Another day in paradise

We are having great weather here, today was no exception. However because Zaven has developed his usual rash from the chlorine (we think) he wanted to stay out if the pool some today, so we went over to Apalachicola and looked around. We let Esmé do some walking, holding hands. She really liked it. Then we decided to get lunch at the Owl Cafe It was delicious as usual. Then we scooped up some Hydrocortisone for Zaven's rash and came home. There was plenty of time to play in the pool. We did some races, some Sharks and Minnows. Esmé has decided that she would rather climb up the stairs than swim. Then the kids had leftovers from lunch and Chris and I had turkey sandwiches for dinner. It was a nice low key night.

Vacation!

Summer is officially here! Zaven finished school on Friday. He had a great last quarter, all E's. And a great result on his state standardized tests.
We pulled out of town headed for FL straight from picking him up. We spent the night in Santee SC, there is a great Best Western Plus there. Everyone did great in the car. I made a toy for Esmé based on her love of taking things out and putting things in. I hit the dollar bins at Target and got 6 colorful fabric hair scruncis and a zipper bag she had a great time taking them out and handing them to me and then taking them back ( which she thought was very funny) and putting them back in a great amount of entertainment for the $3
We pulled in at the house around 4 on Sat. The kids could not wait to get into the pool. We ordered the shrimp pizza for dinner- it was delicious as usual.
Sunday we woke up early and started celebrating fathers day. Followed by lots of swimming and playing and finished off with dinner at Tamara's, a walk to the water and ice cream comes at home. I love how being here just a day or so can make you so relaxed you feel like you have been here for a week!
Today was a great day too. Lots of time in the pool. A trip over to the beach to fly Nell's new kite, an elephant! More swimming and Esmé taking some good first steps. Dinner here at the house and then Nell an I went over to the beach and looked at shells and Nell played in the ocean.
A great day!

Lately

Esmé got a new car seat, she had gotten too heavy to carry in the other one. And I thought She would be more comfortable in this one for the long drive to Florida. She seems to like it. Nell made a recliner out of the box!
Friday was Zaven's party. It went really well. The cake turned out nicely and the kids had a great time playing flag football.
The kids had time trials for swim team on Monday. Nell calls them "time travels". Pretty funny. They both did really well. Zaven swam the IM and did great. He has moved up to the 9/10 age group so it will be hard to keep up. One boy on our team is almost 11 and a very good swimmer. Nell swam back stroke and freestyle and did great.
Tuesday I took the girls to Newport News to have Esme's portrait taken for her 1st birthday. Nell was a big help and I had some of the sisters together. Below is an outtake of Nell at the studio.
Wednesday Nell Esmé and I went to Zavens school to see him be recognized for making all E's this marking period. We are very proud of his hard work. I took him out of school early an we went to Baskin Robins to celebrate.
I also went to my first PTA
meeting last night and followed up by emailing the principal to request placement for Nell and Zaven, we will see how that goes.
And the last picture is Esmé at the pool tonight with our friend Kate, who loves Esmé so much and calls her "cutie clementine" and "Mae Mae".

We are getting ready for vacation. We are leaving tomorrow after Zaven's half day at school.

Zaven's Birthday and a trip to the Rivah

Friday we had a great time having Zaven's 9th birthday party. We had a flag football party out on a turf football field. We had two high school football players come and be the coaches and run the game. The kids had a great time. I made each kid a shirt with their first name and a football and number on the front and their last name across the back of the shirt. They wore eye black under their eyes. We had pizza and cake and gatorade. It was hot, we could have used more drinks. And I should have had a marker to put names on drinks, but other than that it was great. The party favors we hello kitty socks filled with candy. Apparently there is a pro football player RGIII who wears Hello Kitty socks so we made a card that said "Thanks for celebrating with me, now you have socks like RGIII" Then on Saturday we got up and drove to the river to spend the day at Isabel's house with her and the Driscoll's it was a great day. Nell was crazy about McRae and tubing. I got to ski, though it took a few tries to get up! Esmé had a good time too.

Biking and Bags

Yesterday we were excited to try letting the big kids ride their bikes to school. Nell is done with school, so our mornings have changed. The kids were excited and it worked great. Esmé liked riding in the stroller. It was much faster than all walking. And I was able to walk at a brisk pace for a nice 1.5 mile walk. Then Nell and Esmé and I had a nice day. Nell did her quiet time again. We got some things for Zavens birthday party. Swim practice was good but a little chilly. The gazpacho and cheese toast dinner was good but we were all in sweatshirts, so cold soup was kind of funny.
Today was even cooler so I decided not to take the kids to swim practice. We went to Plaza Azteca and then we went to the LLBean store.
Chris found an XL bag with his name on it and he put Esmé in it, she was not thrilled. But it was still pretty cute.

Quiet time, go figure

We had a great day Saturday with most of the day spent watching Zaven play lacrosse. His team did not win and the season is over, but it was a beautiful day and I think he had fun. Then we had a low key dinner at home. This morning church was great. Our friend Meghan came with us which was fun. The choir did a choral mass which was beautiful and in honor of the clergy and marking one year of Chris being there, so that was special.
After church the kids and I went with Meghan to Panera for lunch. We sat outside and it was a lovely day. On the way home I was telling the kids that over the summer we are going to get up and go to the pool then come home mid day and have lunch and then have quiet time for an hour when they can read, write, color etc. that there would be multiple places where they could be but that we would all be separate and it was alone, quiet times.
What happened next just blew me away. Nell said she would like to start that today. When we got home, she asked for me to make her bag and that she would like to have her time in the living room. So I put a bag together with books, crayons, a Barbie and coloring book- Nell went into the living room and stayed for 45 minutes! I was amazed and happy.
Then Chris and Esmé had a nap and the big kids and I went to the pool for a while. It was chilly but a lot of Zav's friends were there and they had a big time.
Then it was time for the parish picnic. We had a good time. Great BBQ made by a parishioner. Lots of people played with Esmé. And Zaven and Nell had as good time.
Just 9 more days of school for Zaven!

Happy Graduation to Nell!

So Nell is done with preschool. Onto Kindergarten in the fall. She is so ready. It was a fun day. We had signs and cards and presents. Nell chose a pretty dress to wear. Esmé followed suit wearing her similar dress. It was a nice brief low-key graduation followed by a picnic. Zaven missed the morning at school and went in for the second half.
Nell spent the afternoon in a hand me down ballet outfit and ballet slippers- I really need to find a class for her! Then she found $10 that she had and wanted to spend it. We went to Marshall's and she weighed a lot of options and ended up choosing a big elephant kite. I think it will be fun. I thought it was a great choice.
We also got Esmé some sandals, her first pair! The other night she walked around the pool deck and got a raw spot on her big toe. So she really needed something.
Tonight Chris and I went to an art auction at the church. It was a nice event. I took pears with goat cheese sprinkled with pistachios and cranberries. They were tasty, and people said they were well liked. It was easy! Thank you Pinterest!