Vernon Volumes text

Vernon Volumes text

Sunday, July 24, 2016

Omni Family Trip

On Saturday morning, we went to Amelia Island to spend a week at the Omni resort. When we arrived, Connor participated in an orange ball tournament with some other boys his age. The matches were very competitive. He lost the first match, won the second, and lost the third. At his level, the big difference is still consistency. As consistent as Connor is, some of the other boys manage to get everything in and can hit all day. Connor is probably just as good, but he does try some different shots and he doesn't always recover to a good position after he hits the ball. The hardest part for him is getting discouraged and after he lost a couple games, you could tell he lost confidence. We were still very proud of the progress he's made and he was hitting the ball well and made some amazing shots.




After his match, we went to our room and relaxed for a bit and in the evening went to Marche Burette for steak dinner.



We'd been a few times and this time I decided to get the 36oz Ribeye. It was huge and delicious! I shared a little with everyone else.



On Sunday, we slept in and then went to the Nature Center on property to look at the activities. We signed up for the crab catch in the afternoon and then we wandered around and looked at the animals and fed the fish and turtles.






We went to Barbara Jean's for lunch and then went to the crab catch. It was scorching hot. Unbearable to stand in the sun for more than a couple seconds. Bill, the tour guide setup some crab cages with raw chicken in them and then the kids threw them in the water around the dock.





While we waited for our crabby friends to arrive, Bill talked to the kids about crabs and how to identify the crabs.


We pulled up all the pots and were disappointed that at first there were no crabs in any. Thankfully a few minutes later Bill tried again and caught a couple.


Bill held the crabs and let all the kids touch the swimmerets (fin hind legs) before letting them go.


After looking at the blue crabs, we hiked in to the marsh to look at fiddler crabs, then the kids used little nets to catch shrimp and other small animals around the dock.


After the tour, we went back to the room and I swam at the pool with the kids. It was still plenty hot out to swim, and the pool is great since it's almost completely shaded by the huge live oaks on the property.


After swimming, we ate some pizza and then went back to the Nature Center to do a bike tour.



We all had our own bikes except for Paige. She was attached to the back of my bike on a little half bike. I was worried that the 7 mile ride would be difficult towing her along, but surprisingly it was actually easier having her behind me. She is such a powerful little biker and sometimes I would actually have to ask her to tone it down because we were getting to far ahead of everyone else.






After biking we had some ice cream at Marche Burette. Yum!



We're looking forwards to the rest of our time this week! It's been fun so far!

Zoey's birthday party at Nocatee waterpark


On July 17th, we all went to the Nocatee waterpark to celebrate with our friend Zoey for her birthday. It was hot, but perfect for a day at the pool. It was our first time there, and we all had a lot of fun and the kids made some new friends.






Sunday, July 17, 2016

Odessa Summer Visit



Andrea, Connor, and Paige went to Odessa on July 9th to spend some time this summer with everyone. I've been very busy with work and with the new house, so unfortunately I didn't go. We were actually scheduled to go the week before, over July 4th, but we canceled it because I was too overwhelmed. Although it was last minute planning, we realized that the next week would be good for Andrea and the kids to go, so we booked their flights and off they went.

We've all been wanting to meet our new nephew and cousin Griffin, and it was a good time to meet him since he's been home from the hospital for a while now and was starting to become more aware of his surroundings.












While they were in town, they spent the night at Graydon's house and had a sleepover. Graydon apparently loved it and they all stayed up late chatting and playing.




The kids also got to spend a night with the Rudolphs. The Rudolphs just sold their house, and Abby just had surgery, so their life has been a bit crazy, but they still did a lot with the kids and helped to make the trip special.





Grandma Genie is doing much better recently and we got a few pictures with her new hair coming in. She's looking good and she also enjoyed having the Vernons in town.










They all went to see the new movie "The Secret Life of Pets", "Finding Dory". They also went to Sky Zone for some fun trampolining. There was lots of time for playing games, ping pong, and they got to spend some time outdoors at the Burr Oaks park. It was a perfect time to get away for the summer and I'm glad that Andrea made the trip with them. I missed everyone, but had a productive week at home and got lots done around the house as well.