Another trip to Howard Park

We do love the beach, and we spend a good amount of time at any one of the many beaches that we have here. Howard Park is only a few minutes from our house, so we tend to end up there quite often. It's gorgeous. Here are a few pictures that I took of the kids at sunset earlier this week.

Islands of Adventure 6/24/07

On Sunday I took Sean, Bren, and Erin up to Jacksonville to pick up Zaye. He'll be here with us for a week, and then I'll take him to Orlando to spend some time with his dad. After we picked him up on Sunday I took the four kiddos to Islands of Adventure for the day/evening. We had a great time together.

Howard Park

I took these shots of Erin at Howard Park for sunset a few days ago.

A few more of Anah Belle

I took these pictures of Anah in my office today as she waited patiently to be let out onto the lanai to play with Sean.

Anah

She's getting so big. When we bought her in March, she weighed 2.5 pounds. She is now 15.5 pounds. You can definitely tell that she's a hound dog. Always has her nose to the ground, and sniffing as far down as she can (see below).

Staring

Caught in the act.

Traveling around

I feel like I've been making reservations, booking flights, and conversing with airlines non-stop for the past few days. Finally, everything is booked, reserved, and ready to go!

July 2-17th the boys fly to Atlanta to spend time with their family there.

July 30-August 15th Sean flies to Portland, Oregon to spend two weeks with Grandma Laurie and Grandpa Larry.

August 2-6th Erin flies to Milwaukee with Brian to visit his family there.

September 27-30th I fly to Boston to visit BU (potential graduate school) and spend time with Pam.

December 23-29 the boys and I fly to NYC for Christmas.

Fun times!

Reservations...check!

Pam and I both made our airline reservations today for our trip to Boston, and I'm so excited. We really are going to have a great time. It's not so much what we do, or where we go. Just being with Pam is what matters to me. Her presence is so comforting, and she is one of very few people in my life (ever) that I have been able to open up to completely.

I'm lucky to have such a wonderful friend.

Full speed ahead

One month left in the summer semester, and it's going well. I'm enjoying both of my instructors (one hearing and one Deaf), and learning a lot. Which is always good. I registered for fall classes today. It'll be my first time taking five courses in one semester, but I'm sure it will be fine.

Pam and I are meeting in Boston in September, and I'm really looking forward to that. The weather should be nice (please no early snow) so it will be a nice, relaxing visit for the two of us. No families...just us.

Shall we find a nice place with fancy chopsticks, Pam?

Just playing

Here are a few cute pictures of Sean, Bren and Erin from Felipe Park on Sunday.

Shuttle launch 6/8/07

On my way over to the east coast on Friday evening I got to stop and watch the shuttle launch. The sides of the road were completely packed with spectators. If you click on the 3rd and 4th pictures you will be able to see more detail. You can actually see the separation of the fuel tanks from the shuttle.


Just about ten seconds after the shuttle launched

The tanks separating from the shuttle

The tanks falling to the ground

All that was left was the smoke

Diva

That's my girl. Dirty face from playing outside, pretty pink headband, and mom's sunglasses. What a great combination. Can you tell that she was in a silly mood last night?

My boys

They both finished off the school year with honor roll, and I am so proud of them. They work so hard all year.

Bren's teacher, Mrs. Barr, announced to the class on the last day of school that she is moving to Pennsylvania this summer, so she obviously will not be returning next year. She has been his teacher for two years, and would have been his teacher for 5th grade as well. He was very upset by this news. She called me as he was on his way home that day to tell me that he had been crying when she announced it to the class, so she was checking on him. They were very close. She definitely was a great teacher, and exactly what Brendan needed...firm, held high expectations, and didn't take any crap from the kids. We'll definitely miss her, but I have no doubt that Brendan will do just fine next year with his new teacher. He's excited that he has only one more year of elementary!

Looking ahead, in two more years I'll have one child in high school, one in middle school and one in elementary. Woo hoo!!