Vacation Part 2

After, the Naval Aviation Museum (and lunch at Hardee's!!)we went to Pensacola Beach. It has much clearer water and an awesome pier that provides free shade on the beach. The kids played on the beach and collected shells. We saw a few jelly fish but no one got stung. Our friend, Christy is from Pensacola and was there visiting her mom. She invited us to a real shrimp boil. We went to the fish market and even saw the fishing boats right outside.

We drove to Christy's mom's and Caleb fell asleep in the car(at five in the evening). He slept through the entire visit. We had AWESOME shrimp and corn and potatoes and homemade hush puppies!!! I don't even like shrimp and I loved this. Of course, none of our kids would touch it so they had fries and chicken nuggets. The kids had fun playing with their friends (Christy's kids) and it was a nice change of pace. We headed home as it was getting dark and Caleb finally woke up. On the way home, we found the Florida state line for a picture. That night all the guys played guitar hero and Caleb stayed up until 12pm with the big boys (due to his late nap). He really bonded with Scooter and Dillon and had a balst being BIG.

Monday, Caleb woke up in our bed, as usual. He laid back on Kirk and crossed his arms and said"What's Up" in this really ultra cool voice. We decided to go on a Dolphin boat ride in the afternoon. We saw a baby dolphin and two dolphins "dancing." We took pictures of the dolphins but most of them ended up just being water. We are hoping to get some still shots from the video. It was fun but very hot and long. The boat also took us back into a bayou to see alligator paths and wild birds. The driver of the boat let all the kids "drive" the boat. Caleb is the only one who actually moved the steering wheel. He thought it was cool to drive.

Vicki, Dillon, Scooter, Stephan, Jessica, Mark, Jennifer, Kylie, Kirk, Caleb

Front: Karissa, Hannah, Cara, Aidan & Ella

After the boat trip, we headed home to grill burgers and make smores. Then we headed to the beach to see the sunset and play in the sand at night. The beach was very relaxing. Kirk and Scooter and his daughter took off for a bare foot run down the beach. Caleb and I sat on the beach and listened to the waves come in. The girls dug huge holes to catch the water. Caleb and I headed back first, we rinsed off in the pool and headed to bed.

Tuesday, we headed to the surf shops so the kids could buy souvenirs. The girls are feeding the neighbors dogs and checking his mail for the whole month of June. So they all had money they had earned to spend. We went to the most ostentatious shops around. One had a sharks mouth for an entrance and the other had a huge octopus over the door. The kids picked their treasures and we headed home for lunch on the beach. We packed a picnic and headed to the beach. Christy and her kids drove down for the afternoon so the kids got to play with their friends from Texas again.

After naps and dinner we cleaned up and headed to the Wharf. It was a bit touristy but still fun. We rode a huge ferris wheel and had ice cream and a leisurely stroll. It was fun to be out of the condo and off the beach for awhile. Karissa opted to not ride the ferris wheel and chose Starbucks over ice cream! We headed home and the adults stayed up until after 2 am playing Phase 10. Vickie was the champion of the trip!!

Wednesday, our last morning Jessica and I decided to get up at sunrise and collect shells. It was awesome. There was a storm a little ways off shore and I got some awesome pictures. We saw lightening and heard the thunder rumbling in the distance. Storms are very different on the beach than in Teaxas.

Isn't God Awesome!

It was also a great way to start out our day of 14 hours in the car. We collected shells for over an hour and headed back to feed the kids. We saw tons of jelly fish in the water and on the shore. I also saw a baby shark that a man had caught in a bucket. He was about 6 inches long and looked like a miniture shark. Jessica and I also found several whole sand dollars.

After breakfast and loading up we trekked back to the beach for a group shoy with the tees we made the kids.

We saw the sign for Brett Favre's family restaraunt (which no longer exists) and we drove through Kiln, MS(Favre's hometown). The trip took 14 hours and it was a long tough drive especially the last two hours. We arrived home at 1am and fell into bed. Our kids were up at 7 am and Kirk had to work. Welcome to the real world:)

The sun setting as we drove through Louisianna.

Beach Vacation

Pensacola Navel Aviation Museum

We missed the Louisianna sign but we'll catch it on the way back.

