The Group Shot

Before my trip to Kansas I had the brilliant idea of getting the grandkids together (in coordinated outfits) for a group picture. I knew it was going to be difficult. (Nice weather, everyone in a good mood, getting them all to look at the camera and smile at the same time.) But I thought I was up to the challenge. I took over 100 pictures and not one of them was a good one. Oh they are entertaining to look at but there isn't that "WOW" picture I was hoping for. As I was taking the pictures I happened to look back and see Jason video taping the entire thing. But, that will have to wait for another post. I deleted some of the pictures just so y'all would have to look at every single one but there are still at least 90. I decided to put them in a slideshow to make it easy. Enjoy....

Dad Life - This is hilarious!!!

Our big 1st Grader!!!

We have been waiting all summer to find out which teacher Zachary would get for first grade. I wasn't all that stressed out because pretty much all of the 5 teachers are good. The only reason why I was a little nervous is because Zachary had his heart set on getting Mrs. Williams. I think that was because this is who his cousin, Hutson, had last year. (And from what I hear most people want their child to get Mrs. Williams.) Finally the day came and sure enough he got her!! He even got some of his buddies in his class. Last Tuesday, the day before school was to start, we had to go drop off the class supplies we were supposed to bring. Here is Big Z with Mrs. Williams. He ran into the room and gave her a big hug. Jason and I talked with her a bit and she seems like a very sweet woman. We are so excited for this school year! He is going to be learning so much.Here he is outside of the house before his first day.I took one of him in front of the school sign last year. I am hoping to get one of him every year but I'm a little worried he's going to end up telling me, "no way! I'm not taking a cheesy picture in front of that sign!" I was going to walk him to his classroom like I did last year and as soon as we got into the building he said, "I can walk to my class by myself mom." It's already starting. Sigh.

The Black Sharpie strikes again.....

Over the years I have heard stories of kids getting a hold of a sharpie marker and doing destructive things with it. Mine are under lock and key. One little girl wrote on the wall behind her parents curtains (at least it was behind the curtains!). A few other stories were of kids writing on themselves. My nephew, Cooper, has become the latest victim of the "irresistible sharpie." Angie said he came out saying he wanted to look like a "Football Guy." He was a little sad when he found out that sharpie markers are usually permanent. You can't see it but there was some yellow highlighter on his face too. Luckily it washed right off. What a funny little guy he is though....

Just as sweet as they can be......

I had to post this picture of my precious niece & nephew.....Sophie & Will. Aren't they just precious in their matching outfits! Too cute!

Disney World 2010 - Day 4

It's probably going to take me a year to get all of the days posted for Disney World. But I'm enjoying going back and looking at the pictures after a few months. We had such a good time. I can't wait to go back. On Day 4 we went to the Animal Kingdom. We walked around the park a little bit and decided to eat early to avoid the crowd. We ate at the Rainforest Cafe which is always fun. I wish we'd get one down here. Here are Zach & Addie outside the restaurant after we finished.

We walked over to the ride Everest since Zachary was able to ride it this time around. Neither Jason nor I had been on it either. Here is a picture of it from far away. Zach was so excited to ride on it! Going up, up, up! and down, down, down!

Zachary and I went on it together while Jason and Addie hung out and walked around the Everest store. Here is Big Z waiting in line. Zachary, Addison and I got our daily Icee while Jason went on the ride. After that we went over to Dinoland where they had a few rides that Addie could go on. Here she is waiting for the Dinosaur ride.

Poor thing didn't get to go on very exciting rides. I know she would have loved the bigger, faster rides. We'll have to wait to go back till she's taller.

Next, Jason and Zachary left to go on the river raft ride so Addie and I stayed in Dinoland and she played in the "toddler area" that had a bunch of slides and things to play on. She actually enjoyed it quite a bit. It was super hot but they had some water streaming down some rocks so that cooled her off. There was this little door that I guess the employees use. It was locked but a ton of kids kept trying to open it. I think they thought it lead some where neat. Addie was fascinated by it. She kept trying to get kids to open it with her.

