Ahhh….vacation!! That about sums up how I’m feeling right now. There’s just no substitute for the relaxed, sleepy feel of sun, sand, and a fantastic beach vacation. I feel like we’re all getting a much-needed reset, after a completely crazy couple (ok, more than a couple?) months of prepping the house to sell, putting it on the market, moving, finding a new house, starting a new job, etc. We can handle the stress – but it’s oh so nice to unwind. And for me, just so nice to leave the corporate world behind for a week and spend quality time with the family.
We haven’t done anything particular exciting this week; our days have been filled with making sandcastles, swimming in the pool, jumping in the waves, taking decently long naps, and getting to know the cousins over family dinners and walks on the beach. I say “getting to know” the cousins because these days, we manage about one trip a year to see the H side of the family; so really the kids do need to get to know each other from year to year. But this is the second year in a row we have come to (gorgeous!) Atlantic Beach – and Maddie’s third trip here – and having memories from year to year is definitely proving to be nice for building relationships with Brad’s side of the family.
But even though we’re doing the same activities from day to day, it’s nice to see how things change… over the course of the week, Maddie has gone from using a lifejacket part of the time to going without about 90% of the time in the pool. She’s doggie paddling from one end of the pool to the other, working on perfecting her underwater somersault, and getting more confident by the day. Sienna and Lyla are motoring all around the pool with their floaties; arm swimmies have been a sanity saver with Lyla, who insists on doing everything in the pool herself even though she really can’t swim yet. The sandcastle skills are really getting honed, and the two older kids have gotten fairly brave with the waves and are now enjoying bobbing up and down in the surf with lifejackets on and Mom or Dad nearby.
More to come, but the pool is calling… it’s really too bad vacation can’t last forever!
Showing posts with label happenings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label happenings. Show all posts
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Back to the Routine
So I haven't posted anything in a while (again!) and lately I really feel I miss blogging. Time is just flying by so fast, and I feel like if I don't write something down here every once in a while, I'm going to forget just about everything!
We're trying to get settled back into a fall routine, and so far it's going mostly ok, with a glitch or two here and there. Madelyn started her first full week of Pre-K this week and really just seems to be loving it. I didn't really think I would notice a difference between preschool and Pre-K, but I definitely do. There are three new kids in her class that weren't in the preschool class last year, and she's happy to come home and tell me all about her new friends. Last year, she was the oldest in the class; now, there are a few others older than she is, which I think is good for her. I keep warning her teacher that she seems to have turned into a teenager over the summer (with all the sass and attitude that comes with it, ugh!). After her first day, the teacher told me that they were reviewing the family pictures that the kids were asked to bring in, and half way through Maddie said, "Umm...excuse me Miss K. I really think that, um, now that we're, you know - OLDER - we should really call our mother's "Mom" instead of Mommy or Mama." All the while she's doing her hand new teenager-style hand gesturing thing, of course. Miss K told Maddie she thought it was ok if the other kids still wanted to call their Moms "Mommy" or whatever. But Maddie said, "Well, you know. I just think since we're four, we should probably call her Mom, you know?" What a character. The teacher said she was perfectly nice and polite about it, and really seemed like she thought they should have to graduate to calling their mother's "Mom." Where does she come up with this stuff??
Pre-K is three days a week...the rest of the weekly schedule is now taken up with gymnastics for Maddie and Sienna on Saturday mornings, then Music & Movement for Sienna on Monday (the babysitter takes her during the day while Maddie is at pre-K, and Lyla watches), and year two of dance for Maddie on Wednesday. She's in the 5-8 yr. class this fall, a bit early but she seems to enjoy the challenge and since at this age it's mostly about following directions, that class is a better fit for her than the 2.5-5 year old class.
