Pumpkin Patch

Last Sunday we ventured as a family to the pumpkin patch nearby.   It was a fun experience to see Mae see so many pumpkins at once.  She was instantly excited by all the fun orange things that she could climb up on.  Ace had a great time jumping off the hay bales and picking up and carrying the pumpkins around.  

It certainly was a first for Ace to experience a pumpkin patch 'hot' - even when we visited a pumpkin patch in Cali a couple of years ago he was still in long sleeves.  :)   Here he was complaining he was hot in his black tshirt. 

The kids had a lot of fun playing with the hay and putting it onto each other.  It's really cute to see Mae start to mimic playing.  She and her brother spent a few minutes putting hay on each other, before we moved onto other activities.

We left with a little pumpkin awaiting carving.  Ace was "really excited!!!"   :)   Mae had a good time and loved to pick up pumpkins - which she was in fact able to lift up that little one that she's got in the above picture.     Overall a very fun outing as a family!

To Miss...

We've only been here in the south a short time and in some ways we are itching to get back home, but in others we're really going to miss our time here in the south - and not just the weather!   I truly love living here, the people are friendly, military life is pretty good, and well the weather is just amazing.  Even in the dead of summer when it was tipping 120' it was tolerable (we didnt' leave the house too much... but still with AC you can handle any temperature!) 

Weather

Not only will I miss the sunny and bright blue skies coupled with comfy temperatures, but I will really miss the amazing lightening and thunder storms that we were privileged to enjoy much of this summer.   Ace did great with the thunder, we were a bit concerned it would scare him, but he looked forward to it just as much as us.  We enjoyed some great moments of waking up Ace just so he could see an amazing electrical storm in the sky.   We were blessed enough to avoid any true hurricanes making their way into the Gulf while we were here.  There were no crazy evacuations that were required, and for that we are thankful.    We however did get to enjoy and experience Tropical Storm Lee and a taste of a good storm.  Unfortunately I was quasi in the middle of it while driving over the bridge and I was not a fan of that situation!    The storm was powerful and amazing at the amount of rainfall, wind, and storminess there was.

Food! 

Things that I will miss include sweet tea.   It was the one thing that I was seriously craving from the moment I knew we were coming to Biloxi.  I was salivating over it and while I know I can learn to make my own - I cannot order when I go out - and NO McDonald's "sweet tea" is NOT the same thing (gag!)     I will miss food that I cannot have back home:  Cracker Barrel and Chic Fil A.   Honestly I am NOT a fast food chicken fan, but Chic fil A made a yummy exception to that rule - and their lemonade is delicious!  Finally, I will miss the Beau Rivage Champagne Brunch.    It was a fun family outing and a good time to try various foods, chat and enjoy mimosas with the husband (which by the way when I asked what he'd miss when we'd leave he chimed in with "mimosas".)  :)

Military Life

While I will appreciate not having to drive 15mph every day to get back to my house, I will certainly miss military day to day life.   I know that Ace will miss 17:00 every day when the Star Spangled Banner is played.   Every day that we were home he would await that 5pm hour for the notice to sound and for the music to begin.  He learned quickly to stand still and quiet and wait for the song to come on and put his hand over his heart and be respectful.    He rotated between singing it and asking us to sing it.    I will also miss Loving Husband being able to come home for lunch.   He didn't do it all the time but it was a nice luxury for us.  Also his ability to come home pretty early in the day was a great perk to counter his 6:30 start of the work day for him.  

"The music's starting!!"

I will miss our neighbors that we grew the closest too. They are fine folk and it will be sad to leave them. Ace will miss their little boy that he plays with. He loves that our friends have lived so close to us.   I will miss the warm evening walks, the very close playgrounds in every direction, and the ability to have the kids play in the water at any time of the day.

Activities and Surrounds!

I will miss living so close to the ocean. While Biloxi beach is never an ocean we wanted to swim in, it was still a very beautiful piece of scenery to drive by on a regular basis.  I will miss having white sand beaches less than 3 hours away to go to.  I will certainly miss the sun.. I know I already said that... a few times!   I will miss the iconic light house and casinos that we drive by nearly daily.     

Kidwise - I will very much miss the Lynn Meadows Discovery Center and Bear Cub Club.  We went almost every week to Bear Cub Club and Ace (and eventually Mae too) had a great time there.     Just last week my neighbor introduced me to Excel by 5 - a great resource for kids that Ace had a lot of fun at - and if only we were here longer I am sure would be come a weekly adventure for us.  

