Jacksonville...

So, back to Jacksonville again, trying to pin down the home we are going to move into. I think we have found it, now to just get down there for good, I'm tired of going back and forth as it is a LONG drive! At first I almost did not think it would happen, but it is... Now just to get all our shit down there, sigh...

This is the view from the boardwalk at Mickler's Landing in Ponte Vedra Beach, which is where we will be living... The home we are getting is not far from there, about 3 minutes, so I will be out there most mornings, along with Carolyn and Taylor, the guys prefer to sleep, they do not like getting up at 6AM, I ALWAYS get up at 6AM, and Taylor is most of the time up before me, good to have a morning person in the family to hang out with... :)

Taylor the other morning, strolling in the surf, which is what Carolyn and I LOVE to do, and we mostly do it with only Taylor when we have been there as Chance and Tanner would rather sleep... :)

Sunrise this AM, a bit cloudy, but I could care less... I've wanted to move to the beach for years, now I AM!!

Carolyn and Taylor at the hotel we stayed at last night. It was a nice hotel, I probably am one of the few people who stayed there who got it on Priceline for a fraction of the price they normally charge, there were SO many snooty people there, yeah, them and I don't mix well, we had fun with them, the kids and I... :)

So yeah, we are nearly there, in Jacksonville! I CANNOT wait! :)

Yikes...

Yeah, I can now confirm with first hand experience how people flip their SUV's... Lightly holding the wheel, texting, etc... It was all I could do when the tire blew out, and it didn't just blow out, the tread came off, and I thought the road was bumpy for a while, but when it blew, the wheel jerked so hard to the right, I was lucky I had both hands on the wheel, wow...

The tire...

Me thinking, yikes, and thanking my lucky stars that there had not been much traffic on the road as I had been in the fast lane doing 85...

Yeah, could have been much worse, but we are all still here, and there was a Walmart a few exits up, so once I put the spare on, I went and bought a new tire... :)

9.11.01

Yikes...

Wow. Has it been that long? I suppose it has, I'd say I've been busy, but I really haven't been, although I am about to be as we get ready to move again... :) I guess we will head back down to Jacksonville the week of Sept 19th and try and figure out which house we want... In the meantime, here are a few more pics from our last trip to JAX...

Taylor's sentiment about Jacksonville... :)

Carolyn and I at Castillo de San Marcos...

Taylor and I at one of our favorite spots...

Kids at Castillo de San Marcos...

Ditto! Hopefully we will be down there for good soon... :)

415 Grist Mill Drive...

So I decided to go through all of my digital photos and make a picture book chronicling our ten+ years at 415 Grist Mill Drive. Turned into quite the project, but it is now complete. Can't wait to see the hardcover version once it arrives. Feel free to peruse it you want to:

The Money Pit Project...

Happy 15th Anniversary Carolyn!!

Happy Birthday Carolyn!!

Update, huh?

Yeah, just got back from a BBQ at my old neighbor's house... Have a house FULL of kids, and life goes on... :)

We are still trying to find the right home/area to move to down in Jacksonville, but making progress... I suppose we will be down there in the next month or so, and I cannot wait!

I will be glad when this is all over though so I can just concentrate on my career and other things, I'm tired of moving, but I am SO glad we decided to move out of that other house, that house drained me for ten years, time to start doing something other than building and remodeling. Whew!

So yeah, not much of an update, but I'll have one soon... ;)

Jacksonville Bound...

Well, back from Jacksonville, long drive... :) We had a great time though, and are planning to move there, so let the fun begin! I AM glad we moved here first though, because it took us months to sort through all the crap we had accumulated living at 415 Grist Mill Drive for 10 years. SO glad that is over! Now just have to find a house in Jacksonville, we have found many we like, and now we'll start the process... We are all very excited about it though, and can't wait to be down there to be honest, I have wanted to move to FL for years, now I am finally going... The GE facility I will be working at down there is in a very quiet and nice office park, so the work accomodations, they already have me a cubicle down there, will be nice. The school district we are looking in, good schools, so that is great...

Now we just have to move basically, after we find the house we want, so I'm sure I'll be busy over the next few months. We plan to be down there in the next few months, hopefully the sooner the better... :)

A few more pics from our trip...

Taylor and I on the beach this AM, we left the hotel at about 6:30AM to get out early, spent about two hours out there looking for shells and riding the boogie boards... Taylor loves it down there, the boys? Yeah, they wanted to sleep, so we left them at the hotel, they were still sleeping when we got back... :)

Carolyn and I this AM, there is nothing better than strolling on the beach in the AM, we LOVE it!!!

Sunrise on the beach the other day, it is so beautiful!

We were out yesterday, and this guy was trying to get that contraption going, it is a kite basically that hooks to a ski of sorts, and you skim across the water with it, he had brought the wrong pieces, I tried to help him get it launched, but it wouldn't work. I'm getting one if we move down there... :)

This was me for two whole days out there, I mistakenly started a Sidney Sheldon novel, and I cannot put his books down, so I read it in two days, and of course, the next day, I started a Jack Higgins novel, and could NOT put it down and finished it in one day! I think that is the first time I have ever started and finished a novel on the same day, ah, the beach... :)

So yeah, we are moving again, but we all are looking forward to it, we are tired of the area we currently live, time to move on. I'm amazed I have lived here as long as I have, I have the "rambling fever"... :) Yeah, time to move on... Keep reading, I'll keep posting details... ;)

Jacksonville...

