Tag Archives: Outdoor fun

February 8, 2012 · 2:21 am

A Day At The Beach With Matty

Some days I just need to spend a little one on one time with one of my love bugs. Matty skipped preschool today to spend the day with me at Fort De Soto Beach. We picked up lunch at Subway in Terra Verde and picnicked at the playground on the North Beach. Matty ran and played. He even made friends with a man by the name of Mr. Martin who was fishing for speckled trout. Matty showed him how well he swims and the man showed him his ‘live shrimp’ and fish when he caught them. We had so much fun and of course the weather was beautiful…love him!

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Filed under Beach, Florida Beaches, Fun Outings

Tagged as Beach, Matty, Outdoor fun, Water

December 3, 2011 · 1:07 am

Mattys First Trip to Disney World

For the boys birthdays this year, the Elf of the Shelf brought them tickets to Disney World. Matty’s first trip to see Mickey Mouse. He was so excited, had a wonderful day, and keeps asking when we are going to go back!

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Tagged as Disney, Matty, Outdoor fun

October 29, 2011 · 2:23 am

Davy’s First 5k – The Great Westchase 2011

Westchase’s traditional kick-off of the fall season began this Saturday, Oct. 29, with the tenth anniversary running of The Great West Chase, followed by a community-wide celebration of Westchase’s 20th anniversary. Because it was year number 10, each participant of the 5K received a commemorative medal. Once I read that, I knew that Davy would want to run this race. He loved wearing my last medal and knowing that it was a “real” medal would be extremely appealing to him. Up until this point, he has run 2 miles with me and his longest hike is somewhere between 3 and 4 miles. So when we asked him if he wanted to do it, without hesitation he said “Yes!!”

A couple of days before the race I drove him through the race path so he would know when, where and what he should expect. The day before I took him to pick up the packets with me. He was so excited. The morning of…it was raining. :O( But that didn’t stop us! A little after 7:30 we met Kelly outside and the four of us walked over in the drizzle to the start of the race. There were over 900 participants. We tied up our chips and took our place in line. The horn blared and the crowd takes off, including Davy. Kelly, Andy, and I were like “Ok pal…slow down!” He ran almost the entire first mile, but we didn’t want him to get to tired so we started doing intervals between the light poles. Run 3 poles, walk 1. When we got to the golf course for the turn around, he grabbed his water and was shocked at how many people littered their cups. Such a sweet boy, he stood in front of the garbage can, drank his water, and then tossed his cup. By the time we reached our neighborhood, he was ready to claim his medal. He ran the last .5 – .7 miles of the race and looking back I wonder how much we slowed him down worrying that he was going to get tired. He missed 3d place by 2 minutes. I won’t forget his face as he entered the tunnel, the crowd was cheering, and he ran straight over to the girl handing out the medals. He was proud. We asked him if he wanted to do another race sometime and he said, “Yes, daddy will you help me hang my medals on my shark board?” This Friday he is taking his medal and race number in for show-and-tell.

The pictures were taken on my phone, so the quality isn’t that great…but it doesn’t matter…I still got them :O).

Group OA Chip
Place Time Runner’s Name Age City Place Pace Time

Male Age Group:    6 – 8
1       29:24 Evan Kempsey                 8   Oldsmar                  342    9:29    29:14
2      32:05 Gavin Hausenfluck         7   Tampa                     453   10:21    32:00
3      38:10 Matthew De Meulder     8   Tampa                     614   12:19    37:42
4      38:23 Patrick De Meulder        8   Tampa                     615   12:23    37:55
5      38:47 Colin Lawrence               8   Tampa                     619   12:31    38:27
6      40:10 Davy Zahn                       5   Tampa                     633   12:57    39:47
7       44:16 Zachary Ashcraft             7   Tampa                     668   14:17    43:43

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Filed under Races

Tagged as 5K, Davy, Outdoor fun

October 10, 2011 · 8:43 pm

Burt’s Pumpkin Patch

Nothing says fall more to me than watching the leaves change color, hayrides and pumpkin patches….so imagine our delight when we stumbled across Burt’s Pumpkin Patch on our way to Amicalola Falls.

