A Missed Week

A bad, nasty bug took Shawn and I hostage, so

We missed an awesome CD release party at our church

Shawn missed a day of work

I missed an outing with friends

The boys missed some scout activities

We missed an afternoon of hiking and hanging with friends

Shawn missed a overnight boating outing with his buddies

BUT

We got a lot of sleep

Christian got caught up on a lot of homework after our trip

I finished a great book, Unbroken, a must read

Nolan and Ethan had a lot of creative play time

We recovered!

Sun, Sand & Clearwater

After a week of trudging around Florida with the boys, Shawn joined us. How nice to have the family together again!

Since Shawn was able to only spend a short, but sweet time down there; we stationed ourselves at a nice little piece of paradise, relaxed and enjoyed "just being." We were joined by my brother and his beautiful daughter, and once school obligations permitted, his wife and son also joined the party. The sun was bright on the eyes of these Washingtonians, but they all found protection. The Sand Dune Monsters were out! Now here is a summer reading program you can sign me up for.

No wonder they call it Clearwater. Our days ended with amazingly beautiful sunsets!

A soccer ball always attracted a crowd

Skim boarding was also given a try.

You could wait for waves until the sharks came home!

This was not the film location of Souls Surfer.

The seas did get a little rougher and the older boys ventured out on jet skis.

Time to say good bye.

Many memories were made and dreams of a return!

One Park Only

If you had to pick one park out of the many amazing theme parks you find in Orlando, FL, what would it be? It was not a hard choice for my kids to make, Universal Studios' Islands of Adventure was the unanimous voice. They were all looking forward to make the journey into Harry Potter's world.

I would say we are very "mild" fans of Harry. The two older boys read the series twice, and I read it once. While watching the second movie, we decided to turn it off and not allow the viewing of the remaining ones. It was a choice we made for our family and I'm not going to dwell on this issue. Although Ethan has not read the books yet, he acquired the knowledge of all the characters by pure brotherly osmosis.

Here starts our adventure

The ride inside Hogwarts was quite amazing. Even while moving along the line you were entertained by all kinds of characters and stages, like snow falling on our heads due to one of Ron's misdirected spells.

Hogsmeade town was really neat! I loved watching all the details, which reminded me of how many of them I had already forgotten.

All of Fred& George's tricks were available to you (for a pretty penny). Since we did not break into Gringott's, we had to be content to only browse.

We did have some spare change for a taste of butterbeer though.

Hagrid's hut entertained us while waiting to get on the "Flight of the Hippogriff".

Our day was not totally consumed by the wizarding world, we had plenty of time and energy to explore all of the park. There were virtually no lines on the "non-Potter" attractions.

The Incredible Hulk Coaster was one of my favorites. It takes the unsuspected by surprise as it launches the car out of the "tube". You slowly start the ascend, being conditioned by other roller coasters to think that it will remain at this pace to the top of the ride. Not so, all of a sudden, in the middle of the ascend, it just launches you out, with enough power to light up all of Time Square! Yeah, I know, not a carbon free footprint, amazing though!

Ethan enjoyed his cousin & brother's good will and attitude as they joined him on more mild rides. Ethan was not that keen on the "hulk" type experiences.

No Strangers

These cousins have not seen each other for almost three years. It did not take long for them to warm up to each other again and let the fun begin.

Nothing better than cooling off in a pool. That felt so good!

Right now these guys are tied. Maybe we will have a final match, or maybe not.

Eye protection for air soft guns. Ready for a day at Busch Gardens. The park was filled with lots of "graduating" 5th & 8th grade class field trips, we fit right in since two of my students are in that category.

Sheikra, the best ride I have ever been on!

Just hanging out . . .

We all fell in love with Mollie

Happy Birthday Stefan Let's go celebrate with some thrilling rides . . .

If you are wondering why they are soaked . . .

Here is your answer. Not too long after this the skies opened up and got everyone else drenched. Thunderstorms are a great time to update the blog. As soon as the sun comes out again, we will be too.

A Few Survivors

Every year I try hard to keep the deer away from my tulips, some years I have won, some years we came out even, this year I lost big time. Only a few brave ones managed to deceive the famished herbivores. I relish them even more now, they are my reminder that summer days are ahead (somewhere in the horizon).

A Canceled Day

We rose early this morning and after na egg filled breakfast (to give us energy for what was to come), headed out to what we thought would be a full morning. As we drove down our street I related my amusement to Shawn, as how we were all going about our business like it was the most beautiful spring day. Christian was at a camp out with the scouts, we were heading to a baseball game followed by a soccer game, our neighbours had just left to go shrimping and fishing for ling cod and halibut. All under pouring rain and temperatures that were barely in the fifties. Of course we were our rain proof armor, but still . . . Not only did Ethan have a game, but it was also picture day. The photographers managed to get a smile out of the kids that stood under a shelter and the coached called it good! No practice or game, smart call! We were able to run a few errands and headed to the soccer fields bracing for a repeat of this day:

However, after a fair attempt of keeping the games going, soccer was also canceled. It did not take long for Christian to call and tell us that they were wrapping up things a little earlier. I spent the rest of my day reorganizing closets, sizing shorts, T-shirts, bathing suits and dreaming of the spring that will one day arrive. I got my summer dresses out and start packing for our Florida trip. The rain coats are definitely staying behind.

Invisibility Cloak

We actually found a date, time and place for breakfast that worked for all of these ladies. We share our lives and grow together as we meet weekly (along with our families) for small group time. It was great to spend some time just with the "girls". I figured we needed to get this documented with a picture. I asked our nice waitress to do it for us. She seemed happy to comply and was very proud to say that she got us all in the picture. Maybe the "all" she meant were all the caricatures on the back wall. Even though I posed with a nice smile on my face, I did not make the cut, not even a sliver of my sleeve!

Solar Powered

What a beautiful day we had today to sit back, enjoy the sun's rays warmth on our bodies and recharge our batteries. Our last few weeks have been filled with school & work deadlines, evaluations, practices, appointments, scouts achievements and camps. In the midst of it all we took time to enjoy and celebrate an Easter weekend with family.

A little mosaic of what happened:

Christian got braces (of course he will nor show it with smile) and finished a big English project (we are all breathing a little easier).

Nolan completed the first part of his black belt test, played soccer, played soccer, played soccer, tried out for a development soccer team, "pogoed" 1000 times, also finished a big English project, went camping with the scouts and slept hard every night.

Ethan received his Bear Badge in cub scouts, prepared for the fishing derby, went fishing, started baseball, succumbed to a flu and happy to say, recovered rapidly.

No wonder I needed a lazy afternoon of lounging in the sun, reading a book and taking a leisurely walk. Now I can face Monday again.