The Party Is Over!

We start back to school on Monday as many of you will also. The crew is not very excited about it...but such is life. I hope to post some of our nature pictures from our vacation.

Our Thanksgiving

My immediate family is pretty small... Mom, Dad, 1 younger brother and myself. All of my extended family live out of state and we just don't get together like we used to. About 6 years ago, I asked my then 10 year old what he wanted for thanksgiving dinner and he jokingly said, "grilled cheese sandwiches and french fries" our then favorite meal. We kinda looked at each other and thought, hmmmm. And so our family tradition began. Believe me, I have heard much criticism about it, but it's what we like and it is fun and the kids love it and so do I.

10th grade likes his sandwhiches on the dark side.



I like mine a bit lighter.



The stars of the show.


A carrot and cucumber ribbon salad.


Hope everyone's Thanksgiving was peaceful.

A Shock to the System

We left this...

for this...

all within 48 hours.

My daughter was so happy to have little girls to play with this year. Usually, there are only little boys and I won't even tell you her opinion on little boys. LOL!

Peace

The Ocean

It was very windy on this day, but I still love to sit and watch. Sorry for the wind noise on the camera.

Brrrrrr

We are back.

I was gonna leave it that, but it sounds kinda surely doesn't it. LOL. We are blessed and back safely.

Lobster, Grouper & Shrimp

On Thursday nights the families here have a tradition of getting together for dinner. We all know each other as we vacation together year after year, so it's like a big family with dishes to pass and then a big order of seafood from the local fishermen.

Tonight was an all out feast! And of course... I did not get to take pictures... But let me tell you what brings tears to my eyes. Watching my children, especially my 7 year old, who tells stories of having to eat out of the trash when he was younger, eat lobster with butter dripping down their arms and chins... God is so good!!!

Tomorrow is our last full day on the island and Saturday afternoon we head back to the States. Yes it's over, call it a day... LOL

Handstands & Hammocks

Night Swim

Wednesday

Tuesday

Monday School Skippers

Great day of sun and fun.

We Made It!!

We are in beautiful Nassau and it was quite a nice experience traveling with 4 children. They were very cooperative and excited. We were so tired as we drove 5 hours to my brother's house near the Kentucky/Covington Airport as it is cheaper to fly from a bigger city than our own and there is usually a straight flight to Nassau from Covington. Our flight left at 6:30 am and we arrived 11:57am. The children always wear their swimsuits under their clothes so as soon as we get out of the taxi, say our "Howdy's", they are in the pool or in the ocean.

Pics tomorrow... Must sleep!

Winding Down to Gear Up

When my children were in traditional schools, I would need to make request for the school work that would be missed during family vacations. Initially, this was not problem, but every year it seemed to get more difficult to get teachers to willingly provide the school work that would be missed. I don't miss having to do that.

We usually take our regular schoolwork with us during our 2-3 week vacation and have shortened school hours. (Side story: we use the S O S computer program for school and both children have laptops. I am an admitted web-head and so is my mother who travels with us. Imaging how *fun* it is to travel with 4 laptops as carry-ons! Having to pull them all out, while taking off your shoes and all of the other security measures!)

This year I have decided to try something different with note booking, nature journals and math. We also have a family tradition where we take several copies of a book that the whole family reads and discusses together... And we are an opinionated bunch! LOL! I believe that the kiddos will really enjoy doing nature journals as there are so many geckos, crabs and starfish that are caught daily, and our backpacks will be much lighter for traveling. A notebook, a pack of colored pencils and 1 novel. Aahhhh

3 days!

My Very Big Baby Boy...

My baby turned 16 years old today. He is so tall and his voice is so deep and he has come such a very long way from the day I brought him home. He can be very sweet and is an extremely hard worker around the house. He enjoys (still) legos, cars and all thing related to the armed forces. He wants to enlist as soon as possible and is aiming toward being a part of the secret service or an FBI agent. He is funny too! Very funny at times and sometimes...down .right.silly!

Happy Birthday, Kid!

Mom