Ardey & Dalton Go to Washington

At the end of July, Dalton and Ardey flew to Seattle to spend 10 days with Grandma and Grandpa Bradley in Anacortes.

They had fun: Whale watching, shopping, seeing movies, walking "downtown", attending the annual art festival, etc.

Karina Plays Ball!

Karina and her friend Katherine played in the Idlewild Baptist Softball league this spring. This was Karina's first year. She was a quick learner and loved every part of the game. She says her favorite thing is "going to bat." Tomorrow is her last game of the season and I'll try to post a few more pictures from the last game.

Zeus Makes Three!

For Dalton's Birthday, we adopted a new cat. Zeus is 2 years old. He had been de-clawed, but later he was abandoned into Feral colony.

Anyway, he was recognized as a domestic cat and rescued. What a cutey! He is so layed back with the humans. And he has brought the kid out in Jackie Chan, especially. The two of them chase each other around, wrestle, bite, lick, and relax together.

Welcome to the crowded house, Zeus!

PBS&J Family Picnic

Kitty Kat Kingdom

These two kitties rule the house. Jackie Chan (Norwegian Forest?) and Mew (real name is Karma) the calico are very much loved members of the family. Dalton and Ardeley, especially, spoil them. Mew likes to jump on your lap and watch T.V. with you and Jackie thinks Henry and my bed is his own personal lounging area!

More Images from Alaska!

Pictures from Alaskan Cruise

Alaskan Paradise . . . .

We had a fantastic summer trip this past July to help my parents celebrate their 50th anniversary! All five of their kids and families, as well as several of mom and dad's siblings took an Alaskan Cruise!

Tallahassee Trip

The whole family took our first trip to Tallahassee. We enjoyed visiting the Old Capitol Building, Mission San Luis, Florida State University, the Museum of History, and on our way home, we went to Wachula Springs, a very refreshing stop on a very hot day!

Happy Father's Day by Ardey

Happy Father's day! Ardeley painted this picture for her Bapa, and now I use it to say: "Thanks Dad, for all you have done to make you such a special dad."

Hope you enjoyed your day and got some fishing in.

Dalton created a coat of arms that shows what describes his personality. You can see the Pokemon ball, because Dalton likes to play the Gameboy Pokemon games. In the upper right corner, you see a cat, Dalton's favorite animal. The lower left corner signifies Karate, and the lower right portion of his coat of arms represents a Yu-Gi-Oh card. The most important things in a 10-year-old boy's life!

Our computer and study area is the most popular place in the house these days. Notice that the TV is on, Ardeley has headphones on (her music), and Dalton's Nintendo DS is on the counter! Henry got me the TV for my Birthday so I can watch from the kitchen or while I do the treadmill. Karina loves to go to Disney Channel, Nick.com, PollyPocket, etc. on the computer; Dalton looks up lyrics to songs, and he also likes to look for clues for his Nintendo games; and, Ardeley is a frequent ITunes user, has been playing the latest Nancy Drew computer game, and looks for Kingdom Hearts 2 clues. Henry even uses the computer. He is taking a math class and a reading comprehension class this summer and all class assignments are on the computer.

Memorial Day Picnic

Karina, Dalton, and Henry enjoyed themselves at the annual Memorial Day barbeque at the subdivision pool. We have been swimming every day that the weather permits. It has been a very dry summer; however, as I type this, there is a tropical depression in the Gulf and we got poured on this afternoon. It's all good!

Baking Beauties!

O.K. It's the first day of summer and my daughter and friend decided to bake cookies. Here is what they looked like by the middle of this endeavor! They are still at it and having fun (only one burned batch so far); now, if I can just get them to clean up when they are done . . . . . . :-(

Florida Aquarium

Dalton wanted to go to the aquarium on his special day with me. They had been studying the reef life in FL and he had a brochure from the aquarium that looked interesting to him. We had a great time and ended up getting a one year membership for the family. It is really nice because with the membership, you can bring any five people with the primary card holder. (Click on the title of this blog to visit the aquarium's website)

Middle School Graduate!

We are so proud of Ardeley who is "graduating" from middle school and moving on up to the "Class of 2010" at her high school. Ardeley received top honors at the 8th Grade Awards Ceremony last night. Her awards included the Presidential Award for Academic Achievement (certificate from the Whitehouse!), one of the "Top Ten" students on her academic team, the Keys, and, drum roll please . . . . . . . the 2006 "Pride in Writing School-Wide Top Writer" award, which is given to the student whose works were judged by a panel of teachers who were not given the authors' names until judging was complete. Wow, we are so proud and we were all so pleasantly surprised by that last award, one of the top honors awarded last night. Ardey is attending the 8th Grade Dance tonight, and is looking forward to a visit with her Grandma and Grandpa in Seattle this summer!