups of mandarin oranges. I have a bag of spoons and a bag of forks, hand wipes, a bag of first aid supplies, laundry detergent packets, & another of bathroom supplies. The clothes on the chair are Jacob’s and the ones in the basket are David’s. I need them put into suitcases tonight along with Ethan’s clothes on the table.

Sarah’s suitcase has 8 outfits in it, shoes, and her swim floats.

I wrote names and numbers on each bag so I knew how many outfits I had completed. Each bag has a shirt, a pair of shorts, underpants, and socks. In a couple bags I put an extra long sleeved shirt and a pair of pants in case it gets cooler at nights. I’m only packing 2 pairs of pajamas per person. I am hoping to be able to do some laundry while we are gone. I can’t believe I just wrote that.

I am packing bags of electronics. One bag holds Sarah’s leapster with games and the children’s headphones, another one holds 2 kindles and the charger with another pair of headphones. I also have a bag with the DS’s, games, and charger. Jacob and Ethan will have their iPhones. I spent some time storing audio books on my kindle…Mary Poppins was one of them.

These are the books I am taking for myself. I was worried that I wouldn’t find a book to get lost in during vacation but I started The Night Circus last night and it’s reading really well and interestingly. Very imaginative and creative. I find myself smiling over the author’s fresh word style. I respect her writing and so far am enjoying the book. The top one is my Bible in a Year Bible that has a reading for each day of the year, I love it. There is a portion of OT, NT, Psalms and a few verses of Proverbs every day.

It’s the end of the day now (well, it’s 7pm) and I’m very tired. I hope to put my pj’s on early and go lay on the couch for a while with a big glass of tea, perhaps. I’m feeling very drained but excited to finally get the packing done (I have done most of it all by myself.) There are a few more odds and ends to finish up tomorrow. We have rented a 12 passenger van so please pray for our safety. The van came with a print out warning us all about roll-overs so I’m pretty much convinced we’ll have one. I hate being a worrier, although I am forever thankful for God’s grace in the midst of my messy-beautiful-scary life.

and they also went to Brussels

Posted on November 12, 2014 by Shanda

(The Atomium)

(The Grand-Place)

(Manneke Pis)

The World is a book,
and those who do not travel
read only a page.
~St. Augustine

Dave and Maria went on a high speed train from France to Brussels, Belgium. They spent the day wandering about, and exploring. They ate waffles and chocolate. In the evening, the buildings lit up and glowed like stars.

*****

dave and maria went to paris

Posted on November 10, 2014 by Shanda

(music for listening!)

Hello, dear friends! It’s about 55 degrees here with sunshine….I should be outside, but after a busy weekend and busy morning I am perfectly content to be in comfy clothes (baggy sweater, yoga pants, socks), inside my cozy living room, with curled up sleeping cats on the couch with me. It’s quiet! Sarah is napping.

I had a nice chat with my brother Dave this afternoon. He and his wife Maria recently returned from two weeks in Paris. He had promised to share pictures with me and he’s already sent me over one hundred digital photos….I looked at them all several times….feeling sort of, envious, but mostly heart-happy to have world travelers in the family. Can a mom of seven be a world traveler at this point? No. But I can live vicariously through Dave and Maria. They had such a good time, I love the photos, and Dave said I could share them here with you. Enjoy!

*****

Notre Dame Cathedral

The Louvre Palace and the Pyramid

He said the Mona Lisa is still attracting people like a rock star. They got up to it, took a couple quick pictures and then continued on…….

so fun

Catacombs of Paris, very sad place indeed.

the majestic Versailles::

Marie Antoinette’s bedroom:

my personal favorite picture of Dave:

and favorite picture of Maria:

The Sarcophagus of Napoleon Bonaparte::

Rodin Museum; The Thinker Statue

The Thinker statue

more wonderful art

onion soup! Dave said he had it (his favorite) about 6 times…..delicious, outside by the street, with a bottle of wine in an ice bucket and his beautiful wife, how can life get better in a moment like this?

black cat in a cemetery

Thanks to all the miles and miles of walking he said he didn’t gain any weight even with so many Paris treats.