I think we have all decided that this is the place to be, as opposed to where we currently live anyway... :)

Taylor and I on the beach yesterday...

Chance and Taylor on the dunes...

Tanner at the end of the pier...

Carolyn and I this AM out for a stroll in the surf, which is quite nice I might add...

Me, after a swim in the ocean...

So now, off to do more exploring and bask in the sun on the beach...

415 Grist Mill Drive...

Several of our neighbors called us this AM and said it looked like our mail box had exploded... So I came home from work and wow...

Yeah, pretty much obliterated...

I'm surprised that was still intact, the one on the other side, the 4, 1 and 5 were halfway down the street...

They must have been going pretty fast, notice how far down the street on the other side of the driveway the bricks are...

So anyway, we called the police, while waiting on them, we found several car pieces that identified the vehicle as a Volvo, one of our neighbors stopped by and said he saw a white volvo going back in the opposite direct with extensive front end damage... They could have left a note! Oh well, we have half of the neighborhood on the lookout for a white volvo, as well as the Paulding County Sheriff's office...

Lake...

Well, I didn't go, but the kids went with our old neighbors to the lake for some fun and relaxation in the 93+ degree weather, while they were doing that, Carolyn and I were busting our asses over at Cory's house helping him get a few things done he needed help with... :)

Taylor at the wheel of the pontoon boat...

Relaxing on the boat...

Chance, Tanner and TJ, buds hanging out at the lake...

Ditto...

Happy Independence Day!!

Six Flags...

I really am not a fan of amusement parks, but my kids LOVE them, so I go... :) This is what Chance wanted to do for his birthday, so off I went with six kids in tow...

The guys all ran off when we got there, so it was Taylor and I together...

Taylor LOVED it, the last time she went was for my company outing in 2003, so she does not remember it, but of course now she wants to go back every day... :)

We did occassionally run into the guys during the day, ran into Chance and two of his friends at the Scream Machine... I remember riding that thing when I was a teenager, I think it was built in the 70's though, so it has been around a while.

And of course we ran into Tanner and Nate twice during the day, this time at Goliath, which was Taylor's favorite ride, she dragged me onto that thing at least 5 or 6 times... :)

We had a good time though, now off to help a friend of mine cut up a tree and install a sink. Fireworks tonight and a picnic and swimming at the lake tomorrow, I love long weekends!

Happy Birthday Chance...

Today was Chance's birthday, I love doing things for these kids on their birthdays! So first stop was Texas Roadhouse for dinner, Chance and his love for steaks... :) I actually bought him one for lunch too, which Carolyn made for him... That boy LOVES ribeyes smothered with A-1 sauce, so had it he did...

Trying to take a pic at the Texas Roadhouse, Tanner wasn't cooperating... :)

Once we got back to the house, the people who came over for the cake... Just missing Carolyn and myself... I'm sure we were taking pics, well, I wasn't, but Carolyn was... :)

I just love to see their faces when they open their gifts...

Yeah, these are not in order... Chance about to blow out his candles... :)

Everyone at the birthday dinner, well, except me, but I had to take the pic... :)

Great day!! I just love my kids birthdays, they make me happy. We will go to Six Flags with his friends and us of course on Saturday for the finale... Should be fun, I really am not a fan of Six Flags, but Chance is, so, yeah, that is where we will go... :)

Father's Day...

What a wonderful day! A continuation of Taylor's birthday celebration and Father's Day! We had a great time once again. Now that I no longer will be remodeling, we will have many trips such as this. We had a great weekend together as a family, and we will have many more, God willing... :)

Me and my fabulous children at the top of Stone Mountain! I love these kids more than life! The only one missing is Cory, and I love him just as much!

My lovely wife bought me a new iPod for Father's Day, which is great because my other one died, and who can be without one?? Thank you Darling!!!

I just LOVE the notes my children write me in the cards they give me, who could ask for more wonderful children than the ones I have?? I love them all dearly!

My first born son, I love that boy! I love them all though, what a wonderful life I live!!

Me and my wonderful, lovely wife Carolyn! I lucked out snagging this woman! She is my soul mate, my friend, my confidant! There are not too many people who could deal with me, Carolyn not only does, but we are perfect for each other! We were meant to be together! I love you honey!

Stone Mountain...

So Taylor decided that instead of having all her friends over for a birthday party, she wanted to go to Stone Mountain and spend the night. LUCKILY they did not want to camp, so we stayed at the Marriott inside the park instead. These pictures are not in any sort of order as blogger is not copperating... :)

The guitar Taylor wanted for her birthday...

Cookie cake Taylor wanted instead of a regular birthday cake... I actually ate a piece of it, I normally do not eat cake...

Birthday cookout and party... It started pouring down rain right as we were finished! Whew!

The "grill" was a challenge to say the least, luckily the hotdogs were precooked... It was good anyway... :)

Our lunch picnic, which was the first thing we did when we arrived at the park, which was also rather tasty, and a LOT cheaper and better than the food you buy at the park itself... :)

Now, off we go to do some swimming, mountain climbing, riverboat cruise, etc... Oh yeah, and also a Father's Day picnic lunch somewhere, wherever we happen to find a free picnic table I suppose... :)