Category Archives: Carothers Family

October 31, 2011 · 1:10 am

Happy Halloween 2011

After a full day of rain and waiting, the sun finally came out and the children excitedly got dressed…it was time to go Trick-or-Treating!!!  Since Friday a few things have been lost along the way: Matty’s hook, Davy’s sunglasses and tie.  They didn’t care though, at this point it was all about the candy.  At about 5:30 Colin and Connor came over and we knew then that not many were going to make it to six.  I was lucky to get a few photos before they ran out the door.  Once again, here is my OSS Super Agent Kid Spy and Captain “Matty” Hook!

Emma is dressed up like Strawberry Shortcake and Jack is the UPS Man.

Caiden and Hudson were both Ninja Turtles.

I love this photo because although there are so many different things that the children could be carrying to collect their candy in, they all seem to still want to carry the orange pumpkin.

Andy and I feeling a little bit of Halloween spirit!

It didn’t take long for Davy to ditch the mustache, he said that it itched.

Grandpa Barnhart was handing out little bibles and Grandma Barnhart was handing out the candy!

Colin as Harry Potter.

Ashlynn and Landon also dressed as characters from Harry Potter.

Davy and Ashlynn wanted to go trick-or-treating together, so we let Davy run ahead and have fun with her. :O)

Prince Charming and Cinderella.

Grandma Jenni handing out some candy.

Reese dressed as Rapunzel.

While Davy ran ahead, Matty thought that it would be fun to catch a ride in a couple of different wagons…here he is in Mr. Brian’s wagon….

and here he is in Mr. Garrett’s wagon.

Daddy and his boys.

They finally gave up and decided to call it a night.  Daddy let them pick out a handful of candy each to open and they chose to sit on the front porch and watch the other kids go by and collect candy from Papa.  They were so happy today and Andy and I loved every minute of it.

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August 7, 2011 · 2:52 pm

Church St. Armands and Fishing

August 7:  Sunday

It is a beautiful Sunday here on the island for the family to spend together, so we took the boys the church for a little worship.  The Roser Memorial Church was built 1913 by Charles Roser as a memorial to his wife Caroline.  He had decided that since so many people came to visit the island that it would not be given to any denomination, but would stand as a house of union for worship.  The original church still stands and is beautiful.  The people were friendly and the boy had a great time in Sunday School.

For lunch we headed down to St. Armand’s circle.  Andy and I always have a craving for Tommy Bahama’s when we head this way.  He loves the cheeseburger and I love the Ahi Tuna Poke…yum!

After walking through the shops, the boys were so good that we treated them to ice cream and promised to stop at the Long Boat Key playground on the way back.  It was a pretty park and we had it all to ourselves.

As we crossed back over to Bradenton Beach, we decided to drive down Bridge Street to see what was there.  We’ve passed by here so many times, but we had never stopped to check it out.  What did we find???  Minigolf!  It was so hot out, but Davy loved showing us his golf moves and at the end the boys got to drop their ball into a Plinko game and Matty won a free round next time we came back.

For the evening activity, the daddy’s decided to take the boys fishing.  They all climbed into the back of the truck and told stories about who was going to catch the whopper fish of the day.

Everyone caught a fish today and we celebrated with Two Scoops Ice Cream…

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August 6, 2011 · 9:43 pm

AMI Saturday Fun

August 6: Saturday

We love the weekends!  So much to do and see….  We started our day today down at the Holmes Beach public beach for breakfast.  We had heard about their all you can eat pancake breakfast and that sounds perfect for the boys.

After breakfast we loaded up the beach gear and decided to spend the rest of the morning at Bean Point.  We knew that the beaches were going to be crowded, so we thought that we might get lucky here since it is a little more private and secluded. The kids played in the kayak and on the paddleboard. We even went for a walk around the north point. The tide was out and the view was beautiful. The kids were even rewarded with a finding a starfish.
To end the day, we moved over to the west side to watch the sunset. The weather was beautiful and we were rewarded with sand dollars. :O)

Amanda and her family came out to spend the day with us.

