The Lock-In

Yes, I got locked in at the church for a whole night. Did I mention that I was locked in the church with a load of teenagers? It was the middle school lock-in for our church youth group. I figured since Devin and Ashley are both in middle school, I as a parent should be helping out with this function. So, I volunteered to be locked-in with the girls for the night. What was I thinking???? No, seriously, I had a blast with the youth.

The night was all planned out by Pastor Billy. He made it a team game night for the youth. There were six teams with about 6 to 8 kids on each team. Each team had to earn points based on their ranking completing some very difficult task. It was a hoot watching all these kids in blind folds, or blowing a ping pong ball with lots of holes in it with a coffee straw around on the floor, and even compete in a team dance off. The games were fun, the food was great, and the sleep was lacking.

Once the girls got separated and we filed into the mullet for our place of slumber, the party really got started. The girls rushed the bathrooms to get on their PJ's,(I don't know why, none of them planned on sleeping anyways)and then it was time for some singing and dancing. Even though I did not know a lot of the songs they were jamming to, I enjoyed the show. The best part of the night was when I was sitting in the dark while the girls played a game called sardines. I loved it when they screamed from fright while hiding in a pitch black building. Too funny.

All had fun for the lock-in, although the anticipation of the boys doing something dreadful all night came unfulfilled. The morning came creeping in and the girls started slowly winding down. I soon felt my age from pulling an all nighter, it was as if I was walking in slow motion. Once I was home it was pure bliss laying in my nice comfy bed.

April Birthday Celebrations

Our family gathering to celebrate the March and April birthdays was on the first weekend of April. We celebrated four birthdays; my step-brother Jon's, Aunt Elaine's, Mine, and my step-sister's Kim's. We had a great time together and had a wonderful dinner made by my mom.

After lunch Mike & Jon are just relaxing.

Tami helping mom serve cake and ice cream.

Kim opening up her birthday cards.

Ashley playing when she got out of the pool.

Aunt Elanie opening her cards.

Spring Break Camping

Devin caught a toad fish; my friend Julie with her son Chris; Ashley,Dalton, & Chris found a load of starfish, the kids playing at the swimming hole, Smores time


Kicking off our Spring Break week with some camping is just what we all needed. A good break away from schooling. We booked a camp site at the Sebastian Inlet State Park for the last weekend of March. It was a time of camping with my closest friend Julie and her two boys, Alex and Christopher. Needless to say the kids were so excited to be camping with their friends. This was also Julie and her boys first time camping.

Mike, was so sweet, he hooked up the camper and towed it up to Sebastian and set up every thing for us and then returned four days later to pack it all up and tow it home. I am sure he was excited about his break at home too.

The weather was a little rough, very windy. We did not even attempt to go to the beach because of all the rip currents. But,that did not damper our vacation at all. There were plenty of things to do in the state park. The kids swam, there was a playground, and we did plenty of fishing. We also got our fill of wildlife. There was a pod of dolphins that lingered all weekend by the parks fishing dock. They were so beautiful and fun to watch. The sea turtles were plentiful, seeing their little heads popping up for air every so often. On our last day, the kids and I had a manatee come right up to the rocks where we were fishing.

This was an excellent spring break trip that was very inexpensive for both Julie and I. Sharing the expense and getting away from home to have fun with the kids. We could not have asked for a better time.


One of the dolphins passing by, the kids taking a break during our walk, Dalton found a crab claw, Me and the kids right before Mike came back to pick us up, Ashley fishing