I'm A Big Girl NOW!!!

YEAH!!!LOOK AT ME!!!!!I can sit-up and play with my toys ALL BY MYSELF!!! This has been a fun filled week with Haleigh Bug. She sits up now by herself. And she loves to throw her toys over the side when she's sitting in her walker. LOOK OUT BELOW!!!!


Well Haleigh decided this week to take a closer look at Gramzie's plant which was positioned strategically in-between her pack-n-play and the bookshelf. NO PROBLEM /> Look at that face...Oh my, what was that? How did that happen? That plant was there just a minute ago, it was the wind, No, Uncle Alex did it, maybe Uncle Sean.













O.k. I can't take the pressure. I DID IT!! IT WAS ME!!

The boys are back to routine with school. Sean went job hunting yesterday. He really wants to get his license and taste alittle open road freedom from Dan and I. However, he as to get a job in order to pay for his insurance. SO, he applied to a couple of places, and we'll see.
Not much is going on with Alex. Skateboarding, of course, and that's about it. Life over here has been pretty much routine. Kind of nice. No surprises, etc... Well, I did finally get some batteries for the camera, So here's Haleigh Bug...

Haleigh, WOW'S and Balistic Adventures.

Hi Haleigh Bug. You are so cute. Gramzie loves you! Today I watched Haleigh at her house while her mommy went to work. She was an absolute doll baby. She was very well behaved, and she showed quite the little personality today. She was sitting in her jumper watching her puppy, Moose and I, play with his chicken chew toy. Moose kept putting it in his mouth and shaking the chicken violently around. Well, Haleigh couldn't take it anymore, and just gave in and laughed, and laughed, and laughed. She thought that puppy was the funniest. SHe kept watching him the rest of the day and smiling when he would walk by. He jumped up on the couch while I was holding Haleigh, and she reached for him. AWWWW!!!!


We had an amazing LOOONNGGG weekend. It was wonderful. We were suppose to go camping down south at the Alafia State Park. However, when we tried to make the reservations, the whole campground was already full. OOOPPPSSS, way to plan ahead. O well. Anyway, our friends graciously let us come over to their beautiful homestead. So, we loaded up Rocky & the boys and headed for Camp Cohen.We were treated like royalty. I even utilized the camp spa treatment for my aching body. We did some off road biking. Yes it was the Cohen Family and the Dickinsons, and T-Roy braving the elements to outwit and outlast the bike trails in Santos. We had a ball.Some of the trails posted an EXPERT sign. NAY....OOPS. I guess we should of paid attention to the signs alittle better.( one back and hinee was put to the ultimate test, but the rider was victorious....Great Skills Mr. Cohen!!)
Our weekend of adventure was far from over. We went swimming, played board games, worked on music, and shot potatoes through the air with a potatoe gun. WOW!!
Amazing what alittle PVC pipe, and hairspray can do. It was quite educational for the munchkins and it helped detour pesky critters wandering about. I don't have pictures. I forgot the camera at the house on Friday night. OOPPS!! Dan and I were suppose to get to the camp at around 5 that night, however, Dan's best friend from high school called us on Thursday and asked if we wanted to meet in Orlando for dinner. It had been 9 years since they saw each other. So in all the excitment of driving back from Orlando on Friday night and switching vehicles at 12:30 in the morning, I forgot the camera. Oh, well. Anyway, we had a wonderful Labor day weekend. I'm not sure how much 'laboring'we did, but if having so much FUN with family and friends is considered labor, then we did exactly that.

Ninjas , Noses, and a New School Year!!!

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Hello everyone! Yes, I know, it's been awhile since I've posted, but life has been busy and our computer decided, against our wishes, to go on strike until it received some long overdue TLC. Anyway, school is back in session...YEAHHH!!!!! I think both Sean and Alex were ready. Sean is a senior this year...Big man on campus, and Alex is experiencing alittle of the same status being in 8th grade, his last year of middle school. WOW!!!Remember Alex, do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Next year you will be back on the bottom of the old school food chain!


