Where did summer go?

Summer came to an end this morning here in St. Augustine when the kids headed back to school.  Summer flew by but was such a nice break for us - no school work for the kids and no blogging for me!  I didn't actually intend to not update the blog all summer but that's how it turned out.  I'm back on it now and will get caught up with picutres of all of the summer fun.  Look for lots and lots of pictures in the next couple of days!

A Weekend of Soccer

It was definitely a "soccer weekend" for us this past weekend.  Emory's 3v3 team played in another tournament and the USA was playing in the World Cup on Saturday.

Here they are at the end of the tournament after they received their bronze metals.  For this tournament they were missing two of their original players who were out of town.  Fortunately the coach's other son, Luke (standing middle) was a guest player.  He played great -- and he's only 8 years old!  Unfortunately Mack (kneeling beside Emory) was injured in their first game on Saturday and wasn't able to play for the rest of the tournament. 

Emory scored 5 goals during the tournament.  It was fun to watch, especially by their last game when they really pulled it all together and started playing as well as they are able to play.  Emory once again had some great facial expressions...

On Saturday afternoon, we were able to make it home in time to see the USA play in the World Cup.  This is how Emory and Ellie watched it...floating in the pool while watching the tv in the lanai.  I'm not sure how much they could really see with the sun being so bright but it was cranked up so I know that they could hear it!

A Fun and Relaxing Father's Day

We celebrated a relaxing Father's Day in part because it is just so hot around here this time of year and also because we had gotten up very early the day before for a swim meet with the kids.  After breakfast and opening some Father's Day presents, Dan and Ellie decided that they would make a yummy fresh baked pizza for lunch...mmm, homemade pizza!

Ellie put on her chefs hat and and they got to work stretching out the dough.

It wasn't long before Dan was tossing the pizza dough up into the air and the flour was flying all over the kitchen.  What a mess but it was great fun and Ellie couldn't stop laughing.  She even convinced Dan to teach her how to do it. 

Emory finally decided to come in and help out after he heard all of the fun they were having tossing the dough in the air.  He helped stuff the crust, spread the sauce and put on the toppings.  It was the perfect Father's Day lunch because Dan got to have fun making it with the kids!

Later on in the afternoon, we decided to head to the beach and take the pups along too.  It was their first visit to the beach this summer.  We went to a little area near Fort Matanazas because the water is more calm and shallow and we thought the dogs would enjoy it more.

We threw the tennis ball in right away and it was a huge surprise when Owen followed Piper right into the water and took off swimming.  Piper is our swimming dog and the only one who will even consider going into the pool at our house.  Owen flat out refuses to go in on his own and when he is put in, he looks like he is going to drown!  He was the perfect swimmer in the ocean today though.  Maybe it was because it felt like it was 100 degrees!

Piper had so much fun retrieving the tennis ball over and over and over.

While Emory buried his sister in sand, Dan brought out another of Piper's favorite toys, her pink frisbee.  She goes crazy for it each time she sees it at home.  She tries her best to catch it in mid-air and is sometimes able to do it.  Today I think that she found it just as much fun to dig in the sand and try and pick it up.  It was definitely fun to watch!  Sand was flying everywhere!

Owen prefered to avoid the flying sand after a while and just look out over the water.  Wonder what he was thinking?

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY, DADDY!

We love you today and every day of the year!

Swim Team

Emory and Ellie are both on the Fighting Turtles Swim Team for their third summer.  Practices started at the beginning of May with swim meets starting at the beginning of June.  Following are some pictures taken at our meet held last Saturday.

Ellie loves to swim butterfly and was so happy after this race.  She won a heat ribbon for coming in first place.

A Trip to the Zoo

We kicked off the first day of summer vacation with a trip to the Jacksonville Zoo.  It was a hot day but as we had hoped there weren't any crowds to fight to get up close to see the animals.

Each year the Zoo seems to be adding new animals and this year it was the penguins.  Obviously not the kind that need cold water and ice to swim with here in Florida, but they were awfully cute none the less.  There were a bunch swimming around having fun but there were three that stayed up against the glass the entire time we were watching them and really looked as if they wanted to be petted.  Ellie would  have been more than happy to jump right in there with them if she could have!

My favorite animal is definitely the giraffe and the Zoo has a great viewing area for them.  It is a huge raised platform and the giraffes walk right up to it and you are really eye to eye with them.  There is even an opportunity to feed them for a couple of dollars which is really a neat experience.

Ellie was able to do this in kindergarten when we went there for a field trip with her class.  She loves it and giggles the whole time.

This was Emory's first time feeding them but he really liked it too.  He is usually a little more cautious about doing things like this but he was up for it on this day.  This giraffe couldn't get enough of the romaine lettuce!

