Walk at the Wetlands

This morning we enjoyed a program at The Discovery Center at Murfree Springs. We spotted tadpoles, turtles, muskrats, blue herons, northern water snakes, ducks of all sorts, bullfrogs and lots of bugs. The heat got to Leah after about an hour (it was about 93 this morning at 10:30 AM and the ponds helped to make the air feel extra heavy). Nonetheless, we enjoyed exploring and we got a few shots to share with you.

Dear God,

Leah, after a brief argument with her brother about whose turn it was to say the blessing, blessed our meal tonight. This is what she is thankful for:

"Dear God,

Fank you for this, um, this um, what that word, oh yeah, wonderful food we are 'bout to eat, and fank you (looking around the dining room) for this beautiful white room, and fank you for my fork for that I not get my hands dirty. Amen."

Such a beautiful moment deserved a picture and wanted to share it with all of you (in case you're at a loss for words at your next meal).

More, and more, and more s'mores!

Can one ever eat too many s'mores? Just ask Leah. She has an insatiable sweet tooth and finally stopped when her "belly got so sick." Although the photo quality is poor (distorted by the heat of the fire), the moments are precious. We also had several "FIRSTS" this weekend. Photos and stories to come soon.

Skipping Stones

We spent the weekend at Tim's Ford State Park in Winchester, TN. Among many fun activities, we skipped stones on the lake. Dad continues to hold the "Best-Skipper-We-Know" Award and holds the record: too many to count! Leah gave it her all as noted in the picture and was going for the biggest splash, not the most number of skips. Benjamin is getting quite skilled at skipping and may someday (soon) pull the title from Dad.

ri*ka*be*le

As requested, a photo of our not-so-unique personal Letterboxing stamp and log book. Our "trail name" is {ri*ka*be*le} --I know, a bit corny. I have listed the website to the right for those of you interested in checking out letterboxing. Have fun!

And to add to the adventure...

we are officially "Letterboxers." For those of you who are not familiar with the activity...it's essentially treasure hunting across the states (and internationally). One can find clues on websites, search for a box containing a stamp, and stamp your log book as well as the logbook in the letterbox claiming your "find." Many are buried or hidden in zoos, parks and museums and will fit right into our up-'n-coming adventure.

Today's letterbox was hidden under the branches of a large cypress tree by the Uranidrome (an observatory used for teaching astronomy) on the MTSU campus. The kids listened to the clues to find the hidden letterbox and were quite excited.

Stay tuned for more adventures of the Daniello Family.

Let the Adventure Begin...

As some of you now know, our family is embarking on a new adventure. We have decided to home school the children again next year, we bought an RV, and I'm am going to travel the country with the children (Rich is gracious enough to stay home and work and do most of the exploring without him). We will travel for a few weeks at a time, come back home for a dose of Rich, study our next destination, and head out again. We are very excited about it and know that we are very fortunate to be able to take advantage of these sort of opportunities (some may call them risks). I feel these will be the experiences that our children will not soon forget and will make up a huge part of who they become as adults. We would love to have travel companions along the way, so let me know if you are interested. We will be journaling our experiences as we go, so check back often for updates and sights across America. We're looking forward to seeing many of you along the way!
So, with that, let the adventure begin...

These photos were from our first trip (not so far from home) this past weekend.

What this kind a shwim suit called again?

A recent conversation with Leah:
Leah: Mom, what this kind of shwim suit called again?
Mom: A bikini
Leah: Oh, yeah, a balinki (not a typo). You not have one of these right?
Mom: That's right, Leah.
Leah: Your blaniki (yes, pronounced differently than the last mispronunciation) covers your belly, right? 'Cuz you have a big belly, right?
Mom: (Less enthusiastic than the previous question) That's right, Leah.
Leah: And it wrinkly too, right mom?
Mom: (Even less enthusiastic than the previous) That's right, Leah.
Oh, how the truth hurts!

The Next Chapter...

Rich graduated from MTSU last month. This is a picture on his first day of work. He's a Software Engineer for a company that designs software to test jet engine vibrations. He seems to enjoy it and spends much less time on the computer in the evening after 8 hours of it daily!
We're really proud of his accomplishments!