The Carrigan Farms Quarry is one of our new favorite places to go in the summer. This natural spring fed granite quarry is beautiful and fun. On this particular occasion we brought Nana and PopPop with us to enjoy the quarry—you’ll have to check out my June instagram posts for pictures of PopPop taking the leap of faith!
In early June, Ella wrapped up 6th grade (her first year of middle school) and Jack said goodbye to 4th grade. It was a straight-A year for both kids—all credit to them for being such good students. Ella mastered managing her schedule in middle school, with classes split between A days and B days and therefore assignments and tests spread through the week. It’s a little harder to see friends who aren’t on the same “team” but she loves the responsibility of middle school. As electives, Ella took Art, Spanish, P.E., and Computers (where she learned typing skills—thank goodness!). Jack seems like a nonchalant student, but he’s an excellent one (and maybe often boosted by natural test-taking skills). Organization and neatness are not his strong suits—Ella developed these skills with a great 4th grader teacher while Jack had a 4th grade teacher who was nearly as disorganized as he is—but hopefully 5th grade will set him up to succeed in middle school. He’s definitely looking forward to being big man on campus next year as a 5th grader. For now, though, our focus is summer—bring it on!
{olive is always there to see the kids off in the morning and greet them in the afternoon.}
May was awesome! Jonathan and I had a getaway to Berlin and Prague, Nonni and Papa hung out with the kiddos while we were there (unfortunately I don’t have any pictures from their visit), and Aunt Jacqui, Uncle Randy, Harper, and Hudson came to see us over Memorial Day Weekend.
kaiser wilhelm memorial church | ampelmännchen | victory column | brandenburg gate #itwassunny | berliner dom | communist tv tower | humboldt university | in 1820 heinrich heine wrote, “where they burn books, in the end they will also burn people.” | section of western berlin wall and death strip | memorial to the murdered jews of europe | trabi | french cathedral | hefeweizens #secondbiergartenoftheday | reichstag glass cupola | reichstag building | a happy man after finding ipa’s in prague | we may or may not have had a beer an hour for our first 6 hours in prague. #beercapitalofeurope | charles bridge and prague castle | view from prague castle | so many different facades | astronomical clock | old town square | sunset over prague castle | feeling the romance in prague | the city of 100 golden spires | old town and the charles bridge | one last look of the charles bridge and prague caste. | one last look of tyn church and astronomical clock | dancing house | rapeseed fields view from train | longest intact section of berlin wall is now the longest outdoor art exhibit. | wrapping up our trip in berlin. | had to try the currywurst. #meh | guten nächte, berlin! #berlinerdom | soccer tryouts in the books and enjoying his gift from germany | charlotte eagles game with friends | fun at the game | happy birthday, aunt jacqui! | uncle jon and hudson | exploring uptown | firebird | aunt jacqui, harper, and hudson
Aunt Jacqui and Uncle Randy brought their mini me’s up to visit us for Memorial Day Weekend! Harper and Hudson were just shy of 16-months old over their visit and they are such little cuties. It’s hard to believe Ella was this age when Jack was born—I thought she was so big! Aunt Jacqui spent most of her birthday in the car driving up to see us so we had cake and candles ready. Over the weekend we enjoyed one big adventure, first to SouthEnd to introduce Jacqui and Randy to Wooden Robot Brewery (the head brewer of Wooden Robot was an assistant and then shift brewer at a brewery we love in UF’s Gainesville, Swamp Head Brewery—Randy’s t-shirt lead to a conversations at Wooden Robot with a few employees). After SouthEnd we tried to go to Futo Buta (they would’ve loved it) but unfortunately it was closed (on a holiday weekend!). We instead hopped on the light rail for a fun train ride into uptown. There we explored Romare Bearden Park with its fun fountains and music-making sculptures and then The Green. Speed Street was going on in uptown at the time so the streets were hoppin’ and live music was coming from a nearby stage. We enjoyed an al fresco dinner with some background music.
The rest of our weekend we enjoyed some pool time, chalk on the driveway, and just time hanging out. We’re so thankful this crew came up to see us!
