Spring Break Adventures

Oh the joy of Spring Break. You can tell that it is getting to be the end of the school year, the kids are getting antsy and ready for a break from school. This year Tyler & Kaelyn's spring break fell late in the year. When they go back to school next week they will only have three (yes I said three) weeks of school left. All right, on to the adventures of the first part of our spring break (the second part will come in a later post). After Church on Sunday we went to the vacation condo that my in-laws have. On Monday we visited the Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI) in Tampa. We purposefully did not tell the kids where we were going until we started out on Monday, (if we say anything about where we are going or what we are going to be doing they drive us crazy with all kinds of questions or complaining about something we have planned) they thought we were going to be taking them to a theme park with all kinds of rides, to which we continued to tell them "no that is not what we have planned". When we did tell them where we were headed to Tyler says, "I figured when you said we weren't going to a theme park that we must be going somewhere educational." I asked him if he was upset that we were going to MOSI instead and he replied, "No, I like museums."

When we got to the MOSI we paid our fee to tour the museum, (the four of us got in for the price of one adult to go to a theme park) which included touring the museum, the IMAX theatre film, the planetarium show, and the Kids In Charge area (a hands on area for kids to explore, really neat). Anyway, back to arriving, after paying our admission one of the first things we saw was this LEGO display, now for those of you who don't know my Tyler, he absolutely loves LEGO'S. He has several big rubber maid containers full of LEGO'S. Tyler loves to build and wants to be an engineer when he gets older.

One of the areas we visited was called Diasterville. This was a part of the museum that showed how weather affects our surroundings. There was a room that you could go into that resembled a basement and there were TV screens that showed the outside of a home and what happens when a tornado is coming through. We went in there and let me just tell you, I have never personally experienced being in an area when a tornado came through and I don't ever want to either. The sounds were what I imagine would be so real like. There was a place where you could sit a computer and make up your own disaster story in a newspaper, and you could also be a weather forecaster. I didn't get any on those things on camera, (my battery died in the camera). We were able to get pictures of us as community helpers in diasterville.

Kaelyn, myself and Tyler

Chuck, Kaelyn & Tyler

Next we moved on over towards the Kids In Charge area. There was just so much hands on stuff for us to do there. We all had a good time in this area.

The planetarium show was really neat. There was a short video on the mission to Saturn and then we got to see what Monday nights sky would look like. Monday night we were able to look up into the night sky and see the stars that were pointed out to us earlier in the day. If you have never really looked at the stars at night, I encourage you to go out on a clear dark night and do some star gazing. What a beautiful master piece that God has designed for our viewing pleasure. There is no way that we would ever be able to count all the stars in the sky but God knows everyone of them, he put each on into place.

On Tuesday we took the kids down to the pool and we all went swimming until lunch time. After lunch we went down to the boat ramp just past the beach and unloaded the kayak's. We went kayaking and were able to see about a dozen dolphins swimming and playing with one another. As Kaelyn and I were paddling our kayak, Chuck asked me if I saw the manatee, of course I missed it. Apparently we paddled right past it and didn't even notice it. We did do some fishing, however it was not a successful fishing trip. We caught absolutely nothing. It was so nice out there, the water was so calm and peaceful there were very few clouds in the sky. Then all of the sudden the wind kicked up and the waves came upon us, let me tell you it is not an easy task to paddle and get where you want to go to when the wind and waves are pushing you the other way. We finally got to an area where Chuck could get out of his & Tyler's kayak and he was able to walk and pull both kayak's to an area where we were able to start paddling again and got our kayaks to shore. It was a little scary but there is nothing like a good adventure. Sorry I have no pictures of the kayak trip, you know water and my camera don't go to good together.

I will have another post in a few days of the rest of our spring break adventures.

Happy Birthday!

First off let me say that this is going to be a pretty long post. There is just so much to say today and yes I have posted pictures with it too.

