Jerusalem Market

It was a beautiful Saturday and we were looking for something special to do. We knew that there were a number of Easter egg hunts around town and we were trying to stay away from them - right now, at the ages our kids are, they are often divided out among three different groups. You do the math - three groups, two adults, tons of kids running crazy for melted chocolate. Not a good combination. So, we were on the hunt for something else.

Over the years, we have a passed a nearby church, Roswell Assembly of God, that publicized a "Jerusalem Market" about twice a year. Unfortunately, we haven't been able to attend, but we've been interested. This Saturday, the market was happening, so we decided to visit. What a great idea.

The church was set up as if we have travelled back in time to Jerusalem when Jesus was alive. There were tons of little shops, each one providing an opportunity to make something, eat something or learn something. We weren't able to visit everyone, but we hit as many as we could. Some of the shops we missed included a jewlery making shop, a game spot to play children's games, an armory where Xander got to decorate his own paper shield and a fruit store where we could sample yummy goodies.

There was a schoolhouse - the kids were each given their own yarmulke and learned how to write their names in Hebrew.

We visited a stone carving shop. Here, we got to "carve" (gray Styrofoam blocks) Hebrew words (such as God, allelujah, praise, glory and many others) with cute wooden sticks. A bit messy, but loads of fun!

The girls got to make musical bracelets with bells.

Xander enjoyed making a candle, actually due to time constraints, the helpers made one for him and sent a couple of extra components for the girls to make their own candles.

My personal favorite item was the empty tomb where Jesus was buried. You could have your picture taken with an angel outside the tomb - how could we pass that up?

At noon, all the shops shut down and everyone came together for a wonderful story of Easter and gospel presentation. It was a great mixture of music, a felt-board story and a little reenactment. The kids had a great time!!

Following all that, the kids were let loose for a little egg hunt. They had a few different sections, but there were a lot less kids in a much small location, so we didn't have the same concerns as we had with other hunts. There were even special eggs which meant special big prizes. Xander found one of the prized golden eggs from his age group and the girls had a great time in their hunt.

After the egg hunt, the church served grilled burgers and hot dogs, chips, drinks and cookies - a perfect lunch for a beautiful day!

The experience was great and we are already looking forward to the next Jerusalem Market so we can visit all of the shops. It was also a good reminder of how it felt to be a church visitor and how important it is to welcome those who visit our church. That night, Xander headed to bed with his golden egg prize - a white stuffed animal sheep, who is now affectionately called "Cuddle".

Second Grade Musical

Each year, the various grades put on a musical for the other grades and the parents. Trinity is all about anything musical. She had been singing the songs for a while as well as teaching them to Kalyn (and trying to teach them to Xander). There are tons of kids in Trinity grade and we learned last year that you probably can't arrive too early to get a good seat. She usually ends up in the front row, which makes it hard to see over the rows of excited parents.

So, I headed up to school with book and snack in toe to pick some seats close to the front while Craig would drop off the kids closer to performance time. (Craig had a church practice to attend, but he was able to see Trinity as they performed for the school one day earlier.) I got a spot on the third row and still had quite a time dodging heads to see her. Kalyn was so excited to see Trinity perform and got a bit nervous when people sat in front of us. However, all turned out just fine! This year's musical was entitled, How Does Your Garden Grow? and it turned out wonderfully!! Everyone did a great job.

They start off each performance with allowing the kids to wave to their parents. I love this "tradition" and think it's a great way to the waving done.

Isn't she just the cutest little flower? I'd pick her!!

Singing her heart out!!

This group shot is about 1/3 of her grade.

Following the performance, each class goes back to their room. I just had to take a moment and snap a picture of her with her precious teacher, Miss Hunt.

Here are a few of the songs from the performance. The dancing and singing is just so adorable.

Song 1: We Are The Loveliest Flowers. Trinity was chosen as a flower dancer. Sorry about the people in front of us. She did a great job dancing!!

Song 2: Scarecrow. Watch Trinity get down!!

Song 3: The Garden Hoedown. The final song in the performance.

We love seeing our kids do what they love. Such a treat and a blessing.

Kalyn's Show & Tell

We've said it once and we'll say it again, we love Kalyn's preschool teachers, Bernadette and Lisa. It's also fun because they taught Trinity as well. One thing they do is assign a child a "Top Banana" day once a month - they get to lead the lines, help out the teachers and bring in a show and tell item. Bernadette has always said that it would be best if the show and tell item matches up with letter they are studying for the week. I always try to comply. However, this month, I just had to laugh. There are just some letters that are a little bit more difficult. Both of our girls have now fallen on X week. X!!! Unfortunately, we had a great time with X three years ago with Trinity - sending her on a scavenger hunt looking for various Xes and sending in a "book" showing her journey and the various clues. The pressure was on (and Bernadette let me know, jokingly). I had to deliver. Here's what we came up with ~

We first put Dax up in his kennel then had lunch at Zaxby's, where Kalyn sat next to Xander.

