The Atlantic Ocean

On our vacation this summer we made an afternoon of seeing the ocean. My first inclination was that the waves would scare the children and they wouldn't want to swim there that long--I was so wrong. Both kids loved the big waves and the nice soft sand. It was a blast for us too!

If you look closely in the picture below, you just might see Zoey underneath that big wave. It hit her fast and hard!

She looked a little defeated when she emerged from the wave, but it didn't stop her from spending every minute she could jumping the waves.
Zander enjoyed the water as much as Zoey did. He, of course, was always with one of us, but he almost always had a smile when the waves crashed by.

The waves created puddles (or more like ponds) in the sand. The shallow water and the sun made the ponds very warm. Zoey dubbed it her "spa" and liked to sit in the water and soak.





Zander and I fought the waves and we won!

More Disneyworld & Florida Pictures

Zander went off exploring with Daddy for a bit. He found Mickey, Minnie, and the Swiss Family Robinson treehouse. He really liked that one.

 Above. . .Zoey is practicing to be a street performer. It may actually happen one day!

 A highlight for both kids was all the Star Wars stuff. In the store above, you were able to build your own lightsaber. Zander made himself a green one, but Zoey at the last minute opted for her Minnie Mouse princess.

 Zoey joined every conga line she could.

I think they each one a game. We will have to have a tie breaker some day soon!

What? Its the end of summer?

So you are probably thinking that we didn't do anything over the summer because Judy is usually so good about updating the blog on a regular basis. Well. . .that is just not true. The truth is we were so busy, we haven't have any time to put all our great pictures up on the blog. So to make up for lost time this and the next few posts will hopefully bring us all up to speed. It may not be in the exact order that it all happened--but the gist is there.

In July, Zoey spent one of the hottest weeks of the summer at Tamarack Nature Center. She got to go on lots of hikes, learn a lot of new games, and enjoy a lot of nature.

We spent a bunch of weekends at the cabin up at Grace Lake. It is quickly becoming one of the kids' favorite places to be. They get to swim when ever they want, they know every one on the complex, there are other kids to play with, Grandma and Grandpa are there, and they fixed up the playhouse with Grandma. That was a big deal this summer too! They spent a whole 5 days away from Mommy and Daddy up at the lake. They did great!

Earlier this summer, I had to buy a new pair of sunglasses. So I went to the best place around. . .Poppa's work! The kids can with and got to see where Poppa spent his time and who he worked with. They loved trying on glasses.



Despite all the trips and things going on, we also did enjoy some downtime at home in the backyard just playing around.

Zoey and Zander with the neighbors.

The church near our house puts on a summer fair each year and it seems to have more and more each time we go. This year's new thing was the bungee jumping. . .Zoey all over it!

DISNEYWORLD!!!!

What a trip this was! I can't even describe how much fun it was to see the kids meet their Disney idols and be able to talk to them and get their autographs! Even though the weather was very hot and we got tired, we all had a great time! Grandma and Grandpa were there to share the fun. Grandpa told me when we were planning the trip that he couldn't wait to see Zoey's reaction to the Disney castle and the princesses. It was all that could be imagined. When we got to Magic Kingdom in the morning, we walked in the front gates and it actually took a while for the kids to notice the castle. But when they did, their mouths dropped and Zoey went all giddy with excitement. It was priceless!

Zoey, in her true fashion, joined every dance party available to her. Below is her dancing with Baloo the Bear (from The Jungle Book). Zander, in his true fashion, took a more reserved approach and watched things mostly from afar. Although he did join in some dancing later on in the day.






Mulan was a must-see when we went to Epcot.

Grandma and Grandpa were celebrating their 38th anniversary the week we were in Florida. Happy Anniversary!
Princess Aurora signed the inside of Zoey's princess hat. She told Zoey that it was their secret. I'll never tell a soul. Oops. . .

There are so many pictures that we took at Disneyworld that I had a hard time choosing what to put up on the blog. On of my projects this fall is to put all our pictures in a photo album and have the kids help me write captions about what they remember from our trip. Then we can always remember what a great time we had.

Mid-Summer Report

So I have a lot of catching up to do with the blog and that will come as soon as I have the time and energy (at the same time). It has been a busy summer. The kids have accomplished A LOT and there have been some funny quotes that need to be documented. Here we go:

Zoey

• Has learned how to ride a two wheeler!
• Has learned how to tie her shoes!
• Took swimming lessons for 2 weeks and now can float and go under the water effortlessly (with goggles).
  
• Went to Nature Camp and survived the hottest week of the summer!

Zoey-isms:

• June 9th: So I have a headache and Zander saw my pills sitting on the counter and asked what they were. Zoey told him is was "ass brain" to help mommy's head.
• May 19th: Another Zoey quote: "Mommy, the screen porch is looking very nice! You're doing a nice job. Soon it will be old again and you will need to fix it. . .that's the life cycle you know."

Zander

• Is POTTY-TRAINED!
  
• Took swimming lessons and is quite brave in the water now.
• Obsessed with Batman and superheros.
  
• Loves to play dress-up: knight in shining armor, batman, pirate, cowboy.
• Has taken an interest in making everything into a gun and shooting people.

