Willie & Si

A couple of months ago I heard that Willie and Si from Duck Dynasty would be speaking in our area this month.  Duck Dynasty is Darren's favorite show and his birthday is March 14th.  I knew this would be the perfect present for him.

They talked about the show and shared some things about the family/employees we didn't know.  Did you know Willie (and, if I understood correctly, the other brothers) went to seminary?  Willie shared a funny story about a fight he and Jase had over the oven when they were teenagers.  Willie also talked about how smart Martin is...like incredibly, super smart.  Si talked about how he can't go anywhere without being recognized. He also told the whole story about his shoes catching on fire from running so far/fast...which he admitted he had exaggerated just a little.  :)

Si ended the evening with the very best story.  He shared the gospel of Jesus Christ and His great love for us.  "God made him (Jesus) who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." 2 Corinthians 5:21.

The Coast

My niece, Ashlyn, is a freshman at the University of South Alabama in Mobile. My mom, sister, Nate and I visited her last week.  We started the trip off right with a yummy dinner from the Original Oyster House.

The next morning, we headed over to Mississippi to the Gulf Coast Gator Ranch.  If you watch Gator Boys, you've probably seen the gator ranch featured on the show. 

 We are just about to take off for an air boat swamp tour. 



The tour was a good mixture of alligator education and fun.  The boat ride got pretty wild at times.  Not scary wild, fun wild.
 

We saw a couple of alligators. Did you know that only 1% of baby alligators survive to become adults?  I am a nerd and I loved learning alligator facts.

We got to hold a baby alligator! 

It was surprisingly soft and smooth.

On the walking tour, we saw a bunch of big alligators in their natural environment.  It was a cool day and they were moving around a good bit, which was really fun.  At the zoo, the one alligator is always just laying there doing nothing. 

This guy was the biggest.  The picture does not do his massive body justice.  I wonder what happened to his claw?

The walking path is over the alligator habitat and there were a lot of alligators swimming around and under us.  This is the nose of a pretty big gator that swam right under us.

After the gator ranch, we headed for Dauphin Island.  On the way, we went through Bayou LaBatre and saw lots of shrimp boats. 

Unfortunately, it was not ideal beach weather.  It was extremely windy and even rained a little bit, but rain or shine, we love the beach.

We sure do love this girl.  She is a great niece and a super cousin to Nate.  Just today, Nate was talking about how much he loves Ashlyn.

Nate had to put his feet in the water.  I tried to talk him out of it but he insisted.  I can't blame him. :)

Of course the sun came out as we were leaving the beach.  

Our last stop of the day was the Dauphin Island Sea Lab.  I wish I had more pictures.  It was really neat and we almost had the entire place to ourselves.  It was nice to look at things as long as we wanted and not be rushed. 



It was a great trip.  Nate and I always enjoy spending time with Ashlyn.  Going to her dorm brought back so many memories of my freshman year of college, which was 18 years ago!!! How is that possible?

More Eggs :)

Tis the season for dyeing eggs and Nate is taking advantage of it!  He stayed with my parents a few hours this afternoon and he and my dad dyed more eggs.  Nate LOVES his Pops and they have so much fun together.  My dad is not the most patient person, but he is a great granddad and will happily do things with Nate like dye eggs...and even help Nate write names on them.  They even did one for our dog, Emmy.  (Please excuse the crazy grass.)

Nate loves dyeing eggs and doesn't want to throw them away. He doesn't understand why we can't keep boiled eggs forever. :)  Just throwing them away was not an option, so we had to get creative.  

He threw a few in the lake and then he decided to run over the rest with the golf cart.  This was his favorite.  I love little boys. :)

Art Show

Tuesday night was Nate's last preschool art show.  I cannot believe the end of the school year is only two months away. 

I don't know what these two are looking at. :)  Ava is one of Nate's favorite friends.   

Nate has the sweetest teacher this year.  He loves Mrs. Teresa. 

Dyeing Eggs

Ashlyn is home for spring break this week.  Nate has been asking to dye eggs for weeks.  I know it's a little early, but he and Ashlyn usually do this together so we thought this week would be perfect. 

I bought a dye roll kit to go with our traditional egg dye kit.  It comes with several small rollers, packets of dye/paint, and a paint tray.  Nate loved it.  It was a little messy and the dye is very sticky.  The dye dries quickly so you can roll several different colors without them bleeding into each other. 

Nate's Earth egg

Ashlyn's flower egg

Yellow Belt

Yay Nate!!!

Sweet Friends

Last week we were blessed to spend time with two friends from out of town.  On Wednesday we got to hang out with Jack and Allison.  Jacks' mom, Allison, and I went to high school together and have been friends for many years.  A few years ago she and her husband moved to Virginia.  Now we only see each other a couple of times a year. Jack has grown up so much and he and Nate had a great time together. 

Thursday we got to spend time with my friend Dee and her family.  We met Ryan and Dee at church and were in the same small group.  Dee and I bonded immediately because we were both pregnant and our due dates were just a couple of weeks apart.  About a year ago, Ryan was offered a new job in Texas.  We obviously hated to see them move so far away, but we knew it would be a great opportunity for their family.  These two cuties have been friends since birth.  They reconnected immediately and had a great time playing hide and seek and soccer.