Tag Archives: Carothers

June 28, 2012 · 1:41 am

Richmond!!! Here we come!!!

Our original plan was to leave on June 30th, Saturday and head up to Kelly’s…but we decided that the traffic would be better if we left on a week day, so Thursday it was.  Andy decided to stay behind on this trip…but don’t worry, even though he is one-handed I didn’t leave him empty-handed :)…  I even precut a lot of the food for him.

We loaded the car the night before and at 4am the alarm went off.  I packed the cooler, loaded a few more things, tucked the boys into their seats, we said goodbye to daddy, and we were off at 4:30 on the dot.

I decided to take I-4 to 95 and by the time we got to Ormond Beach the sun had just crossed the tree line.  We decided to stop for a potty break once we crossed the Georgia line and I would pull out their breakfast.

The way the drive broke up, we ended up stopping in each state…a perfect opportunity for a photos!

I have to include this picture of Molly.  She was sitting shotgun and seemed quite cozy.

After 6 stops, at 4:45pm we pulled into Casa Carothers and we were so happy.  The house is beautiful and we are so excited to be with our friends.

Let the fun begin!!!

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March 4, 2012 · 1:37 am

Gasparilla Half Marathon 2012

It is 4:10am in the morning, the alarm goes off and several things immediately run through my mind…  1. Race day is finally here and I have to get up because Kim is going to be here for photos at 4:30  2. What is the weather going to be like today and 3.  It’s Andy’s birthday!

I can hear the wind blowing outside and I just shake my head and say, “Oh well…”.  12 hours earlier Kim, Kelly and I stood outside and stared at this image on our phones.  The weather channel predicted an 80% chance of rain with winds 25-40 miles an hour.  All we could do was laugh.

Kim and Kelly arrived right at 4:30, we took a couple of photos and then hopped in Kim’s car to pick up the other girls carpooling down.  By the time we reached the parking garage outside of the convention center it was pouring and the wind was ferocious.  We stayed in the garage and out of the rain until the last-minute possible.  As we headed down the stairs, the rain stopped.  We had no idea if it was going to return or not, but we were thankful for the dry spell.  As luck would have it, the rain had moved on and we stayed dry.  We felt horrible for all of those who got soaked and then had to run in the wind.

We lined up in the second wave and then we were off.  We knew that going over the Davis Islands bridge was going to be congested, but this year it went at a snail’s pace, and I am certain it affected my overall time.  Kelly and I ran together until mile 5ish and then from mile 7-9 I ran with Tracy.   Andy and the boys posted up at the finish line when I was around mile 8, and for the rest of the run Andy and I text back and forth so we would both know the whereabouts of each other.  Miles 10-13 were the windiest of the run, I can’t help but wonder how I would have done if there had been no wind…

My goal was to finish the race in under 2:30, but I came in at 2:33 39.  All things considered I am thrilled and all my guys were there to watch :)…

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February 20, 2012 · 2:19 am

Zoo Day!!!

School was closed today for President’s Day, so to get the kids out of the house we decided to take them to the zoo.  The best trick is to show up when it opens because the crowds aren’t there yet.  The weather was gorgeous and it felt like we had the entire park to ourselves…

This was the first animal that we stopped to look at, Matty wiggled halfway through the railings and got stuck in the fence (doing something that he wasn’t supposed to be doing), we teased him that the big cat was going to come and get him…and don’t you know at that moment the cat darted down off of his rock straight towards Matty and poor little Matty couldn’t get his head out and he started to violently shake and cry…  Little buddy thought that the cat was going to bite him…  Serves him right!  Next time maybe he’ll listen to us and stay where you are supposed to… 🙂

Looking at the Manatees and the Otters

The zoo has a Manatee rescue hospital for the Manatee’s and this mama and her calf were brought in from Jacksonville.  They are both ill and in need of some shots.  This tank was pretty cool, the floor lifted to raise the animals out of the water.

Merry-go-round

Flying Bananas

Feeding the Giraffes.  They have switched to lettuce from crackers.  They must have been getting fat!

 

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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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