Goodbye Summertime

A new school year has begun

Mathlete vs. Athlete Spirit Day at RNE

First day of high school, middle school, 8th grade, and 4th

The important things... Like finding your way around new campuses and figuring out where to eat lunch

Already burning the midnight oil

The family tries to learn Spanish and French

Back-to-school cookie night

Spa Night, family-style

Horse-wash

Enjoying this book by John Ortberg on drawing near to God

Natalia teaches the fourth grade girls Sunday School

After church lunch at Chipotles (total chaos...will use the online ordering system next time)

Loved the National Whitwater Center in Charlotte. Never go on the last Saturday before school starts, however! Super crowded.

Scaling new heights on the rock wall.

We had a fabulous whitewater guide, nicknamed Axel, who managed to give the kids quite the adventure (three overboard) despite our age restrictions. All kids happily recovered from the rapids.

Zipping ahead to fall.

 

Gratitude for time together and simple things

We are thankful to have had another week at the beach with Mom. Her cancer diagnosis and surgery this year have made us stop and appreciate the simplest of pleasures. She needs to walk a little slower than she used to, but still made it out to the beach to walk as a family.

Enjoying the sweetness of being together

We were saddened to hear that my Aunt Debbie also had cancer this year. We talked to her at length one month earlier and had no idea. We had hoped to see her when we were in Florida but she passed before we could get to hospice. We are thankful for the assurance of being able to see her again one day in glory, free of pain.

 

Forced Family (Fitness) Fun

When the kids were younger we spent hours and hours on the beach. Now after a bout of boogie boarding (and too many shark attack reports this summer), the kids have to be forced out into the great outdoors after the first day or two of beach week. We enjoyed walks on the beach at night when it was not so hot.

 

 

 

 

Actual swimming (laps) in the pool, learning to do flip turns and "pool-lates" - my blend of aqua aerobics and underwater Pilates.

 

 

Mostly the kids want to lay around and watch Disney Channel episodes over and over.

Natalia cranked out two puzzles

Mostly the kids wanted to lounge in the wi-fi in their jammies until time to eat again.

Time for an intervention!

 

The Davis family tries to learn how to play pickleball (sort of a cross between tennis and ping pong) with interesting results. My brain kept thinking my racquet was longer so I whiffed a bunch of them, but it was fun (for me) trying.

 

In the same park as the pickleball courts is a new parcours with machines that use fluid body weight resistance. I loved these as a great addition to walking laps in circles in the adjoining track.

Only two of us are any good at the jungle gym

Okay, maybe not forced family fun, but hopefully fruit-producing.

 

 

We also liked trying the Bahamas Breeze restaurant with in depth nutritional informational on the menus. This helped our kids to understand that yes, that pasta dish looks tasty (but it's also 1500 calories) which is too much for one sitting.

 

 

 

I have enjoyed reading Lysa Terkeurst's The Best Yes in preparation for all the decision-making that every new school year brings. I love having a week of down time, not only to play, but also to think and plan. She gives the example of standing before a river (a potential commitment that you are thinking of making) and following the river through it's course before jumping in. Once you have jumped in the river, it will carry you along where it is going, and it's much harder to navigate.

We try to have one date during beach week where we can talk about the direction our lives and family are going. The last few years we have enjoyed going to breakfast on the pier and talking about what commitments we will be making in the fall, and the state of our union address. More soul care for A needed!

 

Daytona 2015

Aunt Catfish's

Forced family fitness (you'll thank me later)

Fancy pants

Mimi: to love you is to feed you

Family spaghetti night

Cruising the beach with Aunt Michelle and Uncle Trey

Kids in a candy store

Free samples at the Chocolate factory

Yes to chocolate-covered potato chips, no to chocolate-covered bacon

Thank you happies for my fellow instructors who covered for me

 

Family Vacation...once in a blue moon

What's a family vacation without a little excitement?

After a long day of traveling to Florida (with an extra hour of sitting on I-95 in South Carolina waiting for a wreck to clear), we located a Walgreens that had the injections A will need to take to clear up yet another blood clot (from Sunday's kidney stone aftermath).

The plan was to drop me off at a newly refurbished Publix to get the groceries while A and the kids unpacked the car. Since a family of seven has much stuff, the fam took two elevators up. Only one made it. A received a call from the girls that they were stuck between floors and had to call emergency services to rescue them. Meanwhile I hung out on the curb with the perishables swatting Florida mosquitos.

All's well that ends well.

This morning A got to sleep in. The kids watched a gluttonous amount of cable (which we have pulled from home), and we had junky treats for breakfast. Mini scones from Panera for me, and one big box of only-at-the-beach strawberry pop tarts downed by the kids. Vacation has begun.