At the Children's Museum

I will miss our church.   We unfortunately didn't discover it until we were more than halfway through with living here, but since we have we've really enjoyed it. Mae stayed a handful of times in the nursery successfully and Ace himself even has learned to adapt well to going to class there.   The people are great and like I said - we will really miss it.

What we missed...

While we did do a lot, there are things that we did not get to for various reasons.   We never took a ship cruise, didn't make anywhere further north to visit various friends and family that are pretty close as compared to where we are typically in the NW.  I never went to the mall, I went to the outlets a few times, but never the mall. I never personally ventured inside a grocery store or the commissary (thank you, Loving Husband!)   I don't leave here with many regrets, only that we didn't have more time with the friends that we made.

Overall, I think we all consider ourselves very blessed to have had this glimpse of another part of the country. Where on banks they quote Isaiah 41:10, where there are commercials dedicated to talking about Jesus, where people are overall relatively hospitable. It's been a lot of fun, albeit a challenge with loneliness for me at times, I am sad that it is drawing to a close.     We met great people and experienced a lot of new things, but now we're looking forward to returning to the NW and the fall like weather! 

After breakfast (hence Mae's new shirt decor) on our final trip to Pensacola

Now the real question... do I have an accent?  ;-)

Sunny Skies

The closer we get to going home the more and more I am enjoying and appreciating the sunlight!  I love the NW and I even love the overcast chilly days and often don't mind the sun being absent for days and in the fall/winter weeks at a time.   However, I've been spoiled.   I've now lived in the south going on six months and I have seen the sun, probably every day with the exception of maybe two days.   

The whole family has nice sun kissed skin - tans!  Little Mae even has white crease lines where her little rolls didn't allow sun... all of these features are soon to fade as we venture back home.   As it is - no one will be too overtly jealous of our tan skin as they hardly will see it since we'll be bundled up freezing our tushies off (yes tushies) since it's barely dropped below 75' since our arrival here.   

This morning for the first time since our arrival it was colder here than back home.  It was only by a couple of degrees and within a few hours we had reclaimed our role as the hotter city, but nonetheless fall has arrived both here and back home and while a sweater here would send me into a fit of heatstroke, still it is chilly for Biloxi, but the sun is still shining in the beautifully blue clear sky. 

I will miss the bright blue skies that are sometimes filled with gorgeous clouds or sometimes just a vibrant blue clear sky.  Somehow I really think it is blue-er here.     It's gorgeous!  It truly has been a great time to enjoy the sun, the beach, the warm weather - even in the fit of the awful heat this summer it was an overall pleasant experience.  

I'm sure Ace will miss it as well - not that he still won't run around outside and have a blast doing so in more layers - but he likes to be 'naked' (aka wearing only underwear.)   Often the first thing he does when we come home from being out and about is strip down to his undies.   Even here in our 72' house he complains he's 'cold'  so he'll have a rude awakening when he returns to the NW to our house that we used to keep at 65' in the winter months.   :)    


If you look the right of the photo you'll see this was a double rainbow! Beautiful!

 It's been a beautiful, sunny, and warm place to live these last six months and we've enjoyed it!

A Southern Belle

Mae is pushing nine months old - three quarters of a year old is just around the corner.  It is crazy how much time has gone by.  We've now been in the south for five months.  When we arrived Mae was just a little over three months old.    Which means she has officially been a southern belle for over two months!   Yes our little girl has spend more of life in the south than in the NW.    She's adapted to her role of a southern belle nicely.  

Mae loves to crawl around outside - although often gets timid in the grass and prefers to stay in one place unless she is chasing her brother.   She does very well to leave a hat on if one is presented to shade her.   

Like her hat?  B from The Ravenna Girls made it for her!

Dresses (another southern belle staple) won't slow her down either.  No matter her attire - whether dress, skirt, and just a diaper - she can crawl with great speed and efficiency if she so desires.   It's impressive!   Occasionally a dress will thwart her because her feet get stuck in it - but she merely does a little foot maneuvering and continues along without much fuss. 

Sunlight also is great for Mae... doesn't she look pretty? ;)   She loves to play in the sunshine and when it peeks in the house through the windows, she likes to chase it and tries grab it.   It's really adorable to watch as she crawls after the sunlight and trying to track it down.  


Probably one of my favorite pictures of her to date!

Overall this little southern belle is doing wonderful and I know she will miss the warmth and sun after we leave (we all will!)   But I am sure she will enjoy exploring all the other neat things that the NW affords us that the south does not... like snow!  Brr!

