The America Star Dolphin Cruise

The kids got to steer the boat.

We went on a Dolphin Cruise at 5:30 last night. The weather was perfect and we did indeed see some dolphins.

We are here and at the condo in Gulf Shores. It is sooo nice here!

The trip down was almost uneventful. My parents are staying at their campground in their pop up camper. Their van was completely maxed out on space between their stuff and some of our stuff. A tire wasn't working right.....a bearing or something on the camper trailer. So, we stopped for quite a while to get it fixed. Luckily we stopped at a McD's with a play place and a tire place next to it.

The first night was spent at Oak Mountain State Park in a 2 bedroom cabin. It had a kitchen, bath, etc. It was a very nice place. We fixed a hot dog dinner in the kitchen there and then played some games. Logan and my Dad tried to get a boat to toodle around in, but for some reason the oars were actually 2 x 4's or something and was too hard to paddle. The bugs there were terrible. We are watching Anna like a hawk. She gets one bug bite and it turns into a 3-4 inch around welt/spot. Then the fever follows. Unfortunately she has one bite already and the area is huge. Poor thing. Hoping for no fever.

We got up and made breakfast and headed to the Petting Zoo area of the State Park. Neat place.
We were hoping for an uneventful 5 hour ride to Gulf Shores from there, but the camper got a flat tire. After that, it was smooth sailing to the Gulf. The camper got set up and them unloaded and then we all headed to the condo and unloaded here.

The boys and Barry and Dad went to the ocean to play while Mom, Anna and I got groceries. Then Anna got to go play a bit, too. The rip tides are bad, so we aren't sure how much you can get in the water each day. There was a PURPLE flag, which means dangerous water life....SHARKS AND JELLY FISH. We think it was for just the jelly fish. The boys and the BIG boys had a good time. Logan had a jelly fish brush up against his face......guess that happens when you lay down in the ocean, huh?

The condo is gorgeous. It is perfect for us. It seems huge and very spread out inside. Barry made the comment that if he had to draw the layout, he couldn't do it. You are constantly getting turned around and lost. We can't even hear the boys argue if they are in their room and we are in the living room. It is really funny to have all these doors, etc. to go through. I am sure we will get the hang of it soon. I think it only has 8-10 floors. Not sure and we are on the 6th floor.There is a little over 1500 square feet and I chose this one because it was one of the bigger. There are 3 bedrooms, so the boys are sharing....just like at home. I can't stress how nice it is and it was affordable.

I will try to post pictures, but this connection is horrible.

Here you go, Aunt Gi!

Barry's sis was excited to learn that I can now post videos on this blog and keeps requesting this song. This is the boys' practice at our parents church. They usually are asked to sing there twice a year. Brandon usually needs a little persuading, as he gets pretty nervous. The ending is comical since it is a practice and Logan came in in the wrong spot. The boys also sang this song from Brandon's 3rd grade teacher, Mrs. Brown, Mrs. Swartz and Mrs. Johnson. Logan also had Mrs. Brown and Mrs. Johnson, so we thought it was fitting for Teacher Appreciation Week for the boys to "give something back". My parents were there since Anna and I were at the dr. and there wasn't a dry eye in the room.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Yesterday Anna and I went to her Gymnastics class and then we had a picnic at the park before the Talent Show. She has NO idea that the bus isn't coming today to get her brothers! She will have a hard time sharing me with them again all summer. She will enjoy having the boys home for the summer, but really likes her "GIRL DAYS" as she calls them.

Logan at Talent Show

I am so proud of Logan! Today was the talent show and WOW...did he do a wonderful job! His Music teacher asked him to come sing at her church this summer, too. It is funny that he spent 10 minutes today contemplating the perfect shirt. Well, he had to wear the green shirt to sing in his Honor Choir, so....

Logan has had the most wonderful chorus teacher for the last 3 years. She has been such a blessing to her students. She is having some health issues, so say a little prayer for her to heal quickly. It sounds like the doctors are getting close to finding out why she has been so miserable.

Out of all the songs in the world, he chose "Amazing Grace/My Chains are Gone" by Chris Tomlin. How neat to sing this song in a public school. I love our district!

Anyway...I am so proud of myself for figuring out how to upload this video without any help from my hubby! Now when Logan is driving me crazy in the summer or torturing his siblings, I can just play this video when I want and remind myself that he really is a wonderful young man.

Anyone know why BLOGGER VIDEO is blurry? Also...WARNING....It was hard to video with a squirmy 4 year old who had already been sitting in the bleachers for over an hour. I am never a good video taper anyway, as Barry will attest to that! At one point you will see her fingers go across the screen. :0)

School is out until Mid August!

Piano Recital

The boys finished the year with their piano recital. Their teacher is also their choir teacher so the recital was held at our church. They both did a wonderful job. Brandon seems to get into piano more so than Logan, but that is probably because Brandon is younger and has more time. I can't imagine the HOURS my parents heard me pounding at the piano since I played since I was probably 4 or 5 until 18 and graduated. Plus playing piano for Show Choir! And so did my sister. YIKES! That is a TON of piano lessons and listening to our yearly recitals. Now as I make dinner while the boys are practicing (quite loudly!), I realize WHY my parents put the piano in my bedroom during the high school show choir years!

Flower pics

Happy 82nd Birthday, Grandma Weber!

My mom, Anna, Grandma Weber, Brandon and Aunt Elaine.

Barry, Dad, and Brandon played washers. It was a beautiful day outside.

I had told Anna that we were going down to my Grandma's for her birthday. She lives just 30 minutes away. Birthdays mean cake, but the cake part wasn't going to be until the following day, so Anna helped Grandma blow out candles on her famous apple pie. Happy Birthday, Grandma! We also went to a local winery. It was literally in the middle of nowhere and was quite a neat place.

Logan was gone Friday night until Sunday at Noon camping with Boy Scouts, so he missed all the fun at Grandma's.