Spring Break 2018: (Destin) Buccaneer Pirate Cruise

At some point early on in the week in Destin, Corbin found a travel brochure featuring the Buccaneer Pirate Cruise: a 90 minute pirate themed boat ride. He and Aaron then began their campaign that this would be worth the exorbitant booty we would have to surrender to get our shanty crew on board. I forfeited my opinion and Aaron was beyond delighted to tell the children he made a reservation. 

Do you know how I feel about boats? 

How about keeping track of 7 children, while out on a boat that’s sailing out on open water? This activity was absolutely not my first choice for “family bonding” and you better believe I had to pray for strength to go!  I put on my toughest Pirate wench smile and pretended that this Pirate Cruise was the best idea ever, that I loved boating, wasn’t terrified of a kid falling off the pier that had set rails or safety restraints, and yo-ho-ho’d myself on board. I truly only went because I know I’m a crazy strong swimmer and the odds of everyone surviving were significantly higher than if I stayed home. 

I had extremely low expectations, but didn’t need to. It was awesome! Perfect for the ages of our little mates. They loved every minute, except for Sloane, who buried her face into my chest and remained in my arms, wrapped in a security blanket most of the time.  The twins got nervous once we left the harbor and headed out to sea. But really, aside from nerves and sea legs, this was so fun. It was basically had a two man show and they had a constant flow of fun for the kids. The kids went on a hunt for treasure below deck, swabbed the deck, got Pirate “tattoos”, danced, played some games, had sword and squirt gun fights, sang a few songs, and pulled a treasure chest from the ocean. Great fun. These kids are so lucky they have such a fun dad who says yes to this sort of thing. It really was worth it and months later is still nearly everyone’s favorite part of the spring break trip!  

Quincy’s International Report

Quincy has worked hard on an international travel project all school year. She abd her friend/partner, Sarah H,  were chosen with several others to go on a field trip to first Friday and special lunch on the bentonville square. 

This project has consumed many study hours after school and I’d be lying if I said I’m not sad for this to be over. Quincy has worked very hard and it shows. I went to the international exhibit at her school and she loved showing me all of her friends and their projects, too. Good work, kids!

Pinewood Derby 2018

Llleeeeeet’sss Get Ready to RRRUMMMMBLLLLLLE! 

Friday night was the pack 515 Pinewood Derby.  Corbin made his car with Aaron and my Dad.  Corbin ride proudly on 3 axles that were sanded and lubed abd loaded with strategically placed weights. Corbin got the “richest car” award. 

I love the progression of photos when Corbin realizes his car did not win the heat. Ater being eliminated, There were some tears, I was happy to see Corbin quickly pull himself together and cheer on his buddy who’s car won. I love his tender heart. 

Reese takes it to the Bank

We told the kids a few months ago that if they saved a certain amount of money, they could open a bank account. Reese has been babysitting a lot lately, abc excitedly traded in her wads of bills in a mason jar for a savings account today. Way to save, Reese! 

Spring Break 2018: Montgomery, Al

There’s so much to catch up on abd so little time that I’m going to keep these short, unpolished (as if there’s ever any other option lately? Haha) and just post pics and quick commentary. I might have mentioned already that I was inspired my friend, Valerie, to plan a civil rights tour on our route to Florida. We didn’t make it to all the stops I had dreamed up (the ocean was calling, and we were traveling with a full van and more than 1/3 of our party’s population was under 6 years old. I had to lower expectations as the drive progressed and passengers (ahem and driver) grew cranky. A “power hour” stop in Montgomery blew everyone’s minds and fed my sight seeing soul.  

Before I begin, I do want to say this: I think if I had ever had a history teacher that wasn’t named “Coach ____” I would have discovered how deep my love for history is at a much younger age than mid-thirties.  I’m thankful for parents who have exposed me to arts and culture and an appreciation for the rich history that surrounded my childhood setting. I hope I’m giving this same gift to my children as well as my parents did to me. 

We were all very excited to find the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church. Corbin taught us about the Montgomery bus boycott and shared facts about Rosa Parks and Dr Martin Lither King Jr. 

Then we stood at the steps of the capital building  and learned about the march from Selma to Montgomery. We listened to Dr King’s speech “How Long? Not Long!” Which is truly a poetic masterpiece. We continued our walk around the corner and up a block and felt the names of 40 civil rights martyrs etched into the Civil Rights Memorial. In the museum, we took the pledge to peacefully stand up for those who cannot stand up for themselves, and added our names to the wall of tolerance. We felt thankful for the reminders to act, love, and choose a peaceful response to conflict.   

Spring Break 2018: Destin

I keep procrastinating posts because so many photos need to be cropped or edited to protect the twins identities...and we all know ain’t nobody got time for that right now! 

So in the name of getting SOMEthing documented....here’s a dump post. The trip was just what we needed: no appointments, white sand and sun for days. 

Here are the first couple overcast days 

Sunday: early morning sunrise beach walk before twins and grandma and grandpa wake up. 

Church in fort Walton (see buck buccocini) 

Family Movie: Hidden Figures

Monday: twins join us for the morning beach walk and we don’t make it very far, but still special to be together.

Rain Rain

Afternoon: Sun’s out= back to the beach! 

I Run 3 miles barefoot on the water’s edge and the breaking waves feel so good on my tired legs. Running in sand is not easy. 

Kids learn to play a fun joker marble game with Grandma and Grandpa. 

Dinner at Joes Crab Shack

Adrian has a fever in the evening.

Tuesday (windy!) sunrise beach and a dozen dolphins! 

Kids beach play allllllll day! 

Meg goes to Walmart 

Fixer upper marathon 

Walk 1/2 mile to get Free ice cream at Dairy Queen 

Watched the sunset on the beach. 

Family Movie: Remember the Titans 

Quincy Gets Glasses

Could she get any cuter?!  Quincy saw the optometrist today and was very excited to get glasses.  Her eye appointment was eye opening for ME as I’ve never been to an optometrist. The whole process was facinating. I felt awful as she named off almost every letter on a few of the lines wrong, and then, like magic, the doctor adjusted the rx on the lens she was looking through and she read the same line of letters all correctly, not even realizing it was the same slide. I was like “holy cow! She really can’t see!” And the doctor just looked at me like, “uh yah. That’s kind of the point of what we do here.” 

 Oops! I just could not fathom not being able to read something. I felt immediately grateful for science and the gift of incredible brains and the hardworking people who invented machinery and devices to test and correct her vision. Totally amazing. 

And while I’ve got Q in the spotlight here, how about her sense of fashion? I am loving the outfits she’s been putting together lately. Everything she’s wore today was a hand me down from friends or Reese, or purchased second hand from a Rhea Lana sale. And yet she totally rocks a style of her own.  You keep being you, beautiful girl. I love you! 

I made zero influence on her choice of frames. I decided that Quincy should get to pick out Quincy’s face. So she tried on everything from wire frames (which she immediately ruled out for discomfort) to cat eyes.  Body bright blue and black, green, veregated translucent purples, pink zebra, and emerald green. She finally settles on a turtley brown with a dusty coral  on the inside. I’m really kind of surprised she ended up choosing such a neutral option! She loves them and I love that cute face...even more now with specs on.