Kona

Kona Skate Park is 

It is the oldest surviving skatepark in the US.

(Good to know)

AND... it's right here in Jacksonville, Florida!

If you are looking for a new adventure for your kid and live in this neck of the woods, you should check it out.

Elijah loves to skate. 

He is so smart and a good listener.

Danielle hooked him up with a 1 hour beginner lesson.

When we left that day,

he was a pro skating down this ramp.

I was proud.

The next day,

when Pops took him he was skating down "the snake."

Its a long, downhill winding trail.

Impressive?

I know!!

By the end of our week,

he was skating everywhere.

Truth! This kid can do anything.

There is more information on their website.

http://www.konaskatepark.com

We went several days because it isn't far from our house.

We skated an hour one day and it began to rain.

I silently thanked the Lord because I was ready.

Elijah could stay all day.

They gave us a rain check to come back.

Classy!

They are very helpful and clean and offer a nice concession.

I can recommend their slushies.

Hope you are having an amazing day!

Love to all!

Camp Stewart

 Before heading back to school,

we had our grandkids for a few days .

From the moment I found out they were coming.
I had been planning an exciting adventure.

So many plans, so little time.

I began by making lists and lists of ideas, 

places to go, food to eat 

and how to make each thing special for them.  

The challenge is the boy who a non-stop,
 always running 9 year old. 
The other extreme is a Miss Priss 

who is the baby and 5, 

who loves Barbie and snuggling.
The goal...
to make every one happy.

First and foremost,

every good party must have presents.

I filled a bag for each child.

I loved watching them dig through the bags 

about a second after they arrived.

I filled the bags with snacks, game books, toothbrushes,

and toys that I thought each of them would love.

I had Danielle cut out their monograms 

for new hair supplies.

I stocked the fridge.

I stocked the pantry.

Since I do not have enough extra rooms in the house,

I made a sleeping pallet for the girls.

I bought rectangle pool floats for mattresses.

I gathered every quilt I own to make it comfy.

It was like magic.

They all slept with me.

Ha!

On day 1

we had crafts. 

We painted zombies to hang around the house.

I was thinking of the boy

when I chose zombies.

He spent more time on his skateboard.

Us girls had a good time.

We designed and painted t-shirts the next day but apparently,

I was having so much fun that I forgot to get some pictures.

Duh!

We did our hair.

Sweetest thing

our Dani is.

Elijah made me a MiMi.

He has my heart.

We took the Ferry across the river for seafood.

Dani wanted fried fish.

She ordered chicken strips.

Go figure.

Kacey designed her shirt.

Mark came up with a scavenger hunt game.

He is so good at these things.

Thank you honey.

Here he is giving the instructions.

It was a close game but in the end,

Elijah was the winner.

We had several hours of fun by the pool.

I will tell you more in another blog.

It was so fun.

The key is to plan, plan, plan.

Mark always says, 

"if you fail to plan, plan to fail."

I think over planning is a good idea.

Watch for another episode of the fun we had

at Camp Stewart.

Until I see you again,

I'm going into my cocoon to recoup.

(google images)

Boating, Tubing, Boating...BAM!

Let me begin with the end of our Saturday scary, fun, excitement.

After a long day playing on the river,

our neighbor, who just recently bought a beautiful brand new fast boat, drove up to our dock and asked Mark & I if we wanted to go for a ride with him and his girlfriend.

Turns out there was a fireworks display to welcome summer at the Jacksonville Landing.

"We'd love to!" was my response.

Without a thought, we both jumped in the boat and off we went.

I am not a boater, definitely not a night boater.

We were flying. I looked at Mark to see if he had concern and he looked like he was enjoying it and so I didn't worry (too much).

We got to the Landing just in time to see the beautiful fireworks display. I loved seeing all the downtown life with live bands and people everywhere. I didn't have my phone with me so I didn't get any pictures but it was a fun time.

I found this photo online and it was taken right where we were.

Jacksonville Landing

Anyhow, we headed back to our home. It was so nice flying along. I had my arms out like Titanic, just taking in the breeze and the beautiful lights shining on the water, when all of a sudden, I noticed the water turned black. Bam! We hit a sandbar. It was not good. Honestly, I wasn't at all worried because it wasn't my fault and it wasn't my boat. 

My poor neighbor on the other hand was not happy.

He jumps out to see if he can move us. He then announces for us to get out and see if we can budge it, to which  I replied, 

"me?!!" 

Grant it, it was only 3" deep but there was no moon, the grass was 4 feet tall, and I could hear things. 

Turns out, this boat was not budging. 

The worst part was the bird size mosquitoes. 

They were eating us alive. 

Finally, 2 hours and $1300 later, he called and got us a tow. 

We learned a valuable lesson about all the sandbars in the river. 

I shall never boat at night again. 

