Sunday, April 18, 2010

Spring Break Fun

For Spring Break we decided to take the family on a little camping trip. We really feel blessed that we get to live here because we are so close to the beach. This camp ground is on a military base in Pensacola, FL., and is only $6 a night! This is the view from our campsite. We could hear the waves as we lulled off to sleep at night.
Heading down to the beach!
Little Miss Hannah preferred the sand, as soon as I made mention to go in the water she plopped herself down in the sand and cried, "NOOO!".
She warmed up to the idea the next day right before we were getting ready to leave. As long as she was holding mine or Daddy's hand, that is.
Don't let the sunny scene and blue skies fool you. Even though it was pretty warm that day the water still hasn't had enough time to warm up yet. That didn't stop our kiddies from jumping in the waves and trying to splash a dry Mom and Dad.
I love this picture of Emma laying out in the sun trying to get warm. She would take breaks every now and then and just roll in the sand to try and "warm up".
Getting ready for dinner and s'mores. Not only is the park for tent campers like us, but there were several RV's, which is my life's ambition to be able to retire and buy an RV so Theo and I can travel all over the states. The camp also had this really nice bath house with showers. NICE!
After we left the beach Theo wanted to see the National Museum of Naval Aviation. This place is super cool and I recommend it for anyone. They had air crafts from every military group. They even had ones you could sit in.





They even had a section on space travel and the progression of aviation suits. Did you know that the first suit was tied together, literally! You could see the stitches.

They had a play section for the kiddies, and unfortunately we past that first thing on our tour. So the rest of the tour was the kids asking every few seconds if they could go back to the playground. They had some neat things for the kids set up through out the building, but that playground was just the highlight of their experience. I'm sure if we just went for that the kids would have thought that was the most awesome place.

It really was a great Spring Break!

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Who Do You Think You Are?

NBC recently started a new series called "Who Do You Think You Are?" where they follow celebrities on their personal journeys to discover their ancestry. I love this concept, not because I really care who their ancestors are or where they came from, but for the seed it is planting in its viewers. Hopefully this was be the start of the newest Hollywood fad that fans will be quick to emulate.

I have a personal testimony of genealogy. I've had it pretty easy because most of the work for me has already been done. My greatest joy and pride of my ancestry is growing up knowing that I am a bonafide Creek Indian Princess. That's right, that lovely lady in the picture above was Sehoy I, Princess of the Wind Clan, one, if not the most powerful Creek clan at that time. She is my so-many greats-grandmother.

Not only am I a real princess, but later down the line her granddaughter, Sehoy III gave birth to one of the most historically famous Creek Indians, William Weatherford a.k.a "Red Eagle". Red Eagle was crucial in the peace making between the Creek Nation and General Andrew Jackson, whom befriended him and spared Red Eagle's life. And he is my Uncle.

It's pretty awesome being related to Native American royalty, not only that, but KNOWING it is even better. If my genealogy wasn't done I may have never known this. I really hope that this show lights a fire under peoples rears to get them moving on finding out their own ancestry. Who knows what you might find. Maybe....royalty??? You'll never know unless you start looking!

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Spring at Bellingrath Gardens

Last Monday as a play date we were lucky enough to go to Bellingrath Gardens. As long as I have lived here I have only been able to enjoy this beautiful place a handful of times. I love that I was also able to enjoy it with my girls. Miss Miriam really is having a good time, I think I caught her off guard in this picture. It's a good beginning picture, I think!
Some of the kiddies enjoying one of the water fountains.
This was the pathway to the Mermaid Lagoon.
I absolutely LOVE hydrangeas! The blue are my favorite color. Interestingly enough the color of the flower is determined by the acidity in the soil. I think it's if the soil has more acid then they are pink, but if it's more alkaline then they are blue. I could be backwards, but that's the gist.
This is the Mermaid statue. So pretty! And what I thought was neat is that she actually has two legs with feet that are mermaid fins, so it looks like four mermaid fins in all. I've never thought of that concept before. It was very elegant.
A beautiful view of Fowl River.


This is an awesome Lion statue that was just the right size for all our girls to get a good pose. The boys had there own pose as well, but since none of them are mine at this play date I didn't post that picture. Don't worry about the cutie sitting on the head, she was being held up by my older sister who had crouched down behind the lion figure so she could safely hold her, but also stay out of the shot.
A beautiful cherry blossom tree.

More hydrangeas, and PINK!
They had a really neat Japanese garden section with this awesome bridge. I love the effect on the water to make it look like a circle.

I am loving spring here! I remember it being my favorite season in California also. Everything turned green there because of all the rain and it reminded me of home. I absolutely love all the different shades of green all around me. The azaleas are in full bloom and flowers are popping out everywhere.

Ah, spring! It's about time.