We were crazy to think leaving at 3AM with four kids was a good idea. Our children did not sleep!! I think the three youngest slept an hour of our 13 hour trip. The kids actually did great until about lunch time. We stopped every 3-4 hours to eat, or pee or whatever. When you are travelling with 9 kids and 6 adults no one ever needs to pee at the same time. The last 35 miles took us an hour or so to drive due to all the traffic. We went across some great bridges and one cool underwater tunnel. Needless to say, we were exhausted when we arrived. We checked out the beach and went to bed. Our condo is great and clean with plenty of room for the 10 of us. We are here with two other families from our church. Here is Gulf Shores, Alabama

Staurday, Kirk took all the kids to the beach while I went to the grocery store. I got home just in time to fix lunch and put Caleb down for a nap. His first reaction to the ocean was"Wow." Then he liked jumping the waves, until water got in his mouth. Then he just wanted us to stand in the water and hold him!! He had some issues with poop and swim suits and sand and major chaffing!! I finally made it down to the water around 3pm. It was hot and the kids were tired of the beach and wanted to go to the pool. There are jelly fish warnings right now and three of the kids in our group got stung. My kids are pretty freaked out and don't want to get in the water much(so is Kirk). Kirk's feet and legs got blistered. He didn't put sun block on his legs or feet because we don't at the pool but then he didn't get in the water (jelly fish) so his legs were exposed the whole time to the sun. He is in pain.

Today, we went to the Aviation Museum in Pensacola, florida. The Blue Angels have planes there and it was really cool. Caleb loved all the planes and ships.Then we drove to Pensacola beach to see a sand castle contest. The kids were sorta impressed but couldn't wait to get in the clear water. To be continued....(when I am not so tired).

What a crew!!

These are some awesome pics Memaw took at Kylie's graduation. We are all well and counting down until we leave for the beach. I am finished watching Peyton next Wednesday and we leave for the beach next Friday. I can't wait to be a four kid family again. We enjoyed seeing everyone in Wichita Falls last weekend and are looking forward to visiting again in June!!

Kylie's Graduation

Caleb at Kylie's graduation
Caleb's new bed and dresser (his name was alresdy on it)

Kylie after graduation & with her flowers from Memaw.

I have strep, again!!!! Just pics for now. Kylie's graduation was awesome. She did exaactly as she was supposed to and never once was scared or embarrassed. She had a speaking part and said the pledges and sang. I was very amazed and proud of her. Caleb ran around in the foyer the whole time. I found the bed and dresser at the same garage sale and paid $33 for both. All the kids love it. Caleb says he is sleeping in the sky. Kylie's pre school gave her all her school supplies for kindegarten. Wahoo!!

Kylie's Western Day

Caleb with Kylie
It was hard to get two kids with hats and a horse in the pic. Where's Kelly when I need her.
Our littl cowgirl

Kylie asked why they were having Western Day when the letter this week is Y. The horse couldn't make it on W week but the kids are used to the activities matching the letter for the week. I told her cowboys say "yeehaw." She thought I was really silly.

I took Caleb up to see the horse but he didn't want to sit on it. Then Kylie asked if he wanted to get on with her and he said yes. He will do anything for his "friend Tylie" as he calls her. Caleb loves Kylie's class. Her teacher lets him sit and color like a big kid. He isn't going to know what to do when Kylie is gone all day, everyday and I won't even have Peyton anymore. What ever will I do with only one kid!!!

Craziness

Kylie and Caleb ride a Rhino while at Putt Putt with Daddy.

Karissa and Katerina after her presentation.

Memaw...I think Caleb likes his Diego!!!
Karissa and Amanda after the talent show.
Caleb conquered his red truck
Cara with a monkey on her shoulder.

Life at the Wimberley household has been crazy. Last week, I had a vacation from watching Peyton. It was absolutely wonderful and just reinforced me wanting to stop watching her. It was wonderful to just focus on my kids. Karissa had an oral presentation on The Czech Republic to give on Wenesday. Kirk's parents and Aunt Katerina (who's from the Czech Republic) were able to come up for the day and hear her presentation and help her answer questions. Thank-you guys so much for coming. It meant a lot to Karissa for you to be here. Wednesday was also dress rehearsal for the talent show. So everyone got to see Karissa sing with her friend. I am going to try and put the video of Friday nights performance on here later but I have to get Kirk's help. Karissa did awesome. She didn't even seem nervous and they sounded great. The talent show was terrible long. Grandma Dee and Uncle Ralph and Aunt Linda came. Thanks for sitting through the whole thing for Karissa. She loved it that you were all there.

Caleb takes a bow

Today, Caleb was playing"fight" with his hammers. He uses them like num chucks(sp). Peyton and I were sitting on the floor watching and I clapped when he was finished. He walked over to his bed laid down his hammers and proceeded to do a formal bow and say thank-you. I have no idea where he gets these things. Then tonight at bed time Kylie was laying out her clothes for tomorrow so Caleb decided he needed to lay out his clothes, too. He picked out his truck t-shirt that"Memaw bought me" and some denim shorts and sandels. He is such a ham. Recently, while playing with Kirk he wiped his forhead adn said"whew"like he was all tuckered out. Anyway, I just wanted to jot these down before they get lost in the busyness of tomorrow.

Spring Break (for who?)