Cloud Viewing

Living in the south we are privileged to have a sky full of beautiful clouds.   All the various kinds of clouds are a part of our daily viewing pleasure and where better way to teach Ace about the different types of clouds.   

As part of his school we take time every now and then to review the types of clouds.    I printed out Cloud Type lesson kit for free from ETC Press.   It included the nomenclature cards and and a few other helpful tools to help show Ace about the various types of clouds.   He's still pretty young to really absorb a lot of the science - but the visuals are great.  

While on Pinterest I came across a great idea of a view window for the clouds, although when I clicked to obtain it - it was for a classroom and cost over $30 for the kit... so I decided to make my own (if you'd like a copy for personal use only please email me and I will send you the PDF.)  It took a naptime to get everything lined up and all the clouds properly identified.  It's not perfect, but it is accurate and for my toddler it is a fun way to 'hunt' for clouds.   :)

Ace had a lot of fun trying to find the different type of clouds.   I think that he'll really enjoy this activity when he's a bit older and can read for himself.   For now he likes to use the view window to poke his head through it and look for clouds that way.  It makes me smile.

So while I don't think he's learning a lot of the accurate names, he's having fun looking at the sky.   We also started to make up the shapes of clouds and that is probably the most fun of all! 

Linking up on:  Living Montessori Now, Sun Scholars, It's Playtime on The Imagination Tree, Preschool Corner on Homeschool Creations, Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas and Classified: Mom.

Biloxi's Lighthouse

I think one of the things that I am going to miss the most about living in Mississippi is the lighthouse.  It really is the iconic 'centerpiece' of Biloxi and it is beautiful no matter the time of day or night that you drive by.    I love to photograph it and I've loved learning about its history.

This lighthouse is a cast iron light house built in 1848 and originally stood relatively close to water.  It now exists as the only lighthouse in the middle of a highway and also Mississippi's only remaining lighthouse.   Biloxi's waters receded a bit and eventually put in a man made beach in the 60s.   This lighthouse survived both Camille in 1969 and Katrina in 2005 (although all the brick on the inside washed out after Katrina and extensive remodeling was required to reopen it to the public.)  To read more about its fascinating history click here.

We were able to take a tour of it last weekend and go inside and the light in it is beautiful.  The view is pretty gorgeous too.   I was wearing Mae in the ergo and toted her up the spiral staircase and up the 8 rung ladder into the top.   It was a bit precarious but we managed.

If you notice the pale blue line - that is where the water reached with Katrina, Camille's water level is significantly lower.

It was a lot of fun to be able to go inside, learn a bit about the history, and to see how the lighthouse really works.  It was also neat to learn about the history of why it is now in the middle of a highway - probably its most unique quality. 


Circa 1901 - Photograph from Library of Congress and obtained from here.

Warm Evenings



Another thing I will miss about the south is our warm evenings.
Being able to be outside and play as the sun is setting and enjoy a warm breeze.





A morning drive...



I feel so blessed that this is our view on our drive to church.
And I will miss it when we leave.

The Friendship Oak

While we're in Mississippi, I'm try to occupy our time and see all the local attractions that there are to be had. We've certainly taken our time combing through local eateries, buffets, and anything related to food - but to date we haven't taken much time to explore to sites and events that are available. My friend Brianne for Christmas got me the book Mississippi: Off the Beaten Path and I've Last weekend we set out to explore one in the items in the book: The Friendship Oak.

The Friendship Oak is a 500+ year old tree on an abandoned tattered campus of the University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast. It's actually really amazing to see the tree still standing, growing and thriving, amid the aftermath Hurricane Katrina left to the buildings it is surrounded by. The college campus while abandoned is still actively seeking funding to restore the historic buildings that once housed it collegiate classes - but until that comes the Friendship Oak continues to grow as it has since 1487. It's such a poetic juxtaposition. The tree is beautiful.

Prior to Katrina there was a platform and a staircase that allowed you to get into the tree without any issue and to look out and around the surroundings. People got married there, classes were held there, I'm sure it was beautiful. Now all of that has been removed and the tree continues to grow. Last measurements that I can find are that the tree is 50-foot height; diameter of the trunk is 5 feet 9 inches; circumference of the trunk is 18 feet 7 inches; spread of foliage is 156 feet. The average length of the main lateral limbs is 60-66 feet from the trunk; average circumference of the limbs at the trunk is 7 1/2 feet; the tree forms almost 16,000 feet of shelter; and lateral roots go out 150 feet.


We were a bit shocked when we arrived to see the campus in such a state that it was, questionable if we were even allowed to be there... but with several other tourists stopping by and the several drive-bys done by the local police we assumed it was allowed.

