Zaza and Big Grandpa's House

After visiting with Amber, Dennis, Noah and Landin, we went to church with them on Sunday night and then drove down to Zaza and Grandpa's house. We had a great time and had a lot of adventures. The first thing we did was cut the big kids' hair- Julia now has a precious summer bob and I love it! One day we spent at the mall with rides and a carousel-





Sissy's favorite thing: a horse, Tucker's favorite thing: a train- it's meant to be!



One night we went to an old barn of a man who collects vintage memorabilia and saw the neatest stuff including this bear that was given to Zaza once and was in her yard for a few weeks.



It wouldn't be a trip to Grandpa's without running by the shooting range. Daddy and Grandpa took Marky and he had a blast. They also watched a lot of "Top Shot" back at the house.





One day we went to a national landmark, Bok Tower and Gardens. It's a beautiful carillon (a tower with bells inside) and it used to be called "The Singing Tower". It was a big attraction and was dedicated by President Calvin Coolidge. We spent the entire afternoon there and had a ball.

Here's the family with the tower behind us-



The whole place was so peaceful and inspiring. The man who built it was inspired by his grandmother who said, "Make you the world better or more beautiful because you have lived in it." The bells play every 1/2 hour and play classical pieces as well as hymns- when we were there it played "How Great Thou Art". There is a golden door on the tower with the 6 days of creation displayed. Not your usual "national monument" is it?



They had "etching posts" all through the gardens where the big kids did copies of tile engravings-



This shows how big the biggest bell in the tower is-



Tucker at the spot with the best view- this tower is built on the highest point of land in the whole Florida peninsula- you can see FOREVER-



Reading their maps and taking a rest (we walked a long way)



Feeding the giant fish!







Brothers taking a rest-



A super-fun trip. So much fun we added an extra day at the last minute. But then it was time to go- so it was hugs goodbye and we were on our way.