Riverbend Ramblings

Labels: Fun Stuff

Labels: Daily Life, Favorite Things, Fun Stuff, Outdoor Life

We've been staying at a resort at Pensacola Beach this week. It's the most beautiful, relaxing spot. I'm missing the rest of our family like crazy. Steven and I haven't spent this long apart since we started dating twenty years ago. I can't wait to see him (and Case) again in just a few more days. In the meantime, the girls and I will soak up a little more sun and surf.

 

Labels: Family Life, Fun Stuff, The Kiddos, Travel

I'm hitting the road this morning to vacation with my mom and the girls. We've got a seven hour drive ahead of us on the first leg of our 15-day trip. I'll share more when we reach our destination. If you think about it, please pray for us as I'm sure the interstate will be busy this holiday weekend.

 

Labels: Daily Life, Fun Stuff, This N That

of the paper variety. A fun diversion on a rainy afternoon.

Labels: Daily Life, Fun Stuff, The Kiddos

Labels: Fun Stuff, The Kiddos

The last morning of our vacation we decided to go out to eat for breakfast, which happens to be one of my favorite things to do. I had seen an advertisement in a brochure for a local Amish restaurant, but I couldn't remember the name of it. When I looked up "Amish restaurant Sarasota" on Google, this famous restaurant that has been featured on The Travel Channel popped up instead of the one I was trying to find. My hubby had actually seen Yoder's on Man Vs. Food, and he got all excited when we realized that it was only about five minutes away from our location. We headed that way.

Curly Girl and Lil Nut ordered the kids' pancakes. They were shaped like a famous mouse, which they thought was funny.

Mickey chose the egg croissant sandwich, and he ate the entire thing. It was huge!

Bookworm, who inherited my sweet tooth, chose the apple fritter French toast. Yum!

Steven and I both ordered more traditional fare that included eggs, bacon, fried potatoes, and pancakes. My eggs were smothered in cheese. The blueberry bread was the best ever, so I purchased a loaf to take home.

You would think that we too stuffed to even play with the idea of having dessert with our breakfast, but Yoder's is famous because of its pies. We decided to order three pieces to share among the six of us. The slices of pie were so big, we couldn't even eat it all. From twenty-five pie varieties, we narrowed our choices down to these:
Peanut Butter Cream

Chocolate Cream

Fresh Strawberry

Yep, they tasted even better than they look!

The restaurant is part of a small Amish village designed to entertain tourists like us. We enjoyed browsing in the gift shop and market.

Looking at and talking about all this scrumptious food has made me hungry. Wish I had another piece of Chocolate Cream pie right now!

Labels: Family Life, Favorite Things, Fun Stuff

Dusk is approaching.

Curly Girl, Lil Nut, and Mickey feed the fish.

What is she looking at?

Baby frogs!

Labels: Daily Life, Fun Stuff, Outdoor Life, The Kiddos

~Went to a spring training game with my hubby and watched my favorite team win. "Let's go, Red Sox!" ~Spent a Saturday with my mom and three of the kids at a local art/antiques fair. ~I've been trying to spend more time in the kitchen. We don't eat much pork, but I found a roast on sale (don't get me started on the price of meat!). It was yummy! ~Spotted this pretty cake in the window of a bakery and thought it would be fun to take a cake decorating class. Decided that an eighth day of the week would have to be created first. ~I turned 29 last week...again...for the sixth time. Let me do the math for you--I'm 35. :)

Labels: Daily Life, Family Life, Favorite Things, Fun Stuff, In the Kitchen, Special Days, The Kiddos

Last week we took a day trip to North Florida. We ate lunch with my dad and his wife at a delightful little restaurant. My oldest sister, her husband, and my niece joined us. After lunch my sister invited the kids to go to her house for a little while. My sister and her husband own one of the largest and most successful Thoroughbred breeding and training farms in the state. Almost every Triple Crown race has at least one horse in it that was broken at their farm. They have a gorgeous 300 acre training facility. Their house is located on the back of the property. The girls were thrilled to spend some time with their 12 year old cousin. Bookworm loves to ride horses, and my niece has several of her own. They had so much fun riding together. I'm looking forward to taking the kids back for another visit soon. It's so peaceful there! Here are a few pictures I snapped as we drove around the farm. Next time I'll take some pictures of the horses.

Labels: Family Life, Fun Stuff, Outdoor Life

Labels: Church Family, Fun Stuff, Holidays

Labels: Family Life, Fun Stuff, The Kiddos

A few days ago Steven spotted this cute little green frog on top of my truck. I, of course, wanted to take a picture of the little guy (or gal). I opened the passenger door, climbed up, stretched my arm out as far as it would go, and snapped a picture. Steven tossed his baseball cap up on the hood in an attempt to gently nudge the frog a tiny bit closer to the camera. Well, the frog decided to take a two feet leap from the center of the hood and landed on my neck! I could feel one leg on my face and the rest of him attached to my neck. I let out a blood-curdling scream, the frog released its death grip, landed with a soft thud on the driveway, and quickly hopped into the nearby bushes. Needless to say, my husband laughed so hard he cried. He probably wouldn't have found the scene quite so funny if I would have toppled from my precarious perch. After I recovered from my fright, I had a good laugh, too. Next time I'll think twice before going in for a close-up. That's what Photoshop is for.

Labels: Fun Stuff, Outdoor Life