Winter sun and sand

Patrick has been wanting to take the dumplings to the beach to dig in the sand a little bit.  So we finally found some time to do that the other day.  We managed to get down there about an hour before sunset, which you know is a dreamy time for the photographer in me.  It was very windy and bit on the chilly side. So they didn't get in the water at all.

 There were just a few others also out enjoying the beauty at sunset. So I snapped a photo of them too.  

After digging a bit, Caleb and Patrick tossed around the football.

While I love the boldness and brightness of sunsets over the river to the west, there is something special about the dreamy, pastel sunsets over the ocean to the east.  Most of the images I shot were to the north, as that was where the sky was prettiest....that is until the sun finally set, and then out of nowhere the sky to the south was full of soft, delicate pastel clouds, which I captured in the last photo.

The dumplings had such a great time digging in the sand and making castles. The boys also had a lot of fun playing catch.  And me?  I just loved watching them all enjoying themselves so much.  We really need to say good night to the sun more often while digging our toes in the sand, right?

The camping trip that never was

Well, tennis and the cold trumped our camping adventures last weekend.  It ended up being chillier at night than we had anticipated. And since Caleb was playing in another tennis tournament, we decided to sleep back at the house.  Riding bikes and scooters was about all the dumplings did at the campground during our limited time there.  I think we spent more time at Bammy's site on Caleb's Birthday Eve than we did the following weekend. lol  Anyway, here's some proof that we really did try to camp last weekend.

Even though it was brief, the dumplings still had fun.  We're looking forward to camping with several of our friends next month.  We'll have to drive a good bit to reach that campground. So there's no chance we'll skip on back home if it's cold.  We'll just have to deal with it, which is fine because we'll actually be prepared for it instead of just winging it like we tried this past weekend. 

Well, Bammy's visit is coming to a close.  We have really enjoyed having her here.  There's been lots of laughing, singing, coloring, and playing. We will surely miss her when she heads back to Connecticut.

The big day

One of the beauties of homeschooling is setting our own schedule, which includes days off.  So naturally, we opted for a little day time fun on Caleb's actual birthday.  The plan was to do something low key because he was supposed to have tennis practice that night.  So we decided to hit up a local putt putt place that also features some alligators.  We thought we'd play 18 holes first and then try to feed the gators. There were some snakes and other critters on hand for viewing as well.

One hole had a cave to putt through, which was pretty cool.

We had so much fun.  Everyone had some great shots, including Havi, who had no problem hitting your ball as well. lol  Once we were done with putting, the dumplings each waited their turn to take a photo with a baby alligator.  Havi went first.  She delcared it "heavy."

After photos, they tried to feed the alligators, but since it wasn't their typical eating time, they could only convince these fish that are in the piranah family to eat up.

After finishing up with golf and the gators, we went to lunch at little Cuban restaurant.  We encountered a little drama as we were getting out of our car, as we witnessed a car traveling at a good speed clip the back of a parallel parked truck and then continue on a bit.  Amazingly, about 100 feet past us, passing through an intersecting at just that moment, Patrick spotted a police car.  I ran up the sidewalk flailing my arms like a lunatic.  Thankfully, he spotted me and stopped.  Then a public works truck who also witnessed the whole thing relayed what happened to the police, and he took off to find the vehicle.  What a scene!

Well, after all that, lunch was delicious.  But unfortunately, much to Caleb's disappointment, his tennis practice was canceled that night due to rain. He was so bummed.  He wanted me to bring cupcakes at the end of practice.  So that had to wait until the following day.  All of his training buddies wished him a happy birthday.  And I think that made up for the delay in cupcake delivery.

So today we are headed to another tennis tournament.  Bammy has really enjoyed watching Caleb and Madeline play tennis.  So another tennis tournament was put on the schedule for this weekend.  Thankfully there will be no rain, but it will be a bit chilly..well for us Floridians anyway. lol

Have a great weekend!

His Birthday Eve

I mentioned in a previous post that Bammy was down from Connecticut to help Caleb celebrate his birthday.  Well, since she's down for a little while, we thought we'd put her up in some pretty nifty accommodations- our dear Peggy.  We set her up at a campground at a local park in town, about 15 minutes from the house.  On Caleb's Birthday Eve, we headed over to Bammy's place to help her get settled in and have some dinner and s'mores.  Caleb wanted to light the charcoal.

Then Baba had to head back to the house for a few things we forgot  (of course).  So in the meantime, the dumplings played with Bammy.  Caleb might have also pretended to be Santa Claus.

The meat head that I am brought my Nikon but left all my CF cards at home.  Duh!  But thankfully I had my Fujifilm in my bag and made do.

Havi may or may not have had a thing for the s'more sticks.

Eventually Baba made it back to the site as the sun went down.  We managed to eat by candle light, which was cool.  Then, although I don't think they're actually allowed in the campground, the dumplings played with some sparklers.  I guess you could call us rebels.

I wished I hadn't forgotten my CF card for my Nikon because it does so much better in low light that also has a lot of movement.  My Fujifilm is just slower in the dark, and my subjects have a hard time being still.  Not necessarily the best combination. lol Anyway, I'm glad I was able to capture the moment the only way I could.  Perspective. ;)

We had a lot of fun that night.  Good thing we just might be joining Bammy later in the week.