Day 90

Another beautiful day in Florida!  Today we hung out on the beach and then decided to take in the Miami Marlins home opener!  It only took 3 hours to travel 26 miles and park. Ugh

Day 89

Today turned out to be beautiful!!!  We had a great day by the pool! 

We spent almost all day outside!

Tonight JC grilled our favorite chicken!  It was delicious! 

Tonight was movie night again... "School if Rock"!

Day 88

This is for Saturday...

The weather was very cloudy but warm today. We had a slow start, but eventually we ventured out to Ft. Lauderdale for lunch. 

We ate at Coconuts on the water. It was delicious!  

We also went to a surf shop, and Emma and Jackson both found something that they liked. Imagine that! 

No good real camera opportunities today!  There was a spectacular lightening/thunderstorm over the ocean tonight but I wasn't fast enough to catch it. 

Late afternoon we did make it down to the pool, and the boys played baseball on the beach for a while. 

We cooked dinner in the condo tonight, and the boys rented "Shallow Hal" for family movie night. It ended up being a nice day even though the weather was lousy. 

Day 87

This post is for Friday!

We got up and had breakfast at our hotel before heading further south.

I drove the first shift from Savannah to Daytona Beach where we stopped for lunch.  JC took over the driving after that.

We arrived at the condo right at 4pm. It took us about seven hours from Savannah.  Here is the view from our room.

After traveling all day, we decided not to make a big grocery store run.  JC went across the street to a little convenient store for some milk, and we made do with the snacks we brought and delivery for dinner.

We quickly changed and took in a little pool time before the sun went down.




As usual Emma found the most joy and didn't complain one bit!

Here are some more views from our room.  The sun sets behind our condo over the intracoastal waterway.



And beside of us are the cutest Florida cottages.  I would love to see inside some of these.  They have primetime oceanfront!

Day 86

Today has been a long day!  We are finally on our way to Florida for spring break!

This afternoon, Brendan's middle school baseball team played, and they won!!!

We made it to the interstate around 6:25 and to Charlotte by the time the sun was starting to set. 

Now we are just driving the many miles to our stopping point! 

Hoping for warm, sunny skies this week!

Day 85

My girl…

No Fear

Day 84

Ok…so this is going to Spartan Week!

With us packing for spring break and many sporting events, I am just not getting my camera out much.

Here is a photo of Brendan and Jackson just before their Spartan Kids race on Saturday!

So proud of them!  They were so excited even if that meant getting up at 6:30 am on a Saturday morning, driving almost 2 hours and then waiting around in shorts in 55 degrees for their race!  They rocked it!  In fact, Brendan came in first place in the 8-14 year old age group!

Day 83

for last night…

B had a long, cold baseball game, and we didn't get home until 8:30.

Here is one of my favorite post-race photos of JC and Jackson.

Day 82

Almost a mile in…JC meets up with us during his Spartan Sprint!  The kids are so happy to see him, and so was I!  He did great!

More photos to follow!

Day 81

On Saturday, the family headed to Porter Farms outside of Charlotte for the Spartan Carolinas Sprint.  Brendan and Jackson ran the Spartan Kids 8-14 year old race and Emma did the 4-7 race.  Brendan came in first in his race.  So proud of him…Jackson was not far behind!

Emma had no fear.  In fact, she pushed her way to the very front of the starting line.  Way to go girl!

Day 80

B had a middle school game this afternoon!

I like this photo a lot!

I like that you can see the ump and the catcher.  I like that you can see the 1st baseman, and I like that you can see the man on 1st stealing second.  I like that B is loaded up ready to swing.  I like that you can see the ball quickly approaching the plate!

This was B's second at bat…he ended up hitting a fly ball that was caught.  He did, however, get his first hit of his middle school career in this game!

Day 79

Throwback Thursday!

Today is the first day of spring AND this young man's 12th Birthday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY H!!!

Day 78

It is still really cold here. This winter has been horrible. Tomorrow is the first day of spring!  I am praying for some warmer temps!

Jackson had a soccer game tonight. He played well. It was so cold out there.  I didn't take my camera so an iPhone will have to do! 