At Burt’s farm they have pumpkins that range from an eye-popping 150 lbs. to a modest 1 lb. They grow thousands of pumpkins (in fact they told us that they sell over 10,000 a year), so the selection is vast and the quantity is never-ending. One of the most fascinating features of Burt’s farm is the impressive selection of every type of pumpkin, winter squash, gourds and fall decoration. Indian corn, cornstalks and hay bales are also in never-ending supply at the farm. They also offer a hayride that is pulled by a John Deere tractor, it takes you through a winding trail filled with crops, nature and beauty.

This was by far the most beautiful pumpkin patch we have been too. I was just as excited as the boys. So many to choose from!!!

The first thing that we decided to do was go on a hayride. It passed by several different crops, went through a covered bridge, and slowed in front of a spooky grave yard. Davy loved the grave yard!

After the hayride we let the boys run free. Which ones will they choose? And the prices were so cheap!!!

We finally convinced Andy that we weren’t leaving without a really big one and a few small ones, so he caved and went for the wheelbarrow. Love Love Love the Pumpkin Patch!

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Filed under Fall, Georgia, Vacations

Tagged as Fall, Outdoor fun, Pumpkin, Vacation

October 9, 2011 · 1:10 am

BJ Reece Apple Orchard

After we left the festival we decided to take the boys to pick some apples. They love to pick blueberries, so we thought that this would be fun too. Davy just finished an apple lesson in school, Johnny Appleseed, so perfect timing. There were quite a few different orchards that we could choose from, BJ’s seemed to have the largest crowd. We figured if everyone else wanted to go there, then we should too.

Now, I have heard of a lot of things, but what I have never heard of is fried pies. Andy is our pie eater in the family and his eyes were huge. When we got up to the counter, they had every kind of pie imaginable. Apple, cherry, chocolate, cream cheese, peach, pecan, etc. Yum! Of course we had to sample a few of them.

And they are off into the orchard to find us some trees that are full of apples…

What!!! How dare you throw apples at mama!!! Silly boys…

The apples all over the ground is what surprised me the most. What a waste. Matty liked to pick them up and bite into them, then he would throw it down and pick up another… No stopping the bear….

What did we do with all of our apples you ask??? We brought them home, back to Florida, and made apple jelly. Yum!

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Filed under Fall, Fun Outings, Georgia, Vacations

Tagged as Fall, Fruit, Georgia, Outdoor fun, Vacation, Yum

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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Filed under Anna Maria Vacation 2011, Beach, Carothers Family, Fun Outings, Vacations

Tagged as AMI, Carothers, Fish, Outdoor fun, Summer, Vacation

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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Filed under Anna Maria Vacation 2011, Beach, Carothers Family, Florida Beaches, Krulik Family

Tagged as AMI, Beach, Carothers, Fish, Kruliks, Outdoor fun, Summer, Vacation, Water

May 28, 2011 · 1:14 pm

Memorial Day Weekend 2011 – Chimney Rock

Davy just finished his last day of school and with a long weekend ahead of us, we decided to pack up and spend the weekend in North Carolina. Davy loves the mountains so much and we had the time, so this gift was for him. After we had our celebratory lunch, we went home and packed the car, and we were off. The ride up was easy and we pulled in around 11pm. Here’s sweet Matty sleeping on the way up.

When we woke up on Saturday morning, we decided to head over to Asheville and do a little exploring. We stopped at the BP for a cup of coffee and a sausage biscuit and then headed out. We figured by the time we got there it would be the perfect time for brunch. Asheville has so many independent places to eat at, but we had such a great meal at Tupelo Honey the last time we decided to take mom there so she could see it for herself.

