It was my Dad's 67th birthday yesterday. We had pizza and cake. Here are two pictures of the kids looking calm. The rest of the time they were acting like monkeys under the influence of something potent and illegal. Justine excluded, of course. :) It was a very nice birthday get-together.
(I really appreciate how both my dad and Jon are representing UCF in these pics. I wonder who bought them those shirts?)
All the Smith cousins together! We tried to get them to line up in order of age in this photo, but Abe got very sad when Justine set him down by Anna. So here they are: Justine, 8th grade, Abraham, 18 months, Jonathan, 2nd grade, Trystan, 1st grade, and Anna, Kindergarten.
This one is cute! Jon, Justine, Abe, Trystan and Anna.
Trystan and Abe. Abe was trying to learn to dribble like Trystan. It was so funny. Abe can actually kick a soccer ball with one foot. He can also talk an incredible amount for a child his age. I had not seen him since July and I was amazed.
Aunt Jamie (me) and Abe.
Trystan and Abe.
Anna, Justine and Abe in the toy room at Nona's. Abe got attached to this little Elmo and when he would lose it, he would say, Where'd Elmo go? And we would have to go find it.
Justine with Anna.
Anna and Jonathan on the train ride.
Jonathan on the pony. (He has ridden much bigger horses than this before, by himself. I wonder if that's what he was thinking?)
Anna riding the pony.
Anna and Jonathan at Daddy's company Christmas party.
Every year we go to Bethlehem Walk in Satellite Beach. They recreate Bethlehem on the Eve of Jesus' birth and retell the story. There are different booths to visit. When you first enter, the Roman guards have you sign the census. This year we took Trystan with us. He was VERY impressed with the Roman guards.
Me, Anna and Trystan on our way into Bethlehem Walk.
Trystan, Anna, and Jonathan in one of the booths playing with a driedel.
Trystan and Jonathan.
Anna, Trystan and Jonathan learning about how oil lamps work.
Jon signing the census.
Anna and Trystan signing the census.
EVERYONE has to sign the census. :)
We had Anna's 6th birthday at Chuck E. Cheese, at her request. We had it early, since her actual birthday is 3 days before Christmas and she wanted to invite her class. Anna had to wear her pink boots with her birthday dress. :) Here she is playing a dance game.
The birthday girl with her cake. It was a Muppets cake (we just saw the movie last weekend) from Publix.
Getting ready to go play some games with her cup of tokens.
Anna with Chuck E. Cheese himself. Wow.
Love it! Anna with her cousins, Trystan and Justine.
Above, she is with her Daddy in the Ticket Blaster. Only birthday guests are allowed to go in this wind tunnel of tickets. Her crown and safety goggles caught most of the tickets for her. Jonathan later on told us some sort of strategy he would have used. :) She is smiling at Herbie, one of the students from her class that came to her party.
Wow... Justine is turning 14 this year! I can remember when she was Anna's age so well. They remind me of each other so much. Justine is a wonderful young lady and I adore her.
Anna smashed her birthday crown down over Justine's face. Awww...
Jonathan had to show Anna that there was slots for tokens all the way around the crown. Anna had a great birthday party and loved all of the crazy antics involved in a Chuck E. Cheese party.
We usually always take our pictures outside under an orange tree. One year we went to the beach. We decided we needed a change this year, and we wound up at a riverside park in Melbourne Beach. It was everything we needed... minus the sand. I LOVE how the photo cards (and address labels!) turned out and can't wait to get them in the mail so I can start sending them out!
Jonathan was perturbed that I asked them to step so close to the edge of the water. He clutched the dock and held Anna tight. She had to taunt him by curving her body out toward the water's edge. (He can swim well; she can't. He was trying to protect her.) So, in all of these pictures he looks like a combination of terrified and mad, and he kept grabbing her tighter and tighter and her tank top kept going up and up, making her belly hang out. I told him, Jon! If Anna falls in, I will go after her. And if you fall in, you know how to swim! He looked at me with disgust, and said, Yes, but not in fish pee. (Good point.)
So sweet. And I love the Melbourne causeway in the background.
I don't know what this was about but it is cute!
Does the wind blowing her hair in her face make this picture any less perfect? I think not.
While this one did not make the card, I absolutely love the look on Jonathan's face! :)
Happy Anniversary to Us! 11-03-01 to 11-03-11
We stayed at the Addison on Amelia Island.
Last time we went to Amelia Island, it was for my birthday a few years in June, during a record heat wave! This time, it was during a cold snap, plus it was WINDY!
Me and Dave at St. Augustine.
Last morning at the B&B... Croissant french toast with mango peach orange syrup. The breakfasts were delicious... They had more than one course and there was always tons of fresh fruit involved. And the coffee was GOOD! Yummy! We absolutely loved staying here and will definitely return.
We went on a segueway tour. It was so fun... and a little terrifying. (For me! :)
They told us to get closer and touch each other; I said, No. My hands were not leaving the handlebars!
My favorite house, Tabby House, on Amelia Island. Luckily, it is right across the street from our inn. It was built out of a unique substance called tabby that slaves used; they have been trying in modern times to recreate it and they can't. I think this house is the most beautiful one on the entire island.
Getting ready to leave for the segway tour at Ft. George State Park. (I was trying to stay warm; not simply going for fabulous ;)
We took a carriage ride to dinner at Beech Street Grille. Delicious!
Okay, here I was just going for ridiculous!
Boomer the carriage horse is a local celebrity. He is such a great horse. The funny thing was he just decides which way he wants to go while on the tour and his owner just adapts her tour talk to his route.
We had a nice little porch outside our room. I was waiting to go to dinner.
The funny thing about this picture is it looks a lot like our wedding kiss. The man taking photos couldn't catch it at the altar, so he asked us to kiss again, and this is basically the photo he caught. We were still too fast! Kind of funny. :)
On the carriage.
Dave walking through the courtyard bringing our stuff up to our room.
One of my gifts from Dave. We went to a wine tasting on the way up to the island, so the glasses came in handy.
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