First Day of School

Ella started 8th grade and Jack started 6th at the end of August—two middle schoolers!  Ella’s starting some high school courses this year with Math 1 and Spanish 1.  Jack is going to try his hand at the bass clarinet in band. 

Eclipse Party

Charlotte was pretty close to the Path of Totality for the solar eclipse on August 21, 2017, but since Charlotte would get a 98.4% view of the eclipse we decided to avoid the crowds and view the eclipse locally with friends.  Longtime friends Baden, Ilse, and mom Ivy hosted a eclipse viewing party for us, complete with eclipse-themed snacks.  Armed with our eclipse glasses, we stepped outside periodically to see the different stages of the eclipse.  There was a strange glow of dusk for an hour or so outside on either side of the eclipse peaking for us around 2:40pm.  The glasses were strange because you could literally not see anything with them on until you looked up into the sky and could see just that sliver of sun.  The most comfortable way to check on the progression of the eclipse was to look down at the dappled light—the shadows were shaped like the eclipse.  I know the experience was much more extreme, with darkness for 3 minutes, for those in the Path of Totality, but what we saw was pretty cool, too.  It was definitely a memorable experience and fun to share with good friends.  Thanks for hosting us, Tauchers!

Instagrammin’ in August

We made the most of what was left of summer in August!

busch gardens with nonni and papa! | loving a sunny day at the park after lots of rain from tropical storm emily! | up close with the cheetah—that was a fun ride, too! | ella and jack did all of the coasters! | mama gorilla | tennis at nonni and papa’s club | jack trying out one of his birthday presents | ella doing some artwork in nonni’s studio | and jack | happy 12th birthday to jackaroo! | make a wish! | thinking… | i guess it’s a good one. | excited to visit the usta national campus in orlando | my tennis playing buddies | sweeping the court post play | bedtime stories with harper and hudson | cousin love | aunt jacqui, uncle randy, harper, and hudson took us to wekiwa springs. | the water was cold but beautiful—i took lots of pictures. | nana and poppop joined us in orlando! | uncle randy and his birthday skateboard | hudson trying it out | long-legged ella | happy 40th birthday to uncle randy! | live rocky horror picture show stage act at the brewery | cheers to nana and poppop | and jacqui | finally home with my pup and she tears her dew claw | poor girl had to wear a cone of shame for a week. | and she tore a piece off of it, so with the duct tape she looks like the dog from mars now. | new haircuts for school coming up | getting his award from coach dave | jack’s team won the pre-season tournament | watching the total eclipse with friends baden and ilse (funny—we started the summer with them and now we’re ending it with them) | eclipse watching | cool eclipse shadows | one final hurrah for summer—a trip to the quarry (again, lots of pictures) | end of summer tradition of ice cream at bruster’s | and, the first day of school—back at the same school, 6th grade and 8th grade!

Florida Tourists: Orlando

Orlando was our final stop on our Florida Tourists trip.  While we were in Florida, I really wanted to take the kids to a natural spring.  We didn’t have time to detour to Ginny Springs, a favorite of mine during college, so Aunt Jacqui was happy to help us find one close to them to check this off our tourist list.  We went to Wekiwa Springs near their house.  It was fuh-reezing—or refreshing, I guess, because it was a hot summer’s day—but all of the kids jumped right in, the 2 1/2 year olds included!  Harper and Hudson are so open to every new experience.  They are just joys to be be around. 

Nana and PopPop joined us on our second day at Jacqui and Randy’s house.  We had all come together to celebrate Uncle Randy’s 40th birthday!  We enjoyed a delicious shrimp boil meal and some birthday cake at home and then the kids stayed at home while Aunt Jacqui, Uncle Randy, Nana, PopPop and I all went to a brewery to meet many of Jacqui and Randy’s friends to help him celebrate the milestone birthday.  Unbeknownst to Jacqui when she booked the brewery for Randy’s party, a special live performance of Rocky Horror Picture Show was at the brewery that night, too.  We got quite the hoot out of that, and luckily none of us were asked to join the show.  Happy birthday, Uncle Randy!

After nearly two weeks away, several new Florida sights seen, and many family members hugged, we headed back home.  We had a great trip as Florida tourists.

{happy 40th to uncle randy!  and, fidget spinner fun with the grandparents.}

Florida Tourists: Busch Gardens

We dropped Jonathan off to fly home from the Fort Myers airport and Ella, Jack, and I continued on to our next stop on our Florida Tourists trip, Nonni and Papa’s house just north of Bradenton.  After we rolled in to my parents’ house, Tropical Storm Emily joined us, pounding the area with hours and hours of rain and wind.  The power went out for most of the day, so we hunkered down and enjoyed playing games and doing art with Nonni.  It was some welcome downtime and time well spent with Nonni and Papa.  The weather did clear in time for a day at Busch Gardens to celebrate Jack’s birthday.  Thanks, Nonni and Papa, for a fun time at Busch Gardens!  Apparently, I only took pictures on the big camera at Busch Gardens while we were at my parents’ house—and only a few of those—but there’s more to come on the August Instagram post to come.  We celebrated Jack’s 12th birthday while there, swam, tried out Jack’s birthday presents, played a little tennis, and enjoyed lots of time with my parents. 

The day after Jack’s birthday, Ella, Jack, and I headed to Orlando.  Before making our way to Aunt Jacqui and Uncle Randy’s house, we made a stop at the newest attraction in Orlando, the USTA National Campus, where I had reserved time on a clay court for a few hours of play.  We had a great time playing and it felt very special to hit some balls where a lot of the American ATP and WTA players train.  It’s a great facility—I can’t wait to go back for a camp some day!  And, after a stop at the outlet malls (another Orlando attraction—hello Lululemon Outlet), we made our way to Aunt Jacqui and Uncle Randy’s house.

Florida Tourists: Marco Island

We spent the weekend at the JW Marriott Marco Island Beach Resort.  The clear waters of the Gulf Coast and the beach were beautiful, but this hotel was plush.  It had the feel of a Caribbean beach resort with several restaurants, shops, pools, and activities onsite and we really had no need to leave the hotel grounds while on Marco Island.  We had enjoyed lunch at a local fish shop on our way in to town, but, until we checked out on Sunday morning, we enjoyed all of the amenities of the resort.  I especially enjoyed the poolside bar.  For this part of the trip, we were Florida beach tourists.  It was lovely.  And it was a wonderful little vacation for just the four of us in the middle of our busy vacation. 

{ella left her bathing suits at aunt chrissy’s house, so we had to stop at a marshall’s outside of naples.  it was slim pickings so she ended up with a neon chevron rainbow one piece with pink netted sides.  that seemed like punishment enough to cover the costs of shipping her bathing suits to nonni and papa’s house (our next stop).  and, yes, this is a series of photos of ella tripping and falling.  classic ella.  gotta’ love her.}

Florida Tourists: The Everglades

After our visit in Ft. Lauderdale, we were headed to the Gulf Coast.  We were going to cut across Florida through the Everglades, so, what do Florida tourists do in the Everglades?? Take an airboat ride, of course!  Aunt Chrissy, Noah, and Emilee joined us on our mid-morning airboat tour.  The ride was beautiful; however, apparently it was too hot for any wildlife to be out.  The only alligators we saw were the ones in captivity at the Everglades Safari Park. 

After our airboat ride, we said our goodbyes to Aunt Chrissy, Noah, and Emilee and then continued west for our next stop, Marco Island.

{a dragonfly landed on me right before the airboat took off at top speed—then he held on for dear life the rest of the ride!}

{a little frog landed on jonathan.}