Enjoying the Biloxi Beach

(I know this post is a little bit out of order, but that is what happens when you have pregnancy brain!)

September 7, 2014

We decided to take advantage of a beautiful fall day and check out the local beach.  It was my first time down there.  The beaches here are beautiful and we enjoy looking for hermit crabs.

This one was brave enough to peek out at us.

There are lots of birds a long the beach.

Eliza likes to scare them and watch them fly.

Dad, Nathan, Daniel and Bradley digging in the sand.

Nathan needed constant supervision to keep him out of the water!

The beaches are shallow here with a lot of sand bars.

We found several jelly fish up along the shore.

The gang checking one out.

One of our favorite things along the coast are the wood carvings.

A local artist carved them into trees that died during hurricane Katrina.  

He wanted to give something back to the community and add some beauty to the devastated coastline.

These are the ones that were close us on the beach.

This tree was officially declared dead, so the artist was allowed to carve it.

As you can see it has started growing again.

I love how symbolic the new growth is.

Cruisin' The Coast

October 2014

During the first week of October there is an amazing car show help in this area called Cruisin' the Coast.  There are thousands of car owners that come and camp out during that week.  They camp along the side of the road with their cars out on display, and cruise up and down the coast.  At any given time you can drive up and down high way 90, which follows the coast, and see old cars parked and driving.  It made the traffic in the area pretty busy and a little crazy during that week, but I loved it!  Every where I went I saw cars that reminded me of Grandpa.  All car enthusiasts need to plan a trip to Mississippi's gulf coast during the first week of October! 

These pictures aren't of the cars, but it was pretty cute to look in and see these to electronic junkies playing together. 

Now for the main event.  These next pictures were taken over the coarse of several days.  I couldn't get pictures of all the cars,  but these are some of our favorites that we did get.

This is Slap Ya Momma's BBQ.  This was a popular hang out for all the car owners.  It was always packed.  We haven't tried this place out...we are waiting for visitors to take there.  Any takers?

As we drove around to see the cars we stopped at this "pond" area.  It is a huge rectangle with cement on all the sides.  Back in the day all the casinos had to be over water, so this was the sight of the Treasure Bay hotel and casino.  After hurricane Katrina the government changed the rules to allow the casinos to be on land.  The Treasure Bay casino is now across the road and a block down the road from this "pond".  

These next pictures are taken from the bay side of the "pond".

You can see the Biloxi Coliseum in the background of this picture.

This light house marked the way into the "pond" went the casino was still over it.

We stopped at the beach next to the "pond" to look for hermit crabs and let the kids play in the sand.  

Andy is good at getting our ducks in a row!

Back to the cars!

This guy had a great set up.  I think Grandpa K. might need a smoking gun grill like this one.

Nathan was excited to see all the cars too.

This picture is courtesy of the Internet.  Although we didn't see them driving around we did see this awesome drivable Radio Flyer parked on the side of the road.  The sun had already gone down so the lighting wasn't good enough to get a picture, but we did see it in real life!  It is pretty amazing.

I am looking forward to next year when we can see all of these amazing cars again.  Start planning your visit today!

The Furious Four!

September 19, 2014

We have found several preying mantis in our yard.  The kids love to look at them, but they are a little bit nervous about holding them.  

Dad has no problem holding them. 

The furious four!

Mantis, Dad, Eliza and Nathan

There is no charge for their awesomeness. :0)

Mantis had to inspect Dad to make sure he was kung-fu ready.

At this point things started to get a little bit silly.

If you are wondering what it feels like to have a preying mantis climb your neck...

it tickles!

This is about as close as Eliza wanted to get to mantis.

When we were done playing with mantis we turned him loose on one of our plants.

We found another visitor on the hibiscus by the front door.

Can you see him?

Can you see him now!?

This little lizard liked to hang out on this plant.  We have seen him several times.  Once or twice he startled me while I was watering.  We enjoy looking for him.

I have two varieties of hibiscus floors.  The pink ones above and these yellow ones with the red centers.  They are gorgeous when they bloom.  I love living in an area that they grow so well!

This next picture doesn't really have anything to do with the pictures above, but I thought it should be documented.

While Daniel was suppose to be changing he got a little rowdy. 

He jumped on his bed and broke the side rail. 

The braking point was at the sight of a knot, and where two braces came together.

Daniel was devastated that he broke his bed.  As we looked at it over it became apparent that there was a structural failure that contributed to the brake.  Andy was able to glue it and add another brace to fortify the side rail.  Daniel is able to use it without any problems now.  He is now a lot more careful about jumping on his bed. :0)