As we pulled into Asheville, we saw a sign for the Asheville Farmers Market! In the spirit of being spontaneous, we decided to go and check it out. I love Farmer’s Markets. There were several different hangers all filled with produce, plants, meats, jams, jellies, honey, etc. We were not disappointed and ended up having a honey taste test. Yum! We bought Blueberry Honey, pure Wildflower Honey, Sourwood Honey, and some Hotter than Hell Chow Chow.

We were officially starving so off to Tupelo Honey. It was actually a good thing that we stopped because they didn’t open until after 9. We had a half hour wait, so the boys played across the street.

Once you sit down at the table, they bring out biscuits, jelly, and honey. Here are the boys eating theirs. For brunch I had a sweet potato pecan pancake, mom had a grilled chicken sandwich, and Andy had fried chicken with biscuits and red-eye gravy.

We decided today that we would check out Chimney Rock; so we headed southeast out of Asheville and about 25 miles later we were there. Chimney Rock is located in Chimney Rock State Park and is apart of the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area. The rock is at and elevation of 2, 280 and you can see out up to 75 miles. When climbing up to Chimney Rock it is roughly 400 stairs. We parked at the bottom, took a bus to the entrance and then began our climb. Davy and I went ahead first, Andy carried Matty, and mom followed in the rear.

Here’s Davy and I half way up to Chimney Rock.

Now, when you get to Chimney Rock lookout, of course there is a trail to go even higher and we weren’t going to give up there. We had to go to the top to check it out! Exclamation Point is at an elevation of 2,480 ft and is the pinnacle of the park, and essentially we just hiked 3/4’s of mile straight up. We were so proud of Davy and Matty. Davy didn’t complain one time, in fact he loved it, and little Matty wanted to hike it too…he’s just a little slow. Here we are at the top. :O)

After we hiked back down to the entrance of the trail, we met up with mom and decided to hike on over to Hickory Nut Falls. It was also 3/4 of a mile to get there; meaning that we ended up hiking 3 miles today. This waterfall is one of the highest falls east of the Mississippi.

By the time we got back to the bus we were hot and tired….but we were so glad that we went the extra distance. The views and the waterfall were beautiful. At the Chimney Rock lookout we spotted Lake Lure and decided to drive over and get a better look at it. There was a really cute little village, a beautiful resort, and a beach on the lake. This beach reminded me of one that you would see in a movie. It was very clean, crowded, lots of things to do, and with a gorgeous backdrop. Matty fell asleep in the car, Davy took one look at the water slides, and we had to stop for him. :O)

One of the neatest things that they had here on the beach was a water balloon firing station. You could purchase the balloons at the check-in desk, the kids would fill them up with water, and then they would launch them at each other. Davy loved this!

After we left the lake, we headed back towards Asheville. All of us were starving so we stopped at their local Mellow Mushroom for some pizza. Yum Yum!!! The weather was beautiful so we ate outside. Today was a great adventurous day!!!

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Filed under Memorial Day Weekend, North Carolina

Tagged as Hiking, Holiday, North Carolina, Outdoor fun, Vacation

March 11, 2011 · 12:35 am

The Strawberry Festival

One of my favorite childhood pastimes was to go to the Strawberry Festival. This huge local festival is hosted in Plant City every spring and the weather is always gorgeous. Andy and I had decided early on that this festival would become a tradition for our boys. We would randomly pick a day and then surprise them by showing up to school and checking them out for early release. Davy went once when he was younger, but he didn’t remember it and Matty has never been.

Mom came along to join us today and help me out with the boys. She met us at the gate 1 entrance and as we walked in I just loved watching Davy’s reaction. He immediately spotted the cowboys hats and I just smiled to myself. Right after Andy and I started dating, we went to the festival on one of his weekend visits and he bought a cowboy hat (his first cowboy hat) and said it was because I always said that I wanted to marry a cowboy. How cute is he. :O) I promised Davy that we would pick up a couple on our way out.

