Well, we have fallen woefully behind on this blog, so this may just end up being a monster post. We remain committed to keeping it updated, but some weekends are just so full that it is hard to find the time to sit down and crank it out - but don't worry, we won't grow tired or weary! :)
Amy has now finished 3 weeks of life at FH. So far, it has been an exciting opportunity to learn new things and to work with new teams. It has also been at moments overwhelming with the amount of information to try and assimilate and figure out how it all works. However, all-in-all it has been a positive experience and one that Amy is enjoying - even though she isn't the 'expert' anymore (at least for now, until she gets up to speed again!) One of the events she had the opportunity to attend early on was the annual employee service awards. They had an Olympic theme, and an Olympic athlete was there - it was very inspiring but not as inspiring as seeing 3 individuals recognized for 45 years of service! Amazing!
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| There were BMX bikers, in-line skaters, and basketball stunt guys there as well to entertain the crowd. |
We have been in the rush of finishing school the last few weeks, and we'll post next week the pictures of their final play, concert, and Young Author's Day. Needless to say though the kids are excited to be on summer vacation! :)
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| Kaleb has been showing more interest in reading lately, and was sitting reading to Addison one morning! |
Addison finished her survival swimming lessons, and is LOVING the water. She is very good at floating and can hang out floating on her back for quite a while. She also has started to swim on her back, kicking her legs to propel herself from one area to the other.
The boys are back in hockey lessons again, so Karis and the kids hit the ice rink. This year Addison is big enough to get out there as well, and she seems to enjoy it! We will put her in lessons later this year in the winter.
Jennifer took the kids on a fun outing a few weeks ago to pick blueberries. They came back with quite a lot of organic blueberries, which tasted wonderful! They had a fun time with their friends, filling their buckets (and eating a lot we're clear! :))
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| The boys showing off their "loot" |
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| Addison, Kaleb and Violet. |
Kaleb and Zachary both participated in the Florida Christian Soccer League that is held at FLEEC. Karis was once again a coach this year on Kaleb's team. They had a great little team, and Kaleb did very well and continues to like playing defense.
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| Getting some cool water while they took a rest! |
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| Zachary's team won their age bracket, so he was very excited. |
While the boys would be playing soccer, Addison would be running around getting dirty and into all kinds of mischief!
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| Her little bottom is not quite big enough for this chair, much to her delight that it slipped through and she was just hanging with her arms and legs! |
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| Always time for snuggle with Grandma! |
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| She scampered away during the game, for Amy to find her with Miss Maria! |
A few weeks ago when Karis was out of town at CPE, we headed to the beach with Biris and Browns to enjoy the lovely weather. The kids had a great time playing soccer and boogie-boarding!
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| Jonathan, Kaleb and Johnny |
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| While Addison enjoyed playing in the sand! |
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| One last picture - Zachary, David, Kaleb and Johnny |
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| On the way home that night from the beach, when sitting at a stop light Amy looked over to see this truck - driven by a girl - I guess they must really love camouflage because the WHOLE TRUCK was camouflage!! |
One of the last field trips of the year was to Typhoon Lagoon water park. Karis was able to join them for the last part of the day and all of them had a blast.
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| Even little London was able to participate on this one! |
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| Capturing the little brothers! |
We also had Investitures at Adventurers - which Zachary has now graduated from. He can go into Pathfinders next year, but we'll decide as the summer progresses as he's never a huge fan of anything to do with 'crafts' so we need to figure out exactly what they do in Pathfinders at our local churches as they seem to vary.
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| Addison and Devin - looks like he has had a growth spurt and is taller than Miss Addi-girl! Love how she's poking her dimple! :) |
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| Sweet boy! Perfect Attendance! |
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| Can hardly believe he has finished Adventurers - he is growing up too fast! |
Last weekend, Zachary had a fun outing over at Andre's house for swimming and a waterslide - it went by all too quickly but it was super fun while it lasted! There were about 15-18 boys there, and then after the boys cleared out at 1:30, they had girls over for their older sisters' to have a fun time with their friends as well! Very cool!
Amy and Karis celebrated another year of life in the last few weeks - complete with a birthday lunch with Grandma and Aunt Louise - thanks!
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| Zachary is almost as tall as Aunt Louise -and likely is if there wasn't a difference in their "hair-dos!" |
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| Looking through the blaze of fire.... |
The night, we continued the celebration by going to "America's Great Escape" which is a game in which a group of people go into a room and have to find "clues" to unlock a series of rooms and then try and find the ultimate code to get out of the room. At no time is the door actually locked, but it was crazy fun once we started to get the hang of it to get all of the clues. With 8 of us - all with a serious number of graduate degrees - we still MISSED getting out of the room (which you have 1 hour to do so) by about 3-5 minutes - we were unlocking the last lock to get the code to race out of the room when our timer expired. Super fun!
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| Before we embarked on "the Pandemic" room |
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| Each of us working on a different piece of the puzzle |
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| A sorry group - but it was fun nonetheless! |
Phrase of the week: Mom, I want to swim in the big "cool"! (Addison's word for pool - and it is so cute we don't correct her!) I can swim better than the boys - they don't know how to kick!
