FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL (cal)

The FIRST day of FIRST grade!

Woohoo! (The school does a staggered start for kindergarten kiddos, so Andy will be going later in the week-- I am not just leaving him out- haha!)

 We were up EARLY-- actually, Cal was up a few times in the night and the last time he got up (4:45), I couldn't go back to sleep-- but he could...! so I started the day then.  I woke Cal up at 6:30 and Andy soon after that. 

 A yummy breakfast to fuel him (although he eats lunch at 10:20! haha!)

Then, obviously, we had to take some pictures!

Bruce had a FIT during this whole process.  Can you see him in every single picture?!

 Hey, buddy-- you look HUGE.  When did this happen? Weren't you just learning how to crawl?

 And he picked out a super cool Under Armor backpack that I kind of want to steal.  I won't.  But I want to. 

 Bruce still wanting to see what's going on-

 We finally had to let him out for a picture-- look how happy he is! All three of them!

 Then they insisted on bringing Hank out too-- all four of my sweet boys! Love them...

 The whole family took Cal to school and it was pure craziness, and this one was super excited to be there!

He walked to his classroom and immediately unpacked and found his seat.  Sweet boy was pumped!

 He got immediately to work...

Andy wasn't too sad to be not at school yet-- especially since he got a trip to Dunkin!

Can't wait to hear all about the first day! I hope it is a fun and wonderful year for our big 1st grader!


 

Start of soccer season!

Another soccer season is upon us! Practices started this week and the boys were excited! Andy moved leagues and is now playing on a U6 team in the same league as Cal. Cal is now playing on a U8 team-- but it's pretty much all the same team mates as last year. 

Sweet little soccer players. 

During practice tonight, a bunch of Cal's buddies skinned off their shirts and were kicking around the field. As he walked over to the car, I swear, it was like I was looking at a high schooler. 

I swear he wasn't mad. Maybe that's just his game face?!? Bwahahahahaha 

We are really looking forward to another soccer season! Bring on the practices, the games and all the fun!

A good boy

Hank goes to sleep in Andy's room every night. He sleeps right next to the bed-

Step one: fall asleep next to dog. 

Step two:

Fall out of bed, land on dog and remain asleep. 

Found them like this when I went to check on Andy. 

Sweet boys....

Hello, blog.

I haven't blogged since our trip.... whoops.  We are in the last week before school starts and we've been squeezing every last ounce out of this summer. 

This past weekend, Andy had a basically all day birthday party:

They swam, watched a movie, ate dinner and had a dance party-- sounds like a pretty great birthday party to me!

We also had some baseball assessments for the fall team:

They were similar to try outs, but everyone makes the team (thankfully!).  The boys had to hit (balls came off of a pitching machine-- way faster than I was expecting!), catch fly balls, field grounders, run sprints and throw.  It was intense.  I mean, as intense as little league gets, I guess- hahaha! 

They both had a ton of fun and it got them really excited for the season to start.  This fall, they are playing baseball and soccer-- soccer started this week too- I will get pics of that at practice Wednesday. 


This weekend was a birthday party weekend, big time.  Andy had the pool party above on Saturday and then on Sunday, both boys went to a party at the Dean Dome.  They were each given these jerseys.....

 ....and they were personalized! How cool is that?!? The kids were all SO excited to see them when they walked in.

 The were divided into teams and they played ball-

 It was really fun to watch them play! It's been awhile since they have played basketball, but thankfully they remembered what to do. 

 I love this picture! Look at the little brothers just staring at them.  hahaha

 And, as we were walking away (we had to leave a little early to get to TWO other birthday parties!), I caught this picture-- might be a new fave of mine.  They fight all.the.time, but they are some sweet brothers. 

Cal went to a bowling party (Ed dropped off so I have no pictures!) and Andy went to a gymnastic party (which he CONSTANTLY referred to as a ballet party.....).  He had a BLAST and loved running and jumping and flipping and climbing.  

 The only picture I got and it's blurry because he was constantly in movement!

Today, we did some school supply shopping at target (I really should have taken a glass of wine with me) and then we met a bunch of buddies at the pool for a little play date! We had loads of kids at the neighborhood pool and they all had so much fun playing together.