Caleb with his basket
Cara with her basket

When I asked Caleb to show me his eggs he tried to hide them behind his back and stomped off

Kylie and cousin Kaylee(sorry Sharon if I spelled this wrong) the girls are only 3 monthes apart

Karissa on easter morning
Kylie wouldn't even wake up to see what the Easter bunny brought her.

So, everyday I get on the computer and eagerly check out everyone's blogs and I am always disappointed when there is nothing new. Today, I realized there might be people out there checking mine and feeling the same way. Anyway, I just haven't felt like there has been much to blog about or there is so much going on I don't have time to blog. I guess I am more of a taker than a giver.

Here's a quick run down of our spring break, followed by pictures from spring break and Easter. Monday night Kirk's dad treated us to Horton Hears a Who!. I don't know which I enjoyed more watching Caleb watch the movie or watching the movie myself. This was Caleb's first time to go to a movie. Caleb sat on the edge of his seat through most of the movie and thought it was great to have his own drink and a twizzler in each hand. The girls enjoyed the movie and snacks, too. I loved the movie and was very impressed by how clen it was. Thanks Mike for giving us such a great family night.

Wednesday my mom called to say she was bringing my sister to a hospital in Dallas and could she stay the night with us. We took the kids to Chuck E Cheese and headed home to wait for my mom to arrive.

Thursday, I had a facial and massage (a Christmas gift from Peyton). The facial was heaven and the massage was the other place. I felt like someone beat me up for thirty minutes. Then I raced home, only to realize I had forgotten to let Linda's dogs out that morning. I forgot to mention we were dog sitting for a few days while they were in NY. Anyway, the dogs were really glad to see me and they left a few surprises for me to clean up. Then I raced home to be there when my friend dropped her kids off to play while she went to the doctor. Usually, it is a great arrangement and the kids play great together. Not this time, Kylie had a major meltdown and had to take a nap while her friend was here. Caleb was awakened from his nap after only 45 minutes. So, my friend came back and took my kids home with her so mom and I could drive to Dallas to visit my sister. Mom and I got back to Saginaw about 9:30 and headed to Walmart for breakfast food. Kirk's cousin Sharon and her family were staying the night with us because their son was at Cooks and they were tired of the motel. We ended up staying up until 12:00, talking.

Friday, Kirk was off for Good Friday so we hung out with his cousin for awhile. My mom left and headed for my brothers. Kirk and Karissa went to Six Flags and a Jeremy Camp concert. It was very crowded and Karissa didn't like any of the rides. She had fun just hanging out with Dad, thoughh. Friday night, our church had a Good Friday service. I worked in the nursery but Cara and Memaw got to attend a cool Last Supper. I forgot to mention Memaw arrived Friday afternoon. I am exhausted just writing all this down, how about you?After church we came home and learned that Sharon and her family were headed home. Their son had been released from Cooks and they were ready to sleep in their own beds.

Saturday, we took the kids to the Trinity river and on a mini train ride. Saturday night, Kirk had to practice and we had to do Easter things. We also had to play catch up because Cara lost a toothe Friday night and the tooth fairy didn't make it.

Sunday, it was COLD. All our spring deresses and sandels were pretty but not practical. I worked first service in the 2-5 yr old class and went to second service. After church, all Kirk's family came over for lunch and an egg hunt. We had left overs for dinner and I couldn't wait to get in bed. I can't belive I spent most of spring break waiting for school to start so we would have a routine. This summer I am going to have to create a routine or I think we might go crazy!!! So, if anyone is still reading this is what has been going on in the Wimberley household.

Today, Kylie and Cara had their teeth cleaned. Caleb was worried he was going to have to do it. He kept saying "mommy...not me." So the hygenist said "Caleb we are just going to look at your beautiful blue eyes today, not your teeth." So what does Caleb do..he squints his eyes shut and tries to keep them closed so she can't see them. I am not looking forward to his first check-up, although I think the new toorh brush will help!!

Snow

Well our one Big snow of the year finally arrived. (sorry Kelly) It has rained, sleeted and snowed today. I think we probably got between 3-4 inches. Some other areas around us got up to 9 inches of snow. For those of you not from Texas, Texas shuts down with just ice or an inch of snow, so you can only imagine how everyone is freaking out.

Make a scrapbook - it's easy!

smile

We have been sick FOREVER!!!! I think truly since Kirk's marathon in Thanksgiving, someone has been sick. Cara is the latest with an ear infection in both ears. Kylie and Karissa had short illnesses and Caleb hasn't gotten sick at all. Karissa got her braces off yesterday. She officially finished Phase 1 of her orthodontic work. It's like building a housing development. They define each part of braces as a phase and you pay per phase. She has a permanent retainer until all her baby teeth fall out. Then they reevaluate and decide what Phase 2 needs to be. Her teeth look great and although she was nervous about getting them off, she did great. The second photo is what Kylie does when I tell her to go layout her clothes for the next day. Always a dress and usually a comple ensemble.