To the left of the festival, or on the east side, they had the little children’s rides…so that’s where we headed. I asked Davy which one he wanted to ride first and he smiled from ear to ear and pointed to the ferris wheel.

From there both boys wandered through the rides, riding as many as they could. We were lucky because the height requirement for most of them was 36 inches. Matty just barely hit that mark. Other rides were the train, fun house, the carousel, the swings, four wheelers, bumper boats, trucks, helicopters, the giant slide, and the spinning strawberries.

After we were done riding the rides it was time to indulge in some festival food. No trip to the Strawberry Festival would be complete without some strawberry shortcake loaded down with whipped cream. Some other foods that we had were bacon dipped in chocolate, cotton candy, and fresh squeezed lemonade. Outside the shortcake tent was this “grandpa puppet”, Matty thought that he was so funny.

Over at the midway Davy won three fish and both boys won stuffed toys by throwing darts.

As we ended our day at the festival, like promised we stopped at the hat booth to pick up a few cowboy hats. Aren’t my boys just the cutest…if I do say so myself! :O)

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Filed under Fun Outings

Tagged as Festivals, Outdoor fun, Traditions

September 20, 2010 · 1:13 am

Canaveral National Seashore, New Symrna Beach

So it is Thursday morning, and I get a text from Andy that says…”I know what we are doing on Saturday, it’s a surprise, date day…but you have to be ready bright and early…and I’ll take care of everything!” I was so excited! We love having our weekends planned and not wasted. We love taking the boys to new places and doing new things.

Andy decided that he wanted to take the boys to see the ocean, Matty’s first trip to the ocean. There are so many beaches that we haven’t been too, so he decided on New Symrna Beach. He packed the car for us, got us up nice and early, stopped for donuts on the way out, and we were off. The drive didn’t take us long at all, and actually when we got there it was sprinkling a little bit (a typical summer shower that passes in 15 minutes) so we decided to just go for a drive. And low and behold…what did we find??? Canaveral National Seashore. Now if you know us, then you know that we LOVE National Parks.

Canaveral National Seashore is located on a barrier island off the east coast of Florida and NASA holds the title to the land, but not all of it is used for the operation of Kennedy Space Center.

Here’s a little information that I found on the National Parks website. The earliest evidence of man at Canaveral is found in the numerous mounds and middens within its boundaries. More than 14,000 years ago, small nomadic bands of Indians entered Florida. As time passed, regional cultures evolved in response to local environmental conditions. By the time the Europeans came various distinct Indian groups were distributed throughout Florida and southeast Georgia. Living in the vicinity of Turtle Mound were the Timucuan people, the first known inhabitants. In their 2,000 years of occupation along the coast, the Timucuans did little to alter the natural landscape. Their few remaining burial mounds and shell middens (Castle Windy) are like an unwritten book about the people who lived here. By protecting it, we are assuring that future generations will learn of the Timucuan people. The large shell mounds hold undisclosed information to their way of life. From 800 to 1400 A.D., generation after generation left evidence behind to tell of their lifestyle at Turtle Mound.

The NPS has provided a nice boardwalk so visitors can walk up the 50 foot high mound to see the gorgeous views of the Atlantic Ocean and Mosquito Lagoon. What surprised us the most…were the Banana Spriders… EEKKK!!!! They were everywhere!!!

For lunch we stopped at a hole in the wall place off of the side of the road called J Bs Fish Camp and Restaurant. The weather was so gorgeous today that we sat outside and enjoyed some of the best peel-n-eat shrimp we have ever had. Andy also ordered some blackened gator bites and we bought a container of the shrimp spice to take home…. Yum Yum!

All in all we had a wonderful day. After lunch we headed back to the beach for a little while longer. The boys went for a walk and then we packed up for the drive home. We were home by dinner, the boys swam in the pool, and we were grateful for the beautiful day.