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Vineyard Chats is a blog created by the owner of Vineyard Farms and Vineyard Real Estate Group. Here, you will find product reviews for local and international items, and ways to give in your community and across the globe!

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Blogging comes with a price tag…

Many of you have asked me how I have time to blog, facebook, tweet, etc.  Well, I just make the time, because it’s therapy for me!

But, I do pay for the time I spend at the computer…

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The Boondocks

We had a great Memorial Day weekend in the “boondocks” with MeMe and PawPaw!!

We spent most of it camping on MeMe and PawPaw’s land in Dickson, TN!  Mom, Dad, Alex and the dogs “roughed it” way more than the rest of us- they slept in a tent, while Dan, the girls and I slept in Mom and Dad’s RV! 

The land is gorgeous, with crops, a tree stand, lots of open space, and so much to do!  The creek feeding into the river is my very favorite part!  I love to dig for amazing rocks there (there are PLENTY of amazing rocks, and I will post pictures of them below!).

The drive is always interesting when all 6 of us, plus 2 dogs are packed inside!  Here is Stoney begging to be held, and Mosby battling for space against Ashi’s foot…

StoneyRide footOnMosby

These are pictures from when we first got there…

They have crops planted on one part of the land-

Crops

Dad has a tree stand (there are turkeys, deer, pheasants…)

TreeStand

Here are Dan and Ashi pitching the tent

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And Mom and Dad’s RV

RV

Mom and Dad’s Tent

Tent

The dogs trying to rub Atlanta off in the grass…AshiandDogs

I love the scenery here.  It reminds me of some of my favorite Bible verses:

The LORD is my Shepherd; I shall not want.  He maketh me to lie down in green pastures…

Green Pastures

He leadeth me beside still waters…

Still Waters

He restoreth my soul.  He guideth me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.  Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for Thou art with me.  Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.

FLowers2

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies; Thou has anointed my head with oil; My cup runneth over.

Skies

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord FOREVER. 

Psalm 23: 1-6

Right away, Alex and Mosby went off to explore, while Courtney and Avery played in the GoKart. 

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It wasn’t long before PawPaw and Alex found their way to the creek with some fishing gear!

PawPawAlexFishing

Alex and Mosby later snuck off to do some shooting.  He’s getting good with his target practicing!

AlexShooting

Dan took over before too long.  He received tons of medals and recognition in the Army for his expert shooting, so he wanted to see if he’s still got it.  ;) 

Ashi came to check things out!

Dan shoting

Next, it was off to the creek!   My favorite part!!  As you can probably imagine, Alex is in his element here.  Mosby… not so much.  Our dogs are sufficiently citified.  You’ll see what I mean in a minute…

BoyandDog 

Here are PawPaw and Avery exploring

PawPawAvi PawPawAvi2

This butterfly seemed especially fond of MeMe and PawPaw!PawPawButterfly

See what I mean??  How cute is this picture?!?!MeMeButterfly

My Dad- the SURVIVORMAN!  :)  This crawfish was holding on for dear life to my Dad’s TONGUE!!!!  EWWWWWW, DAD!  :0)  LOL!PawPawCrawfish

Mosby was SOOOOO afraid of the water!RiverSide

At first, Stoney thought about just hanging on the raft…StoneyRaft

Then he got VERY brave!  See him out there??  You can barely see his tiny head just past Alex!  That water was up to Alex’s chest, and Stoney is swimming right through it!  He looked just like a musk rat!

StoneySwim

Here he is, swimming again, and Mosby finally got brave enough to go check on Stoney to make sure he’s OK!

MosbyStoneySwim

But Mosby opted to stay on the beach almost the entire time, and waited for drinks of water from MeMe’s hands.  City dog…MosbyWater

Here’s my whole crew.

MyCrew

These boys LOOOOOVE fishing!PawPawAlexFish PawPawAlexFishing

That boy would have slept in the creek if I had let him…Alex

Bow fishing???  I dunno…  But he brought his entire arsenal.  Bow and arrows, BB gun, you name it.

AlexBow

Alex and Courtney romped around for hours!AlexCourt

Ashi enjoyed rides in the raftAshiRaft

Ashi’s scowl.  This look absolutely kills me!  She has it down to a fine art, too!

AshiScowl

Sweet baby!!!!!  Look at that face!AshiSmile

My Avery bear.  I love, love, love this picture!!!AviSmile

She was throwing rocks for Stoney to fetch- you can see it flying, and Stoney watching it!

AviStoneyRock

Yep, this is what it took to get Mosby in the water!!!CarryMosby

Alex caught a frog!  Unfortunately, he didn’t last much longer. 

RIP, Mr. Toad…

Frog

More raft rides!

GirlsRaft

OK, so this was my LEAST favorite part of the trip!  Look how HUGE this guy is!  Big spiders are plentiful there!  ICK!!!!HUGESpider

Lovin’ life…

 KidsPond 

MeMe fishing…

MeMeFishing

With coffee in hand, of course…MeMePawPaw

Oh, don’t let Stoney’s swimming skills fool you.  He’s still a city dog.  He fully expected to be bundled in towels after his swims.  He would sit like this until he stopped shivering, then go for another swim.  :)

StoneyTowel

Later, there were rides on the GoKart!  Here’s Alex speeding around…

  AlexGoKart   

Dan’s turn…

DanGoKart

MeMe’s turn!

MeMeGoKart

And EVERYBODY watch out for PawPaw!!!!PawPawGoKart

Check out all these fish the boys caught!!!  There were some really big ones on here, but they’re hard to see against my camo-clad boy!AlexStringer

The girls, just a-swingin’

SwingingGirls

Next… SPARKLERS!

Sparklers Sparklers2 Sparklers3

Avery and Ashi had a bath in the RV.  Can you believe how much these two look alike????  Avery (4) is on the left, and Ashi (2) is on the right.

CuteSisters 

And last but not least… Here are the pictures of the rocks we found…

These just have very cool shapes!!!

fossilrock6

These have incredible fossils in them!!!  Double click to enlarge!fossilrocks

Here is an up-close example of the fossil in one of them!fossilrock2

I had a very hard time getting a clear picture of this one.  Dan found this, and it is AMAZING!!!

fossilrock3

The upper tip of this rock looks like scales are imprinted in it!fossilrock4

These are just SO cool.

fossilrock5

Thanks again to MeMe and PawPaw for an AWESOME trip!  We love you!

And thank you to all the vets out there who have served our country, left their families, and given their lives so that we can experience these kinds of freedoms!  You are our heroes!