Boogie Boards and Anniversaries

Yesterday was our 15th wedding anniversary! We have never really done anything big for our anniversaries, and this year since we are in the midst of a move, we decided to stay low key and take the kids to the beach after dinner. My parents bought Alex a new boogie board for his birthday and he was itching to try it out. So we took our new beach chairs and the boogie boards and walked down to the beach for an hour. It was a very relaxing way to spend our anniversary! and the kids loved that they were a part of it too...Maybe next year we can have a "late" anniversary getaway. :)

Jason instructing .....and Alex catching a good wave.


Pepper wistfully watching Alex in the water. She got in, but was a bit freaked out by the waves.

Today, I took the kids to register at their new school, and of course I forgot to take a picture of it! Their school is so cute... the old part of it is an actual historical building. They thought it was really cool that they got to walk outside to go to the gym and cafeteria buildings, and the art and music portable building.

But I did remember to take some pictures of the house!

I love the fact that we have lots of palm trees, and this little side yard.

We also have several citrus trees, but I can't figure out exactly the kinds of fruit they are producing. This is either an orange or lemon of some kind.

We did have our first encounter with a scorpion today. It was just a baby, but it was hanging out on the screen on our porch. I tried to get a pic of it, but it was too small. Alex was very curious of course, and not happy when Jason killed it.

Jason went in to work tonight (the crazy busy 4th of July weekend has started at the restaurant!) so the kids and I went to my parents to swim. Their neighborhood has the best view from the pool. It overlooks the dunes and the ocean. The kids always enjoy time swimming with grandma, and she spoiled them with more cookies after their swim!

Speaking of grandparents, Ema and Papa are coming at the end of next week! We can't wait to show them around our new neighborhood! (and thanks for the pretty flowers for our anniversary!)

Getting into the Groove

The past couple of days have been good for all of us-- We started trying to get into somewhat of a routine on Monday morning. The kids are used to a schedule, so in between unpacking, we did some piano practicing, reading, and playing. I actually cooked dinner at home Monday night, and we all ate together which felt great. We took a stroll on the beach later that evening with Pepper.

Jason took this shot of the kids walking ahead of us with his phone.

These next shots were from last weekend of Caroline at the restaurant..... she had to try the famous cupcakes from Sugar Rush that we sell.

And she and Alex love standing in the doorway watching the pizzas being made.....

My mom took these shots of Alex on the beach with Pepper that turned out great. He is in heaven exploring our new surroundings (Alex and the dog).

I don't think Pepper wanted out of the water....

Today the kids and I had a quiet morning at home then ventured out looking at furniture with my mom. We ended the day at the restaurant with some friends of ours from Dallas who are staying in Seaside this week. Derek and Kristie and their kids Lily, Camille, and Whit, and Doug and Betsy Wilson with their boys Blake and Griffin. They were in our original "young couples" Sunday School class at Highland Park UMC, and we hadn't seen them since we moved 9 years ago! We had a great time catching up! and the kids had a blast playing outside at PBTS. I think Caroline and Camille are long lost friends!!

Our New Reality

We made it! It's Sunday morning and we are enjoying a quiet morning at home. It feels more like home anyway since we got groceries on Friday. Caroline, my sister Lori and I had an uneventful drive down on Thursday, and when we arrived, I had a surprise waiting... my mom had put my entire kitchen together for me! What a blessing that was!

On Friday we put more stuff away and Jason and I made a trip to Home Depot and Walmart for some supplies. My mom and sister took the kids swimming at my parent's neighborhood pool while we ran those errands which helped a lot! Friday evening Jason went into the restaurant for a while and the kids got to bed early. It think it will take a few weeks to catch up on the sleep they have missed during the move.

Saturday we decided to enjoy the day and put aside the unpacking for awhile, so we went to the beach down the road from our neighborhood. It was a beautiful day and the kids had a blast swimming and boogie boarding.



The view down the beach....



Alex spent most of his time under the water.....

The water was perfect.... enough waves to go boarding, but calm enough not to get tossed around too much.

While I was sitting on the beach watching the kids play, it was hard to believe that we actually live here. I think it will feel like we are on vacation for awhile until we get into a routine. We are so blessed to have our business and our new home, and we are looking forward to making friends and finding a new church home here.

I will post some more pics of our house soon! Have a wonderful Sunday!

Technical Difficulties

hello! Well, the past two nights I have had problems uploading photos, so until I do some trouble-shooting on this, here is the latest update:

The boys and Pepper the dog left early this morning in the U haul and made it safely to our new home this evening! My parents met them at our new house and helped them start to unload. How nice is that! Alex was so excited to use the dolly to move the boxes around, of course. I am so thankful that my mom and dad are there helping out.

I have spent the last few days cleaning our house, doing last minute packing, and running around trying to fit in last "see you soon's." I don't do good-byes. I know that we will be coming back to the lake every summer for a visit, and I am expecting lots of visitors down in Florida!

Tonight I feel like I am about 100 years old because I have been non-stop cleaning, bending, packing. I think it is finally catching up to me. Thank the Lord for my friend (and our pastor's wife) Debb for helping me for three hours this morning get the house in top condition. What a blessing! She was an amazing worker and tackled my kitchen like it was nobody's business.

