First Day of School!

Monday, August 17, 2015

The summer went WAY too fast.  I always thought it went fast when I was a kid, but I swear it goes by even faster as an adult!  We were all in for a rude awakening on this first day of school.  No more sleeping in.  No more casual morning breakfast.  No more mornings in play clothes.  Nope.  Go go go.  Get up.  Get dressed (in uniform, ugh) and get out the door.

Luckily, everything went very smoothly on the first day and we were at school ahead of schedule.  We had plenty of time for pictures and seeing friends.  Emily was excited about going to class and taking in all her new supplies and backpack.

She had such a great first grade year so here's to hoping second grade is even better!

Minecraft Backpack (an enderman)

Em & Mackenzie.  Go Rams!

We love BCS!

   

Second Grade Orientation

Friday, August 14,  2015

We made it back from Palm Beach in time to run home, drop off our suitcases and head back to school for orientation.  Emily seemed pretty excited about seeing some of her friends that she missed over the summer.  We got to meet the new principal, announce the formation of the new PTO and go to the classroom to meet her teacher - Ms. Vencill.  Sadly though, her 3-4 best little girl friends were all in the other second grade class.  But she handled it well and I was proud of her.  As her shirt says: Watch Out Second Grade, Here She Comes!

Palm Beach Vacation (Thursday)

Thursday, August 13, 2015

Today was our last day in Palm Beach.  I admit I was not sure how I felt about it here when we first arrived, but as the week has gone on this area has really grown on me.  We've had a lot of fun at the pools and the beach as well as the zoo, there was a huge selection of restaurants (including a Cheesecake Factory) and a mall I desperately wish we had in Charleston.  And I never even made it to the outlets or the spa!

Anyway, to wrap up our last day here, we spent this morning at the Lagoon  Pool sliding, playing and swimming. Emily even made a friend that she played with for several hours in the pool.  Then we came in and had lunch before making a trip back to the beach one last time.

Unfortunately, our visit to the beach was short lived.  Right after Emily got in the water, she fell on the coral and sliced up her leg pretty good.  It was big enough that I wondered if she needed stitches, but Dan did not think she did.  She never cried, but I could tell it really shook her up because she did not want to go back into the ocean at all after that.  So she hung out under our umbrella for a bit making sandcastles.  Then the weather seemed like it was going to take a turn for the worse and the beach guys came and took down all the umbrellas (weird with impending rain, right?).  So we went up to the pool to be closer to the hotel in the event of a storm.  We got about another hour or so of pool time in before the storm arrived.

   

When the rain finally came, we headed inside and just enjoyed some peace and quiet with our devices (translation: Emily played Minecraft on her iPad) until it was time for dinner.  We had dinner at Yard House, at Downtown Palm Beach Gardens...conveniently located near Sloan's where we had one last yummy dish of ice cream.  Love that place.  Emily also picked out a very cute cat as a souvenir of our trip.  I definitely think we'll consider coming back.  Great end to our summer!!  Can't even believe that tomorrow is second grade orientation...

Palm Beach Vacation (Wednesday)

Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Based upon the timing of low tide (and thus the availability of the reef for snorkeling) we decided to change up our normal plan today and hit the beach first.  We reserved our beach chair early to be sure we had a front row seat for the afternoon (best money spent on this trip, by the way, was the rental of the chairs and umbrella on the beach) and then we made our way back to the Lagoon Pool for the morning.  There was plenty of family fun on the water slide and lots of Daddy and Emily time in the pool too.

   

 After lunch, I got a few hours to go shop at the Gardens Mall.  They had just about all my favorite stores including some I rarely get to go in - like Tory Burch, Lily Pullitzer and Vineyard Vines.  I soaked up every minute.  While I shopped, Daddy and Emily went snorkeling and swimming at the beach.  Then we all met up at the Cheesecake Factory for dinner.  We ate way too much, which is basically a given at the Cheesecake Factory.  Then we came back to the resort and took Emily to the playground.  We were just getting ready to come home when we thought we felt a few sprinkles. Sure enough, within a minute or so, the sky opened.  So we got a little wet on the way home, but we ran off some calories from the cheesecake too!