Zander-isms:

• Topic: death. Zander: When I die you will be sad. But then I come ALIVE again. Me: I would be really sad if you die. But once your dead you don't come back to life. Zander: Uh-huh! Remember Jesus? (Wow! He is really listening!)
• "Zander! Stop running! You're going to fall!" Zander tells me, "I was running to tell Zoey not to run!" I reply, "So you broke the rules to tell Zoey not to break the rules?" Zander comes back, "Well that's what police guys do!" (I wasn't expecting that one.)
• Dinner conversation tonight: bullies. Zoey and I were talking about what to do if a bully was around. Zander says, "Be careful, bullies don't like red."

Both Kiddos:

• Were recently introduced to the magic that is STAR WARS. Zoey didn't want to watch it at first--but has really gotten into it. Both she and Zander are pretty good at telling about the plot and the characters. Their Star Wars knowledge is now far greater then their mom's.
• Will be spending their first week at Camp Grandma and Grandpa next week--as I will be out of town for a conference and Tyler will be working. It will be the longest time they have ever been away from mommy/daddy. Might be harder on me than them.
  

May and June

In May we took the kids to the Wildwood/OHA School carnival. It was a lot of fun and when I asked Zoey what her favorite part was, she said it was meeting the king and the queen (aka the principals of the two schools.)

Zander has been experimenting with different hairstyles. He calls this one his spiky hair.

May Projects

With the amazing help of my cousin Allen, we were able to finally redo our porch and deck. It is now one of our favorite spots in the house. Now that the kids are a bit more independent, Tyler and I have spent many nights on the porch--it is so relaxing!

Now when anything in our house needs to be fixed, the kids tell us to call Allen.

Zoey's 6th Birthday Party

Zoey had her very first friend party at Flips' Gymnastics Center. She was very excited and she and her friends got to spend an hour jumping and tumbling in the gym, followed by cake and presents afterwards.
Above is the birthday crew including Anabel, Zander, Jocelyn, Anna, Hazel, Kristie, Zoey, and Kylie.

Funny kids!

Annie (as told by Nana)

I'd been holding three tickets to ANNIE for what seemed like a year (9 months...). I thought this would be a perfect play for Zoey's sixth birthday and that she would find it really exciting. After I ordered two tickets, I suddenly thought, "Gee, my grown up little girl never got to go to a play likeAnnie. Tammy used to love Annie. Why don't I see if she can come, too." I got lucky and was able to get Tammy a ticket sitting right with us row three center stage. Perfect!

Auntie Tammy and I picked up our little ball of energy all ready to go. She was dressed in her red and white ladybug dress with her hair curled - a Zoey first - just to celebrate Annie. She seems like a miniature adult sometimes with her insightful conversation, though.

The play was done strictly sticking to the original. The staging was done extremely well. The acting, singing and dancing was thoroughly entertaining. I recognized my favorite actors in new roles. Zoey was mesmerized and applauded exuberantly. She is becoming so accustomed to the theatre that she knows her way around. The souvenir area always draws her but even though I was tempted to buy her something like a t-shirt or cap, I only bought her a $1.00 button that says "I love Annie" I didn't want to start a habit of her expecting a toy or something every time we went some place. She held on to the button all through the play even when she was sitting in my lap toward the end. Unfortunately, this may be the last year she will sit in laps. She is growing so much.

Zoey can read so well that she was able to sift through the program and find next years listing of plays. "Nana, can we go to this one too?" (pointing to Pippi Longstocking). "Nana, can we go to all of them? Can we bring Zander with us?" Looking at where she was pointing I noticed "TheWizard of Oz" ohhh! "Yes, Zoey, we have to go to some of these. How about The Wizard of Oz! That is Auntie Tammy's favorite movie!"

We started home in the car and Zoey was still perusing the program. "Nana, Madagascar is also coming. Can we go to that one, too?" "Oh, that would be a good one!" I said.

"Nana, I want to do that. I want to be an actress like them."

"You,d be good at it, Zoey."

Birthday Extravaganza Continues. . .

Happy Birthday my sweet Zoey! It has been a wonderful 6 years so far. You have made us laugh and cry. We are proud of everything that you do. Although, we don't want the years to go too fast, we are excited to continue to watch you grow and learn. Please always be the sweet, genuine princess that you are! Love Mommy and Daddy

It was quite the day for Miss Zoey. "Dress Your Best" Day just happen to coincide with her birthday day--which meant everyone at school dressed their nicest. Zoey brought donut holes to daycare for a treat and mommy dropped off the cupcakes for her class at school--they had the brightest neon colored frosting I had ever seen. Not natural, but definitely matching with Zoey's color schemes. She got to eat a Dairy Queen lunch with her teacher, Mrs. Kostuch. We won that from the silent auction at her school carnival. Then she got to celebrate a little more with her daycare family and then again tonight with Zander, Daddy, and me. She basically turned the day into her own Yes Day (based on one of our favorite books by the same title written by Amy Krause Rosenthal.) We had to say yes to everything she asked. So. . .she got to stay up late, have extra screen time, climb up the ladder in the backyard (with daddy spotting her, of course), have lots of cake, etc. All in all it was a pretty good day!
She also really liked the present from us. . .her very own scooter.