crabs, sea erchins, and star fish...OH MY!

A walk on the beach became an exploration hike for us.. we came across all kinds of stuff on the beach! Look at the hundreds of little crabs! We also saw three starfish....and rescued each of them (that is, put them back in the water). The sea erchin, well, it was too late for that little guy.

sand dollar search

So, Jim and I decided to take a walk out to one of the base's beaches last night..... well, we found the jackpot in sand dollars! We came home with just over 100 of them! So, we decided to go back to that beach today and search for more sand dollars and pretty shells.....and we took home another 200 sand dollars and several pretty shells.

can't get enough

We just can't get enough of the water!! We decided that we would take Jayce fishing for shark for his birthday (which isn't officially until tomorrow). There wasn't much luck with the fishing, but the kids sure had fun!

Here is Addison and her friend Kelsey....cute, huh?

Yeah, I wouldn't think you would find fish in a bay like this.....but apparently there are 4 and 5 foot sharks that have been caught in this very water! Tyler isn't but maye 10 feet from the shore here....don't worry.....although I would like to feed him to the sharks some days, this wasn't one of them " )

surf's up!

Addison found a new love.....the ocean! It was difficult for us to get her into the water last year, but this year it's difficult getting her out of the water. The surf was pretty rough this day and I was really nervous about her getting swept out to sea.

It's not easy to tell in this picutre, but we are eating at a place right on the beach, called Tucan's. There is playground equipment for the kids to play on right on the other side of Tyler, on the beach.





Tyler
Addison and Kristen

this one's for you, Bradi!

My dear friend Bradi requested a picture of me in my "blue blockers", the required uniform of Lasik patients. " ) Love ya, Bradi! That big smile I have....yeah, that's part "I'm so happy I don't have to wear glasses anymore" and "wow, this valum is some good stuff!"

The surgery went well. I think I spent more time in the waiting room than I did actually getting the surgery done. I think that I spent 5 minutes total on the surgery "table". I didn't see very well when I was finished, although I could see a small difference. I kept trying to read billboards and street signs all the way home....and I could actually read some things! I was just a little disappointed that I didn't see a huge difference and thought it'd be just my luck for this surgery NOT to work on me. After the rational part of my brain began working again, I realized that my eyes will need to heal and I'll begin seeing a gradual difference. And sure enough......after my nap, I awoke to a new world! I could actually see!! So..in sum, I would HIGHLY recommend this surgery to any spectacle wearing friend of mine!

eye on the prize

It has been planned......my Lasik eye surgery is scheduled in just two days! I'm so nervous, especially since I had a not-so-good dream about the surgery just a few nights ago. Please pray for me all!

field day

The kids had a field day at school last week.......it was so much fun to watch! Jim and I had to run back and forth between Jayce's tug-of-war and Tyler's relay races. Here is Jayce and his class (well, just the boys) playing tug-of-war... Jayce is behind the little boy in the blue hat.

Unfortunately, Jayce's class lost....but it was still so much fun to watch!




Here is Tyler running the "duck" race. Each child had to wrap one of those silly little duck floats around their waists and run down and around the cone at the end of the field, and then back again. Here, Tyler just got his duck and began his race to the finish. He has the yellow ducky and light blue shirt on.

I can't remember what place his class took on this race..........but it's not about placing....it's about having fun!

Here's part of Tyler's class waiting for the next race....Tyler is one the far left with the light blue shirt on (their class shirts....he's in Mrs. Shepard's Sharks class).

Here's Jayce and one of his classmates running the noodle race. Jayce had to run backwards the entire time! It was hilarious!

In this race Jayce just finished popping his water balloon and was racing back to the finish line. The kids had to run to the end of the field and grab a water balloon out of the cooler and then plop down on the balloon with their butts to pop it. Another hilarious race.....

And to end the day.....a nice shaved ice...yum!