July 27 - Wonderworks

There was stormy weather one afternoon, so everyone (excluding Jillian and I) headed to Wonderworks for some indoor fun. Wonderworks is a museum with all sorts of fun things, including a ropes course and a bed of nails the kids laid on. They all loved it! I had a relaxing time hanging out at the condo with Jillian, snuggling and playing (I also got in some quality reading time in while she was napping). When the weather cleared up later that evening, we were all back to the beach!

Wonderworks

Bed of Nails

Ropes Course

July 21 - Paradise

Gorgeous

After 4 months of waking up early to walk Jericho, my body is conditioned to get up early. So while everyone else was sleeping, I sat on the back patio listening to the waves and reading. I also got to see dolphins almost every morning, incredible!

We spent most of the mornings at the beach and then came in for lunch and movies during the peak heat of the day. Then we were back out for a few hours every evening. It was so relaxing! The kids had fun building sand castles, riding waves, walking up and down the beach and playing in the water. And when I say the water was gorgeous...look at these pictures. The water was as gorgeous as the Caribbean. Paradise!

View from our deck

Beach baby Jillian

evening walk on the beach

the kid crew

family pic!

July 19 - Laguna Beach

good morning!

As soon as the swim meet was over last Sunday, we were on the road and driving east. We never attempted a long trip with Julia and Luke at this age so we were nervous about how Jillian would handle it. Since we didn't leave Houston until after 4pm, we only drove a few hours and then stayed overnight in a hotel, our first time as a family of 5 in one room. Jillian was wide awake until around 10pm, but once she fell asleep all was good. 

Monday was a big driving day and it was uneventful. We hit no major traffic jams and Jillian was perfect in the car, zero crying! We arrived at the condo around 6pm and were so happy to officially start vacation. I left all the planning for this trip in Jill's hands and she did an amazing job. We stayed in a 3-story condo (3 bed/3 bath) that was directly on Laguna Beach (very northern tip of Panama City Beach, east of Destin). The kids were super excited about the kids rooms, complete with 2 sets of bunk beds. Julia and Luke bonded with Julia and Arthur and the kids immediately and hit the beach. 

Vacation!!

Little Miss Perfect Baby - wonderful traveler

Beach!

July 17 - Champ Meet Recap

After weeks of early mornings, sweaty Saturdays and hard work, it was time for the Championship meet series. We hosted a pasta dinner Friday night for the 8 and unders and the kids had fun chowing down, doing some Orca cheers and indulging in cookie cake. Go Orcas! 

Luke competed on Saturday and had his best time ever in the backstroke. I think his absolute favorite part of the meet was the giant snowcone at end! Julia had fun cheering for Luke and both Hannah's, while JD worked the whole meet as an official. Jillian did amazing...so amazing that she didn't nap the entire time we were there..from 9am to approx. 3.30pm. She was not fussy at all but extremely tired that night and passed out early. 

Kimi, Julia, Kennedy & Reese

Sunday was a stressful day in that we were at the swim meet all day and had to leave for vacation immediately afterwards from the pool. The car was packed up and we headed back to the pool. We have a powerhouse U8 girls this year and they were undefeated in relays throughout the regular season. However, we never swam against the big teams with the year round "star' swimmers. On paper it looked like we would be 4th in the medley and free relays. Julia's first event was the medley relay (Julia-back, Reece-breast, Kimi-fly and Kennedy-free). They got 3rd place...OMG YAY!! And then...the team in second was dq'd for a false start between legs and the girls got 2nd!!! They were beyond excited. Their last event of the meet was the free relay. Julia was the anchor had to compete against Taylor, one of the fastest U8 girls in the Houston area.

While Julia was out-touched, both Julia and Taylor chased down the girl in 2nd and passed her. It was the most exciting race, the entire natatorium was going nuts. The girls ended up third (a team in an outside lane ended up winning). So proud of the dream team! Julia also did fantastic in her individual events with personal bests in everything. She ended up 4th in free, 2nd in back and 6th in fly. 

After an exciting weekend of swimming, it was time to head to the beach. Check back later this week for beach pics!!

Jillian finally passed out Saturday, about a minute before Julia swam backstroke

July 6 - Rocket Ships

Every Sunday is 'electronics free day' at our house-no tv, no video games, no computer, no iPad or iPod. Although our house becomes a disaster zone filled with toys, the kids are forced to get creative. This past weekend, Julia and Luke took old diaper boxes and make 'rocket ships.' They even made one for Jillian, adorable! They pushed her around the house and she loved it. 

In swimming news, the season is almost over. The big championship meet is this weekend and guess what? Luke qualified in the free at our last dual meet. Go Luke go!! So Luke is swimming free and back on Saturday, while Julia is swimming free, back, fly and 2 relays on Sunday. Go Orcas! 

In dog news, Amelia continues to slow down day by day. It absolutely breaks me heart to see her moving so slowly. She still takes a walk in the mornings but it's extremely slow. Jericho is now attending daycare three days a week and that helps with his behavior tremendously. We also took him to the dog park on Sunday for a few hours and he loved it. So..our new routine is a walk from 6am-7am, daycare 3x per week, long evening walk and Sunday at the dog park. He's still on the adoption list but we will do this until he gets adopted out because as we all know, he's one crazy energetic pooch!

Jericho

Little scientists