I'm not sure what Sean's plans are for after highschool, but he has his father and I alittle concerned. Today he announced he was going to become a ninja. Yes, I said NINJA!!!!
So Dan and I went in the backyard and took pictures of our new little ninja, I mean Big, Strong, Ninja boy..man. UUGGGG!

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Alex, under the amazing cooking instructions of his father Dan, learned how to make grilled cheese sandwiches and tomatoe soup for all of us last week...yeah..Yum Yum! He really did great. It really hit the spot too during all the rain we had last week. Nothing like a warm bowl of tomatoe soup and a grilled cheese sandwich to dip to help chase the rainy day away.


Well Haleigh is now 5 months old. Can you believe that? Dan watched her today while I was at work. He took pictures of her today for me. He fed her peas for lunch. YUMMY! I was glad though I wasn't home for clean-up time. However, there were a few ninja peas hiding up in Haleighs nose waiting for me when I came home. HIYAW!!

Happy 20th Anniversary!

Tommorrow, August 6th, is our anniversary. It's hard to believe Dan and I have been married for 20 years. WOW!!!! I still feel like a kid, and yet we are grandparents.
We both, not telling each other till yesterday, gave ourselves the day off. We both had the same idea. We are going to spend the day together, WORK FREE!!!!!YIPEEEE!!!!!! We don't have anything planned, but we both have a few ideas. You know your getting older when you have a day off, and you want to take a nap!UGGGG!
Let me see, whatelse can I tell you. Oh, I'll give you the run down on Dan and I courting, dating, etc... My mother worked for Dan's uncle and my sister said I needed to see this guy that kept bugging her at work. Yes, Dan was trying to date my sister...first. Anyway, we went to my mom's work, and there he was. Oh My...Look at HIM!!!....I told my sister she could do better, and was not impressed by him, at all. His first impression of me was mutual, we both did not like each other at first.
Anyway, my sister was dating Dan's best friend before you know it, and Dan was the third wheel. Anyway, they thought Dan and I should go out on a date. I reluctantly agreed, and the evening ended with...I'll never go out with that...again. After numerious attempts from my sister to convince me to give this guy a second chance I still was not interested until...
One evening, Dan came over and apologized for the horrible first date. And asked for a second date. I was completely smitten with him. I had never had any guy apologize for being such a ...guy, and that said something about his character. Anyway, we went on a second date, third date, etc... and here we are. 20 years later. We both have watched each other grow-up as individuals, and together as a couple. We were married on August 6th, 1988. Dan was 18 years old, and I was 16. It's been a very growing and learning experience. And I'm thankful that it was and is with Dan. He is my better half. I'm looking forward to another 20,30,40,etc...wonderful years.!Love YOU Honey! Happy Anniversary.

Mystery, Memories , and Military Don'ts!

Have ever wondered why, when your about to go on vacation, you can't wait for it to begin? And when reality has hit you and it's your last day of your vacation, you hurry up to get things pack, and ready so you can hurry back home and get back to routine? Weird!!! Anyone every think that way? Maybe it's a safety switch in my brain that turns on, otherwise I would stay on vacation FOREVER!!! I was thinking about that this morning. We had fun. ALOT of fun. So much fun, that I'm not sure what to say, and what pictures to put on the blog. SO, I guess the easiest way is to list some highlights, and pictures with it. Here goes:
During our drive to Fort Clinch, we saw a rocking chair that was 30 feet tall and a gigantic orange that was about 15 feet tall. While we were at Fort Clinch, it rained almost everyday we were there. However, it gave us a chance to test out Rocky's weather worthy material. He passed with flying colors. But it did get pretty windy...EXTREMELY windy one night. We were very concerned about the awning,but it was fine. Dan didn't get much sleep that night.



