Big Girl Haircut

Well,Miss Claire had a big girl haircut (well, more like a trim) today and just loved every minute of it. She got to choose her shampoo and conditioner flavors and of course, chose chocolate! She loved the sink and wishes we had one like that at home.....so sorry!

Claire following Ms. Beth to her chair....

Claire never moved a muscle during her trim. Either she was following instructions, or scared to death of getting cut??

Claire druing her "blow out".....she seemed so serious. She never smiled and was watching Ms. Beth like a hawk.

Jesse complained that the place was "too girly", but he survived!

Claire showing off her trim.....she really wants long hair, so she told the hairdresser, "Just a trim, please!"

Claire receiving her crown tattoo on her wrist......notice the glitter in her hair....she asked me if I get glitter when I get my hair done.......

then a sparkly star.....which is gone already because she's been touching it all day long!

Home Sweet Home!

Well, we're home from the beach, though I would've liked another week........Oh well, reality calls! This is a glance from our tent at the beach. It was this beautiful every day. Not a lick of oil, tar, seaweed....loved it!

My family has had this tradition of lining all of our chairs out on the beach and watching the sunset every day that we're on the beach. I mean all of my family...so it's like 20plus chairs.....I'm sure everyone around us thought we were the Clampett Family.....we had a blast!

Cousin Justin, Lance, & Uncle Tommy after building one of their 2 bonfires of the week. The kids (adults too!)loved the fire and roasting smores!!! I was told everything's fat free on vacation!

Little Claire came out of the water long enough to pose. She was is the water every second an adult would offer.

Our annual beach chair picture......We started taking these every year start when the kids were just tiny babies!








Ms. Priss in the chair.

Well, I'll post lots more soon, but we have a great, bittersweet trip. We were without Grandma and Aunt Jackie this year, but know they were with us every moment we were there.

Love,Gretchen

It's Vacation Time!!!!

Well, we finally made it to the end of June, where we've all been anticipating our annual vacation. As it has become a bit of a tradition, we stopped off Friday in Montgomery, Al to visit Mary Grace and her parents, who were in our travel group to China! The girls had a great time and yes, little tiny Claire caused that boo-boo on Mary Grace's head.......more on that later perhaps? We arrived in Cape San Blas Saturday to pristine water and beaches. You can just see all the fish and shells uner foot. Here is Uncle Tommy out in the water with the kids.

Pictures from the St. Joe State Park that is right down the street from our house.It is only knee high for lie 200 yards, so there is a huge area for snorkeling for the kids.
Mommy, Jesse, cousin Keri, & cousin Dave exploring our finds.....
Some of our finds! Hard to see, but here are 2 hermit crabs, lots of conch shells with mussels, and a few scallops.
Jesse showing off his mussel before throwing it back in.

Well, we have several more days on the beach, so I hope to post again soon!
Love, Gretchen

Hello from Florida!!!

Well, my first posting from our vacation is without pictures due to extrememly slow internet speed and it would take like hours to download some pics. We are here in Cape San Blas, Fla. and I have never seen the beaches and ocean so beautiful! There is an abundance of shells here all over the beach and the water is crystal clear. We have been catching fish with the nets and collecting beautiful seashells all day. We were really contemplating whether or not to go on this vacation..... we are so glad we did! I hope by the end of this week, I don't have anything oil related to blog about.

We are also quite far from a grocery store, so poor Lance had nothing but cinnamon rolls for his Father's Day Breakfast.....at least he had a beautiful beach to look at all day and night! The kids of course have been having a blast and playing with their cousins makes it even better!

Promises to post soon...this time with pictures!

Love, Gretchen

Summer has arrived!

Well, the Italian Fest was last weekend at our church and Jesse tried his hand at pizza tossing......let's just say it's a lot harder than it looks! Jesse enjoyed throwing a food item high in the air...regardless!

Claire has started level 1 swim lessons at our pool, and this year has found a little friend that is in her class. Actually, it's usually only the 2 girls with 2 instructors! Claire has been loving the 1 on 1 attention, and is getting better with each day. She'll have lessons all next week, so I'll make sure to post on her progress!

Oooops...sorry it's been so long!

Well, sorry it's been so long since my last post. Jesse's been out of school for a few weeks now, but we've just been busy and having lots of fun! I just haven't been so great about having my camera around.....I promise to be better!

Here's Jesse on the last day of school with his teacher Mr. Cook. Jesse had a great but challenging 3rd grade year!

Jesse had a Tennesse History Field Trip to the Mud Island Riverwalk and Museum...here he is with a few classmates goofing off!

Jesse's class during the field trip....their last one of the year!

Well, we are due to leave for our vacation in a few days, and it looks pretty bleak right now with the oil spill coming into Orange Beach....we'll go somewhere......and I'll post lots of pics regardless of where we go.....my mom always said....when you're thrown lemons, make lemonade! I'm sure we'll find something wonderful to do in lieu of the beach, if that's what happens!

Promises to post again soon. Love, Gretchen