Tomorrow is our last day of vacation, but this has been one of the most relaxing vacations we have ever had so I don't think we will need a vacation from our vacation!  Good thing too, since school starts on Monday...

Palm Beach Vacation (Tuesday)

Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Definitely a short night of sleep as a result of Disney Fast Pass night, but we were up and at it early this morning to go to the Palm Beach Zoo.

This was definitely not a big zoo, but in 95 degree heat, it was just as well and we enjoyed it.  Probably not surprisingly, Emily was still in love with the river otter.  These otters were definitely not as playful as the ones in Cincinnati, but she liked them all the same.

  

Her second favorite animal of the day was the white ibis (who'd of thought).  I think it was her favorite just because a nice zoo lady gave her a few handfuls of food to feed them.  They were awfully cute...and very friendly.

Some other fun animal friends on this trip included a jaguar, turtles, a peacock, flamingos, a koala, a tiger, a kangaroo, a wallaby, snakes, monkeys, lemurs, a cute little dessert fox and many, many more.  It was definitely worth spending an afternoon there.  Much fun.  Many friends.

   

After zoo fun, we headed back to the resort and spent a little time on the beach.  Dan and I needed grande iced coffees to get us through as the late night was catching up with us.  We got Emily a snorkel to try out on the reef today, but unfortunately the tide was high this afternoon and the waves were rough.  Dan took her out for a little bit to try it out, but it was just really rough this afternoon. So we're hoping to give it a go tomorrow morning at low tide.  We also had a little pool time at the Lagoon Pool before cleaning up and heading to Bonefish Grill for dinner.  Then it was time to call it a night.  Disney stuff made for a very tried mommy and daddy tonight...zzzzzzzz

Palm Beach Vacation (Monday)

Monday, August 10, 2015

Today was largely a repeat of yesterday.  We started our morning at the beach.  The tide was a little higher, but Emily was still able to get out to the coral island and spend lots of time swimming with the fish.  This time, she took her mermaid tail out into the water and that made for hours of ocean fun.

   

We spent most of the afternoon at the pool.  But this time we tried out the infinity pool for a while. Emily practiced lost of water gymnastics and finally swam all the way across the pool (horizontally) without taking a breath.  She was pleased with herself.  Then we went to the Lagoon pool for a little bit before heading inside to change and get ready for our evening adventures.

Unlike in Myrtle Beach, mini golf is not a prominent feature in  Palm Beach.  But, we were able to find a nice course in Jupiter, Florida, about 20 minutes from our hotel - Lighthouse Adventure Golf! It was supposed to have a "Burger Shack" connected to it along with a little ice cream shop, but when we arrived, Burger Shack was closed.  Apparently, this is the off season and the burger place was closed.  So we left and grabbed a quick bite at a Chili's we passed on the way in.

Then, we golfed!  Daddy won but we all had fun!

We were a little bitter over the Burger Shack being closed, so we used that as our excuse to go back to Sloan's for ice cream after our round of golf, rather than eat in the ice cream shop at the golf course.  Not that we needed an excuse, really.  We totally love Sloan's.  We're hoping to get in one more trip there before we go home Friday.

It was another full day of vacation fun, but we weren't done.  When we finally got home Dan and I still had to stay up until midnight to get our Fast Passes for Disney!  We made it, luckily, and our efforts paid off with basically all of the Fast Passes we wanted.  Yay!  Planning the next vacation while on vacation.  Life is good...

Palm Beach Vacation (Sunday)

Sunday, August 9, 2015

We started our first real day of vacation as we do most vacation days.  Quick breakfast in the room and then we headed out to explore the resort and check out the beach!

  

We made a quick stop at both pools too just to see what they were like.  Both were smaller than the pools at Myrtle Beach, but the kid-friendly Lagoon Pool looked fun.  It even had a water slide and water fall.

When we got to the beach we made two important discoveries.  First, it was ok that we did not buy or bring beach chairs.  We were able to rent them at a relatively fair price.  More importantly, we learned that there was a reef at our beach!  Daddy and Emily wasted no time getting out in the water to check it out.

And when I say reef, I mean reef.  This beach was completely alive with all kinds of neat sea life. My favorite were the sea urchins.  They lived in the little holes in the reef.  I am sure they would hurt if you touched them, but they were also kind of cute in a spiny sort of way...

