The Crab

You know how some people like to compare their child to a stuffed animal or a growth chart to see how much they grow each year? Well, Aeva, prefers to stand by the local pizza crab for her annual pictures.

Here we have the 2012 Aeva.

And here is the 2011 Aeva.  Funny how much she likes this crab.  Maybe she has figured out that standing by it gets her pizza for dinner.

Purple People Eaters

Aeva likes soccer. Can you tell why? There is a common theme in the following pictures.

Treats, treats, treats.  I think she likes kicking the ball too but it is a close competition between the two.

Environmental Center Field Trip

Maddie's grade got to go to the Environmental Center again this year. Troy joined them for the second half of the day and got some pictures for me. 

We are lucky to have so many great places so close to use. Kids had a blast!

The Great White Hunter

My nephew, Garrett, has joined all of the other great white hunters in the world.

His first official deer.  

Garrett is in heaven.  Part of his happiness comes from the fact that he also got to miss school to hunt on this special day.  Deer + Sluffing = Happiness.  Lucky boy.

Midnight

One of our cats went missing a week ago.  Couldn't find him anywhere.  We were losing hope quick and then...he came home!  

Gracie has a new found love for her cat.  She was pretty sad at the thought of him being gone.  Glad you are home, Midnight.

Holly's Puppies

My aunt, Holly, has some new puppies at her house.

How can something be SO cute at someone else's house and SO not cute when they come to my house?  That is what my children do not understand.  Something changes when they become YOUR responsibility.  These little dogs grow up...their poop also grows up.  So do their bladders.  Not a good thing. 

Fall Leaves

I became a little obsessed with the Fall leaves this year.  I have never seen them so bright.  

I love, love, love it!

Pumpkin Patch

My dad grew some AMAZING pumpkins this year. The girls convinced him that it was time to pick them.  

Ms. Aeva is in charge of telling Grandpa what to do.  She takes her job quite seriously and is VERY good at it.  Here she is telling him which pumpkins to pick, where they should go, which way they should be turned, etc, etc, etc.  Grandma always takes his "Aeva orders" with a smile.

These are the co-boss people, Great Grandma Pearl and Grandma Rett.  They work for Aeva as well.  Their job is to tell grandpa what to do when Aeva is done telling him what to do.   We wouldn't want Grandpa to get lost so we are all very good at giving him instructions.

After the instructing is done, they evaluate his work.  

Occasionally we help by rolling the pumpkins around.  That is Troy's job.

Then we have the pumpkin rodeo.

Awesome work, everyone.  Let the carving begin!!!

Kennedy Space Center - Day 7

We didn't fly back home on our final day until 5:00 PM. That meant we had time to go and visit the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

This is where I start to show my stupidity.  Tons of cool things and I can't tell you much about any of them.  I guess I'll post pictures for those of you that may know what some of this is.

This flag is the largest painted American flag in the US.

Control center.

I think these are thrusters...sounds good anyway.  They were enormous.  Hard to get perspective in a picture.

This is the inside of the van that they use to take the astronauts out to the shuttle.  If I was about to risk my life by going to space, I would prefer my last ride be in something a bit more stylish.  Ferrari anyone?

Some sort of rocket thingy.

Space suits throughout the years.

Larger rocket thingy outside.

The Rocket Garden outside the center.  Huge rockets!

I had to take this picture.  I guess the local gas station is the "Wawa".  Troy was getting instructions from a guy that kept telling him to go to the Wawa.  Troy had no idea what he was talking about.  Who thought of such a name?  Completely weird.