The Licorice Store

Did you know there was a store in St. Augustine that sold only licorice? Lyndsey enlightened us with this news while we were on vacation. Aunt Laney, somehow brought up licorice and Lyndsey says "I've been to the licorice store. Debbie took me after we went to the merry-go- round" So, of course I question her..."The licorice store?" "Yeah, ABC Licorice" We all broke out laughing. Debbie's secret got out that she took Lyndsey to the liquor store while out that day!

The end of vacation

This is the last day of our vacation. We ate lunch ate at Cap's, a local place on the inter coastal. Here is a picture of the boys in the tree on the beach at Cap's. We had a great vacation!

Aren't my kids Cute?

St. Augustine Lighthouse

Bill, Brad, Lyndsey, Tripp and I ventured to the still working lighthouse in St. Augustine planning to climb to the top. Knowing that the height requirement was 44 inches tall we "coached" Lyndsey and all 43 inches of her to be as tall as she could be. When we got there and she "measured in" the lady yelled at her for standing on her tip toes...and told her to put her heels down. Lowering herself slightly from her very tip toes to just a little tip toe, the lady let us up! The 5 of us walked all the way up the 165 ft lighthouse, all 219 steps to the very top. Not without a little nerves and fatigue from the Tripp and I. Lyndsey and Brad practically ran up the steps! Her are some pictures of the steps to the top, the lighthouse and the kids at the top!

Oscars

Here are Bill and the kids swimming at Oscars, well, really it is the private beach belonging to the North Beach Camp Ground just north of the old restaurant that burned down names Oscars which is now just a stretch of the inter coastal being loaned to the county as a boat ramp and dock. (Confused yet) We like swimming here instead of the beach because there aren't as many waves, it is a private beach, if you see anyone else besides the people you came with, it is a busy day and it is close by.

Debbie and the kids

Now. for all of you who do not know yet. My MIL is a wonderful person, but she has more nicknames that any other person I know of. Most of the time, when I am around, her nickname is Debbie, or Deb for short. She has also been known as Alice, (as in wonderland), Nannie, Mom, Nell and Grandma. Her real name however is Annelle! Here she is on the dock at Oscars (which, speaking of names, is a burned down restaurant that is no longer there, so now it is just a stretch of inter coastal with a bait shop (Mike's place) and a boat dock with the nickname of Oscars) with the kids

Collecting Seashells

We collected shells on North Beach just north of St. Augustine. My MIL lives a block from the ocean and a block from the intercoastal. I found a white oval bumper sticker with a black outline, similar to the ones so many of us see in Ohio with either HH or OBX on it meaning Hilton Head and Outer Banks respectively, with SA on it to mean St. Augustine. Now people will be wondering where I "vacation"! :)

You are never too old to play with chalk

Here Debbie and Lyndsey are drawing a princess and her kingdom!

Shane and Ryan

Shane and Ryan, both thirteen, made the blog too! They were instructed to get he sand off after swimming at the beach.

What kids will do

Kids will do pretty much anything you tell them. Tell them to pour water on their heads, and they will.

Pool Pals

We flew to St. Augustine on the new Skybus. If you haven't heard of it yet, it is a new airline that is based in Columbus, OH and amazingly enough, flies non-stop directly into St. Augustine airport. (and Oakland, CA for those of you who know my brother lives there!) They actually built a "terminal" that houses a baggage claim area, and security check as well as enough seats to seat the passengers of the one flight a day Skybus! I do believe they even made the runway longer. The approach, funny enough is right over my mother in laws (MIL) house! We saw it on the way in! When you land you are met by the two mobile stairs that lead you onto the tarmac and then to a roped off area covered by a green tent. This is baggage claim. The train collects all the bags from the plane, drives up and opens the retractable fences. It is then a free for all to get you bags right off the baggage train! The above picture was taken on the day of arrival before the boys even found their swimsuits!

Sam the man!

"Aunt Jennifer, " Sam stated, "I want to be on your blog." So here you go, Sam:) We just got back from our annual summer vacation in St. Augustine, FL. All the grandkids got to play together and have a blast all week. Here Sam is tormenting my littlest one with a water gun! (I do think she might have started it, however!)

We have waited a long time

Lyndsey got her first haircut on September 6, 2005. She was 2 years, 8 months old. And she didn't get that much cut off. She has probably only had a handful of haircuts to date, all of which were just to even it up. She has naturally curly hair, which she wets down every day at least once to straighten it, which only makes it that much curlier when it dries. She has a triple crown at the top of her head, which, up until just a few months ago, gave her a couple of bald spots in the back of her head when her hair was not curly. I was once asked if her hair was natural...or if I colored and permed it?!? Mom and I have been very frustrated about how to "do" her hair because it is so unruly, so most of the time she goes "natural" and get the wild, hippy look. Lyndsey, my daughter, does not take after me, she is a girly girl and wants so bad to have long luxurious hair, that apparently is straight...so "it can blow up to the sky" she told me this morning. So this picture was definitely a long time coming. photo by Bill Griffin

Fourth Of July

On the Fourth of July this year, went went to the annual Orange Township parade, which was right outside our neighborhood. We sat on the street and waited for the parade to pass. This kids were not really all that excited to go...until they started throwing CANDY! They grabbed what ended up being a huge bag of candy that we then used to get the kids to clean up their rooms. Then we went to a neighborhood party at a friends house, then went to mom and dad's for dinner...AND then we sat in a hospital parking lot for 2 hours waiting and watching a fireworks show. At the end of a very busy, long day...Lyndsey says to us, "This has been the best day of my life!!!" I guess it was all worth it. photo by Jennifer Griffin

The American Pastime

We just finished up our second season of tball. Brad has really gotten into it this year, he tries to play like he does on playstation...you know, with the big plays and the big swings....then when he gets home he does "instant replays" of the best plays...like on sports center, which he is now watching voluntarily in the morning?!? He is collecting baseball cards and is writing (which I am glad he is practicing his writing) all the names of the Braves players. When Tommy and Maria were in a quandary about what to name little Elizabeth, Brad offered up the name Nomar Garciaparra, 3rd baseman for the Dodgers, of course. He practices every day and walks around the house with a glove and a ball. Does this mean I will have to learn to like baseball???? photo by Dan VonderBrink