Winter Hiking

We spent a fair amount of time this winter hiking in Paynes Prairie and San Felasco. Every time we go we see something new... every time!
This was a particularly relaxing day. The weather was perfect and we were tired so we sat (and snoozed) for awhile under a stand of pine trees.The kids played with sticks and dirt for a long while...These photos are blurry b/c Grant was bent on charging me each time I tried to take a picture. Still, they turned out to be some of my favorite pics of him...Blowing in the wind...On the walk home we tried out our gymnastics skills.

Balance Beam...Somersaults...Cartwheels...For my 40th birthday, Scott and Dara completely surprised me by driving down from Florence, SC and knocking on our door 11:30pm on Friday night. Don and our friend Veronica planned a surprise party for me on Saturday night - complete with friends I hadn't seen in awhile. It was a total surprise and a lot of fun. Too bad I don't have any photos from it!! Guess I was too busy being surprised to think of taking pics.
The next day we went for a quick hike before they headed back north...

Georgia on my mind

We spent the first days of the new year (I know I've become a bit of a pathetic blogger. I moved it down the priority ladder... but I will try harder!) with our most excellent friends Scott and Dara (or Scotty and Dary according to Olivia). They have a beautiful cabin in north Georgia surrounded by even more beautiful scenery. While we only had a short stay, we made the most of it by hiking, even in the rain.Precarious crossing...Pulling up the rear...

A Night Out

Some friends of mine from high school got together over the holidays. It was like a mini-reunion and lots of fun. At one point in the evening, Christi broke out the camera and relentlessly took picture after picture. The joy of a digital camera.

For some of you this might be one of those "had to have been there" scenarios, but for those of us involved, it was a lot of fun.

I've entitled the slideshow: Fun with cameras... and beer

Opening Gator Game: Florida vs. Hawaii

Thanks to Jon's tickets and some bargaining on the street, we went to the opening Gator game. Hawaii isn't so great this year so it wasn't much of a game, but it's also nice to be on a lopsided win now and again... we don't lose our voices that way. Photo/Video credits: Scott Park

On the way... Jen, me, Dara...Tailgating with friends...even in the rain...Reliving old days...The Swamp...Tebow in action...Can you see us? It was "White Out" cancer day so everyone was asked to wear white.Storm rolling in. It was so bloody hot that we were hoping to be dumped on. Instead, the clouds just hovered providing nice shade with no rain.One of the most photographed spots on UF campus...Cam Newton has now taken on Tebow's old role of being called in to run the ball in. They celebrate together at the end....

Labor Day 2008

Boy am I behind...

This year's celebration of all of our hard work was happily spent with our great friends Scott/Dara Park and Jon/Jen Lewis, and of course the Lewis girlz, and of course, Mike.

Dara celebrated the most by actually laboring on labor day...Girly fun with Sammy and Ellie...Baby fun with Alexandra...Cookout at the pool...Enjoying the spread... Don's smoked chicken was good but Veronica's spring rolls stole the show!Scott + Dara = Kid Magnets...Olivia and Chance...Since Scott and Dara live soooo far away in SC, we lingered in our goodbyes and visited Morningside Nature Center before they headed out of town...Penny the adorable cow...