We went to Fort CLinch and learned some interesting history about the fort and Fernandina beach, and we went to the historic part of Fernandina Beach. Dan even took me dancing on our last night there. We ate dinner at THe Florida House, and they "tried" to teach us how to do the Carolina Shag. IT WAS FUN. However, Dan and I can not help our friends learn this dance , due to we had to switch partners EVERY time we learned a new move. HOW UNCOMFORTABLE. Hello, my name is Cindy. I have no idea who you, now, take my hand in yours, and lets boogie....VERY ODD FEELING. I was so concerned with trying not to step on the men's feet, that I completetly forgot the steps. Needless to say, Dan and I hardly got to dance with each other, at all. I even had to dance solo so other ladies could dance with a partner...yes, my husband Dan!!! He was BUSY with the ladies...HEEEE,HEE,HEEEE... AWKWARD!. But, most of the people we danced with were very nice, and even talked and tried to help Dan and I. You have to be smooth, one lady said. And smooth was not the way to describe how we were dancing. More like stepping on sandspurs barefooted. Ouch, ewww, . It was a hoot. But I have to say, I HAVE THE BEST HUSBAND IN ALL OF THE WORLD. Dancing is not on his... top things I want to do on vacation, and he was a trooper.




Our main activity was off-road biking. Yes, we bought 2 off-road bycicles, and wore our helmets bravely, and went for it. WHAT A BLAST. We finally found something Dan enjoys doing that does not require us to leave the state. YEAH!!! We did a total of about 12-15 miles Dan said during our entire vacation. Our friends Ed and Sue were with us at Fort CLinch, and shared in the excitement. The trails were definetly more challenging at Fort Clinch, and it was exhilarating. Nothing like a few bike rides up steep sand dunes and backwoods trails to remind you just how out of shape one has become. UGGG! GET PEDALING!!!!NO PAIN NO GAIN!!!! We also went to the beach.
The mystery of the holes in the sand was solved...CRABS! We went boogie boarding with Ed and Sue and tried to recreate Fort CLinch with our sand castle skills (lack of) but it was fun. Swimming, bonding, YEAH!!!. Oh, and found out, thanks to 2 kind spectators on the beach, that we were swimming with SHARKS!!! Yes, SHARKS!!! They actually were VERY CLOSE, VERY CLOSE, to Ed and Sue. These sharks were in the shallow part of the surf too. Sue mentioned after that she thought she saw them swimming around when the four of us were trying to see how far our boogie boards would bring us to shore, but was not sure if that's what she saw. Well, it was. They were baby sharks, only about 3 feet long. TO long, for my comfortor. Here, let me dangle my limbs off my boogie board for you...hungry for a mid-morning snack? We saw 4 sharks at the next campground too. It was our last morning, and decided not to go swimming. But we watched the pack, move it's way down to a group of about 12 swimmers. Um, Hello, Mr. Lifeguard, do you mind ....DO YOUR JOB, SHARK! SHARK! get out of the water people! The lifeguard didn't seem to be concerned...He was swimming in the area we first noticed the sharks, and DID NOT get out of the water. I guess these were friendly sharks...Humans are friends, not food! Sure!

We also went to the Museum of Science and History, the Maritime Museum, Jacksonville Landing, and tried not to go completly insane while driving around downtown Jacksonville looking for these places. Lesson learned...CHECK YAHOO MAPS AND DIRECTIONS BEFORE LEAVING HOME.

We drove our car onto a ferry and road across the St. Johns River. FUN!!! That was a first. We had a wonderful meal at Singleton's Seafood Shack which was next to the ferry entrance.


Oh, and our BIGGEST lesson learned... if you are ever in the quaint little town of Mayport Florida, DO NOT turn right at Wonderwood dr. This takes you to the United States Naval Base. We learned that the HARD way, and backed up traffic for a mile while the kind military police cleared us to enter the base only to make a U-turn. The military frowns on that and claiming ignorance as an excuse WILL NOT be helpful to your case and WILL NOT get the nice military personal inside the base to smile. OH WELL!! ATTENTION CIVILIAN!
Finally our way home included some interesting info. Did you know that Florida has a city named Switzerland. Yes you can get chocolate there, but it's from the one and only Jiffy store, and it was a Hersheys candybar. I don't think we were in Switzerland for more than a mile. ALso, we drove through Hastings, which is the potatoe capital of Florida. They had signs everywhere in town proclaiming this. But we didn't see any potatoes, but saw alot of corn. We are both eager to brave the elements again, both natural and cultural with the boys. AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. SO, we are planning a trip the end of August.I wonder if the boys would do alittle Shag dancing with us...NOT!