We walked around for a bit and Zachary decided that he wanted to get his face painted. He chose some Warrior something or other.

Of course you are suppose to hold your face still. It is very hard for Zachary not to talk. :)

His face when he saw it.

As you can tell he was very excited about it.

As it turns out he DID like his face painted. Guess it just took a little while to sink in. Here is a slideshow of all of the pictures I took of him...

The last time we came to Disney World, Zachary's favorite thing to do was meet the characters. He still loved doing it this time around and Addie loved it too. The Animal Kingdom has a special spot where they have four characters right in a row. Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, and Donald. This time we lucked out because we got there right before they closed it down. There was maybe like one child in front of us at each character. Here is Zachary showing Mickey his face painting. Mickey gave him the thumbs up!

For some reason when she was leaving, Addie wanted to squeeze Mickey's nose.
Minnie

Goofy

Donald

Here is the fake tree where they show the Bug's Life "movie" inside. I tried taking the kids into it when we first got there but they weren't in the mood to wait.

Hopefully it won't take me as long to get Day 5 posted. Stay tuned.....

Kelly is Amazing!!

While we were in Kansas my good friend, Kelly, took pictures of our family. Kelly became a professional photographer about four years ago. She is simply amazing. I am constantly blown away when looking at her pictures. Hopefully one day I will convince her to come down to Gulfport for a vacation and while she is here take pictures of us on the beach. Probably a good idea to wait until the oil mess has been cleaned up though. I wanted to share our slide show with you. It's only good until July 8th so be sure to check it out. Thank you Gilpin, I absolutely love the pictures!!!

http://www.kellyholderphotography.com/rollinsfamily/

Kansas Trip - Summer 2010

A couple of weeks ago I took the kids on our annual trip to Kansas. We normally go back in June so we can go to the River Festival. This year was no exception. It was also the weekend of my 20 year reunion (can't believe I've been out of high school that long). I was especially excited because two of my sisters (Tracy & Angie) were going to be there with their kids. Zachary, Addison and I flew to Kansas City on a Friday and stayed with Angie, Barry, Cooper and Carson for the weekend. They just moved into this great new house and we had a lot of fun. We went to the neighborhood swimming pool a couple of times and had some of my friends who live in KC stop by throughout the weekend. It was so great seeing everyone. I miss my Kansas friends so much. On Monday, the kids and I drove to Salina. We were all very happy to see my parents. We had a few days before everyone else was supposed to arrive. During that time we went to the Salina Public Library (they have such a great children's area), the new water park and to see my grandmother. Tracy and her boys got to Salina very late Wed. night and Angie and her kids got there on Thursday afternoon. We spent over three hours at the swimming pool that day. I got to see some of my good friends (who were back for the festival as well) and their kids. I wish we had a swimming pool like that here in Gulfport. it has a really big water slide that both Addie & Zach LOVED going down. The kids had so much fun playing together. Thursday night Jason flew into KC and Barry picked him up and brought him to Salina. On Friday, my good friend Kelly took our family picture (just me, Jason and the two kids). I can't wait to see how they turned out. Later that morning we went over to the River Festival. It was super hot but my dad found a shady spot underneath a big tree where we were able to hang out and cool off. It was right next to the Lego tables where the kids had a blast making stuff. That night Jason and I went to dinner with friends at my favorite pizza place, The Scheme. Afterwards we met some of my classmates at a bar for an informal gathering. Saturday we went back to the festival for a bit. Sat. night we went to my 20 year reunion at one of the local restaurants. My friends Kim & Charla organized the whole thing. Kim did such a fantastic job. It was a lot of fun. Most everyone looked the same and have aged very well. On Sunday, Tracy's husband, Jeff, flew in so for a few hours we were all there. It was quite a house full but it was so much fun. We wanted to get a group shot of all of the kids together. It was pretty funny trying to get them all to look at the camera at the same time. Poor little Carson wasn't particularly in the mood for a photo shoot. I never did get that one great shot but I did get a lot of funny ones! I am going to save those picture for a post all its own. It was so great seeing my aunts and uncles and niece and nephews and even a few cousins while I was home. It was especially good to see my parents and my sisters and my grandmother whom I miss so much. I wish I could see my family and friends more often. If anyone wants to come down and visit us you are welcome any time! here are a few pictures from our trip.....

