The Wedding Weekend

Erin and Luke got hitched last weekend. Welcome to the family, Luke! The wedding was beautiful and we got to see lots of family and friends. I've got a few pics of Erin and Luke, but mostly pics of the kids to share. The kids story was pretty entertaining.

We started off the weekend tubing down the Itchetucknee. Alli and Mom talked us out of taking the kids. Probably a good idea. John and I shared a raft with a bottom and he spent most of it like this.


At wedding "practice," we decided Will and Kaity really couldn't walk down the aisle together. Will kept trying to give her directions and finally she stopped and said "STOP TELLING ME WHAT TO DO!" Pretty safe bet they should walk separately. She then continued to receive directions from mommy, grandma, erin and everyone in between. The last direction was from the officiant. He told her to throw the flowers in front of her instead of to the side. She gave the nastiest look I've ever seen her give an adult. This is a picture of the end of that practice walk down the aisle. You can see how happy she is.


Erin stayed at the Herlong Mansion in Micanopy. She got her hair done at my friend's house down the street and then had some of her bridal pictures taken there.


We all also got our hair done including Kaity. She actually had hers done three times. We were the first to Sonya's house and she started right away on Kaity. Of course, it didn't hold. We had to redo it and then she got to sit for awhile while everyone else got theirs done. And, she fell asleep on the couch. So after I rushed her down to get pictures. We came back and had her hair redone. This one held.

Earlier in the week, she had also told us that on Saturday no one was to call her Kaitlyn. Her name would be Sleeping Beauty all day because of her princess dress. She stuck to her guns on this one and we did call her that some of the day. Sonya also told her that it was her princess day as well as Erin's while she was getting her hair done. And, the photographer, Dawn, had her use princess smiles to get pictures. It worked.


Kanapaha has a pretty awesome maze that Will spent the better part of 30 minutes running around in. He looks pretty sharp in his outfit, but a little hot.


Will also loves to dance which he showed to everyone at the reception. He danced for about three hours straight. He told Alli and Scot that he thinks dancing might be "his thing." He learned all his moves by watching So You Think You Can Dance with me, or at least that's what he told people. After watching Grandpa do his fancy dancing, he tried to get Kaity to do all kinds of spins and stuff with him also. It was pretty funny.




Here he is doing his Egyptian move. That was his signature move of the night.


Kaity got into the strawberries and chocolate fountain about 10 pm. There was some definite double dipping go on and some wearage happening on the dress. Anyone got ideas on how to get chocolate out of a flower girl's dress?


John finally got me to dance with him.


Will danced with everyone including Grandma several times.


Dad and I watching the crazy people (Will and Grandma).


The bride and groom cutting the cake.


Congratulations Erin and Luke!

It's no mustang with flames, but I still like it

Will is convinced that Uncle Scot needs a black mustang with flames on the sides to get a girlfriend. Will is wise beyond his years cause that just might work for Scot. But, we did get a new-to-us vehicle today - a 2005 Ford Escape! It drives really nice and has a great turning radius. We traded the Mercury in and got a total of $400 for it. I'm glad we didn't wait to much longer. We might not have driven the Mercury to be traded in then. We timed it just right for us also. Our first payment for this one is due in October and the truck is paid off in September.



New cars are so much fun!

What I Do at My Job

Well, this isn't all I do, but during a shoot I do a lot of this. My job during a video shoot is to stay out of the way, not touch the equipment, make sure we have all the props we need, guest speakers understand what we're doing, and to keep everyone hydrated. So, basically I'm the water girl.

I do more than that, but not so much on the shoot. For several weeks before our week long shoots, I set up locations, guest speakers, props, and try to coordinate a multitude of people's schedules. There's been several times in the last year that I thought TV would be the death of me.


Walter Reeves, our host, and Steven Arthurs, UF entomologist, releasing lady beetles.

When we're not shooting, I'm dealing with stations, printed materials, web sites, etc. Oh, and I also handle a weekday radio show and lots of written material for our Web sites. So, I guess I'm more than water girl.


Gopher tortoises are protected in Florida. Charles Fedunak is showing Walter his tortoises that the Extension office keeps for educational purposes and discussing all the habitat benefits their burrows provide.

From day-to-day, I never know what my job will bring. But, I do love working at the university and interacting with Extension agents.

Kerry Herndon is one of the largest orchid growers in the world. He's showing Walter how orchid breeding happens. This was one of the prettiest locations we've ever shot at.

And, I learn a lot of plants. Not that I can implement ANYTHING that I learn. But, I could tell you what you need to do!

Jon's Nursery was HUGE! It has almost 200 acres in woody ornamental production. They showed Walter how camellias go from propagation to the market.

I love my job and the people I work with. It doesn't get better than that.

G-rated Fourth of July

This year was a blur of activity for us for Independence Day. It was very kid-oriented and a whole lot of fun. We started the day off by getting the 4-H float ready for the Micanopy parade. We all rode the float (I ride because Kaity rides and I'm afraid she'll fall off.) The kids threw 30 lbs of candy out and rode the three blocks of the parade. We had some good friends from Gville come watch us and sit with John (he didn't want to ride the float).

Here are Will and Danny riding the float - the newest Micanopy 4-H members and possibly the only male members.


The tag-a-long member, Kaity, had a blast and mostly rode with Tiffany who will be a senior this year.


After the parade, we headed out to the 4-H leader's house for a potluck and swimming. Again, Will and Danny were the only boys. And, again, Kaity stuck with Tiffany. But, Tiffany did get her in the pool and swimming a little bit.

We headed home for a little bit in the middle of the afternoon and took naps and then headed out again about 6 pm. Will's best friend, Chance, lives in a grand old house in downtown Micanopy. We headed there with half the town and did more swimming, eating, and partying. About 8:30, we ALL headed out to the ball field to watch the fireworks. They were really good this year. And, really close. Gainesville cancelled theirs so I think we had a lot of people come out and enjoy our small town festivities. They had a free bounce house and hay ride for the kids, but of course, we got there too late for that. All total, I think we were keeping track of about 15-18 kids. It was chaos.







After the town fireworks, it was back to Chance's house for more fireworks of our own doing. One of Chance's uncles brought a whole trunk full of firecrackers/fireworks. We set them off in the middle of downtown Micanopy in the midst of all the antique shops. But, considering Chance's dad is mayor pro temp, it was probably okay. We finally ended up leaving about 11 pm and they weren't even halfway through all their fireworks yet. And, as far as I know, no one got hurt. Overall, it was a great Fourth. My new favorite non-wintery holiday.