Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Destin, Florida

This past week, Jeremy and I were able to get away and spend some time with each other. The last time that we went on a trip together was when Hunter was about 7 months old. He is five now. (besides going to LV, and that doesn't count, Jeremy was in a conference for work all week) Our destination was Destin, Florida. This is at the border of Alabama and Florida. (the pan handle) We were in the Gulf of Mexico waters. Jeremy says sometimes this is known as the "Redneck Rivera".
The beaches are very pretty in Destin. There is beautiful white sand everywhere and it is very soft. The water was nice. Not to cold and not to warm. The one thing I didn't like was the humidity. It is very very humid. Thank goodness for the breeze from the waters, otherwise it would be awful.
We got to do a few activities. Most activities seemed very expensive, but as we were conservative, we chose a couple that we thought we would enjoy. One was a Sunset Cruise. For 2 hours while the sun set, we were able to ride on a boat, look for dolphins, and enjoy other people, while watching the sun set on the waters. We had a nice relaxing time. One of the pics above is my glasses that fell onto the front slant of the boat and were out of reach. It was a little funny 'cause I thought they were gone for sure, especially while going over the waves of the ocean. Most were concerned that saw them and I assured them I wasn't too worried 'cause I always get my sunglasses at the $1 store since I lose them all the time. They never fell off and I was able to retrieve them at the end. Someone mentioned that if they were $300 glasses, they would have been in the water for sure. I probably would agree with that.
We also had the opportunity to go Deep Sea fishing. Jeremy loves to fish, so this was an exciting time for him as he has never fished in the ocean. ( only lakes) It started out great. The weather was perfect. It took about 1 1/2 hours to boat out there. I caught about 5 fish, all Red Snappers. Three were thrown back into the waters for not being big enough, though I thought they were pretty big. Jeremy caught a few as well. It was hard work reeling those fish in. With the weight of the pole, the weight attached to the line, and the fish, I have to say was hard work. I had enough and left Jeremy to his fun. Well, I guess with the motion of the boat while it was not going, the smell of the fish around me, the guts, and the squid bait, I was feeling very nauseated and sea sick. Not fun for me. I was looking forward to when it was time to go back. When the boat started up again, it took about 45 min. and I was feeling much better. The whole excursion took about 6 1/2 hours. It was an experience, but I think next time, I will just hang on the beach.
One of the restaurants that we went to was called "Fuddpuckers". It was kind of an interesting place. It was right in the middle of what was called "Gator Beach". This is where you could feed the alligators and hold them if you want. (for a price). I decided to look at them from a far. Jeremy wanted to hold them, but it cost $10 to do that and we just didn't think it was worth it. We had a good time looking at them while they basked themselves in the sun instead.
All in all, we had a very nice time together. It was good to spend some time with one another and to leave the kids at home for a few days. Sometimes you need that. The beaches were beautiful and we definitely had some fun experience.



Monday, July 13, 2009

The Ultimate Twilight Experience

I know, you are not going to believe it. I hardly believe it myself. I never thought I would participate in anything so hilariously funny. This last weekend, me and some friends here in Huntsville, had the crazy idea to go to Atlanta Georgia for the weekend and attend a Twilight convention. At the beginning, I was like, NO WAY!, but as I thought about it, I thought weekend with the girls and no kids. That sounds like fun. So, that is what we did. We all got Gold status and enjoyed each other at the Twilight convention in Atlanta Georgia. I have to say, I have not laughed so hard and so much in my life. They had five guests at the convention. Billy Burke who played Charlie Swan, Peter Facinelli who played Carlisle Cullen, Kellan Lutz who played Emmet Cullen, Ashley Greene who played Alice Cullen, and Catherine Hardwick, the director of Twilight. They all had question and answer sessions. They were all very entertaining, extremely nice, and very informative. With our Gold Status, we were able to get their autographs (which I bought a T-shirt for them to sign because I forgot my DVD), and even attend a Twilight Ball. I know, you are jealous, right?
I personally did not want to go to the Twilight ball, but the friends said we were all going and I had no choice in the matter. Actually, it was kind of fun. Kellan Lutz and Ashley Greene attended, went around and talked to everyone. Ashley Greene sat down at our table and chatted. Kellan Lutz even gave me a big hug. Kind of cool. They were both very nice. My camera was not working very well so my pictures are not very good, but good enough I suppose. My family back in Vegas will appreciate this.....Kellan Lutz loves games. He loves to have some sort of game with him whether it is cards or dice to play on his down time. I had brought with me the card game Monopoly, which I learned in Vegas from the family. My sister-in-law Patty bought me the game and it has been in my purse ever since. We played it a couple of times and I decided I was going to buy the card game and give it to Kellan when I got his autograph. He was stoked, so he seemed. Even gave me a hi-five and couldn't wait to play it with Ashely on the plane. So, if you ever see an interview with him and if he ever talks about the Monopoly card game, just remember, it was me who gave it to him.
Also, when we talked to Catherine Hardwick we mentioned a good book series that she might like that would make a great movie. The Poison Study series. She seemed very interested and wrote it down and made sure she knew who the author was. You never know, it just might get made. She was very nice and I enjoyed her more then I thought I would, since some of her interviews she seems a little wacky. It was a fun weekend with friends. I don't think I would go to another Twilight convention again. There were definitely some crazy Twilight fans there. Talk about die hard fans, some interesting, some wildly crazy and annoying, and some who were just like me, who wanted to have a good time with friends. I am glad I went.