All around the reef and even on top of it there were all kinds of crabs too.  Some little and some a bit bigger, like this guy pictured below.  There were also tons of fish.  My favorite were the little stripey guys.  Hard to get a picture that will do them justice, but see below.  They were really pretty.  There were also larger grey ones - easily larger than my hand.  And some other fat, kind of rounder grey ones.  Not sure what any of them were, but they were all neat and none seemed to be too troubled that there were so many of us around.  Emily said she liked the reef best at this beach, but the little stream better at Myrtle Beach.

  

  

After our beach time, we headed in for lunch and rest.  Then we went to the Lagoon Pool for water slide fun in the sun!  The pool was a little smaller than I thought it would be, but it worked out fine. Emily really liked the slide and seemed to enjoy the waterfall too.

  

 

After much swimming, we decided to go in and make plans for dinner. As luck would have it, we had come across a California Pizza Kitchen in the mall while hunting for bathing suits so we decided to go back there.  Our plan from there had been to get ice cream at the Hagen Das in the mall, but we forgot it was Sunday, so it closed at 6pm.  But that worked to our advantage too because a quick Google search for "ice cream near me" lead us to Sloan's.  A great little shop in another cool shopping area (where we also found a Cheesecake Factory).  We'll be back here for sure.

 

After ice cream, we even had time for Emily to ride the little carousel and train they had there.  It was a really fun night.

 

Palm Beach - Summer's Last Hurrah

Saturday, August 8, 2015

We decided to try something new for the end of the summer.  We have been to Myrtle Beach many, many times but this year instead of going back for a second visit, we decided to cash in some Marriott Rewards points and head to Palm Beach to the Marriott Resort on Singer Island.  The trip started out uneventfully.  All our flights were on time (we even had time to stop for lunch and treats in Atlanta), our luggage arrived and our rental car was ready.

Treat time!

The condo is very nice so there is plenty of space to spread out.  Both bedrooms are huge and so are both bathrooms.  No shower tub combos.  Separate bath and shower in each bathroom.  The living area has a nice balcony with an ocean view.  There were chairs for eating at the bar, but no table and chairs in the living area and none on the balcony either.  I found this a little odd, but since this is just a "hotel" property and not a vacation club, maybe they don't expect many people to eat in.

   

Unfortunately as I started unpacking I realized that I left all of Emily's bathing suits and cover ups at home.  Mom fail.  But we were headed out to buy groceries for the week and get dinner anyway so we added a stop at the mall to our list.  After failed attempts at locating Justice and  Gymboree (both appeared on the directory but were removed from the mall) we went to Macy's.  As luck would have it, they had a couple bathing suits in her size and we bought both for a total of $13.  Great deal.  Back in business.  We grabbed a quick dinner in the food court and then headed to the grocery.

Yep, we bought these.

Once we finished all our errands, it was already time to turn in for the night.  But, will all of these things out of the way, that meant that tomorrow our real vacation would start.

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

Saturday, August 1, 2015

Back in February at McGala, Daniel and I were the successful bidders on a package that included the use of the Adecco den at Appalachian Power Park plus 15 tickets for a WV Power Baseball game. We booked our date back in March and last night was finally our night!  We were able to invite quite a few of  our friends to join us including the Johns, the McCormicks, the Moodys and the Arnett-Baileys.

     

We arrived to find our suite stocked with all the food we ordered including hot dogs, hamburgers,  pizza, chicken fingers, fries, brownies, bottomless popcorn, brownies and lots of other yummy things.  No one went hungry, that's for sure.

  

Kids got front row box seats complete with lots of popcorn!

After everyone had a few (or more than a few) bites to eat it was time to watch some baseball from the best seats in the house!  The kids did pretty good watching for a while, but then they started to get stir crazy.

We headed out to the bounce houses for a bit, but they kept collapsing and it freaked me out, so we made the kids get out.  Then we wandered around until we found the fun little wheel of fortune style game.  The kids all played that and all got little pirate (as in, Pittsburgh Pirates) flags.

      

It was definitely a very fun night...and the very best way to watch a baseball  game. Hope we can do it again sometime.  OH!  And did I mention, the WV Power WON 4-0?  Perfect end to a perfect night!  YAY!

Boys of summer