Tomorrow Caroline and I take off to my sister Lori's to spend the night, and the three of us (plus the cat and the rabbit) will take off early Thursday! I am so excited to have us all under the same roof again, and get settled. But I will miss my friends and family here so much.....

Stay tuned for more pictures of our last days up here in Indiana!

More of Dance Week

It's been a whirlwind of activity here. I have been trying to balance packing with a very busy social calendar, and I think it is catching up with me! But we have really enjoyed seeing all of our friends before we move.

On Thurs, Caroline had a play date with her friend Sarah, who is also her second cousin! We had lunch at Aztecaz, or "The Mexican" as Caroline calls it.




Then we headed to South Bend to pick Jason up from the airport, but I forgot my camera so no pictures of his return. We were very happy to have him home!

Today started off with a fun play date with Grace. The girls swam in the little pool while her mom Shannon and I worked on our blogs and shared ideas. Shannon and Shane are great friends of ours and we will miss them so much! But they have already planned a trip to visit us in November, so we are looking forward to having some house guests!

Then it was more packing, then dinner out before the big recital. Caroline loved having dinner with her dad. Can you tell they are father and daughter? Ha!

Jason's mom and dad, aunt and uncle, cousin, and her daughter all came to watch Caroline dance. Here is a pic of her with Ema at intermission. She brought her flowers, which I thought was so sweet.

One final pic of Caroline in her hip-hop outfit. She did such a great job up there on stage.

Can she just stop growing now?

Catch up Day!

Okay I have two days to catch up on, and I can't figure out how to get these pics in order, so I have to go backwards! So starting tonight: Caroline had her friends Shelby and Zoe over for their first ever sleepover! They had lots of fun. I am hoping they are all asleep right now as I am typing this. They played dress up, Pokemon, rode rides at the festival, watched a movie, and ate lots of snacks.






Before the sleepover, we went to Caroline's piano teacher's house for a tea party! It was a reward for Caroline for finishing Book 1 of the Suzuki program. Mrs. P did such a fantastic job setting the stage for a real tea party, and talked to them about proper manners and etiquette.
She even had cute hats and costume jewelry for them to wear!

And here is a picture of Caroline with Mrs. P. We are going to miss her so much. We have been taking lessons with her for almost 6 years now. What an amazing teacher and person she is!

Yesterday, Caroline had the dress rehearsal for her dance recital. Here is a picture of her before her ballet piece. I love the fluffy tutu! I forgot to take a pic of her in her hip-hop outfit. She did a great job on stage!

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Yesterday afternoon my friend Christine came over and helped me pack. We got a ton accomplished while the girls were with a babysitter. It is much more fun packing when you have a friend to chat with.

And to end my backwards blog, Caroline started swim lessons yesterday morning. She can swim, but needs to improve her strokes, so I put her in a session. She loves it!

Jason comes home tomorrow, so I am making my final list of things to get done. We are all ready to see him, and can't believe that the day of our move is almost upon us! happy and sad, happy and sad......

The Week of Caroline

Caroline and I had a great day together--- since Alex is at camp, I have been looking forward to spending some girl time with her. We did pack about two boxes ( I know, I didn't make much progress today), but we couldn't turn down an offer to go play tennis and swim with her friend Sadie. Sadie and Caroline have been friends since they were born. We are really close with her family, and Alex is at camp with her two brothers, Nate and Cabe. They had lots of fun together!




After swimming, we had to get ready for her dance tech rehearsal. We fondly call this week "Dance %^&* Week" -- two rehearsals and the recital. But she got to see her good friend Zoe and lots of her other dance buddies there. She has taken dance with Zoe for 3 years... she will miss her a lot!

After rehearsal, I promised her that I would stop and get an elephant ear to split with her. This week is Mermaid Festival, so the fair food trailers are starting to set up camp. We have to fit in some deep fried delicacies before we leave.

More of girl week to come!

Welcome!

Dear Family and Friends-

When Jason and I finally knew for sure that we were moving, I thought it would be nice to start a family blog for a couple of reasons: one, so we would have record of what happened the days before, during and after our big move, and for family and friends to keep up on what's going on in our lives. So, here we are, a little more than a week before we take off in our moving truck, headed south, to the beach!

Our house is mostly empty: we sold a lot of our furniture because we are moving into a much smaller house. It has felt great to get rid of all of the "stuff" that we have kept, but don't necessarily need. I have had lots of great help from family and friends getting us all packed up. I have had mixed feelings these last few weeks: excitement for what's to come in our new location and our new business, but sadness in leaving the home we have lived in for the past 8 years, the friends we have made, the family we have close by, our church family, and just our comfort zone in general. But I know that God has great plans for us in our new home, and we can't wait to see them unfold!

The kids are doing very well with the idea of moving: Alex had a sleepover with some of his buddies last week, and he is at camp for a week with some of his best friends. He was so excited! Caroline has a busy week of dance coming up with rehearsals and the recital, and she is having some friends over for a sleepover this week. We are trying to give them opportunities to say goodbye to their special friends.

I will leave you tonight with a picture of Alex before headed off to camp. I think he looks so grown up in it! How the time flies.....