Instagrammin’ in August

August went from the epitome of summer—vacationing for weeks in Florida—to the start of school.  We enjoyed every moment of summer right up until the very last day, but the kids are happy to be back at school, too. 
jack’s 8! #birthdayatthebeach | celebrating with his cousins. | and the celebrations continue. #brothersbirthday | he was headed home after a weekend with us in st. augustine and we’re headed to the gulf coast. | st. augustine beach | my mom’s the club champion. #herownparkingspace | going snorkeling. | golfing with my mom. | spying on golf camp. #leftylikehernonni | nice follow through, jack. | got some inspiration from the movies this rainy afternoon. |  the chicken game in the pool. #ithinkshewon | my tennis buddies. | snuggling with papa. | i could get used to the life of a retiree. | how ella decided to hold the extra tennis balls. #nojoke | spotting some dolphins on a marine life cruise. | downtown sarasota | peacocks in the wild on longboat key. | art project with nonni. | 2-hour drive to watch the sunrise in this beautiful place. | going snorkeling and scalloping. | uncle randy and ella looking for scallops. | we met our 10-gallon boat limit. | scallops for dinner! | lego hulk smash. #downtowndisney | a store just for lefties. | uncle randy and aunt jacqui took the kids fishing. | rainbow looming with dad. #reuinitedafteraweekapart | pool time with great friends. | we are the crazy people. | date night at uptown amphitheater. | ke$ha | ella’s room update 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | soccer evaluations. | cute little soccer player. | pool time during a rainy week. | birthday celebration with his besties. | three amigos. | wrapping up a fun sleepover at the movies. | sweet card and gift from my sweet girl. | school open house—2nd grade. | school open house—4th grade. | appreciated my little helpers in changing over the sign.  #spellchecked #firstnotfrist #summerbraindrain #dontblamethesecondgrader | christening our new outdoor fireplace with s’mores and friends. | even he slept in. | hubee d’s. | enjoying a walk on the greenway. | glad to have him home. | end-of-summer tradition. | giving the summer a proper send-off. #carowinds | around and around she goes. | my little thrill seekers. #frontrow #thehurler | first day of school—2nd grade and 4th grade. | mother-daughter date night, some tennis and froyo. | another weekend, another greenway stroll. | comparing wildflower bouquets. | ella left her bouquet at the trailhead to brighten someone’s day. | donating their tiny old bikes. | ready for the cutie loop. :)




Jack's new bike                                                     Happy birthday in Florida


Surfing in St. Augustine                                          Scalloping in Crystal River


Ke$ha

Riverbanks Zoo

Not even two weeks after the triathlon (notice the four little triathletes donning their tri shirts), near the end of July, we were on to another adventure with Baden and Ilse—a day trip to our favorite zoo, the Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia, South Carolina.  Always a great time, the zoo has become an even bigger adventure with the recent addition of a ropes course.  Needless to say, we had such a fun time and it was a great chance to get to hang out with our dear friends—we took the long car ride together, had a nice lunch in downtown Columbia at Mellow Mushroom, spent half the day at the zoo, and even had dinner together before heading home.  It was a long day—and one I hope we repeat next summer!






{the kids explored the ropes course, in pairs and without an adult, for over an hour.  they all said it was a little scary, but LOVED it.}

















{taken by ella.}

Kids Tri! Ballantyne

In mid-July both Ella and Jack competed in a kids’ triathlon at our local YMCA.  Ella participated last year and did extremely well. For the 2013 race, Ella moved up to the 9-to-11-years-old age group and Jack, this his first triathlon, competed in the 6-to-8-years-old age group.  An added bonus this year was that good friends Baden and Ilse participated in the triathlon, too.  All four of these kids put in their best effort for the triathlon and they did incredibly.  Ella (who placed 3rd last year in girls ages 6 to 8) placed 11th this year as a 9-year-old in the girls ages 9 to 11 age group.  Jack was in the top 20 for boys in his age group—although, you’ll see in the video, his effort looks even stronger…he added a good 2 minutes or more trying to get his shoes tied during the transition between swimming and biking and this race was when he still had a clown bike, probably two sizes too small for him.  So watch out next year when he’s on his new bike and we put some Yankz elastic laces in those sneakers!  :)


{we saw several of our swim team friends, including margot, at the triathlon.}

{ready for his first triathlon.}

{jack, ella, baden, and ilse.  ready to race!}






{ella’s age group ran one lap more than jack’s age group, so i was able to capture a few photos of her run in addition to the video.}

{way to go, ella!  another triathlon under her belt.}

{one proud papa.}


{yay, jack!  we can now officially say we’re a family of triathletes.  :) }



{these kids did awesome! (ilse was still racing at this point.)}

HHI Highlights—July 4th Week (Part 4/4)

On our last full day of vacation in Hilton Head Island, we spent about 10 minutes taking a group photo—unfortunately it was waaay too windy on the beach all week to attempt one out there (maybe next year)—and, later in the day, Jonathan, Uncle Ken, and I took the kids on a kids’ fishing tour.  On the two-hour boat ride, the kids got to each throw out a cast net and then fish with a fishing pole.  Of the 24-odd kids on the boat, 3 caught something on their fishing lines and, of those 3, 2 were from our group.  Ella caught a baby shark and Zane caught a ribbon fish (which is actually more dangerous at this point than the baby shark, so it was whisked away from Zane too quickly to get a photo of it).  It was a fun excursion and definitely a highlight of the week.   




{after our boat ride, we met nonni, papa, and aunt tracy (who had biked there, hence the sweaty papa :) ) at the salty dog café for a very enjoyable beer.}

HHI Highlights—July 4th Week (Part 3/4)

And here is our 4th of July on Hilton Head Island: a bike ride to the Stoney-Baynard Ruins in Sea Pines followed by a bike ride to South Beach for some ice cream at the Salty Dog Café; lots of beach time; puzzles and games back at the house; some watermelon and pool fun; and, we ended the day with a red-white-and-blue dessert a la Uncle Ken and Ella and then some pop-its and glow sticks in the dark.  Happy 4th!