The Beach and the Oil Spill

We thought long and hard before deciding to go to the beach this weekend. All the press coverage about the oil spill and what that would mean for the beaches left me wondering what it would be like, and if we even wanted to spend the money to go. But, we hadn't been to the beach in a couple of years, and we figured that there should be plenty to do down there besides the beach, if it came down to it. In the end, we got in plenty of beach time, and just a little bit of oil. For those who are curious, here are some examples of what we saw:

Ships installing boons

The Coast Guard looking for oil spots

Regular, oil-free seagulls

Lots of people swimming and playing on the beach

A few tiny coin sized tar balls

We were on the beach for four days and some days had more tar than others. On the morning that we left, I had a hard time finding any tar at all. The tar that was present was small and easily washed off the feet with dishwashing soap. It was no more of a hassle than watching for jellyfish when you walked. The photo to the right shows a piece of trash covered with tar. TJ named these spots tards because they look like.... well, you get the idea.

We also saw volunteers riding and walking up and down the beaches looking for something to clean up. It turns out that most of the rumors that I had heard, oil covered beaches, terrible smells, and so on, were mostly not true. More than anything, what we saw the most of when we were at the beach was this:

SMILING FACES!!

4 Years Old....

It's hard for me to believe that Tommy is 4 years old already. We took a weekend trip to the beach for his birthday. For his big day we made a stop at Chuck E Cheese in Pensacola...

Tommy in his Birthday Crown

T.J. "helping" Tommy play video games

visited the Naval Air Museum...

The Blue Angels

Tommy even got to play in the plane

and topped it all of with some time at the beach and a swim in the pool.

I think he had a great time!

Happy Mother's Day!!

You know that you're a mom when...

Finding rocks and pennies in the washing machine makes you smile...

Yes, one of those is a Canadian penny. I have no clue where he gets this stuff from!

This amount of "mess" is not only a tolerable level of cleanliness (or should I say "straightened-up-ness"), but something which should be strived for...

At our house we call this "clean-enough".

Bound pieces of construction paper with a simple hand print is a precious keepsake...

Daycare teachers rock!

You appreciate the Moms in your life more than ever before...

Tommy and Grammie

Tommy and Nanna

Happy Mother's Day to all the Mom's, Grandmom's, Aunt's, and special ladies out there who make a difference in our lives. Your impact is always felt, and always appreciated.

Rome If You Want To....

Or was it Roam that the B-52's meant?? Either way, I suppose that TJ and I were Rome-ing this weekend as we were in Rome, Georgia for an International Bowhunters Organization tournament. TJ's new hobby is shooting in these competitions, and since I am always up for a road trip, I usually tag along with him. I get to meet really interesting people from all over the US and spend a day or so outside enjoying the springtime weather, so it's something nice to do together. Tommy did not make the trip with us because chasing a 3 year old around an area with flying lethal projectiles is not my idea of a good time. But, little man got a trip to both sets of grandparents, so I doubt that he even noticed that we were gone.

Since pet boarding is expensive, and because our hotel happened to be pet friendly, Cracker did get to go with us. I swear, I am always amazed at the attention that this dog gets whenever we take him out in public. People are constantly coming up to see him. On this trip, people were actually asking to make pictures with him! It's almost like walking around with a celebrity. A hairy, slobbering, goofy celebrity...

Superstar!!

In all, it was a great weekend. A big thanks to Sissy for transporting Tommy to Troy for us, and both sets of grandparents for keeping him. I know that he had a great time!

Sunrise in Rome, Georgia

Chick Magnet

Apparently, 3 year olds do not automatically know how to hold baby chicks. While this statement may seem like common sense for most of the world, it was a lesson learned for me over Easter weekend. Tommy's Nanna and Peapaw were taking care of some chicks which were living in a box with a heat lamp.

The first two attempts at chick holding resulted in Tommy picking them up by their neck and/or leg, then dropping them sending the yellow fuzz balls plummeting down into the box. Luckily, after a few short lessons on the proper way to catch and release baby chickens, Tommy was a pro.

Please note that no baby chicks were harmed in the making of this blog post (Maybe a little traumatized, but not harmed).

The Correct Way to Hold Baby Chicks

O Blogger Where Art Thou?

Sooooo, I haven't been here in a while. The last few months have been one crazy, mashed up, jumbled pile of mess which has left little time for typing up a blog. Between Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's, Football Season, Deer Season, Fair Season, Archery Season, and my job again jumping into warp speed it has been CRA-zy. But, I am slowly regaining sanity. I enjoyed blogging before I went into the time warp that is the holiday season, so, now that it's March, I thought that I would try to pick it back up again.

When I left off, I was trying to write up some blog entries about our trip. Well, I got about halfway done. I'm still working on it. I haven't decided whether I should publish them all or not because of how rambling it is. We shall see...

I did however finish up the DVD of our trip by the Christmas deadline that I had set for my self. That's at least something accomplished.

So I don't know what in the world that I will write about, but I plan on continuing my blog about nothing. I'm sure that Tommy will give me something to write about soon enough...

Even Cracker has been wondering when I would update the blog...