4th of July

We spent the 4th of July in Orlando/Deltona with my family like we do every year. There are usually about 40 people, lots of kids, food, fun, and fireworks. Uncle Steve and other family members buy an enormous amount of fireworks, and we also have the benefit of being able to see the city fireworks from their back yard.

My nephew Zaye

Youngest nephew Maddox (Zaye's brother)

My cousin, Liz, and her daughter Sidney

4 generations (l-r) Chance, Mike, Aunt Diana, Nana, Sidney, Liz

My Aunt Diana and her son, Mike

Liz, Aunt Diana, and Mike (two of my cousins and one of my Aunts)

Aunt Diana and her family (Sidney, Liz, Aunt Diana, Mike, Chance)

Sidney-believe it or not her hair is as curly as Erin's!

Daughter and mother (Sidney and Liz)

Sidney, Aunt Diana, Liz, and her husband Lee

Miss Liberty, Erin

Slip 'N Slide fun

Rod and Mike (Rod is the husband of my cousin Maggie)

Mr. Patriotic and Mrs. Liberty (Lee and Liz)

When it came time for the fireworks I switched to the manual settings on my camera so that I could keep the shutter open.  I know that the pictures turn out so much better this way.  Here are a few of them.

Daddy and Erin at the end of the night-getting pretty tired

7 more weeks!

As of yesterday Erin has SEVEN more weeks before she officially starts kindergarten! My little duckling, the last of the flock, is heading off to school. And believe me...she is more than ready. She was tested today (by the school) for reading placement, and she is at the highest level of reading. Her word recognition was at a grade 2.5 (five months into a second grade year), and her reading comprehension was at a 1.6 (six months into a first grade year). She's definitely way ahead of the game, but it's not surprising because she reads a lot on her own (just like her big brother Sean).

So the next time we go to her school will be later this month to find out which class she'll be in, and she's crossing her fingers that she and Lars will be together! We'll know pretty soon.

Reflections

While I was out back walking Anah this evening I stood at the lake behind our house, mesmerized by the way the clouds were reflecting in the water. It was just so pretty to me. I notice it almost every night, and I often want to take my camera out there, but I just never make it. So I came back in, grabbed my camera, and sat down by the lake with Anah and my camera for about 30 minutes. I watched the sun set completely, watched the cloud formations change, and just relaxed. The alligator that lives in the lake was swimming around in front of us, the fish were jumping, and cranes came and went. It was just perfect.

The picture of the house is for you, mom. I know you wanted to see my BMW when I got it last year, and I never got around to sending you a picture of it. You can see it in this picture.

A fundraiser, a movie, and the beach

Brian, Erin and I attended a local fundraiser for families of local firefighters and police officers who have been killed in the line of duty today. It was a great cause, and there was a lot of activities for the kids, as well as plenty of smoked beef brisket (one of Brian's favorites)!

Afterwards the three of us went to see Kung Fu Panda, and then headed down to Clearwater Beach for sunset. This time we walked across the bridge that crosses the intercoastal before heading over to the Gulf, and Erin had a great time watching the pirate ship head out for its nightly sunset cruise. The Pirate Cruise is one of the most popular tourist attractions (this IS Buccaneer territory after all!) around here, and the boat is all pirate themed. You go out for a 90 minute sunset cruise out into the Gulf of Mexico, eat dinner, and just after sunset they launch the cannons. It's really neat, especially for the little kids that are into the pirate stuff (Erin is not).

It was a nice day, but I am missing my boys. A lot.

One of the many types of beautiful cranes that are local to our area (he was about 3.5 feet)

Friday night

The girl loves to fish!

Coloring after it got too dark to fish

Sean and Bren

They'll be on their way to Atlanta tonight. They leave for two weeks with their dad and family, and they are excited. Erin...not so much. She's been begging them not to go for the past couple of days.

They get home on July 8th. Hopefully I'll get some pictures of the fun stuff that they do while they are there!

Pam and Michelle time!!!!!!!

It's our trip time, and this time we are headed to Columbus, Ohio at the end of July. It's a dual-purpose trip, because I want to see the home where my great grandparents lived. I also want to spend some time at Ohio State University where my great grandfather taught as the department head of the school of dentistry after he retired as a dental surgeon from the Army. This is where they both lived until my great grandfather died.

I am so excited to see Pam again, and to be going on another one of our trips. I love that we do this!

The two of us on our flight to Boston (2007)

Summer time playing

While I was working I could see Sean, Bren and Erin out on the swing set in the back yard. They were having a great time together, and had taken the hose and made a slippery slide on the slide. I knew they would run if they saw the camera, so I went to the window in the den, and snapped a couple of pictures of them playing together. 

Baking cookies

Erin and Bren baked some cookies today. Before Erin could even come into the kitchen she had to put on her apron and chef hat! The two of them were so cute together, and they had a lot of fun.

Night swimming

Sean and Bren

Erin swimming

Greyson

Napping in one of Erin's toy baskets that was laying emptied on top of the jacuzzi.

Swimming

Erin, Bren and Brian met Lars and LT at the pool at the Y tonight while I was at school, and then I met them there. Erin gets to swim a lot, and is swimming completely on her own now. Our next door neighbors have a pool, and they have her over almost every single day for several hours to swim. It's great exercise for her, and she enjoys being in the water.

This is blurry, but still a cute one of her swimming to me

Lars

Day trip to Orlando

We took a quick ride over to Nana's house on Sunday. My Aunt Susie was down from Virginia, so that was a nice surprise. Most of my cousins were there, and it ended up being a house full (as usual). My Aunt Diana and I took the kids to a water park just a few miles down the road from their house, and Erin had a blast. As you can see the child loves to have her picture taken!

On the swingset in Nana's back yard

Aunt Linda, Susie, and Diana (l-r)

Erin and Sidney 

Sidney is my cousin Elizabeth's daughter

Speaking of Sean...

This is what I normally get when I try to take his picture...

But he actually let me take one today.  I love it.