Summer trip to Sparta!

When we got back from Florida my parents were waiting for us in Abingdon.  Chloe had a blast at the beach and I hope she continues go with us each summer but I know she really missed mom and dad.  It was different for her to spend 10 days away from them and get accustomed to the rules of the York-Simmons and the Simmons.  She also was the oldest of 5 kids and the only other girl.  She and Linden butted heads from time to time but Chloe always had excellent manners and patience.  She is always a joy to be around!  Nonetheless, she was a little homesick and very happy to see Gaga and Papa.  The boys were thrilled to see them too and with that mom and dad packed them up and took all three of them to Sparta for 2 nights!!!  They had a blast without David and I chaperoning and we had a blast going out to dinner and catching up from our Florida vacation.  But after 2 nights I missed them terribly and headed on over to Sparta.

Chloe caught the first big bass from the pond.

Hunter loves to fish and would stay out there from dusk to dawn if you would let him.

Picking blackberries!!

Hoping to get enough for me to make a blackberry cobbler.  We had so much fun working together.

Hunter caught this big bass!

He was so proud of this catch!!I was SO, SO happy he caught one.  It is hard to see him get discouraged, especially when he had been out there for days trying so hard to catch one!

We are all about catch and release.  He gently placed his prize back in the water.

Good bye Amelia

 Prior to this picture he screamed for the first 45 minutes in the car!  I think he wore himself out.

 Good bye Amelia Island.  Thank you for another summer of priceless memories.  Until next year.

Beach days

Boy do we love to Boogie Board!  We all get into the action.  Some days the surf was rough due to a tropical storm that blew in south of us.

These pics are from a day trip to the Talbot Islands.  The island is a state park and is full of sea wild life and fabulous tide pools like the one below the kids are playing in.  They are great to swim in.  The water is super warm and there are no waves to worry about.

The Talbots are a great place to find interesting sea creatures.  We saw several hermit crabs and the kids enjoyed hunting for sand dollars.

Aunt Noelle spotted this beautiful starfish.

Lucas enjoyed searching for all the tiniest shells with the hopes of finding a shark's tooth.

Amelia Bike Date

When I raced the June Half Ironman in Raleigh I qualified for the World Championships in Mont Tremblanc Canada!!  I still needed to keep up the training the best I could while on vacation.  This year all the kids were old enough to participate in Camp Amelia.  The kids loved the camp and it gave David and I four hours to bike around the island.  Here are a few pictures from our adventure.

The above pictures were made around Fort Clinch.  I wish I knew more about it but we weren't allowed in the fort without tickets. We cruised around the place on our bikes and will have to come back for the informational tour with the kids when they get older and find stuff like this more interesting.

We ran across some wild peacocks on the ride.  I was so amused seeing this strange bird, I thought it was important to document its presence on our ride.

Admiring the beautiful view of the inter coastal from the north side of the fort.

On our way back to get the kids David and I stopped and snapped a picture on the same bridge we ran across on our honeymoon, almost 10 years ago.  We were running that day and not biking so the picture is a little different but the spot and the time of day were close to identical.  We didn't have a fancy digital camera then so I could compare the two.  Maybe I could scan in it somehow.  I only have the hard copy of the first photograph.  It was an amazing day for us just as it was 10 years ago.  I love this man with every single cell in my body and everyday that passes I find that I love him even more.  I look forward to rest of our lives together.

More strange looking creatures that crossed our path!

Final pictures of us.  There aren't too many of us on the blog so I put them all in!  I am also wearing the same Native sunglasses I bought 10 years ago on our Honeymoon at a store called Red Otter!!

More from Fernandina

Cutie pies snuggling with me for a picture at Peppers a fun place to eat in downtown Fernandina.

A bunch of silly pictures from the boys while the girls were off shopping.

Waiting for ice cream!

Yummy!

Just for fun

 We try every year to get a picture of all the kiddos together.  I am not sure where Chloe is in this picture!  Chloe, where did you go?  Sweet picture of the four cousins down at Fernandina beach.  I just remembered Chloe stayed with me and we were shopping!

 Love this picture Aunt Noelle took of the two of them.

 Girl power.

No doubt about it, we have some good looking kids!