Kindergarten

I have to say I know that a lot of Mom's get teary eyed about their youngest (or oldest) going off to Kindergarten but for me it was a lot harder dropping 1 year old Audrey off at daycare.  Even 2 year old Audrey in which I had to run quickly away as she started screaming was so much harder then this.   It also helps that it is a 2 1/2 hour day, the least amount of school she has ever had.  I feel like with the help of our amazing daycare, our church, or family, and our friends I am sending this amazing and funny child off to Kindergarten with all the tools she needs to succeed.  Audrey has them, she just needs to find the confidence to use them.  Shyness might win at first but I know in a few weeks she will be the "Sonbeam" that her pre-k teacher taught her to be.

Pete with his Mini Me.

I know that you will make great friends this year.

Have fun Audrey and show your crazy sense of humor in class

You are all about play at age 5 and I love that so much.

I don't want that to change.  You have strong academic skills so I have no fear about that.

Remember that your sister is right down the hallway.

Here's to an awesome school year.

Your back pack was blessed and you are ready little girl!

Here's to an awesome school year.

3rd Grade

Today is the first day of school for Celia!  Tomorrow it will be Audrey's turn.  In one week we will have a 9 year old.

We blessed the back packs yesterday

We have a good head on her shoulders and discussed what it means to be a good friend

She got the teacher she absolutely wanted

She has a best friend to greet her on the bus.

Healthy lunches packed for the week.

3rd grade treat my little girl well.

Here's to a great school year!!

Our Beach Trip Part 1

We went to Corolla this year for our Beach Trip.  We normally stay in Duck however I did not book our trip until later and we liked this house in Corolla the best.  We lucked out, the beach was so gorgeous.  Apparently right in front of our community was less crowded, you look either way about a 1/8 of mile each way and there are a lot more people.

We decided to split up the trip and booked a hotel the night before in an area about 90 min from Corolla.  If you can get onto Duck highway prior to the mass entrance of all the vacationers then you are set.  If you don't, then you sit for hours..  So we got to Corolla about 10 ish, drove around, had lunch, and watched the movie Pete's Dragon.  It was excellent.  We also discovered a movie theater in Corolla that apparently had been there for years.  Good to know, you know after vacationing down here for 7 years!!

We did walk around the Corolla light house area.  Celia was tired and up and down with emotions, this was happy.  We like happy Celia.  Miss Audrey below was just hanging out looking pretty.

The day after we arrived Pete rented this scooter car.  He decided to drive it in a 45 mph zone and made a lot of people irritated but the girls had fun.  Audrey did decide that it did not go fast enough and her ride was short.

Our beach was gorgeous but there was one problem.  The water up and down the east coast has been warm, in the 80s.  For some odd reason the outer banks water temp was primarily in the low 60s until the last 2 days of our trip.  The girls did not seem to mind however it was literally numbing.  I could tell the difference between 61 and 65.

Our Beach Trip Part 2

This is just to show how big and how not crowded our section of the beach looked

Celia had her fill of boogie boarding this year and Audrey learned how to do it too!

I took Celia out for our Mommy and Me date together and she opted for an ice-cream (with lactaid tablets!) and a little tiny ty elephant as a treat.  We shopped around for a short time but it was very hot.

Auds and I had our little Mommy and Me date the next day.  In her hand is her little Tiny Ty named Spangle.  Audrey opted for Chocolate Chip Gelati and some relaxing in the hammock.  It was even hotter when we went out!  

I think this was the best picture I got of the two girls the whole trip!  

We did go out for lunch in Duck one afternoon at a mexican place we have visited for the past few vacations.  We also enjoyed walking the boardwalk and taking in the sights and shops a little bit.

The girls love the Pegasus horses all over the shop area.

In the spirit of the Olympics

Audrey is the one swimming in the pink cap closest to the camera. She I think was the only 5 year old in the group, the rest were 6. But Auds for whatever reason will take breaths every 5 strokes or so and breath to the side at our indoor Y pool. Outside, she needs LOTS of air and needs to look to the sky. I am not going to question it, I am just thankful she is water safe at this age.

That time it Monsooned at League Championships

So I did pay attention to the forecast for Friday and Saturday which was Celia's swim league championships.  Friday at first seemed like the worst day.  When we woke up it was pouring, just drenching, soaking rain.  They moved warm ups to 7:15 vs 7:00 so that was nice and by the time we go to the pool it had stopped raining and the sun eventually came out and then it was HOT.   This is a 2 day morning and evening meet.  Audrey hung out with me at the meet for morning and evening.  Luckily Pete did make it for a good part of the evening sessions.

5th place in Breast stroke

Celia hung in there.  This was a new experience for her and the weather really did not make it easier.  It rained a little bit in between sessions on Friday however nothing big and it really was an okay day.  The best part of it was that Celia placed 9th in freestyle (received a ribbon) and 5th in breast (a medal).  That was very exciting.   The meet was fun.  There were some awesome races.

Then Saturday came.  I thought Sat was the better day.  Umm…. Not so much.  The morning session was not awful, hot, but we made it through and Celia's relay team did awesome.  Celia also swam backstroke but she did not make it to finals, which was perfectly okay.  So onto the evening session.  It monsooned in between the morning and evening sessions.  By the time 3:00 rolled around and it was time to go for warm ups it was not raining.  I was hopeful.   Warm ups were completed and then it started to rain again.  There is an award ceremony prior to the start of the evening finals and one of those awards is my father's sportsmanship award.  My Mom, Celia, and I helped hand out that award.  But by that point it was hard to hear or see due to the pouring rain.   There had been no thunder so the meet went on.  My mom left because it was MONSOONING and I joined some very nice Mom's to ride out the meet.  I told Pete to forget it.

Poor Celia tried to keep warm and dry.  At one point I looked at the sky and just told her, go pack up all your stuff and be ready to leave.  "Why Mom?"  Because it is going to thunder and a few minutes later, we were told to go to our cars.

riding out the thunder

League champs do not get rescheduled.  We waited the appropriate time and then even though it was still pouring, we wondered back into the pool and proceeded with the events.  I left Celia and attempted to see if my car would make it out of the parking lot.  You see everyone parked in the grass and it was now mud.  With some luck, some help from two people pushing my car, I made it out.  I then parked in a nearby neighborhood.  As I walked back, at least 5 cars were attempting to get out and they were very stuck.  It was quite the scene.

I made it back into the pool area and Celia and I hung out until it was time for her to swim.  She did a strong freestyle and her teammates did an amazing job.  They earned their 4th place medal in the rain…

Thank you to all those coaches that stood there soaked.  Everyone did an amazing job and it was a memory making event.  I actually had a great time and Celia will remember the time she swam in a monsoon.  Audrey will remember the food.