Our Personal Roller Rink.

A big perk of having a Dad who builds buildings is afternoons like this. Who else has a huge clear area to skate in (that they don't even have to share) and they are getting pretty good. Now most of the falls are Avery's and done on purpose for a little added drama.

A visit with Aunt Morgan and Dean.

Morgan and Dean came down to visit Will's mom and we were lucky enough to get to spend some time with them. Saturday they met up with us at Aquatica, no pictures of course. And then Sunday we went to Grandma Neenie's to hang out and swim. The swimming got delayed over and over because of storms but it cleared up enough right before we went home for the kids to get a quick one in.

School...

So we are over a month into school and I feel like we are just starting to settle in. Harrison is doing well. He really likes his teacher and I do too. Second grade is so much different than I remember. In second grade at his school they start taking violin and he thinks this is really fun. He is also starting his 4th year of Spanish and his second year of Chinese. It is really humbling to have a hard time helping your 7 year old do his homework. Let's see, what else? He has a field trip coming up to the Kennedy Space Center and he is really excited. I think Will is going with him so I am going to have to trust him to take pictures:)

On to Avery. Here are a few pictures from Avery's class. We were celebrating Miss Sherrie's birthday.

(Miss Sherrie is in the middle next to Avery and Miss Julie is her assistant on the right - Love them)

And this is them "going on a bear hunt" which is her very favorite thing.

So far Avery LOVES school. The first day of school she was off with no tears and barely a backward glance. And it has been that way every day since. She is going to a different school than Harrison this year so she is doing half days and I think this schedule is perfect for her. She always leaves wanting more and is so excited to go the next day. She is having a great time and making new friends. Such a great time that she sometimes forgets that she needs to stop talking, but I have a feeling that is going to be pretty normal for Avery. Her teacher is wonderful, I really like her. So far so good for pre-k!

International Peace Day Assembly

(I know, I know I am behind again. I will post later about how school is going and all that fun stuff.)

Today Harrison's school celebrated "Peace Day". They had an assembly and released doves and made a ton of pinwheels that they had surrounding the school. The second graders had to write a journal entry talking about what peace means to them. Harrison was one of the four chosen to read his aloud at the assembly. He is getting really good at speaking in front of crowds. So this is the video of him reading, it's really hard to hear so I will post the words once he gets home.



They were allowed to wear their peace day t-shirts.

Watching the birds being released.

Harrison starts second grade

I officially have two kids in school. It is so quiet here today, a little surreal. I managed to get both kids to school on time. I was a little nervous about that because they start at the same time, but 5 miles apart. So here are Harrison's first day pictures!



And his new shoes!

This isn't a great picture but Avery is exactly the same height Harrison was starting pre-K. I know how many inches he has grown but seeing them next to each other floors me.How he has grown!

Avery starts School

I can't believe she has started school. She loved it, she barely even waved as we left her there. Here are a couple pictures. Harrison starts on Wednesday so I will post his then.

Here she is waiting for the doors to open.

New Smyrna Beach Vacation

We all went on an extended weekend vacation to the beach. The kids had fun in the pool and the ocean and building things in the sand. We stayed in a beautiful condo, the beach is always more fun when it doesn't include a sandy ride home. Harrison got a lot braver and was going deeper and deeper and really had a blast riding the boogieboard. Avery doesn't really like swimming in the ocean yet, but she is happy swimming in the sand, and rolling in the sand and throwing chunks of sand. I think I am still finding sand in her hair. So here are some pictures, even some with the grown-ups in them..

Oh I also wanted to add that on this trip Harrison has started using goggles. He is a great swimmer but has sensitive eyes so opening them underwater has always bothered him. And he has always refused to use goggles, he also hates things on his eyes. But apparently he dislikes not being able to dive for things even more because he now wears them all the time! Even in the house. And Avery is floatie free. She was down to only using a ring for jumping in but realized that she doesn't really go under too far so she is good jumping in without one now!

Michigan

So I have had a really hard time getting all these pictures together just because there are so many of them that I wanted to share. So now we have two slide shows. I can't seem to get the HTML for the second one right so I am just going to post it in a separate post.

So what to say about our trip to Michigan... We all had a great time. The kids still talk about their trip to Windmill Island and Avery wears her wooden shoes around the house on a regular basis. The loved swimming in Lake Michigan even though I didn't bring bathing suits (why? because I thought it would be cold, which it wasn't) and they swam in their clothes. We looked ridiculous but they loved it. They also ran down their first sand dunes. Harrison did it over and over until I thought he would collapse. It was cool for me to see them do some of the things I loved doing when I was little. What else? I saw some of my friends from State and their kids which always makes me happy. I got to see a movie with my brothers and Ashley (and free grandma babysitting which is something I don't have here - amazing!)I went with my mom to a beading class... yes I really did. And I got to go to my first Poolooza, I've always been jealous I couldn't attend so it was really fun for me! We never have enough time to see everyone and visit everything we'd like but we are always ready to get home as well.

Michigan Slideshow Part 2

July Catch-UP

Once again I got really behind. So this weekend (while sitting on the 7th floor balcony of our condo on the beach - ahhh) I put some of the pictures from the past month together. So this is everything and anything from the past month minus the trip to Michigan and the beach which are going to have more than enough to merit a post of their own.

Avery has new roller skates from her birthday and I realized it wasn't very easy to have one kid with roller skates. So Harrison now has roller blades. He is even better on them then her. It is a pretty common thing around here for my kids to be roller skating around the house instead of walking.

Harrison and Will in Grandma Neenie's pool. "Throw me Dad" and "Spin me in circles Dad" are the most used phrases when we go swimming together.




These are from the last playday with friends at our house. Harrison really wanted to try tie-dye so I thought "why not do it with 9 other kids" and yes I really thought that. They had fun, were exceptionally well behaved (yet very very loud) and everyone ended up with a cool shirt.
Harrison and James picking out their style
Avery and Cora working on their shirts
Harrison working
Avery all princess-ed up next to Nicole for lunch
This is when Avery wanted to jump on the trampoline in her skates


Will and I went out the weekend before our anniversary by ourlselves but on our actual anniversary we took the kids to Sea World at night for the "Shamu Rocks!" show and fireworks.

Looking up at Manta, the new roller coaster.

Carousels are Avery's favorite
My kids have to pretend to swim in front of this picture every single time we go to Sea World.

Kid rides...Will is very scared.


I always think he looks so small walking with Will, then I remember how tall Will is and realize he is really growing up.....A random day at the Beach

Same thought as above
I have started calling Avery the "Butterfly Whisperer" Ever since our trip to the butterfly encounter she is obsessed with them (and all other bugs to a slightly lesser degree) and they seem to be just as obsessed with her. This is the second time since then I have seen her walking around with a butterfly on her finger or hand.