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August 4, 2011 · 6:56 pm

Mote Aquarium

August 4: Thursday

To break up our day trips to the beach, we decided to take the kids down to the Mote Aquarium in Sarasota.  It was our first time visiting this aquarium and surprisingly it was bigger than I expected.  What I didn’t expect was how much of it was going to be outside!  Late morning in August… in Florida… and then there was the long walk from one building to the next.  Ugh…  However, the kids really enjoyed it and the Manatees were adorable.  For lunch we crossed the street to go to the Salty Dog and to wrap up the day we found it fitting to have ‘Movie Night’ with the movie Oceans.

Baby Ryla looking at the fish…

Pacific Moon Jellyfish.

LOOK!!!  There’s Bruce!!!!

While the kids were watching their movie…us grown-ups went out for date night.  We took the golf cart over to the Beach House and enjoyed the company, ambiance, and cocktails.  :O)

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August 3, 2011 · 2:06 am

Holmes Beach and After Dinner Fun

August 3: Wednesday

Every morning while we are making breakfast, the little ones beeline for the golf cart.  Jack has taken to calling it the tractor…so ‘The Tractor’ it is.  The front of this house is all sliding glass doors to a screened in patio which faces the road, so it really is perfect for us and them because they can play outside and be watched.

To change up the beach fun, we decided to head down to Holmes Beach today.  The little ones have been asking to go to the park and we knew that there was a playground here.

It didn’t take long for the older boys to make a few friends…  Four older boys asked them if they wanted to play volleyball and frisbee.

After we got back from the beach, they all hopped into the pool and cooled off with popsicles.

For our after dinner fun, we headed a little further down to the beach and parked the golf cart on Palmetto.  We love the wooden footpaths that head down to the beach and they did a great job pausing for a photo for us.

Feeding the seagulls…

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August 2, 2011 · 5:13 pm

Bean Point and Fishing on the Pier

August 2: Tuesday

Today we started our day with some scrambled eggs and bacon for the children.  Afterwards, I ran over to Ginny and Jane’s and picked Kelly and I up a couple of Latte’s.  About 30 minutes later Brandie and Laurence stopped by and said, “Let’s go to Bean Point!”  We stopped by Beach Bums to find out exactly where the foot path was, and we were off.  I had to park the golf cart at the Rod and Reel pier, but the views and solitude were worth it.

This picture is so funny to me….  For some reason we have had terrible AT&T service today and poor Brandie has been constantly checking her phone just hoping that her work emails are coming through.

Me and my Matty Bear….

After dinner we decided to take the boys fishing; with the sun setting on the west side and it being a little later in the day we were hoping that it wouldn’t be too hot.   In retrospect, this is something that definitely needs to be done with the daddy’s here….there are just to many little people wanting help with baiting their hook, casting, and pulling off the caught fish.  We bought some bait over at the General Store and went down to the Anna Maria pier.  The boys were so excited when uncle Laurence showed up to help them.  All of the big boys caught fish, they were so happy!

I love this picture because Emma’s face is just classic….

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August 1, 2011 · 6:11 pm

Let’s Ride the Waves

August 1: Monday

We have found that the most pleasant time to be at the beach is in the evening.  The sun is setting and not overly hot, there is a wonderful breeze, it’s not to crowded, and the children get to run and play before bed.  Tonight we took out all of the boogie boards, they are a big hit this year for all of the children.  The waves have been the perfect size for our little guys and the current hasn’t been to strong either…  :O)

Brandie, Laurence, and Ryla stopped by for a quick visit.  How cute are they on their 4 seater bike!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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August 1, 2011 · 5:20 pm

AMI Vacation 2011 – First Weekend

July 30-31: Saturday and Sunday

YAY!!!  It’s vacation time!  With much anticipation we have been waiting for this vacation for what feels like months!  We reserved the house back in May, and we have been dreaming of our two weeks of fun in the sun all summer.  This year Kelly and I decided to set our eyes on Anna Maria Island.  We love it here and come quite often for the day, she’s never been here, and it is close enough for the husbands to drive back and forth as needed for work.  The house we found is Anna’s Cottage – 309 Spring Ave; it is on the north end one block off of the main street Pine Ave and is three blocks to the beach.  The house is a three bedroom with a pool and is adorably shabby.  Check in time was 3pm, so Saturday morning we packed up and headed out.

Here is Andy’s truck: 6 scooters, 5 bikes, 3 tricycles, 3 fishing poles, 2 wagons, beach toys, chairs, and tackle boxes, 1 bike baby seat, and 1 easy shade.  We loaded up the van, Kelly’s SUV, Brian’s Camry and off we went.