Memorial Day Weekend 2010

We had a great time at the beach this weekend. It did, however, smell like oil for a few days. The wind must have changed (either that or I got used to it) because I didn't smell it yesterday or today. We did a lot of fun things....the guys went fishing, we took the kids to Sand Island, went swimming by the pier, played some board games, watched a bad movie (okay maybe that wasn't so much fun - Legion - don't bother renting it), and played washers (which I love to play!!). Here are a few moments from this weekend.

Just a weekend at the bay.....

This past weekend we went to the bay Friday evening. It was a short weekend (we had to be back for a birthday party at 2 on Sunday) but a fun one. Great weather! Here are the girls playing outside in the sand.

Addie being super silly.
Jason pulling the kids in the boat.

The girls eating popcicles.

Addie fishing.

Zachary and Will....

Will is at a fun age and he is such a happy happy baby. I had fun taking pictures of him Saturday morning.

We are planning on going back this weekend for the holiday weekend. Hopefully I can get some more good shots of the kids!!

Zachary's Kindergarten Graduation

This morning our sweet little boy "Graduated" from Kindergarten. Zachary was so cute today. He looked so happy and we are so proud of him. He is such a sweet and happy child. He loves going to school and playing with friends and learning. They actually didn't call this a graduation rather an "Award Program." Each child was awarded a certificate for being the most "whatever." Zachary received a certificate for being an "Outstanding Leader." I remember a year ago when Z attended the Kindergarten Rounded Up (the preschoolers come visit the school) and he gathered the kids around him in a huddle and said, 'Okay this is what's going to happen.' The Assistant Principal was right next to him when he did this and Mr. Allen laughed and said, "Now there is the next Mayor of Gulfport." Here is our big boy walking in.....

Here is Zachary getting his certificate.

Almost a First Grader!
One of the girls in his class, Ella, wanted her mother to take a picture of she and Zachary. She is so much taller than him!

Here is Zach with Mrs. Papania (the teacher's assistant) and Ms. Lindsey (his teacher). They were wonderful teachers. I know Zachary is going to miss them.

Addie's Toes

Addison finally let me paint her toenails! I've asked her a number of times but she was never interested. Yesterday she saw that Sophie's toenails were painted so I'm sure that is why she was up for it this morning. (I was painting mine and she said she wanted hers done too.) After I took these pictures she asked to have her finger nails painted. I wanted to take a picture of that but she declined. :) Our little girl is growing up quickly so I wanted to document this special morning!

Disney World - Day 3

On our third day in Disney World we went to Epcot. When we first got there we ran right into Daisy Duck.

After taking pics with Daisy we headed over to get a fast pass for the Test Track. While we were over there Jason and Zachary got in line for Mission Space. This is a ride that makes you feel like you are actually going up into space. It spins you around so fast that you feel the G-Force. There is a huge screen in front of you that makes it look like you are flying into space. Meanwhile the pilot is telling you to push this button or that. Zachary wasn't able to ride it last time we were there so he was very excited to be tall enough this time. Addie and I sat on a park bench and just hung out while the boys went to outer space. Once that was over we headed over to the Finding Nemo ride which is one of the only rides Addie could go on. It's not very exciting but oh well. She and Daddy checked out the sea life in the aquariums while Zach and I used our Test Track passes. After that we ate lunch and then got in line to meet a bunch of characters. It sure is hard to get both kids to look at the camera at the same time and both smile!!
We pretty much headed back to the hotel after this so the kids could swim. I'm not sure why I didn't take very many pictures that day. Stay tuned for our fourth day in Disney World. We went to.....The Animal Kingdom!