Pals & Pirates

Coming home from preschool, Kate & Gabe saw their friend Deacon playing in his yard and begged to go play. Gabe was already late for his nap and we had a busy night ahead, but I told them they could play for a few minutes. Little did I know, Deacon wasn't just playing in his yard...he was heading to the sprinkler set up in the backyard! The kids had a blast! Thanks Deacon (& Mrs. Stacy) for letting us come play in your beautiful backyard!

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Getting SOAKED!

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After a nap and a bit of relaxation, it was time to shift gears.......

Aaarrgggh Mateys!

Pirate Gabe & Pirate Princess Kate!

Tonight I took the kids to the Fernandina Beach Shrimp Fest Pirate Parade! This is one of our favorite parades because of all the very cool pirate and/or shrimp themed floats! Here are just a few of our favorites! They also had lots of pirate ships but I didn't get many float pictures for fear that if I picked up my camera too often I would lose one of the kids under the tire of a big truck!

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Then, after watching about 2/3 of the parade, we hoped on my parents' float to ride through the parade with The Lighthouse! There were so many people and the parade was very long, but the kids loved it! Kate & James (not pictured) spent most of the parade sword fighting through the streets!

At the end of the parade, the kids wanted out of the float and in with Grandma & Pawpaw!

My scary little pirates!

Then Kate wanted to go see all the "real" pirates! Gabe...not so much!

This pirate even let Kate take a turn at the wheel of his ship!

Miss Treeva...always so much fun!

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such a beautiful horse!

Gabe was running across the grass trying to keep me from putting him in the car!

Andrew & Tabitha

We had fun with you guys again at this parade!

Sea Turtle Center

Today the kids and I were excited to check out some place new...the Jekyll Island Sea Turtle Center! The place was small, but it was so awesome to see and learn about giant sea turtles!

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After checking out the center, we went next door to see where most of the turtles are kept.

They had turtle of every size...both great & small!

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They also had some horseshoe crabs....

After a fun visit to the Sea Turtle Center, we drove over to the park for a picnic & playtime!

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Emma was sharing her new sea turtle book with Kate - so sweet!

Next we headed across the street to the beach to meet up with friends who had already toured the center and decided on a day on the beach instead. Mrs. Lynn entertained us by running up and down the beach until she finally discovered the trick to flying a kite!

At the ocean, Kate & Madeline made themselves right at home! Gabe, on the other hand, nestled in between my legs.....he is SO cautious compared to Kate!

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I quickly stepped away to take this picture for a better perspective!

After a bit of play, Gabe & Madeline were getting sleepy so we left and let the kiddos nap in the car while Sarah & I shopped at the Bailey Boys outlet. Then, after an hour long "power nap" we headed back down to the water for something truly incredible! The Sea Turtle Center was going to release 11 Sea Turtles into the ocean! And even better, one of the turtles we had just seen at the center, "Cruella da Ville," was amongst those chosen to be set free!

carrying the turtles down to the beach

Kate was very excited to see the turtles brought out, but after a

while she moved down to the water for a much closer view!

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Two of the turtles being released!

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There was a break between the 1st two turtles and the next nine. Kate, of course, wanted back into the water to swim! But instead, to keep her occupied, I convinced her to draw pictures of the 11 sea turtles into the sand...worked great!

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The 1st two (bigger) turtles were carried out into the water and set free.

The final nine (slightly smaller) turtles were set in the sand to race out to sea.

Kate cheered them all on by yelling, "Go Turtles Go, Go Turtles Go!!!"

One of the turtles waved a final goodbye to his cheering fans!

Once all the turtles made it out to sea, the kids went in to the water to watch as we

were able to see a few of them continue to pop their heads up out of the water

several times before disappearing.

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About to leave, these sweet ladies saw Gabe and put this down into the sand for him to find!

He wasn't sure what to do with it, but he was very excited about his "discovery"!

Splash Zone!

Mrs. Jennifer & Griffen invited us all over today to play in their neighborhood pool! The big pool is still a bit chilly, but all the kids had a blast "swimming" and splashing in the baby pool!

Thanks so much for letting us come play!!!

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Crawfish Festival

This morning I got the kids up early and met my parents for the Crafwish Festival! The Lighthouse was going to be in the parade again with the newly designed float by Walker's mommy & daddy! In fact....our float won 1st place this year!!!!! But with so many cute crawfish on board, is it really a surprise. :)

Here we are waiting for the parade to start. Gabe wasn't completely

thrilled with the headband, but he did keep it on the whole time without a fight!

Having a little fun before starting to move.

Kate & Walker looking cute. Then Kate went over to see Mr Scott!!!

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Show me your best Crawfish face!

Two of the other Crawfish on board....Zane & Andrew.

(Sorry Madeline & Tabitha - somehow I didn't get a picture of you on the float!)

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After the parade we went to Grandma & Pawpaw's booth for Kate to talk on the radio. But, instead of inviting everyone to come out, she said "GO HOME!" Guess she was hot & tired! :)

But, before going home we first strolled along the boardwalk to look at all the crafts.

We made out with two smoothies, a necklace, and three bracelets!