Wow, where do I begin. Not only is today my birthday, I happened to celebrate it on the day that we recognize the Resurrection of our LORD. What an honor that is. My husband did ask me this morning if my birthday had ever fell on Easter before, yes it has but to be honest with you I can't quite recall when the last time it was.

As we were getting ready for Church this morning my family presented me with the sweetest birthday cards. I always look forward to the cards my husband and kids pick out for me. I know that Chuck likes the comical ones, but most of the time he gets the ones that conveys a sweet message to me. I'm sure he won't mind me sharing with you what the message was:"For my wife, I never have been good about telling you "I love you" enough or complimenting you as much as I should...but I hope somehow you know how glad I am to be your husband and that I love you more than anything else in the world." I thought that was one of the sweetest cards that I have ever gotten from him and what a great thing to read first thing in the morning. Now my kids always opt for the funny greeting cards, no matter who they are getting them for. Kaelyn couldn't let me have a card without writing her own heart felt sentiment on the inside. She writes "I love you soooo much and I want to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY. I love you!!" She is such a sweet little girl, oh my how much I love her and thank God that I was blessed with her as a daughter. Okay, now on to the card from my fun loving son Tyler. For those of you who know Tyler, you know that he is just a bundle of laughs, (I really mean that, he is always laughing about something. Tyler brings so much joy to our days, Thank you LORD for giving him to us, he is such a great person to be around. I pray that he will continue to seek you in all that he does.) all right on to his card for me. It reads "There are two kinds of Birthday cards! One is crammed full of money - and the other makes you LAUGH!" Then when you open the card there is a picture of a monkey with a party hat on making a funny face with the words "Guess which kind this is?" As I was reading the card, Tyler stood there watching me with this big 'ole smile on his face and as I opened the card up he started laughing so hard that he had tears in his eyes. That's my Tyler :) Thanks to my husband and kids for a great day.

After church service this morning we gathered at my Mom & Dad's house for our traditional Easter dinner and also to celebrate my birthday. My sister baked and decorated a cake for me. It tasted so good!

The cake my sister made for me.

My family is such a giving family. My parents gave me some new "jammies", can't wait to get it washed and wear it. Then my sister gave me a Yankee Candle, rain washed scent. Oh my, it smells so good.

Crystal also gave me a gift that I will have to wait until June to get it. She bought tickets for her and I to go see Chonda Pierce. I am looking forward to that. Crystal apparently called Chuck to make sure we didn't have anything going on for that specific date and then ordered the tickets. That husband of mine can keep a secret for sure. I never knew anything about it until I opened my gifts today. Thank you sooo very much Crystal, I am so excited about our upcoming girls night out to see Chonda.

You know we have some pretty special people in our Church. They are continually praying for our family as we travel down the ministry road. They are always giving us words of encouragement. Today I was blessed by several ladies in our church. Mrs. Marie baked me a tray full of cookies and also added some candy to the tray. Then Mrs. Judy gave me a cute little purse with a very sweet and encouraging card. There was also a little notepad and pen in the purse. You know I think that these ladies are precious, even if there had been no gifts they would still have a special place in my heart!

Philippians 4:13

What a great day! Thank you all for helping me celebrate my birthday.

Sisters

For those of you who don't know, I keep my sister Crystal's two little boys a couple of days each week. On Wednesday I was at her house to keep Waylon & Wyatt, before Crystal came home from work she called and said that she had to stop by the store and pick up a few things and then she would be on her way home. When she arrived home, she had this beautiful bouquet of Tulips for me. No it was not a special occasion (although I will be having a birthday on Sunday) she just thought of me when she saw them at the store and knew that I would absolutely love them. Which of course I did. You know little things mean a lot when it comes to sisters. It doesn't matter what either one of us is going through, the other one is always there ready with a listening ear. We have shared laughs, secrets and even tears with one another. Crystal has seen me at my worst and at my best and loves me anyway. I am so very thankful that she is my sister. I once read that "There's a special kind of freedom sisters enjoy. Freedom to share innermost thoughts, to ask a favor, to show their true feelings. The freedom to simply be themselves." How true this is of my sister and me.