Wendy's World

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)

Tampa Road Trip

On one of Mark's recent business trips to Tampa,

we decided to bring the girls with us.

I don't know who had more fun, the girls or this MiMi.

When we checked in,

they had a treasure box for kids to choose whatever they wanted.

What a great hotel!

The hotel was 8 stories and the inside was all open so you could see

everywhere.

They enjoyed the freedom I gave them while I watched them roam around from floor to floor and especially the glass elevator.

We went shopping and I let them try on whatever clothes the wanted in TJMaxx for 2 hours.

Girls are so easy and fun.

Abi HAD to have this Barbie.

Dani is such a great mother.

She got a new doll.

She tended to her new baby every minute of the day.

The baby ate better than she did.

New goggles.

On our shopping day,

we also got hair cuts.

Talk about fun!

I know it's a cliche

but they are growing up way to quickly!!

What a gift I have been given!

In other news,

Enough already!!

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!

Beach Baptism

This is our first year at our church.

We love absolutely everything about it.

Mark and I volunteered a couple weeks ago

to help with the yearly Beach Baptism.

We had no idea what to expect.

We showed up at the beach

at 7:00 a.m.

We had our teal volunteer tee shirts on.

We had our umbrella, our little cooler

and our two fold-up chairs.

We get out there and began putting up the

many canopies the church had provided.

The church was very organized

and had lots of volunteers so it was fun and easy.

When everything was set up,
volunteers began to set their own tents up.
Mark and I didn't get that memo.