First Day of School

Today was the first day of school for Glenn and Alexander. Glenn entered second grade and Alexander started VPK (which stands for Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten, a state run program ensuring all FL children age 4 get pre-school for free).

Glenn had a lot of school supplies to bring, so we put some in his backpack, Bob had a bag and I had a bag. We were able to bring it to his classroom (there's no way he would have been able to do it himself). His classroom is at the end of the same building he was in last year, but in a portable at the other end of the building, so it was comforting to him (and me) that it was easy for him to find his classroom. We met his teacher last Friday, and we're very excited about her. She's very warm and it sounds like she will be a perfect fit for Glenn. He's in a smaller class (max class size of 12) and another teacher in the next portable will be team teaching with his main teacher. Plus, they have a tutor (or paraprofessional) helping out the two classes. It's always good to have extra helpers. All the kids in his class need a little extra attention.

 Alexander is at the same school as last year, but this year, it's free!!! We really like his school, but this will be the last year he'll be attending it as I can't see paying private tuition, when we are very happy with the public school Glenn goes to. Alexander was very happy to be with his friends from last year. He also had another Alexander in his class today; he thought that was amazing and exciting.

 Here are some pictures of them that I took before we went off to school:

It was 7:15and we were just about to go. Alexander had to get in the first picture. I'm sorry about the smudges on the pictures. Alexander has been using my camera...

 

 

Alexander would not give me regular smiles, only silly faces.

 

I had a request to post this picture of my dad and Alexander biking and talking back in the spring.

My little photographer and models

We are quickly rapping up the summer. After a week at VBS (the boys loved it), they've been going with me to work at the office three days a week. Both Bob and I can't wait until they are back in school when I'm working. It's very difficult to get things done in a time effective manner with two little boys playing around the office (and constantly asking us questions). Last week, we had baby-sitters for about a half hour. A couple came in to get an oxygen concentrator repaired. While they waited for a quote, Glenn came up to me asking me to play Angry Birds for him. I told him I was working. Then the couple chimed in that they love to play Angry Birds. So, they played with the boys until Bob was done getting the quote for them. The boys have one week left of summer. Of course I still need to work, but we'll still have some fun. We've been going to the water park in town that we have season tickets to. And we spent the morning, yesterday, looking at all the animals at Silver Springs (it's half zoo, half nature preserve, also in Ocala). We took a river boat ride that was quite relaxing. I haven't decided yet what we're going to do for fun this week. We do try to swim every day. But sometimes the daily thunderstorms come too early and we don't get a chance. Or, we'll just hear thunder rumbling for hours, and I won't let them swim when that happens, either. Alexander has become quite the little photographer. Cubby is his favorite target. He does a great job getting his target centered. This first picture of Glenn is a bit blurry because it was taken from the opposite side of the room and I had to zoom in.

Alexander took this picture of Glenn, who gladly posed.

The puppies love each other.

 



Another picture taken by Alexander



Alexander just has to cuddle Cubby; he can't help himself.



The boys have been sleeping together for the past few weeks. I went in and checked on them one night and had to run to get my camera. SO SWEET!!!

I got the boys cheater chop sticks. They like mine, but they are hard to use. These are connected at the top. They'll eat anything with their chop sticks. Alexander's eating grapes.



Glenn lost in thought

After I brought him back from outer space, he decided to do an over the shoulder pose for me.

Southern Carribean Cruise Part 3

Okay, here's the last of it...

The boys spent most nights going to bed right after dinner (it was already past their bed times by then). Bob's mom would meet us at our room and read the boys a story, put them to bed and read (or sleep) until Bob and I were done going to shows or whatever we were doing in the evening. We were very grateful for her doing that because it was like we were on a date each night. But we also know she fully enjoyed herself putting them to bed each night. She stayed out a couple of nights for shows. One of those nights, we brought the boys to a Beatles show. Glenn here is sitting in his seat, very serious. He really enjoyed the show and the dancers' costumes. Near the end, they passed out glow sticks, which was right up his ally.

Alexander fell asleep during the show in Nanny's lap. She didn't mind one little bit!

We went out dancing after the show.



Andrew just graduated from high school (as well as another girl from our group, Kia). So we celebrated their graduation. As you can tell, Alexander loves his cousin.



Danny and Alexander

Things got very silly at our last dinner. Alexander loved to make faces for anyone holding a camera.

Danny holding up a frog leg. It really does taste like chicken. But did it still have to look like a frog leg?!?!

Danny looking like a bandit.

Alexander was doing silly things with his napkin, too.

We left the ship around 7:30 Sunday morning. The boys were excited to get back home to their toys and dogs. But I feel it is so sad to end a vacation. Being on a cruise is like a fantasy. You get to eat gourmet food every day, you don't have to do any dishes, we brought enough clothes so we didn't have to do laundry, a magic fairy comes in the morning and makes your bed and cleans up the bathroom and then comes again when you're at diner to get your bed ready, bring you chocolate and make a little stuffed animal out of towels. You don't have to work, and you have someone to watch your children for free! Then, slap, back to reality! Bob was back to work today. I cleaned the house, did laundry and grocery shopping. I start teaching again next week after two months off. But it has been a great summer!

Southern Carribean Cruise Part 2

Now for the continuation of our vacation. The reason why it is broken up is because the software I use to make my blog posts when I have pictures only allows so many pictures per post. I also discovered how to add captions to the photos when I'm choosing which pictures I want for my post. So, you'll notice a slightly different format. The description of each photo is below the photo rather than before it.

