Summer

Well, the summer came and went and just like that, I was without a blog entry. School has now been back in session for 2 week so I have decided to cram all evidence of our summer fun into one post. Our summer consisted of several trips to Jacksonville, a fun weekend getaway with friends to Homassasa for the start of scalloping season, a great 4th of July with friends in Naples, a trip to Wilmington for an art show and to visit family, and two trips to Orlando where we met Daddy on our way home from Jacksonville to hit up the water parks and Animal Kingdom. Harrison did a session of swim team at the beginning of the summer and went to the Conservancy Camp and Scout Camp. Brooks did two sessions of theater camp and both of them had a blast. We spent lots of time with friends at the beach and did quite a few paddle board trips. Clam Pass has proven to be our favorite spot so far. And Nat Nat, Zach, and Davis came in town for a visit. We got to have a sleepover with Davis which was fantastic for the kids!

It has been a wonderful summer. Of course, there have been some bittersweet moments. My mom was diagnosed with leukemia at the beginning of the summer and she underwent some tough treatment. She just recently finished her last round of chemo and is soon to be on the road to recovery. It was a rough journey for her but it did give me some great opportunities to spend a lot of time with her which I know we both enjoyed. So much has happened over the summer and I wont be able to capture everything in one post, but I think I managed to get the highlights. Brooks will be starting her new school, Moorings Preschool, in a week and Harrison just wrapped up a week at Pelican Marsh. I will have a new post on that soon and probably a rant about all their outrageous afterschool activities and how I'm going to lose my mind in all the chaos of which sports to choose...so look forward to that!

Scalloping In Homasassa

4th of July

Brooks' 3rd Ballet Recital

It was the year of the Daddy/Daughter dance and Brooks and Robert were fantastic. This ballerina is really getting into her groove with ballet!

Harrison's Birthday Sleepover

Wow, I forgot to add these photos in chronological order. There has bee a lot going on lately but we did have a grand celebration for Harrison's 7th birthday. Universal Studios was his big event for his birthday, but these are some photos of the sleepover that he had with his two best friends, Owen and Charlie. Harrison has been all about Harry Potter so it was a Harry Potter movie marathon, along with all kinds of sliding, jumping and chasing around the house.

Harrison's Grauduation

Harrison completed his second year of Kindergarten and oh how far he has come. I really think this last year has served him enormously well and I look forward to watching him succeed in school. He will miss the classmates that he had from this past year as he moves on to a bigger classroom of kids for 1st grade, but I know he is up to the challenge. Who am I kidding. For a social kid like Harrison, a bigger classroom means meeting new friends, and that is one of Harrison's favorite things to do. Lee Lee was with Harrison and Brooks for the week because I went to Jacksonville to stay with my mom. So she got to attend the big event! We are lucky to have such an awesome family!

Annie Play

Next Stop, Broadway! Brooks and her bestie, Leah, managed to squeak past auditions and land the roles of "littlest orphans" in the Naples Performing Arts production of Annie. I have to say, I was impressed. Not that they got the parts but that they survived the intense 2 moths of practice, the 5 performances (2 performances a day) and they still had enough left in the tank to keep going. They were wonderful in the performance and they loved every minute of it! There were a couple times that I was afraid they would get themselves kicked out of the play or out of any future plays for good but instead they rocked it. So proud of what these girls can accomplish.