These three are the soon to be kindergarteners.....

You think kindergarten is ready for this?!?!?!

 We have a few more days to soak it all in-- but I really think the kids are pretty ready to go back.  All of the private schools have already gone back for the most part, so they are ready for their turn.  Cal has meet the teacher on Friday.  We are ANXIOUSLY awaiting finding out who his teacher is!

 

TURKS AND CAICOS

Ahhhhhhhh! We just returned from an AH-mazing vacation- just me and Eddie, no kids allowed.  My sweet father in law kept them for the week (!!!) and did a great job! My mom helped out too, which was a great break for Poppy!

Okay, enough about that...on to THIS.....:

ahhhhhh.... that is me. Reading a book. In the water.  The gorgeous, amazing water.  ahhhhh

Okay, let me back up!

We flew out last Wednesday morning and Eddie worked some kind of magic and got us in first class.  And let me just tell you, we fully enjoyed it.  Yes, ma'am we did.  Big time.

 Some of us might have been enjoying it more than others.  I offer no apologies. 

 Clearly happy to be on our way to paradise!

 We landed and headed to the resort, which we have been to before and it was just as amazing as we remembered it.  The suite is HUGE-- I tried to take pictures of it all, but left out so many good parts.

The shower/tub ROOM:

 That led into the bedroom--

  out of the bedroom, there was the front foyer--

 and the dining room/living room which was off of an amazing kitchen.  (and those views!)

Seriously, the resort is amazing.

We had a dinner to go to the first night so we showered and got ready and took a few quick pictures:

 ten years, holla!

The next morning, Eddie had a meeting to attend and I ate breakfast at this spot-- and this is where we had breakfast every morning of the trip.  The food was super delicious-- the best bacon I think I have ever had (!!!!) and the ambiance was hard to beat.  

We hit the beach for most of the day and when a late afternoon rain shower fell, I went up to our balcony for a little nap. 

That night we had dinner on the beach and it was a gorgeous night for it.  The sun was setting and everything was yummy.

There was a bright pink cloud in the sky-- it almost looked like a conch shell!

 The next morning we woke up and ate breakfast and then we got the rental car Eddie got for the week.  I want to go on record that I thought it was a horrible idea to rent a car in a country where they drive on the other side of the road.  But I was so so wrong.  It was so much fun!

 Getting into the car, the driver seat was on the right side-- I was terrified of the whole experience. 

 Thankfully, Eddie got the hang of it really quickly.  I swear, I spent the first entire car ride with my hands covering my eyes.  Roundabouts are beyond scary! And that's all this island has!

But we headed over to Long bay Beach which is just the most stunning beach I think I have ever seen.  The water is crystal clear and it is waist deep for at least a mile out-- you can just keep walking and walking-- it is truly breathtaking.  

Eddie went back over to kite surf for the rest of the day and I planted my rump poolside with lots and lots of fruity rum drinks (and good books too).

That night we had another dinner on the beach!

 The sunset was gorgeous!

The following day, I went with Eddie over to the other beach, this time staying while he kite surfed.  I took a few pictures of him and read a ton in my book.  

 I did my best impersonation of a beached whale-- I sprawled myself out in the water and when my back got hot, I rolled over.  It wasn't pretty, but it was kind of amazing.  I had the whole beach to myself (minus a kiter here and there).

Another fabulous sunset....

 I enjoyed the previous day so much, I went back the next day! It was just so peaceful and quiet...and so not like home!

 This was my view-- that black thing is Eddie's board.  Not a whole lot going on here at this beach. 

Eddie was getting really good at his little hobby so I took a bunch of pictures and videos of him.  It was fun to catch him in the air and doing tricks.  

 I am not posting any of the videos because I doubt y'all want to see them.  But Eddie would LOVE to show you, if you just ask him.....HAHA

The final night we had a dressy dinner-- I was soooo happy (and slightly drunk) at this point in the week.  I was relaxed and ready to see my boys.

We had a great time being just us.  I love spending time with Eddie and focusing on whatever we want to do.  The little beach we went to was perfect because we each got to do what we wanted to do, but we got to be together.  

oh, and I set the thermostat each night in the room.... it was goooood sleeping!

BACK TO LIFE!!!!!!!