Ace was really excited to see such a big tree. He and his dad went straight to climbing and later had fun chasing each other around the giant branches and finding acorns that were all over the ground. Mae just kept staring around at her surroundings, unsure where we had toted her to this time. :)


It was a fun outing that was free an interesting to see a part of history. I mean it's not every day you get to see a 500+ year old tree that has survived and is surrounded still by so much devastation. Nature is quite an amazing thing sometimes.

Our 4th of July

Our 4th of July was a nice one. Relatively low key during the day. We BBQed with just our family, as all those we know here were already busy with other plans. Loving Husband enjoyed experimenting with various flavoring techniques on the burgers, no two alike. :) They were yummy. I made some tasty red, white, and blue strawberries an inspiration from Pinterest to take with us to the beach, but then forgot to.

I did a mini photoshoot with the kids in their 4th of July gear. This year Ace didn't have any '4th of July' specific garb, but he enjoyed his red Toy Story shirt with American pride just the same. ;-) Mae's outfit came from Grammie and she was just darling in it and kept it clean the whole day! Yipee!

Around 7:30 we convoyed closer to the base gate with the neighbors and parked the car and walked to the beach. We set up camp near a sand dune (which later worked out perfectly for the tripod and grabbing firework shots above the masses.) The weather was perfect. It was in the low 80s (maybe even dipped into the 70s) there was a tiny tiny breeze and what felt like no humidity at all. It was a perfect night.

This was Mae's first 4th of July and it's always a question mark on how little ones will react to all the loud booms and bangs that are surrounding this holiday... let me say though she did amazing! When we got to the beach I plopt her sitting self down on the beach blanket and handed her a toy. She sat there for over an hour just happily playing, looking around, watching the fireworks. She never once cried from being scared. She did fuss in protest when the main show was about to begin when I put her in the Ergo - mostly because she was too dern hot in there - once I took her out and just held her she was fine. She never once needed to comfort nurse and she was a gem for our three hour outting.


Now what about Ace? We were a bit curious how he would react with all the loud booms and cracks too since he's had issue with loud noises - we did bring ear plugs but he didn't need them, after he figured out what the noise was he was super excited to see them. He loved to run around the beach near us and bury himself in the sand. He seriously laid in the sand and just rolled around all night long. In fact upon coming home he required a shower before bed he was that sandy.

This year we didn't purchase our own fireworks - it was iffy on if they'd be allowed since there are burn bans in all counties, but as it worked out they were allowed on the beach only - so we had LOTS of great fireworks to see all around us. Loving Husband acquired a sparkler from a woman and he and Ace went off to light it. Ace got to hold it all by himself this year and was waving that thing around like crazy! So crazy that he even singed his dad's leg, just a bit. ;-) Ace to sum it up had a BLAST! I'm so glad he didn't let his noise fear cloud is fun. We were so proud of him!

I was a bit anti-social, I'll admit. I had researched ahead of time and really wanted to try out all the various methods of capturing fireworks. I'll do a separate post on those, but this is my favorite shot. :)

18-135mm lens, zoomed to 57mm, 2 second shutter speed, f/13, ISO 100

Overall a great 4th of July in the South! We had a good time, weren't too hot, and didn't have any issues with crowds or war zone like conditions on the beach.

Busy Boy

Ace is a busy boy and being that he is so busy I am always on the hunt for new and exciting things that we can do together... but that aren't so involved that I can't stop to tend to his sister. It's a delicate balance of one on one attention mixed with watching the two of them. We recently joined the Children's Museum that is here in town and he absolutely loves to run around and see all of those neat and exciting things. His imagination can run wild there and so can he! They have a new arts and crafts project every week and he entertains that idea a little bit. He still in some respects has the attention span of a toddler. ;-) We've been a handful of times and he is never ready to leave when it is time - so I consider that a successful outting. We usually stay about 2 hours.

Living in Mississippi we are blessed with the warm days and evenings that allow for Ace to play in the water pretty much anytime we allow it. It's plenty warm enough from the moment he wakes up until well after sundown for him to just splash away with a hose, sprinkler, or cups of water.

But I want to be able to show him new and exploratory fun this summer. So I've been on the hunt for craft projects, activites, and interactive fun that we can create, explore and discover together. Helping him to learn and discover new things. To soak up more knowledge and have fun at the same time... and to not be a tv zombie... or just a little wrinkly sponge outside in the water all day either. ;-) So stay tuned for the fun that Ace and I (and Mae) will be exploring this summer! I've got lots of fun projects lined up!