Seeing Tall Ships

As I mentioned in previous posts, last weekend we ventured a visit to my parents! They had just opened their pool and the kids were dying to go!

We also were looking forward to visiting with my parents and getting away for a little bit:) It was nice that my brother and his wife as well as my sister and her little family were able to come over to visit and swim with us too;)

My parents were excited about an event in a neighboring city that they thought the kids would like!

So we found ourselves among the Tall Ships at OPSail 2012;)

It was a pretty warm day so we didn't last very long:/ But we still saw some amazing ships, got to learn a bit about life in the early 1800's and enjoyed some time together:)

{pretty}

{happy}

I was happy that we got to board over 3 or 4 of the ships. Because we went early there were few lines. Each ship was very similar and also uniquely different. The Indonesian ship was the first we got to board and you can see in the mast all the different carvings in the wood.... stunning!

The home schooling momma came out in me when I realized aboard the Coast Guard Eagle they were celebrating the anniversary of the War of 1812. I was able to get some information I hope to use with the kids when we study this time period and event in a few weeks;)


Nate getting a ride from Daddy:)

{funny}

Being home schooled one of the first things the kids mention that they don't get to do (like public school kids) is ride a bus.... LOL!! It's just something about the big yellow land-boat that attracts kids;) Or maybe it's wanting to be like their friends who ride daily:)

So they were really excited about riding the bus to the event... gotta like free public transportation.

Pey clowning around in the hammocks;)

{real}

It was a hot morning! I think our car thermostat read 95 as we headed home! Poor Chris was zonked in the sun... he got really sleepy and lethargic. Thankfully Grammie had packed us some juice boxes and that perked him up a bit to play a couple of games;)

Nate tried too;)

We left for the quick trip to my parents after our early Saturday yard sale morning!! That is a whole post in itself... LOL!!

Then we ate a big lunch, packed up our stuff for 24 hours (which always seems like the same amount of stuff for a week) and jumped in the van!

I had tried to call our young neighbor but I couldn't get in touch with her about feeding the cats:(

And sometime Sunday afternoon, I realized that I hadn't made alternate plans to feed them while we were away:(  I make a horrible pet owner :(

Thankfully we were home a few hours after that realization. And the cats had been fed PLENTY on Saturday morning starting just before 6am and lasting until the kids stocked up their food bowls as we headed out the door.

Don't you know when we pulled into the driveway the kitties were waiting for us.... told us off a little for leaving them without food or someone to come by to pet them.

Oh and they had caught their first bird while we were away :(

Funny how these "strays" have become soo loyal to us!!