Day 77

Sorting bathing suits…

Next Thursday night, we are leaving for our spring break trip to southern Florida.  Emma and I desperately needed to go through her bathing suit drawer to decide which suits still fit this year!

She found a few that she wanted to keep, but for the most part all of the old suits were too small this year!

Day 76

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

Emma finished her homework for the entire week after school today!!!  She must have had the luck of the Irish on her side!

Day 75

Our Tulip Tree

Spring is trying to arrive, but sleet and freezing rain are in the forecast for the last couple of days left in winter.  We are all beyond ready for warm weather!

Day 74

my babies

Day 73

More signs of spring…

Spring is coming…6 days away!!!  Why oh why is there a wintry mix in the forecast for Monday?

Day 72

This morning a little before 7am, my aunt Bonnie Gray passed away from cancer.  She fought it so bravely for two years.  She will be missed greatly.  Sad day!

Bonnie Gray is in the pink dress.  This photo was taken at our wedding, May 2, 1998.

Day 71

Our first full bloom of the year!!!

Day 70

Tonight Jackson had soccer practice, Emma had her first soccer game and Brendan had his second middle school baseball game.  We were going in all different directions to say the least.  It was a beautiful day though so it was nice to be outside!

Here is Emma kicking the soccer ball.  She did fantastic controlling the ball and playing both offense and defense.  She had 5 or 6 goals!  The Russian Rocket lives on...

Day 69

Today was Brendan's first middle school baseball game.  He got to start as catcher.  His team lost to a better team.  Brendan is the youngest player on his team!  Wow…that field is HUGE compared to what he is used to... we are so proud of him!

Here he is at bat!

Day 68

Today was Brendan's first baseball game  of 2014. His travel ball team decided to play in a one day tournament today. B's first pitch, first at bat, he hits a solo home run!   Not a bad way to start a season!!!

Day 67

It's hard to believe that yesterday we woke up to an ice storm.  This afternoon, it was sunny and 64 degrees with Carolina Blue skies.

Emma took advantage of the nice weather and tried out her new soccer shoes!

Day 66

Ice Storm 2014

It is March in North Carolina…when will this end?

Day 65

Throwback Thursday…

This is from Emma's first NC snow, December 2009.  Thought this photo was fitting considering it is March and sleeting.

Day 64

There is this one bud that is trying so hard…

It's the only bud on the entire bush that is this far along.  I can't wait to see the whole thing in bloom!

Day 63

Carson loves her cousins just like they were siblings.  I love this photo of Jack and Carson!

Day 62

As predicted, today's temps started around 58 and ended up around 25.  At lunchtime it started sleeting off and on, and then it ended with a burst of snow. School has already been canceled for tomorrow since the low tonight is 19.  Remember my post from yesterday?  We had sunny weather with temps in the 70s.  Our NC weather is so bipolar.

I want to post a picture of Jackson at his game yesterday.  He is attempting a penalty kick here.  Jack missed the goal (the ball hit the side post), but the ball bounced back out and one of his teammates followed it up with a goal of his own.  I will take it.

And just to show the difference between yesterday and today, here is a photo of the new tree swing (just hung yesterday) with the snow from this afternoon.

Day 61

Today was absolutely beautiful!  After a cold winter, it was a gift.  Tomorrow our weather turns bitterly cold again! :(

Here are some iPhone photos that I took today. I did take my camera to Jackson's soccer game, but we stayed outdoors so long tonight that I've not downloaded the photos yet. 

Jackson's team won their game this afternoon. I was so proud of them!

Emma was soaking up the sun on the way to the grocery store!

Then she pulled her tooth in Lowes Foods while we were grocery shopping this afternoon!  We had barely made it out of the produce section!

After we put away the groceries, we finally hung the tree swing that has been in our basement garage since last summer!  It is a big hit already!

And...I couldn't not post a picture of Brendan!  This is all I managed to snap of my tween though.  I hate that I don't have as many photos of him lately!

Today was a good day!

Day 60

Today Emma and I tried to make a shamrock cake.  The shape didn't turn out so well, but it tasted delicious!

Day 59

Emma had a doctor's appointment on Friday for a yearly check-up.  Unfortunately she also has an ear infection.  She came home and put her pjs on and watched some videos on the iPad.  This morning she felt a lot better.