Tis' the Season

We have been insanely busy for the last few weeks so we haven't been posting much! All of these pictures were taken by Dad during their visit. I haven't even taken the card out of my camera yet!

Ethan had a performance on the night of Grandma and Pop-Pop's arrival. The venue was Canal Street! The 4th graders performing.
After their performance half of the 4th grade, including us, headed to El Palenque for dinner. The kids had a blast sitting at their own tables.
The next night, Will and Noah had a 2nd grade performance. Will had some "parts" in the performance that turned out to be pretty funny with some antlers falling off, a microphone or two getting knocked down, etc! After the performance I rushed off to the Toy Party and the rest of the crew came home and played Push.
The next morning we headed over to the parade. We were all excited to see Elise on her float!
After the parade, the crew headed over to Flip Flops for lunch and I ran some last minute errands for the boys' birthday party. After everyone settled in from lunch, we headed over to the park to set up for the party.

Needless to say, Star Wars was the theme!
The park the boys had their party at is one of my favorites. There are always dolphins, pelicans, and manatees. There were no manatees there on the party day, but the pelicans and dolphins were as entertaining as usual.
The kids enjoyed some volleyball fun.
The birthday present opening event. There were lots and lots of kids at the party. I never figured out how many, but definitely enough!
Ethan with his buds Anthony and Spencer.
Sunday morning we woke up and headed to St. Augustine. Here we walk down St. George Street.

Here we take a short break in front of Castillo de San Marcos before going in. The boys were very excited to see them fire the cannon. At some point, I would really like to spend a long weekend in St. Augustine. There is plenty to see and certainly plenty of shopping. The boys get bored quickly and won't let me explore as much as I would like!
We all had a great visit while Mom and Dad were here. It was so filled with activities that it went by way too fast!

The last week of school whizzed by. Between evening parties and events it was over before we knew it. This weekend was also filled with holiday events. I FINALLY got to go to Pamela's dance recital. She did an awesome job! On Sunday I went to see Blind Side. It was really good! Last night was GNO at Flip Flops and tonight is "Christmas" dinner with the Eagney's before we head north to my parents'.

Birthday Weekend for the Twins

There is a definite theme this birthday and holiday season...Star Wars! They went through a phase a few years ago and had the toddler version of all of this and now they are on to the big kid version (aka more expensive version)! Here they are with their various birthday ships. Will and Noah went to Toys R' Us this morning and purchased the Millennium Falcon. This thing is huge and full of glorious details for the boys to explore.
We went to the movies at 1:00 to see Old Dogs. We all thought it was really funny. Mike, Melissa, Paige, and Pamela all joined us. We are also excited to see the sequel of Alvin and the Chipmunks this Christmas!
After Toys R' Us, we went to the breakfast buffet at a local restaurant on the river. The food was not impressive, but the outside set up was cute.


The restaurant's name is "Dolphin View" but it should have been "Pelican View."
On Saturday, Ethan had SGA duties. There was a little holiday kick off festival on Canal Street. The SGA kids had a secret Santa shop. Ethan worked the craft table and helped all the little kids make their crafts.
Here they are decorating the bags to package up the gifts purchased at their shop. It quickly got warm. We started in jackets and scarves and were down to t-shirts in no time!
On Friday we spent some time at the beach. I had stayed up far too late at the midnight Toys R' Us sale, so I was able to sit and veg out while they played!



Off to eat some birthday cupcakes! I can't believe it is bedtime already and our vacation is over. Only 3 weeks until our 2 week Christmas vacation. Woohoo!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Our Thanksgiving Day recap! We started with the traditional Thanksgiving Krispy Kreme doughnut breakfast!After breakfast it was a walk along the river with the dogs. It is a bit too far of a trek for Hanzie so he stayed home. We walked up to the "sand park" and met the kids there. The dogs enjoyed the walk. It was still cloudy and humid early this morning.

Abby, Finley, and Jazz resting at the park before the return trip home.
Noah taking a break from skipping shells.
Will refusing to take a break.
After the walk and park time, it was directly home for coffee and the parade!
Noah took over 100 pictures of the parade on TV. I'm not exaggerating! Here Will and I are trying to watch the parade despite Noah constantly standing in front of the television!
We turned the oven on and then headed to the beach for a walk. By late morning, the sun was shining, the temps were in the low-70's, and the humidity was gone. It was an absolutely gorgeous day!
Will collecting shells.
Leano Beano
It is hard to believe that the boys will be as tall as me soon. Ethan's foot is already bigger than mine! Crazy. Noah took my glasses!
The boys walking.

Thankfully, they didn't have to make any rescues!
Ethan was an awesome helper today. He peeled all of the potatoes and helped every step of the way with making dinner.
The table the boys made.
After dinner it was time for another walk and park time. This time I brought Hanzie. Chris and the boys drove up and I met up with them again. Hanzie did catch a ride home.