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Photoshop Test


I got this new photoshop program that makes these fun layouts for pictures. I just wanted to see how it works tonight, so I thought I would use my cute boy as a test. Not too bad. I will have to experiment more later. What do you think?

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Along comes Mr. Alligator....SNAP!

When Joanna got here to good old Alabama, Jeremy decided her first day out, she needed some good Cajun food. He had been here before, but wanted us to go as well. We left the kids at home and went to lunch. So, Jeremy decided to be adventuresome and ordered Fried Alligator. (I think he was just showing off) Now the meat is taken from the tail. Now, can you believe it? I tried it. Me, little Ms. Picky. I don't think I liked it very much. It tasted a little too fishy for me. Jeremy and Joanna both thought it tasted like pork from the swamp. They both decided that they liked it. I think next time, I will just stick with the chicken.


Joanna and I drove down to Florence, AL and visited the birthplace and home of Helen Keller. I learned some things I didn't know before. She accomplished a lot with the disability she had. She learned how to overcome her weaknesses and made them strengths. I also found the lady that was her teacher. She started teaching Helen at age 2o and stayed with her for 49 years until she died.

Here Joanna at the water pump where Helen learned that letters made up words and meant something. The first word she learned was water. It clicked for her that day and she learned 30 more words that day and 300 more words that week.

These falls were in a park that was down the street from the Keller House. We thought they were very pretty and stopped to take a picture. Here I am with Joanna.




Happy Birthday America!


Well, the fourth of July is a day to reflect upon our freedoms and the sacrifices that went into having them. I know that I am grateful to be born in the Land of the Free. Times are hard these days, but keep in mind of the end goal and be grateful for what you have today. Happy Birthday America! For the Fourth, we went and saw the fireworks off and Bridge Street. This is kind of an upscale outdoor mall. It was fun to see all the people and listen to the music as the fireworks went off.

I know it is a little dark, but doesn't it look like the kids are "sitt'n on the Dock of the Bay"







Sweet Home Alabama

We are finally home. We loved spending time with family and friends, but it is good to be home. We were so lucky when we were coming home because my cousin Joanna was able to fly home with us and spend a week with us. We have been showing her all the hot spots. ( I guess you can call them that) One of the places we were able to go is the Space and Rocket Center. Huntsville is one of the locations of NASA. It is also where the only NASA space camp is located, which is at the Space and Rocket Center. Now our family has been to the center before, but for some reason, I must not have had a camera on me. I took a few photos. You can enjoy them below on the slide show.

Liberty Park, SLC

While me and the kids were in Las Vegas, we had the opportunity to go up to Utah and visit some friends and family. One day, me and the kids went up to Salt Lake. I had planned for us to hang around Temple Square, but with all the construction around, it was quite difficult to find a place to park. Also, since things had changed so much since the last time I visited ( 2 years ago), we just lost our patience and decided to go get some lunch at the Spaghetti Factory and played at Liberty Park. I think the kids enjoyed that. Below are some pictures that we took.
Megan loves the swing rides.
The fountains. Great fun to splash in when you are hot from playing.

Look at that water. Looks pretty dirty. Next to Hunter was a small boy who found a big gulp cup and continued filling it and drinking it. Now where was the mother. Oooo, Yuck!

Megan has always loved splashing in the water!

Now, the girls were so excited to go on the Ferris wheel, but when Emilee was at the top, she decided she didn't like it anymore. After the second time going around, she had enough and was adamant about getting off. Poor Emilee.

Now this airplane ride was much more pleasing to Emilee.

Now Hunter is ready for his driving test....Do you think he will pass?