We then went to Publix, picked up a couple of boxes and then exited.

At home, Kalyn did some mixing.

While we waited, we read books such as Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Day, Fox in Socks, Alex and the Box Shop and Six Silly Foxes.

When it was all over, Kalyn had an extra special treat to share with her class.

The book we compiled with pictures turned out wonderfully! I have already given my "warning" that if Xander somehow ends up on the X week when he's in Bernadette's class, he's coming in with just himself!

We All Scream . . .

We love freebies. Any excuse for something free is a good opportunity. So, when we heard about free scoop day at Ben and Jerry's, we couldn't pass it up. We piled the kids in the car and headed out for a rare Tuesday night treat.

There were a ton of people as the line went out the door and down the sidewalk.

The wait was well worth it, though. Yummy.

We think Xander actually managed to get some in his mouth, too!

A too cool hubby and daddy!

Smores Time

With the arrival of spring, we couldn't wait to enjoy some relaxing evenings out in the yard. One night, we grabbed some marshmallows, chocolate and graham crackers. We lit up a little fire in our fire pit area and had a great time. It is a wonderful way to end our day with some yummy goodies and fun conversations.

I just love the way Xander looks so lovingly and excitedly up at Craig!!

Picnic Time

Sunday afternoon, we left Sea World and headed into downtown Orlando. We took the opportunity to drive by my childhood home and check out the old neighborhood. It was interesting to see how much things had changed as well as stayed the same.

We then headed to a park right behind my high school. It was amazing to see how much my high school had expanded, even since the last time we were down there four years ago. One of my parents' good friends had scheduled a relaxed picnic with our Orlando friends. It was great to see people I hadn't seen in years. It was a bring-you-own-food, come-and-hang-out gathering. We had the opportunity to catch up with our church friends and our neighborhood friends.

Our neighbors who willing shared their pool when we were kids and housed my bridesmaids - we love the Williams!!!

Fun with Aunt Ashley - we missed sharing the day with them. Apparently they missed us, too. Uncle Jeff said he kept reaching around for a small hand to hold.

What a great ending to our great weekend!! Thank you just doesn't seem enough to say to Papa, Mimi, Uncle Jeff and Aunt Ashley for making the weekend so special and so memorable. We love you guys!! Here's the perfect quote to close out the trip ~

Wish accomplished!!!

Sea World, Part 2

In addition to the exhibits, we also got to enjoy a number of great shows and rides while we were at Sea World.

The Clyde and Seamore Take Pirate Island (sealion and walrus and otter) show was quite entertaining. It was amazing to see all the trick that the animals had been taught.

The Blue Horizons (whale and dolphin) show was out of this world. Not only were the dolphins wonderfully acrobatic, but the (human) performers were as well. Kalyn was mesmerized by all of the stunt performers as they dove from the high platforms and swung out across the water from various swings. Each time she saw something, she would say, "I want to do that. No, I want to do that when I grow up!" Her eyes were as big as saucers with every flip, turn and dive.

No visit would be complete without viewing the Believe show, otherwise known as the Shamu show. There was a very touching tribute to Dawn Brancheau, the trainer who had lost her life just a couple of weeks prior to our trip. Again, the animals were the stars with their flips and moves.

The rides were great! The girls loved riding Journey to Atlantis, a water flume ride with a number of drops! Plus, any spectator could spend a few quarters to be able to spray the riders as they landed at the bottom of the large drop. Just a little added "fun" for everyone!

Mimi was a great help as she watched the kids while Papa, Craig and I headed to the other two big roller coasters. (I think the ice cream helped during the second coaster also.) I had been a little disappointed that we hadn't been able to ride Space Mountain at Disney, so I really wanted to make sure that we got the chance to ride these coasters. Manta was amazing!!! We loaded as you would a normal roller coaster, sitting normally. But then, before the ride begins, our feet were raised up so we were now looking straight down in sort of a flying position. A very unique way to ride. We aren't in this shot, but it shows you how we were riding. Trinity was very eager to take our picture while we were riding and she caught a great picture!

The second coaster was Kraken. This one also had a special twist. Again, we loaded normally and then the bottom of the ride comes away, so as you ride, your feet are dangling in the air! To help get back to Mimi in time, the three of us split up with Papa riding first as us catching the next round.

Both of these roller coasters were great because the rides were pretty long, making the wait (albeit short because there weren't too many crowds) pretty worth it. Kalyn was a bit upset that she could not ride these - there were some tears, poor thing. She just wasn't tall enough. Maybe next time. It was a great day at Sea World. Again, one more day of no arguing, no complaining, no asking for sourvenirs, no traumatic meltdowns. We had one more event planned before we headed home the next day. One more Orlando blog, then it's back to our Georgia life.