water boy

Griffin loves the water....

....can you tell?   He is fearless and just wants to be in it all the time.  When we go to the pool I am completely hands on with him because he is so active.

He reminds me a lot of Sydney a few years ago.

We are having a blast swimming this year.  Have you been swimming much?

COMPANY!

One of the things on our summer list was to have company and company we have had and are having!  Bill's oldest son Marcus was here last week for a few days.  It was so good to see him and have time to visit.  Bill's aunt and uncle were traveling through and were able to spend an evening with us.  Again it was so nice to share a meal and visit.  My parents are coming in Sunday for the week of the fourth and we are so excited.  Busy busy busy preparing and planning so I have not been blogging all that much, I promise I will catch up and post some summer fun.  Here are some pics of us with company.

Bill's oldest and youngest sons- Griffin showing Marcus his golf moves

 father and son ready for a game of golf

Sydney and Marcus

Bill's Aunt Carol and Uncle Rich



Sydney's kindergarten graduation

Sydney's kindergarten graduation - welcome

Mrs Fearnside and Ms Graham, so excited yet sad to let the kids go

Sydney and Mrs Fearnside

Sydney was given the Milky Way Award "for setting an example for others by having quality work that was OUT OF THIS WORLD." 

Me and my girl, wow when did she grow up

Bill and Sydney (he used more Kleenex than I did)

Sydney and Kylie

Sydney and Noah

hugs goodbye

The kids performed a few songs and the teachers put together an awesome video presentation (too long to upload- but I do have a DVD copy).  We have become great friends with Mrs Fearnside and her family because the girls played softball together.  We are not saying goodbye to them, just kindergarten.  It was an awesome year, Sydney loved school and I thoroughly enjoyed being one of the class mom's. 

Class and Family Rules

I saw this idea on The Pleated Poppy Blog and knew I wanted to give it a try.  So when the canvases were on sale at hobby lobby I bought a few.  I already had thick card stock and the modge podge- matte finish.  I bought a small container of acrylic paint to coordinate with the paper colors and painted the sides and edges of the canvas.  Then I started cutting stripes of paper and writing my rules.  I used permanent black marker and varied my fonts but you could use stickers or rub ons for the words.  The smaller canvas was easier because I did not have to glue the stripes of paper to fit the width.  I varied how I finished the edges, tearing some, using fancy scissors on others and cutting straight across on the rest.  When I was ready to glue my stripes on I covered the canvas with modge podge and started placing the stripes, overlapping just a tad.

Then I applied several layers of modge podge to the top, one at a time with a day of dry time in between each layer. 

This is the finished product that I made for Sydney's teacher.  I had Sydney write her name and the year on the back edge of the canvas in permanent marker.  Her teacher loved it!   I need to have Bill hang our family rules on the wall.   This picture is dark for some reason, sorry.  I am planning to make one for a baby shower gift with a poem on it.  The ideas are endless. 

Summer academics

I planned a summer curriculum for Sydney, nothing too rigorous just some work sheets, crosswords, word scrambles and games to help keep her sharp on all her skills.

 

We have some card games that work on spelling and also math skills.

I used these sights for worksheets and games.  We are also reading and working of some sight words.

www.abc.net.ua/countusin/
mathfactcafe.com
pbskids.org/whiteboard
http://www.lessoncorner.com/puzzles

Do your kids do any work over the summer?

Downtown Wilmington

Our family on the horse drawn carriage ride, a tour of the mansions downtown. 

Our driver, he was so knowledgeable and funny!

Vinny sitting on Bill's lap, enjoying the sights

this house was built on top of an old jail

gardener working in front yard, I love the arches

beautiful stain glass

curved staircase

this house was designed by a boy in his teens (I cannot remember exact age)

this church steeple was so tall, the rooster on the top is 5 feet tall

downtown Wilmington is so beautiful, Bill and I could walk streets all day taking in the details

lots of homes have plaques which are color coded depending on the age of the home

We are anxious to plan an overnight trip back, without the kids and stay at one of the bed and breakfasts.

Summer list 2013

Last year we started our tradition of creating a summer list. This is the list for this summer, we are so excited!

 

Do you have any summer plans?

Airlie Gardens

While we were in Wilmington a few weeks ago we visited Airlie Gardens. The garden had a special Ribbit Exhibit featuring the work of JA Cobb and copper sculptor. 

They had a scavenger hunt for the kids to find all the frogs, it was fun for the adults too!

 

"Three horn players jazzin it up, the old Oak likes our groove, show us your moves."

 

 

 

 

 

" I have to keep working, that I know, the grass is never finished, it continues to grow."

this is the bottle chapel

see the butterfly

I loved all the tile designs

inside the butterfly house

"scuba gear on and toes that are wet- I'm on some steps, come see my big catch"

love this!

Val and I

Sydney imitating the sculpture

"My name is Zenny and I'm a peaceful frog, I am floating on a lily pad, not a log."

We had the best time, the kids loved running and looking for the frogs and we enjoyed all the scenery.