The boys are now asking for dessert! Chris just left to go see New Moon. Tonight Melissa, Sam, and I plan on a midnight trip to Toys R' Us.

We have had a great day even though it started a little rocky. The boys have had a Beta fish for two years and he died today. Noah had just said how thankful he was for his pets! The boys buried him in the front yard. He lived in a space themed fish tank so his name was Rover as in Mars Rover.

So, it has been a while!

Pamela kindly pointed out that it has been some time since I have updated the blog. With soccer, school, 3 boys, dogs, and biking there is very little time left in the day. The days are over before I even know it. Not to mention, everyone knows I'm not a late night person! In my defense, my husband is a late night person and still has not managed to update the blog! With that said, not much thrilling news to report. Since the last update, Chris was in a motorcycle accident and broke his elbow. He also had various other scratches, bruises, and sprains. His elbow is still bothering him weeks later and I think his wrist may be bugging him even more than his elbow. The sling he was supposed to wear for 4 to 6 weeks lasted about a week. The no soccer for 4 to 6 weeks lasted less than a week! That could explain some of his problems. I am just thankful that it was not any more serious than it was. I'm still in disbelief that people actually ride those things and that in Florida many do it without a helmet as it is not a law here! Crazy. Chris did have a helmet on, thankfully!

Noah's broken collar bone healed nicely. He also did not follow the no soccer for 4 to 6 weeks rule. I think he lasted 2 weeks! Soccer wrapped up for the season on Saturday. Will and Noah's team was undefeated. Ethan's team did not have that same sort of record. His team was at a major disadvantage though. His age group goes from 4th to 6th grade and Chris' entire team was 4th grade. Others were entirely 6th grade and it showed. They were twice their size. They actually did amazingly, all things considered.

The boys are looking forward to their birthdays. Will and Noah don't have much longer to wait! Ethan still has a month to go but already has the countdown clock ticking. They are also looking forward to Grandma and Pop-Pop's visit. They are coming for a long weekend in December. All the boys have community choral performances during their visit so they are excited to have family there to watch them!

The holiday events kick off in full force next week. I'm sure we will have lots of photos to post in the near future.

Almost Better!

Noah had his 2 week, follow-up x-ray today. He is healing wonderfully and can resume full activities in two weeks. It really only bothers him now if something hits it really hard. Here is his newest x-ray. No, he didn't swallow any pieces of metal. Those are the metal pieces of his clavicle brace!
We had a nice, cool weekend. We went from record highs to record lows in the matter of a day! It has been a nice treat to have these few cool days. Wednesday we head back toward our normal mid-80's for this time of year. Sure beats the mid-90's! Saturday the boys had their soccer pictures and games in the morning. Will and Noah's team won and Ethan's team tied. After the soccer game, Melissa and I went on a nice, long bike ride. We traveled down a road that the "real bikers" bike down. We have seen the road bikers travel down that road several times and I was curious what the appeal was. It was a cute little country road with lots of farm animals, citrus groves, a tilapia farm, etc. It has was very windy and hilly! Yesterday, while Ethan was out with his friend Pamela, the rest of us went Halloween costume shopping. I couldn't convince any of them to be something I wanted them to be! Where are the days when I could dress them up as whatever I wanted?!? After shopping, the boys headed to a birthday party and Chris and I headed to the beach for lattes. I had a delicious pumpkin latte. I love the tastes of fall!

Noah's Clavicle

Noah had a biking accident on Saturday evening. We rode bikes to Blockbuster and on the way home he flipped over his bike going full speed and landed on his shoulder. He was wincing in pain, which he never does, so I knew something was wrong. By today, it still wasn't feeling right so we went to the doctor. Sure enough, he broke his right clavicle. Sadly, he can't write. He also can't eat with his right hand! It bugs him the most while he is sleeping. The doctor said it should heal fine and put him in a clavicle strap for at least four weeks. I think the strap bugs Noah more than the break! It is itching him like crazy. He goes back in two weeks for x-rays to ensure it is healing properly.

hApPy OcToBeR!

I'm so excited that it is October. Besides the fact that it is still insanely hot in Florida, October is my favorite month.

Here is one just one reason!!!!We went to the beach this morning. Yes, one benefit of it being hot still! The water was super clear today. You could see all the way to the bottom even when you got out far. Ethan was happy so he could be sure he wasn't stepping on any crabs.
Noah's shoulder is still bothering him, so he spent much of his time at the beach doing this!
Ethan and Pamela were being ghost hunters this afternoon. This is what they documented.
Here is the same area without any ghosts present.
The boys reminded us that October had arrived and it was time to get out the Halloween decorations. Here is their festive dinner set up!