Put Me in the Zoo

Yesterday the kids and I drove to Birmingham for a little trip to the zoo. We met my sister Sara and her kids and a few of her in-laws, the Archibalds, there. We had a fun (and hot!) few hours strolling through the zoo. Well, the adults strolled while the kids ran. Why is it that kids only seem to have one speed (full out sprint) when at touring/look-see type locations? By the time we made it home I was B-E-A-T, worn out, and wilted!

Obviously not wilted by the heat, this little guy was putting on quite a show!

On a sidenote, I'm two days away from completing the Couch to 5k program I started a few months ago. I cannot fathom the fact that I can now run for 25 minutes straight! It's incredible! Usually I have my BRF (best running friend) Mallory with me, but yesterday I was solo. It was daunting, but thankfully there was a pregnant woman on a treadmill at the UA rec center. You may wonder why that is significant. Let me tell you...I wanted to stop. I wanted to quit running. I didn't think I could make it for 25 minutes all alone. See, Mallory is about 10 years younger than me and she's my motivation. I make myself keep pace with her. Anyway, I didn't have her yesterday and I was scared I'd couldn't hang. Enter aforementioned pregnant lady on treadmill. I saw her and I knew I had to run as long as the pregnant lady. Y'all, I will not be outdone by a pregnant lady (nevermind I don't know this lady and she could be a marathoner for all I know)! So I ran and ran and ran and after a while I noticed she wasn't on the treadmill anymore and I was at about 20 minutes. So, thank you unknown pregnant lady for being my motivation! Without you I may not have made my current record.

All in all, it was a sweaty, runny, happy day! I hope your summer is shaping up to be that way, too!

Much Love,
J 

Power of Pink

Friday night the girls and I had the opportunity to attend a really awesome event, UA's Power of Pink gymnastics meet. Back in 2004 gymnastics coach Sarah Patterson wanted to find a way to help under-served West Alabama women receive breast cancer screenings and treatment. The Power of Pink match was born and has since spread across campus and throughout the entire SEC. Now the UA women's athletic teams each have one "pink" event each season, but the gymnastics meet is the biggest. We joined 15,075 of our closest friends at Coleman Coliseum Friday night and cheered on cancer survivors and the Tide lady gymnasts. It was a pink-filled night of fun (and maybe a few tears). AWESOME! Evie said it was the best girls' night out EVER! I agree.

Coleman Coliseum all "pinked out."

Best girls' night out, ever!

PS Sorry for the photo orientation! I've tried to fix them but to no avail. If you have any hints let me know.

Much Love, J

Winter?

Y'all just don't know how thrilled I am by this mild winter we're having! Really, I haven't heard anyone complaining. Face it, we live in Alabama. Generally, we don't get, need, or want snow. We like it hot. I won't even get into the swimming pool until the water is in the high seventies and the air outside is in the mid-ninties. Seriously!

Yesterday was really nice and we had a little time after school, so we headed to campus, got a smoothie, and took a little stroll. Just look!

Hangin' with Coach Saban outside the stadium

And with the Bear

Holdyn had to have his own picture.

After last spring's awful storms, I'm choosing to view this winter as a gift and blessing! Extra days of warmth and sunshine to boost my very soul. This is a winter I can handle!

Much Love, J 

Blueberry Picking

We made a trip to a local blueberry farm today and did a little picking.  I tried to get us there early but by 9am it was already close to 95degrees out.  The place was beautiful and the bushes were loaded!  We picked 5 quarts in just under an hour. 

Since the farm is only open on Fridays and Saturdays I plan to get out there at least once more this summer.  The kids loved it but started to flag near the end.  In an effort to push them on to full our bucket I suggested we sing while we picked.

We only had to sing a couple verses of "Found a Peanut" and "She'll be Comin' Round the Mountain" before we had the bucket filled and were ready to go home.  Of course, our renditions had blueberry picking appropriate lyrics -- "Found a blueberry" and "She'll be pickin blueberries when she comes." 

Apparently we had an audience to our performance because as soon as I told the kids we could pack up a lady picking across from us, whom I didn't see before I suggested singing, said she'd enjoyed our entertainment and was sorry we were leaving. Maybe the farm should hire us and pay us in blueberries?! ;)

Hope you're having a sweet summer!

Much Love,

-J

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2010 is here - can you believe it? This holiday season was a whirlwind of fun, food, and family. We loved every minute of it! In addition to Christmas and New Year's K and I celebrated our 10th anniversary on 12/30. We enjoyed a quick get-away to Gatlinburg, TN and spent New Year's Eve and Day in the beautiful Smoky Mountains. The kids got to stay with the grandparents and were treated to a roadtrip to Chatanooga with Aunt Lacy and Uncle David. BIG thanks to those two brave souls! ;)

As we headed back to Bama from TN we were able to stop by and visit with K's brother and his family - the Knoxville Vaughns. We don't get to spend enough time with the Vaughn families and we miss them dearly!

Everyone had a great time on their respective trips and we're glad to be back home on "the farm" getting ready to head back to school and work next week.

I'll start my "Clinical Field Experience" aka student-teaching on Monday and the kids head back to school on Wednesday. Thankfully, I will be spending my semester at Ragland High so we can all go to school together until late April. I'm so grateful that things worked out that way!!

We hope that 2010 is full of blessings and happiness for all of our friends and family!

Much Love,
the Country Vaughns

Kindergarten Field Trip

This is Noccalula Falls in Gadsden, AL. The Evie and Kallie had their very first field trip there yesterday. It was a beautiful day and I came along for the fun.

These two girls were so excited to go on their first field trip. They rode the bus, had lunch from Jack's, and Evie took her own camera to take pictures, too! Those will be in a later post.

There were beautiful gardens. Even some with not-so-real flowers. The whole park is full of dappled shade and cool paths to walk on. There's a train that will take you through the entire area if you don't want to walk. We mostly walked and explored the rocky gorges, sandy paths, and pioneer village.

We visited the animal habitat and saw deer, sheep, goats, horses, chickens, rabbits, guinea pigs and even...

A lioness! I couldn't believe there was a female lion in Gadsden, AL! Apparently, she's been at the park since she was a cub. She was enjoying a nice sunbathe on Friday.

We had a great time! I'm so glad the girlies wanted me to come with them. It was a long, fun day. I can't wait for the summer and all the fun we'll have then!