BERMUDA!

So, the day actually did come where we left on our trip. June 3, 2009 has been a day that we were anticipating since the wintry cold of March. Now that it has come and went, we are just stunned that we've had this experience. Bermuda is just one of those places you never think about, really. You hear the name and just kinda lump it together with all those other Caribbean islands. But we learned real fast that the locals will tell you this isn't the Caribbean, the Caribbean is 8 hours south from here. And the people of Bermuda are so sweet. You would think they would have the right to stick their noses up at all these tourist coming on their island, but they don't. One night Wayne and I went to the local market, we were talking to our checker and she asked us where we were staying. We told her and she knew all these people who worked there. You really do get the small town feeling, everyone knows everybody. I mean the whole island is only 23 miles long, so when we asked our helpful concierge if we could walk to the market, he just kinda laughed and said you can walk to anywhere in Bermuda. Although after having driven on some of the streets, I definitely wouldn't recommend walking near any roads. A view from the airplane as we were coming in to Bermuda.
I love that even before you find the beaches you can see that the water is BLUE .

Here's a photo of the hotel, PINK is the country's national color... or it should be

Wayne enjoyed taking a picture of the fish, they were pretty big.

This is Horseshoe Bay, Bermuda's premier beach, it was beautiful. Mark Twain use to say, " You can go to Heaven if you want, I'd rather stay in Bermuda"

The Lone Ranger had Silver and Wayne Ross got, THUNDER I'm just so happy that he even wanted to go horseback riding. Although he's not the one who ended up saddle sore after the ride. Got to learn that secret...

Bermuda is owned by Britain and if your at this spot at the right time you could get served your fill of Tea

Yes, Mark Twain is one of Bermuda most famous guests. It was rumored that he stayed at our hotel at one time, but he wasn't very helpful with directions...

We loved the beach! It just looks like pool water out there. Except there were Portuguese Man of Wars floating out there, not so safe... Wayne said he started to get good at finding them on the water... Allie didn't even get started. She just took her leisurely strolls along the beach soaking it all in.

The sand is truly PINK, (this photo doesn't really do it justice, maybe because my legs are also pink)

Poor Wayne had a bad headache this day and still endured just laying on the beach, because this is BERMUDA

And finally, this arch is found all over in Bermuda, our taxi driver said it is called a "Moongate" and if you stand inside one and make a wish all your dreams will come true. So my wish is that Wayne can win this vacation next year ;-) But I am so proud of his amazing accomplishment. He has truly done some wonderful things in his life and I feel so blessed just to be along for the ride.

Hello, it's me again

This was just one of the most unusual pictures. I think when I let the girls take a few this is some of what I got back. Usually I delete them, but this one I'm gonna keep. Well, I finally updated the blog, Wayne's been wanting this done for a while so, hope you all enjoy. Our family is doing well and will be taking off on Friday for a well deserved vacation. The girls are excited because they think it's cool to leave before school is actually out. Normally they would be in till the 8th. Sooo enjoy the update!

Quikie but goody

Well, we decided for Memorial weekend that we would try some camping. This Ray Stevens song comes to mind every time I think of the word "camping" , I digress, but you should listen to it sometime. Anyways we couldn't stay for the whole weekend, just Friday to Saturday. The girls loved it. We drove to Scott County park on Friday and lucked out. They don't accept reservations, first come first served. Well they were pretty full when we got there. But the place we got was a dream. Number 41 if you are ever in the area, nice.

Friday night we just sat around the campfire with marshmallows. Then on Saturday we got up had a great breakfast and hiked a little bit. After that we headed to the pool. The weather was beautiful, but we left with more than our fair share of bug bites. Enjoy the pictures of our "quikie but goody"

Hold really still and maybe they won't bite, but Wayne just might take a picture...

Olivia, "This is a little higher now that I'm standing on it, maybe not this time Dad..." (but Audrey didn't seem to have any problem)

Cheese, it was hard to get a whole family shot, not to many were braving the woods, just too many gnats!! But Scott County is beautiful... there's golfing, horseback riding, biking, swimming, and hiking.

Our campsite, we had a few neighbors from Maquoketa. They had a dog named, "Chewy" that Olivia and Whitney just loved.

Have I mentioned there were bugs...

Yum, Yum breakfast, Wayne is in his element when he cooks by the fire. I thought these eggs were so beautiful...

Here's the pancakes, the one of the left is Daffy Duck, in case you couldn't tell, I'm not sure but I believe the other one is Mickey... (there's also a picture of the bacon that I didn't download, but it was sooo unbelieveable good, Wayne and I couldn't help ourselves, so our diets didn't survive the weekend much)

What a guy, it is so cool to see a man cooking your breakfast, couldn't ask for anything more. Thanks honey for a great weekend!!!!

She thought this up all by herself, so we had to get a picture, if you can't tell she made a marshmallow weight, and it was a little heavy...

Happy Memorial day! Wayne and his girls...with the hatchet, he was teaching them some of his woodsman skills...

Red Wing

A couple of weeks ago we had the pleasure of driving to Red Wing, Minnesota to watch Wayne's brother Andrew graduate from Southeast Minnesota. Grandma came along and we had a lovely time. The drive was beautiful and Red Wing was gorgeous. Andy showed us around his school and where he does all his work and then we drove around Red Wing. It was all really interesting and a lot of fun. He is now able to do instrument repair on all band instruments. Now he is off in a few weeks to the Big Apple. We wish him all the best and hope that the move goes smooth!!! Here are a few highlights of the graduation!!

Andy and a few of his friends that he went to school with and met while in Minnesota. Hopefully we will get to meet some of them again!
A couple of cuties who got to take their picture with another cutie, thanks Uncle "Candy"
Proud Mom with her newly graduated son. Happy Day! I am smart...er

Proud big brother, Wayne and Andy

HaPpY BiRtHdAy WHitNeY!!!

Today is Whitney's third birthday! Where have the last three years gone, it's amazing. But Whitney is such an important part of our family. She makes us laugh and she is always so quick to show and give her love in return. On Sunday she was able to celebrate with all our close family. I want to thank them so much for coming up! So Happy Birthday Whitney!

Rock concert

Well, not much going on right now, except for the fact that I want to fulfill a life long dream. The dream is to go to a rock concert. Wayne looked at me a little strangely went I announced this last week. He probably thought that I wasn't acting rationally. So he didn't get "on board" Possibly because in his youth he was able to fulfill that certain need. When we play guitar hero he always will, "Oh yeah I went to that concert" or whatever.
So I found a concert that I thought was worth going to, The Killers. All right the name is kind'a strange. Wayne hadn't really heard a lot of their stuff, so again he kind'a gave me this glazed over look and didn't really say much. I made him listen to some of their stuff and he thought it was okay-but the concert was in Milwaukee and it was on a Thursday night, so again doesn't really work out in the family life style, can a Mother truely feel good about dumping the kids and skipping town on a school night.
So them my wonderful walking buddy Heather calls today and says U2... September... Chicago!!! And I was really excited, because this whole fascination of mine to actually go to a rock concert started one time when I lived in Utah and a couple of friends of mine were going to see them in SLC and tickets were like 75 dollars. And me being the poor student couldn't go. Not that I was crushed by it, I just thought, man I want to do that sometime, when 75 dollars wouldn't mean anything.
So like that U2 concert was about 10 years and with the inflation and this (according to some website) is the best live music show ever. Can anyone guess how much one ticket, normal ticket would be? I hope the price I saw isn't the right one.

Miz Hepburn

For Audrey school music show she needed to be someone from the movies. So this is who she decided she wanted to be...