Emory and Ellie enjoyed posing with and hanging on the life size elephant statues too.

The Last Day of School

The last day of school came this year on Wednesday, June 9th.  It was such a bittersweet day for us.  The kids were happy to start the summer but sad to say goodbye to their teachers.  Emory and Ellie both had such wonderful teachers this year that we will miss a lot.  It's hard to believe that Ellie has now finished first grade and Emory has finished fourth!

Emory finished up his third year with his teacher, Mrs. Tipton.  She was his second grade teacher and then she "looped up" with her class to third and then fourth grade.  It has been such a great experience for him to have her for three years.  She knows what he is capable of and doesn't let him get away with anything.  We can only hope that we will be so fortunate to have many more Mrs. Tiptons who will care so much as Emory continues his school career. 

Ellie too had an amazing teacher in Mrs. Ledford.  Mrs. Ledford found so many different ways to make each day fun that as a parent I found myself not wanting to miss a day volunteering in her class.  Ellie has learned so much and grown so much this year with Mrs. Ledford.  We wish that she could have "looped up" for two more years!  We will miss Mrs. Ledford in the classroom but look forward to spending time with her and her children this summer as friends.

Dan and I could not be more proud of Emory and Ellie and how much they have accomplished this year in school.  Each of them is dedicated to doing their best and it shows in their school work and grades.  Emory finished up fourth grade with straight A's for the entire year making this his third year of straight A's.  Way to go Emory!  Ellie earned all Ms and Ps this year.  She finished up first grade with all Ms which means that she Mastered each of the areas that she was required to learn as a first grader.  She also finished the year reading on a third grade level.  Great job, Ellie!  We love you both!

Ponte Vedra 3v3 Soccer Tournament

The weekend of June 3rd and 4th the Kickers, Emory's 3v3 soccer team, participated in a tournament in Ponte Vedra.  It was a beautiful weekend for soccer.  Although it was really hot the boys really played great!  It was so much fun to watch!

Emory really hung in there and played his best the whole tournament.  It was amazing to see how much they had grown as a team since their last tournament together.  I guess all of those practicies are paying off!

Emory even spent some time on the ground he was going after the ball so much.  It was worth it though because they made it to the championship game for their age group.

I was lucky enough to catch one of Emory's goals on film.  Emory took this shot in their first game and it went right in.  It was a great way to start off his tournament.  Great job Emory!

In the championship game, the Kickers came up short and brought home the silver medal.  It was still a great weekend though and we all had lots of fun. 

Way to go KICKERS and Coach Yuri!  We're looking forward to going for the gold at the next tournament!

From Daisy to Brownie

On the evening of May 25th, Ellie participated in a "bridging ceremony" where she went from being a Daisy to a Brownie in Girl Scouts. 

Her troop started off in a circle holding hands and one by one each name was called.  Each girl then crossed a symbolic bridge over a little pond and was given a certificate saying that they had completed all of the requirements of being a Daisy and were now promoted to a Brownie.

On the other side of the bridge, the troop leaders Ms. Theresa and Ms. Melissa presented the girls with their bridging certificate and their first patches for their Brownie vest.

Special thanks to everyone who helped Ellie earn the patch below for selling over 100 boxes of Girl Scout cookiesin her first year.  Ellie had a great time doing it and can't wait for next year when she promises that she will sell even more.  (She came in 2nd in her troop for the number of boxes sold!)

Gators, Gators Everywhere!

Florida certainly is the land of the gators.  Even after living here for twelve years now, we still look for them and find seeing one fascinating.

On Sunday afternoon we had dinner at the Outback Crab Shack.  This is a little restaurant located on a creek nearby.  Everytime that we have been there we have seen at least one alligator (usually many more) down by the dock.

On Sunday, there just weren't any of the little guys hanging around in their usual spot.  We took a walk down to the end of the quarter mile floating dock and still didn't find any gators.  Surely there were many of them watching us from their hiding spots along the edge, but we couldn't see any of them.  On our return trip down the dock, we were not disappointed.  A smaller gator of about 3-4 feet had come out to check us out -- and maybe look for some dinner himself. 

Even though alligators can be found swimming in many creeks and ponds in the area, it's still fun to go to the St. Augustine Alligator Farm to check them out up close.  Ellie's first grade class did just this for their last field trip of the year.

There are so many different types of alligators and some crocs too at the Alligator Farm.  Check out all of the teeth on this little guy!

Then there are MUCH LARGER alligators to check out too!

The best part of any trip to the Alligator Farm is feeding time.  They do three demonstrations daily where they actually have a zoo keeper walk into an large enclosure with about 20 alligators and feed a few of them.

Can you even imagine being so close to that open mouth?!?  Crazy!

A happy gator after a little snack...