Board Game Extravaganza

Nate and Kate got some board games for Christmas. We spent most of January playing games.

Kathryn may not look like a serious Monopoly player, but without going easy on her, she won almost every game.

 Yep, this type of outfit is Kathryn's home attire.

Headbanz is so much fun to play with these kids.

 It's hilarious to hear Kathryn's "hints" about what picture is on our heads.

 Hilarious.

Great Grandchildren Get-Together

While we were back in Georgia in January, the great grandchildren got together for a little bouncy fun. This shot shows them all doing their thing.

 Time to go, but not before we all line up and take a picture of them!

New Year in Miami

We spent New Year's Eve day hanging out on the beach and strolling around Miami.

I could tell these two were going to be best friends after their first national park trip together in 2008. Nate was only 9 months old, but he had Paw-Paw hooked.

 NP Trip 2013/14

Another year washed away… and my kids are another year older. It's going by too fast!

Taking it all in.

Paw-Paw made sure to get every speck of sand off his little princess' feet so her shoes would be comfortable.

We came across a playground in South Beach that the kids couldn't pass up. This was another one of the highlights from the trip!

 Nate always has been a playground junkie.

We stopped for pizza for lunch. All that playing on the beach and playground must have made Boomba a hungry little girl. She ate all, but the crust.

Is there a such thing as too much technology? Not to Nate. He has his iPod and iPad nearby at all times. He is the reason Paw-Paw bought an iPod Touch and Lady has an iPhone. He calls them on FaceTime daily.

 Nate and Kate enjoyed the warm weather by taking swim.

Unbelievable. This is what Kathryn's hair looked like when she woke up that morning. Probably the worst bed head ever.

More random pictures from the trip…

On New Year's Eve, first Kate fell asleep, then Paw-Paw, then me, then Nate. I woke up to turn the TV off and looked at the clock to find Nate snoozing, but don't ever let him see this picture because he swears he stayed up until midnight. Look at the clock. It says 11:53 p.m.

 There's no shame in her game. She'll fall asleep whenever she feels like it.

I can't pass up a Long John Silver's when I see one. It's a good thing I don't live anywhere near one or else I would be huge. We ate there on New Year's Eve. We sat and chatted and told spooky stories. That's one of Kate's favorite things to do. Here she is telling one now. When things get serious she uses her "spooky" hand gesture.

Biscayne National Park 2014

My, oh my, where has the time gone? I haven't ever let 4 months pass without a post. I'll start where I left off and hopefully I can catch up sooner or later!

Paw-Paw, Nate and Kate and I combined our national parks trips for 2013 and 2014 into one trip. On January 1st we visited Biscayne National Park.

 Jumping off national park signs is their thing.

 Relaxing. Taking in the view.

 Sweet sibling love.

 Paw-Paw's perfect setting.

Listen closely to hear Kate telling Paw-Paw how it is...

 Sharing a moment.

 Kate and "Poppy." That's her cutesy name for Paw-Paw now.

Nate and Kate had enough view of the water, so we headed back to the grassy area for them to run and play. They had a blast together.

Sweet moment.

That makes seven national parks in seven years. Nate asked Paw-Paw not to stop taking him to parks after he turns 18. He wants to continue this forever. There it is in writing for Paw-Paw to pull up when Nate becomes a teenager.

Everglades 2013

Paw-Paw and Nate have managed to take a national park trip together every year since 2008. Their trip for 2013 was to the Everglades in Florida. Kathryn and I joined in on this trip. We're not about to pass up a trip to Miami! Parked the car, now we're on our way to the airport!

We were lucky to have even been able to take this picture. We just made the flight. After waiting in the slowest security checkpoint line ever, I grabbed Kathryn and told Nate to book it to our gate. We left Paw-Paw behind to finish getting his stuff together. We made it there just as they were closing the doors. The gate agent was telling me I didn't have time to wait for Paw-Paw to catch up. Nate was in panic mode. I finally caught a glimpse of Paw-Paw rushing down to the gate and Nate and I were standing there yelling, "Run Paw-Paw! Run Dad!" Most stressful airport experience ever. As I was still sweaty from running and carrying the kids and my luggage and, not to mention Kathryn too, the kids settled in nicely for the flight ahead. That will definitely be a part of the trip Paw-Paw and I will never forget.

We arrived in Miami!

 Flashy in her Fendi shades.

There it is #6!

We realized there are black panthers down there. Yikes!

 Checking out the visitor center.

One of the highlights of the Everglades-sitting on a bench drinking Sprites.

Then chugging it in the grass. An alligator could have creeped up behind her, but she wouldn't care because she was busy drinking her Sprite.

 Lazy boy.

 Paw-Paw with his travel buddies.

It was around here that I thought I saw an alligator. Just the mention of that made Nate take off running without looking back. He was all the way down the path headed for the visitor center before I even realized it. He was determined that he wasn't going to be dinner. He didn't think about the rest of us, he just knew it wasn't going to be him!

We stopped at a farmers market after the Everglades. Nate and Kate ate some gator jerky.

 We ate some of the juiciest fruit we've had in a long time. Nate and Kate love, love, love strawberries.

We bought a variety of fruits to try. If you ever see pears that supposedly taste exactly like chocolate pudding, don't try them. That was the most disgusting thing I have ever eaten. The starfruit was okay though.