Dinner is served

While Erica and Rachie were here Paul wanted to make dinner for us- and do the whole thing himself!  He made menus, took our order and served the food.  Ellie wanted in on the action too, so she helped serve us. It was so cute.

Here is the table set with menus and all!

The Menu: On the left is food for all us- Annie, Chickie (Rachael), Emily, Darren, Ellie, and Paul.  On the other side of the menu you will see it says, "for Kyle:"  That's because Kyle is the pickiest eater in the world.  That kid has given me more headaches at dinner time than I can count.  His choices are: Cereal, Pears, a Sandwitch, or  anything we have.  Yea, we get that desperate.  It reminds me of the time we bribed him with an ice cream cone to take a tiny bite of shepherds pie. Before he had even swallowed he threw up all over the table.  Yea.  Fun times.  But back to the menu.  Notice that all of the food is free, free to my kids and guests that is. 
Under the "Protein" section we have a choice of: Orange Chicken or Nuts.  Not a lot of choices there.   Next is the "Fruits and Veggies" section.  The choices include: frozen grapes, pears, apples,  kiwi, and bananas.   hmmm, maybe it should have just been a "Fruits" section, but it makes me feel better that he wrote "veggies" on the menu. 
"Grains" is next with rice, crackers, or toast.
"Dessert" includes one item: Pudding.  Which no one in my family likes, nor do I ever buy, so I have no idea why that was even on there.  No one had dessert that night.  My kid is smarter than me.  I saw that and thought, "how cute, he spelled dessert wrong, it only has one s in it.  Like desert, hmmm that just doesn't look right, I feel like going on a walk through the desert.  ok I'm dumb."

Waiter Paul!

Cheers!

You know it's funny for me to look at that menu.  It says a lot about how our family eats.  Typically during dinner I will point out what food we are eating will go into which category- like protien, carb, etc.  When it's time for the veggie, there usually isn't one and I have to dash to the cupboard for a can of corn while my food gets cold.  We always have a protein, a carb, lots of fruits, and usually no desert.  Yea, that's right no desert.  So, this meal is pretty much a typical dinner at the Ernst's house.  Come join us sometime- my kids would love to serve you! 

Captain Jacks

Another fun thing we did while Erica and Rachie were here was go out to lunch at Captain Jacks Coconut Grille. This is a super fun place to eat. It is close to our house, right on the water, and the food is great. Plus they have free valet parking.  

LOL, this picture is hilarious. 

Almost all the seating is out on a patio over the water with this really fun thatched roof.

Dunkin Donuts was a daily stop for the girls and my kids. 

Beaches

One of the favorite things Erica and Rachie liked doing was going to the beach.  So we did- a lot.  They went everyday, and sometimes twice a day.  Each beach is different, and every time you go it's different.  So it seems as though we can never get enough of the beach!  It's fun to go to the beach on Sunday and watch the sunset. So that's what we did.  The ocean was so calm- there were no waves- it was like a lake.   It was beautiful. 

Darren and me hanging with baby Gabe.

One day Darren went with the girls to Barefoot Beach.  Look at how beautiful the water is!

Look how beautiful those girls are!

Here is a picture of Darren just looking hot.  I swear, swim shirts are the best!!

Shark Fishing

Yea, that's right, I said Shark Fishing. Another fun thing we did with Erica and Rachie was shark fishing.  We went off the end of the Fort Myers Pier. The best time to go is at night when the water is calm.  Yea, they are just little ones, but it was still fun!

Buddy caught a shark!

This is Ellie holding a hammer head!  Someone else caught it.  But let the kids hold it and throw it back.

Ellie is holding a Black Tip and Paul is holding the Hammer Head.

So much fun!!  I love living here!  I don't know how we are going to move!

Feeling young

Hanging out with younger people is fun.  Here are some fun picks of kick'n it in the car.  Driving places was almost as fun as the things we actually did.  We would crank up the music, sing and dance in the car.  It's been a long time since I just let down my hair and just relaxed about life! In fact our theme song from the trip was "We are young" by Fun.

Chickie (aka Rachael) Buddy (aka Paul) and Annie (aka Erica)

Good times

Annie with baby Gabe.  Yea he's getting big- 15 pounds!

I got this really great brain teaser game for the kids.  It has been really popular in the car and at the beach and , yes even at church.  It's called Kanoodle.  If your looking for a good gift- this game is awesome. You can order it online at Amazon.

More chillin' pictures

I wonder what Gabe is thinking about

Rachie and Paul

Hanging in the car probably driving to the beach!

 

More pictures to come!

Introducing....Baby BG!

Darren's sisters, Erica and Rachie were just here for a little vacation.  You can't hang out with these girls without getting some sort of nick name.  And they have done it again.  Featured above is Baby BG... (aka Baby Gabriel). B for baby and G for Gabriel- get it?  Yea they are great.  They made up a rap song about Baby BG sitting in the car and doing all sorts of funny things.  Everytime we were in the van they were in the back with the kids singing the Baby BG rap. It was tons of fun.  We did lots of stuff so stay tuned... more pictures to come!  

A new love

Went to the beach the other night to watch the sunset.  It was breathtaking.  We had a wonderful night. 

When we first moved here I didn't really like the beach (ouch, I know).  I only had a few associations with the beach as a kid.  When we were kids we would go to California with our cousins.  I pretty much only remember a couple of things.  First, I got pulled in the undertow and I almost drowned.  My uncle Mark had to come in and rescue me.  Second, we never really wore sunscreen and I got FRIED.  I hated it.  I pretty much had negative feelings about the ocean and beach from that point on. Plus, I'm afraid of water and sharks.  Now, I am really starting to fall in love with the beach.  
Here are some things I have learned when going to the beach
1. Take an umbrealla for shade
2. Lather up the sunscreen BEFORE you get in the car to go to the beach.  Then it's not all sandy and yucky. It also has time to soak in.
3. Do not feel like you need to get in the water.  It's actually more enjoyable to just sit in the shade and read the whole time. Plus then, you have a 0% chance of getting attacked by a shark.
4. Take a good book or a good friend and have a great time!