Summer is a Splash!

Pool is open!  Time for the first summer splash!

Daddy sets the splash standard...

Tyler follows with his cannonball..

Corynne takes a dive...

Lyndsey was very hesitant to jump, but we bribed her with a popcicle...

Lauren had to play the help me card...

Jamaica

JM and I were invited to go to Jamaica with 3 other couples.  JM's old trauma coordinator/new nurse practitioner planned the trip as her graduation  "event"!   We all flew out of Atlanta early on Sunday, May 24th.  It was an easy 2 hour flight to Jamaica, and a long 2 hour bumpy drive to our resort, The Caves.  The Caves is on the cliff side of Jamaica, so there was not a sandy beach.  We had 10-35 foot cliffs to jump off of to get down to the VERY SALTY ocean.  

We all stayed in a 4 bedroom villa that was actually across the street from the rest of the resort.  We had a "private" tunnel that went under the street to our villa.  

This was our "fresh-air" villa!

This was the room we stayed in.  Yes, that window is JUST shutters, so YES we used the mosquito net around the bed at night!  The bedrooms did have small A/C units, but the rest of the villa did not!

We had a butler and a housekeeper!  WooHoo! Our butler, Leon, served us all meals and made sure we had everything we could possibly need.  He was awesome! We also had our own private pool that was actually bigger than the resort pool.  It had the most comfy "couch"  where we spent a lot of time!

We kayaked.

.

JM jumped.  We swam.

There was snorkling.  JM took some underwater pics of the beautiful fish, but I just took the camera in to be developed!

Of course, there was time for some sunbathing on the beautiful cliffs!  Not sure who took this pic with our camera, but JM said he did not!?!?!

Between activities we ate HUGE, DELICIOUS meals!

(L-R) JM, Misty, Amy, William, Alison, Stenson, Kendall, Randy

On Tuesday, the guys took a day trip out to play some golf and go to Margaritaville in Negril.

While the guys were playing, the girls were relaxing at the spa!  Now doesn't this look breath taking...getting a massage and hearing the waves crash in to the cliffs...ahhhhhh!  

We dined one night in the cave!  It was a beautiful candlelight experience, but it was HOT with no breeze!  

We all took a day trip on Thursday, to YS falls.  It was a LONG bus ride in a 3rd world country, but it was worth the rough ride once we arrived!

We road a zipline across the falls 3 times!  It was fun once I just JUMPED off the first time!

We also rafted down the river and played in the waterfall while we were there, but those pics were with someone else's camera!  I will share them later!

We had a wonderful trip.  It was great to get away from reality for a while and reconnect!  Thanks Grammy for making it possible for us the get away! 

Bowling

Today we went bowling.  This was Lyndsey's first time to bowl with the big kids.  She had a great time, but she lost interest after the 2nd frame of the 2nd game!  That was pretty good since it was NAP time!

The girls just have fun!

Tyler is all about scoring!

Grammy is with us, because Mom and Dad are leaving in a few hours for Jamaica!!!!

Corynne's time to shine!

It has been Tyler's performance, Tyler's moving up ceremony, Tyler's baseball and Lauren's graduation, but what about Corynne?  She has had a wonderful year in 3rd Grade.  She is my only child still in school.  She has 3 more days!  I am sure she will get a few special DADDY breakfast dates on the way to school the next 3 mornings!  She has received a few awards over the last few days.  She received a gold metal for her reading accomplishments.  Our Olympic reading program is designed after the "AR" program that is in public schools and big private school.  We just do not spend the huge $$ to buy the program when we just want the kids to read and enjoy it!

Today she received the character award for "contentment" from her teacher!  

Way to hang in there Corynne!  You are an awesome student, friend, helper, sister and daughter.  We love you!

We joyfully announce our new 1st Grader!

Yeah!  The crowd goes wild!  Lauren graduated from Kindergarten today!  It was a sweet ceremony full of songs, praise, verses and rhymes!  Each child did an awesome job!  They each had memorized so many lines, solos, and songs!  It was amazing!  Again, the teachers put on an amazing production!!  

Angelic...

Lauren listens as the kids sing a song they wrote about her!  (sung to Clementine)

Everyday, at her house

Lauren likes to play with Dad

When he can't come home from work,

it makes Lauren very sad.

They play Doctor, and play family,

and they also play school.

When Lauren plays with Daddy,

he's always breaking all the rules.

A trip around the world in rhyme and song...

We love you, Lauren!  We are so proud of everything you have accomplished this year!

Busy does not describe us!

Today was such a busy day as you can read about in the previous few posts.  I am exhausted, but I am very happy to have uploaded pics and updated this blog!  Tomorrow is another day of ceremonies(Lauren's graduation and Corynne's character awards)and fun(Tyler's field day)!  It is days like this that I am very thankful that the kids schools are right across the street from each other!!!  Check back in the next few days for more big news as we close out this school year!!  Woohoo!!!

FYI - I added a post on May 6th!  It has cute pics of the kids' church musicals!  So keep scrolling!

Play On!

This afternoon, the kids performed in their annual piano recital.  They all bobbled :(, but they recovered nicely :)!!!  Most of all, it was a fun experience and no one was uptight, nervous, or scared to perform in front of the small group of people!  Great job, kiddos!

The best part of the recital was raking in the loot!  They all brought home trophies for the National Piano Auditions back in April.  Tyler also brought home a trophy for AMTA District piano auditions where he scored two O's--Outstanding!  He was a little disappointed when he found out today that he only got an E at state on Saturday :(.  His teacher did a great job of reinforcing the fact that only a select few earned a "ticket" to state and an E is still a good score!  Play on, Tyler!  

Moving on Up!

Today Mom and I went to Tyler's 5th Grade Moving Up ceremony.  Tyler even commented that it was long and boring, but I think it was just a typical "graduation" with quite a few looong speeches!!!  Memories!

Singing one last song as elementary students...AHHH!

Our graduate...

Middle School bound...

Okay, we have had enough of this!

Mom, enough already...

Does he look 9 months WISER?

Ohh, I think he has grown up a little!!!