A Few Beach Pictures

We went to the beach a couple of times in the last few months both at Spring Break and again this summer.  I didn't take a ton of pictures, but here are a few of my favorites.

C'mon, This Will Be Fun

The boys started school the day after Labor Day.  So we met our good friends in the mountains over Labor Day weekend for one last fun filled weekend to celebrate the end of summer.

It was suggested that we take the boys (ages 8 1/2, 8, and 5) on a hike.  Fresh air.  Exercise.  Climbing.  Exploring nature.  I'm all for that.  I don't want my boys to think I'm a wimp so I occasionally need to do something outdoorsy so they will have memories of their mother participating in outdoorsy things.

Someone in the group said that the Hebron Rock Colony would be a fun place to go.

This is a picture of the Hebron Rock Colony.

 I did not take this picture.  As you can see, it is a truly beautiful place with a babbling mountain stream and lots of foliage.  Here is a shot at a different angle.

This was not the easiest hike we've ever done.  Lots of tree roots and well, rocks (thus, the name).  Let's just say I am glad Kevin and Grant were there to help all of us (mamas and boys) up and down the rocks.

Some parts were downright treacherous.

See photo.

I did take this photo when we were taking a break.

Aren't they cute?

Does this post have a point?

Right after I took this photo, it started sprinkling.  The Dads wanted to press on to the top of the Hebron Rock Colony.  The Moms were not so sure.  The Dads wanted to live a little.  The Moms were concerned.  The Dads said we were being wimps.  The Moms wished the Dads had taken the kids hiking on their own while the Moms went out for pedicures.

The Moms threw down the Mom Card and said we must start heading back to the car immediately.

Then it started raining like this.  But harder.  Much harder.  Think of words like torrential and downpour.  Or maybe monsoon and tropical storm warning.

Those beautiful rocks from the first few pictures?
Guess how slick they get when it is sprinkling?
A little slippery.  But dry enough to still be hike-able (I think I just made that word up).

Guess how slick they get when it is pouring down rain?
Might as well try to ski down a mudslide.  It's like hydroplaning in a car, but with tennis shoes and children.  And other random hikers following you because they think you know the way out.  Poor them.  They had no idea we were clueless.  The blind leading the blind.  Or in our case...the soaked leading the drenched.

Did I mention the Moms were wearing white tshirts?  Yeah, that was fun.

I have blocked many of the details from my mind.  I think I have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.  For the record, I will say that had we left when the Moms wanted to leave (when it was sprinkling), we probably would have made it all the way to the car quite easily.  But I'm not one to point fingers.  Or place blame.  Or say "I told you so."  The Dads said we were making a memory.  I'm going to have to edit out the bad words I was thinking in my "memory".

Needless to say, I was a nervous wreck getting out of there.  Took us forever to get back to our car.  Not only did Kevin have to help his feeble wife, he had to carry Luke on his back while scaling slippery rocks.  Believe it or not, we made it without broken bones or major injuries.  The boys were serious troopers.  I'm glad I was wearing a hat.  We were all drenched.

And when we finally got back to the car?

The sun came out.

Of course it did.

Note to self:  check the weather report before a hike with the Dads.

Good-bye Summer!

Hello?

Is anybody there?

I know.  It has been 6 months since I've posted anything.  One half of a year has gone by.  Several or 8 things have happened.

I made a goal to start blogging again when the boys returned to school which is today for Fletcher.  Tomorrow for Luke.

In the days and weeks ahead, I'll try to catch you up on all of our adventures.

A few things are changing though.  For starters, I'm only going to put up a post on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I used to put something up every week day.  But that gets overwhelming after a while.  I know sometimes people get frustrated when they look at a blog and nothing new is posted.  So for now, just know to check Snickelfritz Lane on Tuesdays and Thursdays for new posts.

We said good-bye to summer by spending the Labor Day weekend with our friends in the mountains.

Here are a few pictures from our weekend.  We ended up at a really cool park on Beech Mountain.  I've seen lots of parks, but never anything like this.  Things were made out of these really thick ropes.  Lots of bridge type things to climb on.  Swings made of canvas.  Rope spider web.  The boys loved it.  And the parents had fun too.

(Haven't the boys grown?  Since my last blog entry, Luke turned 5.  Yikes!  Where is the time going?)

3 Million Legos

That's how many Legos are in this place.  Thankfully, the rollercoasters and other rides are not made out of Legos. LegoLand is about 40 minutes outside of Orlando.  It is where the old Cypress Gardens used to be.  If you ever remember seeing pictures of the water skiers in pyramid formation from way back in the day, that was probably at Cypress Gardens.  It was known for its water ski shows and beautiful gardens.

A very happy birthday boy.

Luke would not ride any of the rollercoasters.

He liked driving the boats and cars.  Side note:  see the tattoo on his arm?  I picked up Disney tattoos from Walgreens before our trip thinking the boys would enjoy them.  We all put one (or two) on our arms on the first day of our visit to the parks.  These things lasted for WEEKS! Seriously,  I think Luke still had his on New Year's Day. 

The watch on Luke's arm doubled as his ID bracelet.  I had written his name, our names and our cell phone numbers inside the watch band. He knew if he got lost he was to show it to a cast member with a nametag or a mommy with a stroller (because I know another mommy would help a lost child find his parents). 

Take a good look at Kevin's face.  These boats were on a course, but not on a track so you really could drive them anywhere and get them turned around in the wrong direction which Fletcher apparently did several or eight times before Kevin stepped in and got them back on course.

The jousting ride.  Fletcher and Luke got off this one and were both disappointed because they "really didn't get to knock anyone off a horse."  Boys....

Jungle safari cruise.

Lego character.  He has a name, but I forgot what it is.

This was called MiniLand.  Tons of well known landmarks had been recreated using Legos - famous hotels in Vegas, Florida landmarks like the Capital and the fort in St. Augustine, the White House, New York City, places in Hollywood and fantasy places too like pirate ships and islands.  It was fun to walk through and find all the neat details. 

This was part of the "gardens" part of the old Cypress Gardens.  That is one seriously old (and HUGE) tree.  Kevin and Fletcher missed this part because they were off riding rollercoasters.

Lego Christmas tree.

Darth Vader built out of Legos.

In keeping with the Cypress Garden tradition of a ski show, there's now a Lego Pirate ski show with "BrickBeard" and friends.  I was thoroughly impressed with the guys in the Lego costumes like the one pictured here.  It is hard enough to waterski in a swimsuit and these guys did it in these costumes.  And some of them even did stunts! 

I love to people watch and this ride was a great one to do that.  There were single short poles with a red button on each pole lining the perimeter of this ride (outside of the water).  If you pushed the red button, the water cannon would shoot water up in the air.  If you pressed it at just the right time, you could get a friend or family member wet who was riding the ride.  There were lots of field trip groups there the day we went.  It was funny watching kids trying to get their teachers wet or wives trying to get their husbands wet (which of course I did not do).  Here Kevin is trying to dodge the spray of water and keep Luke dry.

Waiting for the cool 3D show to start. 

Fletcher on the water ride.  I think he wanted to get wet.