Our stint in the south...part I

Well, its been well over 2 weeks that we've been home from Alabama, but I get overwhelmed even thinking about blogging about it, so I have put it off and put it off....And here it is 2 nights before I head out for Girls Camp and I am blogging. Yes, I should be packing, or doing laundry, but I find that this is the time, for some strange reason, that I sit down at the computer to blog. Go figure! :) I really need to get caught up. Not only from our two and a half weeks in Alabama, but from the other two and a half weeks that we have been home now. I feel like I have been a hermit in my house this last little while. Still trying to catch up on sleep. Yet here I find myself, with a new thing to prepare for and pack for. :)

Alabama was a blast! We had such a great time. The very first day we got there, there was a huge thunderstorm. A southern storm! You can't tell from these pictures, but it was pouring! It was so strange to me that it was a thunderstorm yet, still 100 degrees outside. I usually associate rain and thunderstorms with cool weather. Not so in the south! :)





Grandma and Grandpa are so good to us down there. All 5 of Ben's siblings were there and we had a grand 4th of July celebration the first week we were there, while everyone was there. Tucker loved loved loved having all 11 of his cousins to play with and loved trying to keep up with the older boys. Grandmas house in and of itself is a pretty awesome place with TONS to do and lots of space to explore. Tucker was in heaven there! He especially loved Toby and Millie, their 2 dogs. In fact, he still remembers them in his prayers. They come right after mom and dad in the blessing line up, so they are pretty high on his list! :) Just at Grandma's house alone, some of the things we did were:
Countless rides around the front porch on the John Deere. Tucker loved this thing!!!



Getting hauled around in the real John Deere:



Feeding the fish every day was a must:

Tucker became a pro, just look at that form for throwing the food in the water. I think that this was the best these fishies had ever been fed! :)

Catching tree-frogs. There were a TON of them and this was a favorite past-time.

This one actually stayed in Tuckers hands long enough for a picture. They were usually pretty quick buggers...

Lots of good ol' fashioned Nature walks with grandma...

Picking tomatoes... My father-in-law has a big beautiful garden...



Aunt Meggie made us slushies one day to try and cool down from the heat!



So, its getting late and I still have like 500 pictures from Alabama to go through, so this post will have to be continued after I get back from Girls Camp. Some things to look forward to during the rest of our time in Alabama include:

• 1 trip to the beach
• 1 photoshoot
• 4 vomit fests
• 4 different states
• 1 surgery
• 1 call to poison control
• 1 4th of July parade
• 1 water fight
• 1 child falling into the pond!
• 1 cemetery visit
• 1 trip to the zoo
• A few trips to the park
• 2 attempted trips to six-flags
• A few bad movies
• A few good movies
• 2 movies in the theatre with grandpa
• 1 talent show
• 1 dinner with Bens old friends from High-school
• Way too many late nights
• A little bit of shopping-would liked to have done more! :)
• Getting kicked out of 1 pool
• Finding a few others that would do :)
• A few boggle games
• Countless small southern towns driven through :)
• Only a few melt downs...
• And lots and lots of yummy food

Make sure and stay posted for the rest of the Alabama saga... It only gets better from here! :) As for me, I'm off to Camp Liahona, the same camp that I went to as a Young Woman growing up, and we will see how the blogging world fits into my schedule when I get home. I have every intention of blogging for my posterity, I'm just not sure I can always muster up the energy to go through all of these dang pictures I have here! :)