(this is where I was envious)…..fabulous bookstore “Shakespeare and Company” !!!!! ^^

Tomorrow I will share their pictures from Belgium. xo

PLEASE FORGIVE any errors in this post, I am not a *City of Paris expert* and I quickly googled information to go with Dave’s fabulous photography.

Have you been to Paris?

PS. Thia, I wrote you back (and mailed) today!

and, Joanne, I received your letter! thank you!

your friend on a zip line

Posted on October 2, 2014 by Shanda

Rich and I went to Orlando with Caleb and Seth this summer. I have already blogged about the majority of our vacation except for the fact that we went zip lining. Gatorland doesn’t allow people to zip line with personal phones or cameras, so our group was photographed by a Gatorland photographer. We purchased the CD of all the photos, and I just got them saved to my computer this past weekend.

When Rich told me that the activity for our group was zip lining, I didn’t say anything. I was thinking that it would be a very easy thing for me to get out of. It was an activity primarily for him and his team (from work) and I imagined I would explore the rest of the park while they had their excitement, which to me sounded exactly like a panic attack waiting to happen.

But somehow, maybe it was peer pressure, I found myself being pulled along with the whole group, until I was in the building signing consent forms for myself and my two little boys, and then watching the educational video and listening to the bearded young men teasing us about what was about to happen.

I felt like I was going to faint or wet my pants or cry, and I looked at my excited sons’ faces and thought what kind of mother am I??

But still I kept going with it!! I didn’t want to make a scene, so perhaps it was pride that made me zip line that day.

I wasn’t the only one fearful, several of the others were obviously unsure of the whole thing, so that was one small comfort. However, the whole group loved having the boys with us, because they were so cute and truly inspired us scared adults. “IF THEY can do it I can do it!!”

“Clip in and ‘zip’ off on an exciting outdoor adventure with the all-new Screamin’ Gator Zip Line at Gatorland Your journey will take you along 1,200 feet of high flying, heart pounding adventure from some of the finest zip line towers in the world. Standing over seven stories tall, these amazing towers feature multilevel launch pads and breathtaking views from high above the treetops.” ~from the brochure

After walking up several flights of stairs we took turns getting hooked up and watching each other zip along….this is dear Caleb.

As a mother, it was hard for me to see them do this activity, but I was proud of them, and knew they were in good hands.

They will never forget this experience, I know.

Tiny Seth sometimes felt as though he wouldn’t make it to the other end, his body didn’t gain the speed necessary to go as fast as he wanted to.

He looked concerned.

Rich loved it.

I held on for dear life.

The worst thing was the bearded young men and their teasing. One time they got me hooked up, let me go off the platform, and as I zipped away, he leaned after me yelling, “No, WAIT!!” It took a moment to realize he was joking, and that moment was terrifying.

They took another group photo at the next platform. We’re all happy we survived the first run.

If you click on the photo, you can see it larger. These were the best photos of us…over the gators!

I’m thankful for Rich because if it weren’t for him I would not be having such an exciting life.

They were encouraging us all to let go and pose for the camera but I didn’t remember until I was almost to the end of the line.

There was a bearded young man waiting to catch me.

(they all had beards! LOL)

Click on this to see Caleb’s adorable face!! I asked him this morning if he would ever zip line again and he yelled “YES! OF COURSE I WOULD!”

My baby boy.

He waved!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can’t stand the cuteness.

Seth going in for the landing…….after these two zip lines there were more to do but no more pictures were taken.

Just writing this post increased my heart rate.

*****

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” — Mark Twain

There have been many times when I refused to do something because it was scary. I will never be a daring adventurous person, but it does feels good to say yes sometimes, experience something new, and have the joy of making a fantastic memory.