As for Lyla, she's going through a tremendous language spurt right now, mimicking more and more words and jabbering up a storm. She's in that adorable phase where she'll throw out what seems like an entire sentence of gibberish, and then end it with a very real word like "puppy" or "baby" or "up." It's so endearing! She's cut all four molars in the past few weeks, which has made for a bit of a clingy baby. But since they've all finally come through, she's back to her fairly independent and strong-willed self. Her favorite thing to do right now is to look at books, practice climbing up and down stairs (and chairs, etc.) and push around the baby stroller with a doll in it.
We're trying to get settled back into a fall routine, and so far it's going mostly ok, with a glitch or two here and there. Madelyn started her first full week of Pre-K this week and really just seems to be loving it. I didn't really think I would notice a difference between preschool and Pre-K, but I definitely do. There are three new kids in her class that weren't in the preschool class last year, and she's happy to come home and tell me all about her new friends. Last year, she was the oldest in the class; now, there are a few others older than she is, which I think is good for her. I keep warning her teacher that she seems to have turned into a teenager over the summer (with all the sass and attitude that comes with it, ugh!). After her first day, the teacher told me that they were reviewing the family pictures that the kids were asked to bring in, and half way through Maddie said, "Umm...excuse me Miss K. I really think that, um, now that we're, you know - OLDER - we should really call our mother's "Mom" instead of Mommy or Mama." All the while she's doing her hand new teenager-style hand gesturing thing, of course. Miss K told Maddie she thought it was ok if the other kids still wanted to call their Moms "Mommy" or whatever. But Maddie said, "Well, you know. I just think since we're four, we should probably call her Mom, you know?" What a character. The teacher said she was perfectly nice and polite about it, and really seemed like she thought they should have to graduate to calling their mother's "Mom." Where does she come up with this stuff??
Pre-K is three days a week...the rest of the weekly schedule is now taken up with gymnastics for Maddie and Sienna on Saturday mornings, then Music & Movement for Sienna on Monday (the babysitter takes her during the day while Maddie is at pre-K, and Lyla watches), and year two of dance for Maddie on Wednesday. She's in the 5-8 yr. class this fall, a bit early but she seems to enjoy the challenge and since at this age it's mostly about following directions, that class is a better fit for her than the 2.5-5 year old class.
As for Lyla, she's going through a tremendous language spurt right now, mimicking more and more words and jabbering up a storm. She's in that adorable phase where she'll throw out what seems like an entire sentence of gibberish, and then end it with a very real word like "puppy" or "baby" or "up." It's so endearing! She's cut all four molars in the past few weeks, which has made for a bit of a clingy baby. But since they've all finally come through, she's back to her fairly independent and strong-willed self. Her favorite thing to do right now is to look at books, practice climbing up and down stairs (and chairs, etc.) and push around the baby stroller with a doll in it.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Well...
The Fish
It didn't take one to lose one... sadly, we had a ceremonial toilet flushing this morning to mourn the loss of "Lyla's Little Orange Fish," who hadn't even been with us long enough to get a real name. Though it's not really funny, I seriously think that the reason poor little Lyla Jr. died was because the other - bigger - two fish in the aquarium were terrorizing the poor thing. Brad and I had a feeling the orange fish wouldn't be with us too long, because by day two the poor fishy was hiding out under the pirate ship, with "Spotty" (Maddie's big spotted black fish who loves to eat and seems a bit aggressive) always standing guard on either side and looking like he might be getting some enjoyment out of it. Hmmm...does this seem to reflect our lives at all? Any symbolic meaning here??
It didn't take one to lose one... sadly, we had a ceremonial toilet flushing this morning to mourn the loss of "Lyla's Little Orange Fish," who hadn't even been with us long enough to get a real name. Though it's not really funny, I seriously think that the reason poor little Lyla Jr. died was because the other - bigger - two fish in the aquarium were terrorizing the poor thing. Brad and I had a feeling the orange fish wouldn't be with us too long, because by day two the poor fishy was hiding out under the pirate ship, with "Spotty" (Maddie's big spotted black fish who loves to eat and seems a bit aggressive) always standing guard on either side and looking like he might be getting some enjoyment out of it. Hmmm...does this seem to reflect our lives at all? Any symbolic meaning here??
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