He wasn't a rookie but got caught up with how amazing his new boat was and forgot what he knew and got off course. 

Thankfully, it was high tide because if it had been low tide, Mark says we would have been thrown from the boat. We walked in the door 3:30 a.m. being very thankful.

Earlier in the day, we played on Jeff and Margie's boat all day long. It was so fun.

Mark and I went tubing.

side note: (I told my doctor that this morning and he was impressed.)

Eli and Kacey did the knee board.

They are both getting good.

That's my Saturday in a nutshell.

Did you have play too?

Hope so!

Is Anyone Hot?

 Happy Friday everyone!

Hope you have big plans for the weekend or better yet, 

plans to relax and enjoy the weekend.

It has been in the 90's here in North Florida.

Whew!

I don't know how people did it years back without central air.

Can you imagine sleeping in your sweat?

yuck

and no thank you

and count me out.

I have been mowing today.

It's a push mower.

Don't feel sorry for me.

I stop often enough.

It is a little embarrassing. 

I found a boat on a virtual yardsale sight that I follow.

Mark was out of town.

For some reason, I am able to shop when he is away.

It was a bargain but now I need a motor.

How was I supposed to know what motors cost?

I am a woman on a mission.

Looking is half the fun.

I will keep you posted.

I got Eli to stop long enough to get a picture.

He goes a mile a minute.

Oh for that energy.

I really do hope you have a great weekend!

Birthday Fun For Elijah

This boy is 9!

We celebrated Elijah's birthday 

on the river this year.

It was the perfect spot for some boys to be boys.

 G-Pa and Daniel pulled them around the river all day.

Dani watched from the dock.

The watermelon cut in the shape of a shark was a big hit.

Abi made the eyes out of tootsie rolls.

We put our slide up for added fun.

Go Kacey!

What did I get?

Could it be another fidget spinner?

Of course!

I have a few videos and thought I'd share.

Just click on the arrow and it should play.

Noni and G-Pa got him a hover-board.

How fun is that?

It was a big hit.

Time for cake!

Happy Birthday to you!

And this is how we all felt at the end of the day.

I didn't want to get all mushy and gushy about my firstborn grandsons birthday.

Just know that I sure could go on and on about how I adore him and how the day he entered this world was the best day ever.

He is a special boy who has my heart.

God is so good and I am so blessed.

4-H Projects

The county fair is in town right now and 

the 4-H club the kids are involved in 

encouraged entering a project.

Each kid got to choose what they wanted to enter.

They handed in their projects this week.

Elijah chose photography.

He has a good eye for pictures.

So impressive!

Kacey loves anything artsy. 

She loves to paint, color, draw, write and anything that is creative.

She chose to do a sewing project for her entry.

She sewed this adorable bag she plans to carry her 

Bible to church in.

She did it all by herself on a sewing machine.

Yeah Kacey!

Dani loves baking.

She decided to bake cookies for her entry.

The whole family benefited from her choice.

Her favorite part is getting to lick the beater.

Can't blame her! 

Had to add this shot of Elijah at the 

Georgia State Fair last week.

Looks like a natural.

We haven't gotten the results from their entries.

It was rewarding for me to witness their excitement in creating something all by themselves.

Sweetest Grandkids

A couple weekends ago I headed north on I-75 with 

Dani & Abigail in the backseat.

What would have been a long boring drive 

turned out to be filled with laughing, singing 

and too many to count bathroom breaks. 

We sang and giggled for most of the 6 hour trip.

We were on our way to the State horseshow.

Kacey, Elijah and Danielle had accumulated enough points

to earn them a position in the State championship.

I had to stop by Hartsfield International Airport 

to pick up Mark along the way.

Imagine my surprise as we passed the 

Georgia National Fairgrounds

 2 hours before we got to Atlanta. Whew!

I don't know why I thought it was closer to Atlanta.

Oh well, the girls were good sports when they realized 

we had to drive 4 hours out of the way.

What a Happy Meal will buy!

This was Kacey's first year to qualify for State.

I am so proud of her.

Her competitiveness and determination is impressive. 

Sweet girl!

This was also Elijah's first year to State.

I am so proud of him.

He remembered all the teaching and practicing 

he has worked on all year.

I love to watch the kids progress each year.

My sweet boy.

We stayed nearby in a hotel and spent the days at the fairgrounds.

We rented golf carts and played the whole weekend.

There were dog shows and goat shows.

Several ponds to catch fish.

Danielle's parents are pro's at these events.

They had enough food for an army.

They had tents set up with a big ole TV 

because we had to have football.

It was the opening weekend for college ball.

Mark & I were in heaven hanging with these sweeties all weekend.

Mark & I headed home before Danielle's ride.

Thankfully, I got a video.

She amazes me!

It was a special weekend.

The kids are already excited about next year.