Our third port was Curacao. They had a pathway from the port to shopping and restaurants. We went shopping during the day and then went out for a drink with Bob's family in the evening.

There were a couple of oil refineries on the island (you can see the flame above from one of them). I enjoyed the architechture.

To get to more shopping, you needed to either go across a foot bridge or take a ferry. You can see the footbridge on the right side of the picture above. It would only span the river for a short time. The piers are on what look like boats, and the whole bridge moves to one side to let boats through.

 

 

Bob on top of a fort.

A eucalyptus tree

Boats on the river.

Bob on the fort.

A view of our ship and the ocean from the fort.



Alexander has a flashlight, looking for clues in Nanny and Poppy's room. You can kind of see a shark tatoo on his right forearm. He got a spray tatoo (now gone).



Towel Rabbit

Our forth and final port was Aruba. We really enjoyed this port. We spent the morning at a beautiful beach called Eagle Beach. The white sand was so fine that it was almost like mud. There were chunks of coral that had been tumbled in the surf, so I brought a chunk of it home. There were umbrellas made of palm fronds to sit under. And there were a lot of water sports. Bob took the boys on a jet ski (or, motor cycle boat, as the boys called it). After about 15 minutes, they had enough wind. But they really did enjoy it. I didn't bring my camera to this beach, and I'm kicking myself. But Bob's sister, Kathy got pictures, so I'll have to get some from her. In the afternoon, we put the boys in Camp Carnival and strolled the streets. In the picture above, you can see the colorful structures where locals sold their wares. We enjoyed looking at these more than actual shops. We found some more on another street.

The beautiful colors of Aruba!

View of the ocean from our ship while docked in Aruba.

Elephant towel

We had a relaxing day at sea on Friday. That evening was another elegant dress evening.

The boys with their cousin, Kat.

Alexander with Nanny and Poppy, enjoying his umbrellas. Bob's Uncle Jack is on the right.

We had a beautiful view out the back (or "aft") of the ship from our dining room table, where we ate each night. Bob and I switched each night so we could take turns sitting near the window. Alexander is sitting just at the end of the the table where there was a little window seat.

Southern Carribean Cruise Part 1

We just got back yesterday (Sunday) from a cruise. It was wonderfully relaxing! We went on the cruise with Bob's family (parents, two sisters and their families, and some of their other family and friends). It was so nice to spend quality time with them, since we don't see them often. We also got to know our niece and nephew's significant others. We left Saturday (July 14th)from Ft. Lauderdale. It was a little over a four hour drive from Ocala. We knew the boys were going to wake up before we were ready to get breakfast, so we had breakfast delivered to the room. They enjoyed that.

 

After breakfast, I brought the boys out to the pool. The pool was a bit colder than what we are used to at home (88 degrees at home), so they preferred the hot tub. There was a big chess set out by one pool. Both boys loved playing with it, moving pieces at random. Alexander is playing here, while we waited for Glenn to come down the water slide.

 

At the end of the first full day was captain's night, which was the first of two elegant dress nights. I loved getting a chance to wear a dress every night. Here's Bob's sister, Cindy, her husband, Ray, and two boys, Andrew and Danny. They were right across the hall from our room, which the boys loved.

 

And here we are in our elegant dress:

 

Alexander making one of many silly faces at dinner:

 

Alexander and Andrew:

 

If you have been on a cruise, you know that the room stewards make animals out of the towels each night. Our first animal was a dog.

 

On the second full day of our cruise, we came to our first port: Grand Turk. There was a cute bundle of buildings for shopping and a beautiful pool right at the port. We spent a little time at the pool and also on the beach, snorkeling. The fish were beautiful and fun to watch. Even Alexander got to see the fish using his goggles while his Aunt Kathy held him. Here's Alexander and Bob by the pool:

 

 

There was a cat that loved to sit under my chair. Here is Glenn peering at the cat.

 

 

Daddy and Glenn, by the parrot outside of the Margaritaville restaurant, which was next to the pool.

 

Glenn and Alexander spent quite a bit of time in Camp Carnival. Most of the time, they were in separate groups. They really enjoyed it and asked every day to go. It was nice for them to be able to play with kids their age (since their cousins are all older). Plus, we didn't bring any toys, so Camp Carnival was the only place there were toys. They did a lot of science in Glenn's group, which he loved. One day, Glenn got this pirate mask. He was scared of it and wanted to throw it away. But Alexander wanted it, maybe even more because it scared his brother.

 

Our next animal was a crab. Notice that in the background, Alexander's green bear, Scout, is wearing the pirate mask. This is also a good view of our room in the evening. You can see Glenn and Alexander's beds folded down just above our bed. I must have hit my head or back on them at least 20 times over the week.

 

Alexander making shifty eyes at breakfast.

 

Our second port was La Romania, Dominican Republic. It was recommended by Carnival and other people that you either take a shore excursion or stay on the ship because it's too dangerous to roam the city on your own. So, we opted to stay on the ship. Bob got a massage. The boys spent most of the day at Camp Carnival and I read in the shade. It was also nice because so many people were off the ship. I took some pictures of the coast. Some was beautiful, but right next to industrial buildings. Here's the beautiful point...

 

...not far from the big smoke stack. I had a nice view of the big smoke stack from where I was reading. Nice!

 

And here is what I assume is a commercial port, and train tracks for picking up what is delivered.

 

This house was opposite of the cruise ship port. I liked the rocks just below it. But I don't think I'd want to live or even stay there, especially with the industrial buildings right behind it.

 

Our animal this night was a duck. I snapped the picture just before Alexander pushed it's head off.

 

I will continue with our adventure later.