August 31 - Sparkly High Tops

 

A new year of school requires new shoes. And what could better than sparkly high tops for our little diva? How adorable are these! She also has a new pair of Minnie Mouse shoes. So cute!

In terms of school, we are on week 3.

Julia: Julia has a lot more homework this year compared to 6th and 7th, primarily in algebra, biology and scientific research. Her science fair topic was due last Friday and this Friday they need to complete their research for the project. So..lots of complaints about science fair over the last few weeks but she will be thankful when it's all over. We found out yesterday she will be inducted in NJHS, congrats Julia!

Luke: Luke loves his teachers this year. He applied for a 'classroom job' and found out yesterday he is the new tech assistant. He is super excited! He is also applying to be on safety patrol and a Rocket Booster (which is helping kinder and 1st graders read). Very proud of him!

Jillian: Jillian is flourishing in her small class and loves Ms. Valencia. 

Happy Tuesday everyone! 

August 24 - Laguna Beach

beautiful sunset

Since moving to Texas 10 years ago, we haven't made too many trips to visit family. That is primarily because it's expensive to fly (especially for a family of 5) and there is only so far you can drive round trip for a weeklong vacation. We see JD's Tampa based family every year (except 2020) and part of my family (except 2020) in Ocala every year around Thanksgiving. Other than that, we've been to Raleigh a few times and met up with Bryan in New Mexico and Colorado. We have never taken the kids to upstate NY to see where I grew up and our plan for summer 2020 was a split week: Boston and upstate NY. Well, we all know how 2020 worked out. So our plan for summer 2021 was once again: Boston and upstate NY. Unfortunately, JD and I aren't comfortable with Luke and Jillian traveling without being vaccinated so a trip back east was off the table. We threw around the idea of heading back to Colorado or the beach and the beach won out. 

private beach

We decided on the week before school-I knew Florida schools were back in session that week and figured it would be a quiet week. We aren't big fans of huge condo complexes and I booked the trip relatively last minute, but I was still able to find a condo in a small complex on Laguna Beach (west end of Panama City Beach). Luckily our kids are seasoned road trippers-we left the house at 5.30am, stopped once for a bathroom break and ate a picnic lunch outside and then arrived at the condo that afternoon. The location could not have been more perfect-the building only had 12 units, there were empty lots on both sides of the building and there was not a public beach access point close to us.

not the Caribbean but darn close

We basically had a private beach all week! 

The condo was very spacious with 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a huge kitchen and we were directly on the beach. The condo itself was dated and didn't have great wifi (Luke and JD weren't happy about that LOL) but we were right on the beach so no worries. The weather was beautiful all week! The kids had fun building sand castles, playing on their boogie boards and skim boards. If you are looking for a beautiful white sand beach and gorgeous water, I highly recommend Laguna Beach. 

Julia loves the beach

My little man (not so little anymore)

Beach Baby

Love them

August 18 - Teenager in the House

Happy Birthday to You

Happy Birthday to You

Happy Birthday Dear Julia

Happy Birthday to You!

Happy 13th birthday Julia-we love you and are so proud of the young woman you are becoming. 

Some fun things to look back and reflect on when you are older and reading this blog:

Age: 13

Grade: 8

Favorite Class: you just started school yesterday but you love your Spanish teacher

Least Favorite Class: scientific research (you are already dreading science fair LOL)

Current Activities: Aquastar swimming & Girl Scouts

Current Style: sporty 

Current Interests: Harry Potter, Universal Studios, Cody Miller (Olympic swimmer), Olivia Rodrigo, post apocalyptic YA books

Favorite Foods: spaghetti and meatballs, dumplings, cheesecake, mac and cheese (not quite a food but you LOVE parmesan cheese) 

Best Friends: Reese, Kennedy, Hannah, Kendall, Addison

Dream College: UCLA

Dream Job: Geologist

Place you really want to travel: Japan

Fun Fact: you are a total neat freak when it comes to your room. It is always meticulously organized, especially your dresser drawers. 

Mom Brag: you are a fabulous big sister to Jillian. 8 years is a significant age gap but you still play with her, sometimes for hours. Your heart is so big. 

We love you!

 

August 17 - Back to School

Julia and Luke left for school on March 6, 2020..and didn't go back (other than for a few state tests in May) until today. Have a great first day kids!

Julia is in 8th grade at Brookside and Luke is in 5th grade at North Pointe. Our school district has zero covid protocols in place (no hand sanitizer, no contact tracing, zilch), which is frankly embarrassing as we are the NASA school district.  Almost every school district around us, even those in extremely conservative areas, are suing the governor and requiring masks. Our kids will both be wearing masks anyway so fingers crossed for a great year!

Jillian also started her Primrose Kindergarten class today and is super excited to be a "KinderStar!" Her class is super small, just 4 girls, so it should be a great year too!

Happy Tuesday everyone!

August 8 - Picture Update

Quick photo update!

Matching Blondies

Love my girls

Chilling with his cat

One last swim meet..

Stuffed animal tea parties are the best

Love her