Splashin' Fun After 5th Grade Ceremony

After 5th Grade Ceremony we went to Claydough's Pizza for lunch and then headed to Downtown Chattanooga. We parked our car near the historical Walnut Street Bridge (Walking Bridge) and walked across to the Coolidge Park area. Avery played in the fountains for a little while and then we walked back over the bridge......Got a shaved ice along the way!

You can view the Scenic City and Market Street Bridge from one of the photos that we took of Avery while walking toward Coolidge Park. Also, you can see this historical Delta Queen Riverboat. It will remain docked on the riverfront for lodging and dining purposes for the City of Chattanooga.
I made a mini scrapbook of Avery's Day at Coolidge Park. All you have to do is click on the smilebox link. If you would like to see the pictures in the scrapbook at a closer view, you will need to click on the individual picture and then click it again to reduce the picture back to regular size. Please enjoy!

Make a Smilebox scrap pages

Avery in Talent Show and 5th Grade Ceremony

We tried to capture some pictures of Avery in the talent show, but the gym was so crowded and we couldn't even move around. Then we were determined to get some good pictures at her 5th grade Ceremony, but all of them turned out dark. I don't know if it was the lighting in the gym or camera problems. However, we got a picture with her teacher. We would have taken a few with her friends afterwards, but when the ceremony was over, we went to Avery's classroom to get her report card and the teacher did not have it. Her teacher said that apparently Avery had a $2.50 balance of lunch charges and that we had to go to the library to settle the account. That's funny, because the other day when I ate lunch with her, I paid the balance in full. It would appear that Avery apparently didn't like a few lunches that I packed for her the last week of school and charged her some extra goodies. Joe was upset, of course. Well, back to the story.....We fought the crowd to get to the library and they told us that they did not have her report card and we needed to go to the cafeteria. We fought the crowd again to the opposite side of the school and paid the fee, but they did not have her report card. We finally found it in the school office and by that time, we were ready to get out of there! We then headed to Claydough's Pizza to celebrate. That made Joe a happier camper!

Graysville Elementary Field Day

Avery participated in Field Day at GES on Friday, May 15, 2009. Joe and I arrived to snap a few pictures right when her class was participating in "water" games.

Avery will be participating in a talent show on Friday, May 22, 2009. Also, she will be participating in 5th grade Ceremony on Friday, May 29, 2009. I will be adding the rest of her Field Day pictures to a slide show along with other "End of the Year" school events. Stay tuned for updates!

First Camping Trip of the Year- 2009

It is officially camping time at Skull Island near Harrison Bay/Harrison, TN. The area is part of the Tennessee River and TVA. The area opened up for campers the first weekend of April. It really wasn't the best weekend that we could have picked because it poured down rain almost the whole time! We got to spend all day Friday, 5/1/09, and then we decided on Saturday morning to pack up and go home because the weather forecast was calling for more rain.

This was Avery's first trip camping and she actually did better "roughing it" outdoors than we predicted. She wanted to hang out near the beach area, but it was too cold.

Please enjoy the SmileBox presentation of our camping trip. Please pause the music player on upper right side of blog in order to get presentation sound effects. Allow the sound effects and introduction to play and then the slideshow will start on it's own. If you click the "next" button before slideshow starts, you will miss the caption/editing of the pics. Thanks and ENJOY!

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Easter in the Park

Joe and I decided to spend Easter in a non-traditional way. We decided to attend an Easter in the Park at Camp Jordan Arena, East Ridge, TN. It is actually about 5 minutes from our house. We packed up our camping chairs and a blanket and found a nice spot on the lawn to kick back and relax. The service began with praise and worship music and a dramatic skit performed by Hamilton Life Church in Chattanooga, TN. Then the pastor of the church preached while an artist painted on canvas beside him. The picture was painted in pastel colors and it looked like an Easter Egg or something. When the sermon was finished, the artist peeled off some of the paint revealing Jesus at the tomb. I guess it was some kind of special paint that could be peeled off like that, but whatever it was, the end result was cool.

After the service, the children hunted for Easter eggs laid out in the soccer fields at Camp Jordan. After that was over with, we headed over to my parent's house. My brother Jason and family came and we got to eat lunch as a family and the children hunted for Easter eggs later that afternoon.

Sadie's Departure to The White House

Today Sadie departed our house and was delivered to her new home, The White House in Villa Rica, GA. Joe's sister, Julie and family adopted her and we know that she is going to a loving home. Sadie will be loved by her new master's John and Julie and the little master's Tyler, Jake, and Luke. We love you Sadie and we will see you when we come visit the family. Goodbye and enjoy your life in the White House.

Playing Catch-Up

I have just downloaded pictures to PC from digital camera taken back in August 2008 to December 2008.
This slide show begans with Avery's first day of 5th Grade (August 2008). Joe was determined to take her picture, but she had a little bit of an attitude problem that morning. After a few weeks of school, we let her skip 4 days and go to the beach. We probably should not have done that, but it was fun and you only live once. We went to Orange Beach, Alabama with Joe's parent's, Tom and Linda, and his sister Amy and family.
Avery had a small Halloween party with a few friends. You will see her bobbing for apple's in the slide show. There is another blog entry below that shows her dressed up for Halloween.
Avery cheers for Graysville Elementary School. The cheerleaders rode on an old fire truck during the Ringgold, GA High School 2008 Homecoming parade. Avery is also a Renaissance Student at Graysville Elementary. The Renaissance program is a nationwide program to motivate and encourage students and staff by rewarding academic excellence each 9 weeks. The GES cheerleaders perform at each Renaissance ceremony.