Our own little amphibian

THe nature center has lots of interesting interactive things for kids and families to do. One of them is "Discovery Backpacks". Each backpack has a different theme and comes with lots of stuff to help learn about the theme. We chose the amphibian backpack this time because Nina loves frogs. It had books about frogs, coloring pages, frog collecting equipment, and a CD of frog noises (among other things). We were sitting down eating lunch and going through the backpack when we heard some strange noises and looked over to find Nina listening to the frog sounds CD...

Various interesting bugs we found along the way...

This is a katydid.

Those are Nina's fingers!!

This is a bee with lots of pollen stuck to its back.

Very little ant moving a very large bee.

Visit to the Chattahoochee Nature Center

We went on a walk at the Chattahoochee Nature Center this weekend and had a lovely time. Hannah was well prepared with a backpack ful of everything from a notebook to a first aid kit. She even used her beaver-made walking stick to retrieve a bottle from the river :)

Tidbits of Summer Vacation

Playing in the treehouse with McKenzie

Leaving treasures for people to find when they re-do the kitchen in 100yrs!

Visiting with Grandpa Woody

Isn't Auntie Dia the coolest?! She found this in a yard sale!!

Pig in the road when we were driving home to Grandmum's house from Auntie Dia's house...

Loading up on precious jewels

Helping Daddy hang the swings from the Maple tree

Helping Grandmum finish the floors

Of course, SWIMMING in the pond!!

Enjoying a good read and the laziness of summer vacation :)

White sand, blue sea...

We had a fantastic time in Mexico!! Relaxing, learning more spanish, eating and drinking, riding a golf cart around Isla Mujeres, visiting a sea turtle sanctuary, going to an eco-park & snorkeling & walking through jungle paths and jumping off cliffs, renting a car and driving inland to see the ruins at Chichen Itza, figuring out the local buses and ferries, reading, napping in the cabanas by the crystal clear blue sea, walking along the soft white sand beach under a full moon, weathering the sweltering heat and humidity and the rain and wind of tropical storm Dolly - all of it was fantastic!! Here are a couple of photos :)

Heading to Camp Grandmum

The whole family is headed up to CT tomorrow. It'll take us 2 days to get there but we've got tons of audio books and stuffed animals to keep us entertained! We've got lots of fun stuff planned: 4th of July celebrations (always interesting from a British perspective), Fireworks at Limerock Race Track, catching up with friends from high school, playing with cousins, swimming, tree climbing, making fairy houses, eating berries, driving the tractor... the list is endless. We'll keep you posted!

Overtime for the Tooth Fairy

Hannah lost her 11th tooth on Thursday evening and Nina lost her 2nd tooth on Friday morning. Busy time for the Tooth Fairy!

More sewing crafts

Mark got the girls a Barbie sewing machine so that they could do their own sewing projects without ruining mommy's brand-new Singer. Nina and Hannah both designed and embellished dresses for their stuffed animals. It was fun but I think mom needs a rest from all these projects?!

Visiting Olivia and Jim in Alabama

We spent Father's Day Weekend in Birmingham, Alabama, visiting Olivia and Jim. (Olivia is Amanda's mom's cousin). It took us 4 years to get over there for a visit but we finally made it!! Alabama is really quite beautiful - trees, valleys, mountains, lakes and rivers. We went to the Barber Motorsports Museum for an insider tour (Jim works there - a dream job for anyone interested in any kind of racing - Mark was drooling over the Porsches). We hiked down to a creek and caught tadpoles. We had dinner with Josh and Marie (Olivia's son and his wife) and played with Cutie Pie (she was our cat for a little while until Olivia and Jim graciously adopted her and gave her a home in cat paradise - she has the run of the neighborhood and lots of little animals to catch!!). It was a lovely visit and hopefully it won't take another 4 years before we go back :)

Journey to the Center of the Earth

Well not quite the center but it felt like it!! We went to DeSoto Caverns and had a a tour of the underground caves with all the stalactites and stalagmites. We got to experience total darkness (which would leave a person blind if they stayed there for 12 days) and walked through little passageways and huge vaults. It was really fun!