oh say can you see

happy birthday america!

teaching u.s. history and civics definitely gave me a better appreciation for this country by learning more about our formation and what it means for us now.

here is a little clip i like that i used with my students. it tells the story behind the star spangled banner.

the star spangled banner like you've never heard it

we spent the fourth of july in jacksonville with not only bill & katie & co., but also brett's dad and stepmom came down from tennessee!

we spent the first day in st. augustine at the lighthouse, eating at osteen's (which is well worth the wait), and riding around downtown.

there's brett and emme playing in front of the lighthouse keeper's house. pretty cool lookin.

are you strong enough to carry the fuel all the way to the light at the top? i'd definitely fail, or it would just take me hours.

it was a good view from the top, brett could see a couple catamaran's he wanted from up there. we're lookin nice and touristy with our virtual tour guides around our necks.

cool lighting heading out to the hot day. i need to photoshop those ladies out though.

happy fourth of july at church! that little emme is too cute.

after church we had some awesome turkey burgers katie made that had apples in them with mango/pear chutney on top instead of ketchup. we're so classy. this burger's one of oprah's favorite things.

hit it up here... you won't regret it.

that night we caught the fireworks over the river. we had v.i.p. seating on the cruiseship deck

(a.k.a. bill's company).

our trip wasn't all fun and games though. while we played at the pool, bill put the guys to work putting in new windows in the sun room. they'll have all their renovations done in no time at the rate bill's going.

teaching newdog her sweet dance moves. emme's gonna be a dancer one day, she's got some tricks up her sleeves, or wings i guess since she likes to dance like a rooster.

where's uncle brett?

peek-a-boo!

i realized this blog post is just a bunch of emme and brett pictures, but they're just so stinkin cute i'm always reaching for my camera. this picture is my favorite since brett's actually smiling a real smile. we were walking around st. john's town center and you can see emme had a little too much fun with the fountain.

this weekend was a blast, i want more long weekends.

you know what else was a blast? brett's birthday... but i'll save that for another post.