Friday, July 30, 2010

emil, a sleepy baby, peels a lime

I love kayaking and I love the word kayak.

Kayaking is NOT to be confused with canoeing.

I do NOT love canoeing. Although the word is pretty cool because you can you use it in a sentence, like, such as, (name that SC beauty queen)...

"I can canoe, can you?"

Which is fun, but takes a little more effort.
But Kayak is just inherently cool because it's spelled the same forwards and backwards.

Kayak
and then backwards
kayaK

see? :)

Much like racecar, hannah, level, civic, mom, dad, radar... etc. ect...

I've always thought Palindromes are cool. When I taught biology, I used palindromes to explain genetic code.

Emil, a sleepy baby, peels a lime.

You gotta admit, that's just plain cool.

My ninth graders weren't as enthused as I had hoped. That's part of the reason I ended up teaching second grade. They could appreciate my enthusiasm! :) That, and they didn't cuss me out after class. Or pull my hair in the hall. I digress...

One of the highlights of our florida trip was a kayaking trip around the estuary right outside of our hotel.

Here's a little science teacher tidbit for you...

An estuary is the place where saltwater and freshwater mix- this particular estuary has mangrove trees which are able to filter saltwater. And it was really stinky. (That second part was more of an observation than a science fact. :) )

And the reason I became a biology teacher in the first place... how cool is it, that the Lord intricately designed all of these things... estuaries, mangrove trees, genetic code, and then gave us minds that can comprehend and appreciate it and language to describe it, not to mention the ability to appreciate the word, Kayak.

Benson, are you ready to Kayak?
Check.

thumbs up

Kayaking makes me happy. I would like to own a kayak one day, and live on some sort of body of water in which I could use it. Because kayaking on land doesn't have nearly the same appeal.

mama and benson

My first mate agrees. Kayaking rocks.

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Especially when you take your fishing pole along....

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And when you take your grandparents along...

g and g kayaking

Kayaking with this little guy, just took it to a whole new level in my
"favorite things to do" list.

cutie patootie

egret

"O LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory
above the heavens.

From the lips of children and infants
you have ordained praise
because of your enemies,
to silence the foe and the avenger.

When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,

what is man that you are mindful of him,
the son of man that you care for him?

You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings
and crowned him with glory and honor.

You made him ruler over the works of your hands;
you put everything under his feet:

all flocks and herds,
and the beasts of the field,

the birds of the air,
and the fish of the sea,
all that swim the paths of the seas.

O LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!"

Psalm 8


walking back

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Road Trip Music


On our trip to florida, we did a lot of singing in the car.
Here's a snippet of Benson's favorite songs, each of which he sang, 317 times.

Bonita Springs, Florida

Honestly, I didn't even know there WAS a place called Bonita Springs, Florida.

My world is so small.

Bonita means "beautiful" in spanish.

Maybe you knew that. I didn't!

The only foreign language I speak, is with my hands!

BUT..

It WAS Beautiful, indeed. So I'd say the place is pretty aptly named :)

Each year, Farm Bureau offers two incentive trips for their agents and managers.
One for just the couples (the "round table") and one for the whole family (the "All Star").

The location changes every year.
This year, the couples trip was to Vienna, Austria and the family trip was to Bonita Springs, Florida.

So far, we've been to Disney World, Maui Hawaii, Scottsdale Arizona, St. Louis MS, Washington DC, and most recently, Vienna Austria.

We have been so blessed to see and do so much through these trips. Benjamin grew up going on these trips each summer since his dad has worked for Farm Bureau for over twenty five years. He's gotten to see the world and now he has the opportunity to show it to his OWN family! What a wonderful company!!!

We stopped half way down and arrived at the hotel about 10pm. What better time is there for a dip? Benson was PUMPED about not having to put on SunScream.

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It's so fun having Uncle Jo on the trips with us. This was the first year Uncle Jeremy was ineligible. Stinks being 23! :)

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Driving down I-95

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At the welcome banquet, Benson got to see a real live skunk!

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as well as an alligator....

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And a boa constrictor. I think that's what it was anyway...
(grandmama showed him how to be brave...)

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He got to practice up for hunting season...

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And go fishing...

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He even held a parrot...

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Ane one decided that Daddy's head looked like a good place to sit...

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And then things got a little crazy for a minute...

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But then it was all good...

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I think Mrs. Lula looks so "natural" with two birds perched on her arms. :) Really, i do!

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Adorable parrot-toting grandparents :)

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And then Benson beat daddy in a sailboat race.

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And that was just the first day!!! :)
Stay tuned for more summer in review


Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Home Again Home Again, Jiggity Jig

Eight Different Beds
Vienna to Florida
In Twenty Six Days


I love haiku's :)
There's something about the challenge of having to cram a bunch of thoughts into 5, 7, and 5 syllable lines that appeals to me... But of course I'm too wordy to just leave it at that! :)

Statistically, June and July have the least number of blog posts of any of the other months, but this has got to be a record! From what I can see on everybody else's blogs- summer's just a hard time to keep up- and then there's the inevitable calm after the storm where you just sit and think,
"WHERE DO I EVEN BEGIN?!"
If someone has an answer to that question, please do share!

I was talking with a girl who does creative memories while we were in florida. She says that they recommend starting with the current events and going backwards. So, even though it goes against my natural love of order and chronology, I am going to give it a shot. We'll see how it goes. Here's to hoping not to cause a bunch of cyber-whiplash in the upcoming "now" and "then" posts!

Join me, if you will, in perusing our summer scrapbook :)
We'll be crackin' open the album tomorrow morning!
Stay tuned...