Sophie & Ava

I got a very unexpected phone call a couple of weeks ago from one of my favorite people. Sherry McC called to say that she and her mother-in-law Jeanette, along with Sophie & Ava, were coming to visit! Well, they were actually coming about 45 minutes north of me to check out the location of Sherry's brother-in-law's wedding spot, but still, I was soooo excited! Kate was so happy knowing that she would get to spend the whole weekend with her best friend! Unfortunately though, the crazy snow hit Atlanta and they were unable to come and had to reschedule their visit. We had to add two weeks to our countdown but we were still excited! The only downside was that this new weekend was alittle bit more hectic and sadly we were only able to spend about 8 hours with them. :( Still, we made the most of our time together, had a blast, and can't wait to spend more time with them again this summer!!!!

Sophie & Ava - We love these girls!!!

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Although many months have passed since the kids were last together, they picked right up where they left off and loved being together! Even Gabe & Ava, who have only ever had a long distance friendship, seem to know that they are meant to be great friends!

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After a yummy luch on St Simons Island, we drove around to let Ava nap and took the other 3 kids out to the lighthouse to explore and play! It was closed for renovations, but Kate, Gabe, & Sophie had just as much fun playing on the lawn and nearby playground as they would have going in the lighthouse.

Outside the playground was a giant whale statue for the kids to climb!

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Hold on tight!!!

Kate & Sophie - dancing princesses!

On the way home we spotted a Dairy Queen.

Nana (S & A's grandma) treated us all to ice cream!

It's still a bit to chilly to get in the water, but it was perfect weather for a walk on the beach!

On the journey we spotted this cute little crab. Kate loved it!

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There were also nearly a hundred jellyfish scattered along the shore.

Time to head back to the condo.

Our time with the McC family is almost over. :(

We had soooo much fun today!

Sophie - Kate - Ava - Gabe

Friends Forever!

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Walking back Kate & Ava held hands.

Kate was talking to Ava and she did NOT want me to take her picture!

How have I lived 29 years and only now experiencing Monster Jam for the 1st time! Selling out every year to over 74,000 people in Jacksonville, clearly I have been missing out! Well, not this year! I will go before I turn 30! Hahaha! Actually, I would have never seen myself at this type of event, but having a little boy obsessed with anything with wheels, when I saw this was coming to town, I knew it was a "must see!" Little did I know at the time though that this event is such a big deal!






We got our free "pit passes" and "Monster Truck ride tickets" in advance and headed down to the stadium early to take advantage of the festivities and get a good parking spot. Our first event was the ride! We got in what didn't seem like a terribly long line, but 2 hours later, it was finally our turn!!! As you can see, the height requirement is 36 inches. We didn't find this out until an hour into the line....and Gabe is almost 35 inches. What to do?!? Well, we stuck Kate's hat on top of his and hoped it would be enough! They measured and saw he just missed that mark...but they let us in! Thank you Monster Jam! We would have had a very sad boy on our hands if he was turned away.

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Blue Thunder - our ride!

This ride was not long enough...but it was awesome!!!

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After the ride we entered another line (thankfully not too long) to enter the "Pit Party." It was just a field with LOTS of people all waiting in ridiculously long lines to get pictures with and autographs from the drivers. Having never even watched one of these events on tv...we passed on that one! But, we did walk up to a few trucks for pictures. Our favorite was Taz! The kids loved the design on this one!

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Dairy Queen was in the Pit with a booth for kids to draw pictures or make signs. Gabe scribbled on one poster and kate drew a Monster Truck. I thought it turned out really cute!

When the kids finished, one of the booth workers handed Gabe 4 tokens (for a free hotdog) for the family since he & Kate did so good. Well, since they were handed to him, he thought they were only for him. So when I told him to give two tokens to Kate, he was NOT happy! I think he might have given us an award winning puppy dog face! It was so good and lasted so long that I just had to take a picture!

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Now this is more like it! After roaming around the pit party for a while and with still a couple more hours until the start of the show, we decided to get a giant "make your own" Shaved Ice!

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People and Cars - Cars & People - Everywhere!!!!

And such a beautiful sunset!

(just for fun - "Where's Waldo" - If you know what my parents drive, look closely in the bottom right corner and see if you can spot it!)

We found our seats and we're getting excited!

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The National Anthem and giant waving American Flag.

And then, literally just minutes before the show started, the kids fell asleep! We couldn't believe it! Now, here we are at a Monster Jam event, something we came to only for them, and they are sound asleep! Unbelievable!!! But, not completely surprising since we have been here all day, they haven't had a nap, and it's bedtime!

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We decided to bundle them up (it was freezing!) and let them sleep through the first half - which was fun but nothing amazing. Just racing and jumps to "qualify." I had no idea there was an actual competition in Monster Jam. I thought it was just trucks smashing cars...I was wrong. Butm the second half was more what I imagined and was considered the freestyle competition. The trucks did crazy tricks and lots of smasing cars and crashing. But, I want to know, is this event choreographed??? It seemed alot like the WWF with a predetermined set of events and nothing real...just entertaining. Again, I never knew there even was a competition though so who am I to say.....

Okay, back to our night. We let the kids sleep for about an hour and then decided to get some cotton candy before waking them and then hope the sugar would keep them awake to not miss the whole show! It worked like a charm! It took a few minutes to get them to come alive, but then the sugar kicked in and did its thing!

The kids were amazed with all the stunts!

Grave Digger - the crowd favorite!

He crashed down and broke off a tire.

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And our favorite - TAZ!!!

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After lots of unbelievable action, the winner of the freestyle is.....TAZ!!!!

We had such a fun night!

Gabe was one very happy little boy!

Here is a video showing Kate's excitement after watching a Monster Truck do an actually flip! It was incredible and Kate went wild!

Carnival

Our small town Carnival is back in action for the week, and thanks to Granny Annie, we all went for a night of fun!!! Of course we first said a pray that all the screws were in place and bolts tightened, but that's all part of the excitement, right?!? :)

After getting out "all-access" wrist bands, it was time for some fun!!!

Our first stop, the fire trucks!

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The ariel shot I took from the top of the ferris wheel! Gabe is sitting in the top right truck...you can sort of make out his red & white striped hat. My mom is hugging someone just across the fence and Granny Annie is next to my mom wearing a baseball cap. Also pictured is our friend Griffen. I think he is the one in the lower right truck and his mommy and dad are behind the fence with their backs to me. Oh, and Kate is on the ferris wheel while I'm taking this picture!

Gabe did not want to ride to to the top of the city, but Kate sure loved it!

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The Dizzy Dragons

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Helicopter ride with Griffen!

The Landslide!!!

In the first picture you will see Jon and Kate coming down at the bottom. In the second picture, Gabe and I are at the top, waiting patiently for our turn. Both kids LOVED this giant slide!!!

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BUMPER CARS!!!

By far one of our favorites! But, when we tried to go again later in the night the man told us that Gabe was too short. He was so sad....and so was I. :(

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I rode with Kate because she wasn't tall enough to push the gas pedal, but I had to take a picture first of course! :)

Kate got to play 1 game - and won a dolphin!

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And she talked my mom into letting her get into the giant hamster ball!

I have to admit though, she had a blast!

I would have been so scared to climb into a deflated ball - but not Kate!

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She rolled around for about 5-10 minutes and loved every second of it!

Thanks Granny Annie for such a fun night!!!

After lots of rides and hours of excitement we ended the night with probably one of the most unhealthy but all most delicious foods ever created:

A Deep Fried Oreo!!!

YUMMY!!!

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