Dreaming of June...

As you can see by the above ticker, the hubby & I are going on a cruise this summer. We will celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary later this month, and my wonderful man suprised me with a Caribbean cruise getaway! Some of our very best friends from South Carolina are hoping to make the trip with us and I cannot wait!

So on this third cloudy, rainy day in a row here in Oklahoma, I'm dreaming of sunny skies, beautiful beaches of the Cayman Islands and Jamaica, and of sharing drinks and memories with my husband and our friends.

Only 3 months and 4 days until we set sail! Bring on the sunshine!

Nashville Day 2: Dunbar Cave and the Parthenon

Forgive me for the huge gap in posts...I spent most of this last week nursing sick family members. First all three kids were sick (and when I say sick I mean SICK... I spent my entire evening Monday running children and bowls to the toilet). Then the hubby came down with it, and yesterday it caught up with me. Anyway, we're all better now so here's some more pictures from our Nashville trip!

Wednesday evening we headed up to Clarksville, TN to visit some dear friends of ours, the Dittmeiers. We were stationed with them at RAF Lakenheath and hadn't seen them in about four years. They allowed us to take over their basement for a couple nights and we're so happy that we got to see them again!

Thursday, Dan & Mary both took the day off work to spend time with us...aren't they sweet? After a tasty breakfast, the hubby & Dan took all the kids (my three plus Dan's grandson Brayden) to the park at Dunbar Cave, while the women (myself, Mary, and her daughters Elizabeth and Kerry) hit up Hobby Lobby. Oh yes...did I tell you that I got the best surprise ever when we drove into Clarksville and there sat my favorite store ever?!

*Ahem* I'm sorry...where was I again? Oh...right...Dunbar Cave. *smooths shirt*

Then we left the Dittmeier's to head back to Nashville and check into our hotel. We made a pitstop along the way at the Parthenon...a life-size, scale replica of the one in Greece. It was really amazing!

This first picture is of a statue outside of the Parthenon...but I wanted to share because it was taken by my 8 year old. Methinks we have a budding photographer on our hands!(Those are full grown, adult women by the base of the statue...the thing was GINORMOUS!)

Nashville, Day 1: Downtown

After the science museum, we braved the drizzle and headed downtown. The hubby & I are big country music fans, so our first stop was a peek inside the Ryman Auditorium.

Of course it wouldn't be a trip with the Shearer's if we didn't hit up at least one hockey rink, (we hit three in this trip, but that was the whole reason for the drive to Nashville...a tournament!). The home rink of the Nashville Predators was right downtown so we popped in there as well and got the kids a little souvenier from the pro shop. The boys LOVED this huge sign on the side of the arena. Noah & Jonah referred to the city as Smashville for the rest of the weekend.

And there were some popular buildings to photograph too.

My favorite was Union Station, which is now a hotel. Awesome!

Nashville, Day 1: Adventure Science Center

We drove through the night and got into Nashville (or Nash-a-vayle according to Sophia) around 8am central time on St Patrick's Day. We hit up Cracker Barrel...YUM...and then since it was drizzly and chilly, we went on to the Adventure Science Center.

The kids (and the hubby, as you can see) had a blast. There was so much for them to do that they didn't know where to begin. They tested their reaction times with a hockey shootout scenario (not hard for my kids!), climbed up a huge spine, and even had the opportunity to see what it would be like to be in a wheelchair...they had to shoot a basketball, wheel up and down a ramp, and maneuver corners. It was a fun learning experience for everyone!

Favorites

These are my absolute FAVORITE pictures of our trip.

A Week in the Adirondacks. Part Six.

Fourth of July was a very bittersweet day for us. It was wonderful because we added another family member by way of a marriage proposal (Nick & Justine we love you!) and had a fun day with family. But it was sad becuase it was our last day in Indian Lake, and none of us wanted to leave in the morning.
The town of Indian Lake had a fishing derby in the morning, and the boys participated. Even though they didn't catch anything, they had a really good time hanging out with their cousins and aunts. And they even won brand new fishing poles from the raffle!
Here's Sophia and one of her new favorite people, "An Day-bee".

Fishing Derby time!

Hubby's niece Jennie and Sophia were inseperable most of the day ;)

Jonah in the casting contest.

For lunch we had hamburgers and hotdogs. Sophia decided that she wanted the bun from the hamburger, and just the hot dog. She'd take a bite out of the bun, wash it down with some diet root beer, and then take a bite out of the weenie. It was pretty funny. (And yes, it was just a bit windy.)

After the derby we hung out with all of the family, had some delicious food for dinner, watched fireworks, and had a fire. It was a great way to spend our last night in New York. We can't wait to go back again!

A Week in the Adirondacks. Part Five.

Kayaking on Lake Abanakee.

Part of an animal skull the kids found on their hike with Nick (hubby's nephew).

Nick and Justine (Nick's fiancee as of the 4th of July-yay!) brought their ferrets along with them when they came for the weekend. The kids L-O-V-E-D them! Sophia called them 'carrots' and wanted to hold them, until they actually came near her, then she'd squeal and back away.

Eventually, though, she warmed up to them enough to smother them in kisses. The boys even slept with them the first night. (yuck!)

A Week in the Adirondacks. Part Four.

Wednesday we went to the Adirondack Museum, where hubby's brother-in-law Mike works. I was expecting a small, one building type of place, but I was wrong. This place was great. There were lots of different exhibits, all in their own individual buildings scattered around the property. We spent all morning and part of the afternoon there, and if it weren't for the kids being hungry, I could've stayed all day. If you are ever in the Adirondacks, I highly recommend it. It's kid-friendly, too, which is a HUGE plus.

(Please forgive the quality of some of these pictures. My camera batteries died midway through the trip, and the gift shop was OUT of AA's. So I had to rely on the camera from my phone.)

This is the main entrance to the museum. It's so rustic and beautiful. And no, I have no earthly idea what Jonah is doing.

Yet another big chair. I swear I could've filled an entire album of Big Chair pictures with all the ones we saw throughout the week.

Sophia really enjoyed 'cooking' over the campfire in the kids exhibit.

Noah & his (stuffed) fish.

Jo caught one too!

One of the old railroad cars on display. The kids could ring the bell and play in the engine room.

Going for a canoe ride in the pond.

The boys loved this tent......and this lean-to.

A beautiful view of Blue Mountain Lake from the observation deck on one of the exhibit buildings.

These beautiful swings were in the playground outside of the old schoolhouse. They had lots of great, old-fashioned games (and I mean OLD games...like ones they played during the covered-wagon days). The boys and Bobby were playing with some of them when Noah, very innocently, asked "Dad, did you play these games when you were a kid?" Debby and I laughed SO HARD. Hubby is the youngest out of him, Debby and myself, so when they asked him that, of all people, we couldn't contain ourselves. Oh did we laugh about that for days!

Noah & Jonah made paperbag puppets in the classroom and sat in the desks. They were really amazed that there was only one room and kids of all ages and grades were in the same class.