The beach house was everything we expected and so much more….  We are all in love with 309 Spring Ave.

I had to include this picture, because when we arrived at the house, a FedEx from work was already there waiting for me.  I just found it so funny that work beat me to my vacation….  :O)  If you are wondering what it is, I have been having computer issues and needed a new battery for my laptop.  After we had unloaded all of our stuff, we sat down to enjoy a nice cold beverage…  :O)

It was a little late and still a little warm, so we let the boys swim in the pool out back.

We went for a walk down to the beach so Matty could see the water….  All little Matty has been asking for, for the last two weeks, is to see the beach.

Kelly’s cousin Brook is still in town visiting and she agreed to watch the boys so Andy and I could go out to dinner.  While posing for a picture, I guess the boys are so used to the family photo they just snuck in like it was normal and smiled.  :O)  Love them.

The next morning, we decided to take the boys fishing before it got to hot.  We went over to the Anna Maria Pier.  At the end of the pier they have a bait shop, but much to our dismay they were out of bait.  How does that happen?  Especially, on a weekend.  We let the boys cast a few times and then we packed it up because we knew that they weren’t going to catch anything.

After naps we picked up our golf cart and went to Scoops for some ice cream.

Aunt Brandie and Uncle Laurence arrived today so we had to go over and see baby Ryla.  Their rental house is 3 beach blocks from ours.  She just loves Matty bear.

For dinner we all went to the Waterfront Restaurant.  7 children and 7 adults.  Afterwards, we went over to the beach to feed the seagulls and watch the sunset.

My favorite house on the island.  :O)

Sand Angels…

At 8:30 we drove back to Brandie’s house to drop them off, we hopped back on the golf cart, and it wouldn’t start.  So funny…  so we left it there and walked back home to put the boys to bed.  You can see how tired & wet they are… :O)  I love being on vacation.

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December 1, 2010 · 4:15 am

December Daily 2010

I am so very excited to start this new tradition of creating a small keepsake scrapbook for the month of December.  Kelly who has been a huge fan of Ali Edwards for quite some time now decided for us that this was a must do project.  Now, Ali has made one of these each December for the last couple of years and I love the idea of making it a tradition to unpack them from the holiday totes, sit down with Andy and the kids, and flip through each year to see all of the fun things that we did on a day to day basis during the holiday’s. 

My December Daily book this year will contain the fun stuff that we do each day as well as Advent Action cards.  I am stealing some of her ideas because I just can’t help myself…I love them!  I will do a separate post on these later, but in the mean time here are the daily pockets that I have been making…

I do believe that most people will stop at day 25, Christmas Day… we however love the entire month of December so I will be doing all 31.  Stay tuned and be on the look out for my day to day pages…they will be perfect for us!

Check out her website….if you love to be crafty like me, you will love her projects!  Ali Edwards and her December Daily Project

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October 31, 2010 · 11:27 am

Happy Halloween 2010!!!

It is finally here!!  Happy Halloween!!!  The boys were so excited all weekend that they were going to get to go trick-or-treating.  This year the neighborhood started off Halloween weekend with an organized block party on Saturday night the 30th.  Over on the bridge to the village they set up the annual haunted house, so this seemed to be the perfect location.  There were two bounce houses, tables and tables of pot luck food brought out, a bon-fire, and the Trimble’s projected the Wizard of Oz onto the side of the their house for movies on the lawn.  The kids got to dress up in their costumes and they had a great time.  There must have been at least 100 people who came out for the party.   By the end of the evening we ended up in front of the Nugent’s home roasting marshmallows and making smores.

This year for Halloween, Davy decided that he wanted to be an astronaut and Matty we dressed as Mickey mouse.  Davy loved his costume and wore it for days… Matty surprisingly loved his too.  He was just as proud of his costume.  He got a little frustrated that he couldn’t get his gloves to stay on, but he wore his Mickey ears, which squeaked, the entire night.

Mom, Courtney, Andy’s Dad, and Mr. Michaels all came over to see the boys and to spend some time with us.  For dinner Andy grilled hot dogs and hamburgers for everyone, including Colin and Connor.  It was a perfect, delicious dinner before we headed out to get some candy.  Colin and Connor dressed up as the Mario Brothers and Emma was a ballerina.

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