VACATION TIME IS HERE....YEAH!!!!!!

HEllO ROCKY! Yes, I know, we are weird. We've named our camper Rocky. We plan on making many memories with our camper, so, we named it. How did you come up with that name, you ask? Well, the manufacturer is Rockwood.and I like the EEEEE sound on the end of words...Gramzie, Seanee, etc..and there you have it. Well, vacation time has FINALLY arrived.It has been a jam packed week and a half.And I AM SO READY for alittle R&R. As you can see, Haleigh has been helping me get ready for tomorrow. YEAH!!!!!! She is getting SOOO big, and, SHE'S TEETHING. Ouch!!!! She really likes to put things in her mouth now. She's discovered how to put things, like her toys, in her mouth. Yummy! She's SO ADORABLE


We are planning on taking ALOT of pictures. So, I will post pics from our trip. We are going to Fernandina Beach, Florida and staying at Fort CLinch State Park. Then we are heading to Jacksonville, FLorida and staying at Kathryn Abbey Park. It has miles and miles of biking trails ranging from beginner to intermediate. SO EXCITED!!!!!!! Anyway, Sean and Dan picked out a camera memory card thingamajig, which holds about 350 pictures. I think that will be enough?

Pop-Ups and PopPop's Surprise...Oh My!!!

To all our family and friends in bloggerville. Dan and I would like to thank you for all your prayers and we are VERY excited to announce that..."THE ONE" has arrived. Yes, you read correctly. We are the proud parents of a 2000 Rockwood Pop-Up Camper.YEAH!!!!! Rocky is 13ft 6inch long FHEEEWWWWW).Weight? 1,650 lbs..WOW. Anyway, we are extrememly ecstatic, overjoyed, ...yada yada yada. Rocky just fell into are lap very easily.

After our last adventure out in the boondocks looking at a overused pop-up, Dan and I were alittle discouraged. Yes, we were. AWWWWW. But after much thinking through, and realizing, this is not a need, but a want...Then, O.k. if we find one...good, if we don't...good. Either way, we will still enjoy our time together on our anniversary regardless.

Anyway, Kristen and Haleigh were watching our friend Charlene for the week. And one night we were over there talking about our last pop-up viewing. UGGGG. Well, Ruby, Charlene's mom, mentioned her friend at works sister had a pop-up for sale. So, a week later, we went to her house, and saw ROCKY. What a cutie. Rocky has been gently used and has had only 5 fun trips under him.He's in mint condition. He does smell alittle like moth balls, but that's o.k. Nothing alittle Clorox Cleanup and air freshner maybe won't fix. Apparently moth balls keep critters out of your pop-up. So, I guess I'd rather smell like my great grandmothers old house than have an encounter with a curious critter.

Now, I'd like to say I have pictures of Rocky to show all his wonderful details, but I don't. Living in the city limits has it's challenges and ridiculous statutes. The city does NOT want to see our little Rocky, parading itself proudly out in the front yard for all the world to see and know...."I'm home, I'm home". Nope, nope, nope.

SO, we closed Rocky up and parked him on the side of our house so the city officials would not develop an ulcer or lose sleep over the "EYE SORE" residing on Quail Roost Drive". But don't be discouraged. The next time we bring Rocky out for his bath, we will take pictures and let you see the new little bundle. Until then...

Sean, our oldest son decided to give Dan a father's day gift that will have to go down in the baby book for later. He wrote in the card something like this...for all the times you pulled out your hair over me and my poor decisions. I thought I'd give you some hair back...SO, Sean SHAVED HIS HEAD BALD!!!!! Yep, completely BALD!