Back to School

And just like that we are back to school.  Back to the routine of bedtimes, outfit selections, lunch making, and a jammed packed schedule of activities.  This year, I think back to school came at the perfect time - we had such an incredible summer that I think we were all exhausted from having that much fun.  It appears that both big kids got really great teachers this year: Ade with Mrs. Bambury and Luke with Mr. Ranney.  We've been able to cut back one day per week at the JCC's after school program, Gesher so Luke and Ade will just go twice per week.  We did a better job at planning out our schedule this year so it looks like this:

Mondays: Luke and Ade attend Gesher and then have piano lessons
Tuesdays: NOTHING
Wednesdays: Luke has swim team practice
Thursdays: Luke and Adrienne attend Gesher; Ade has swim lessons and Luke has swim team practice
Fridays: NOTHING
Saturdays: Luke and Ade have gymnastics, Luke's lacrosse starts in November
Sunday: Adrienne has lacrosse practice

We'll add in swim meets as the season progresses and at some point, we'll sign Coco back up for gymnastics.

Along with piano, Luke has the opportunity to do music lessons through school this year.  So far he's wanted to play the tuba, trombone, string bass, drums, clarinet and his favorite: saxophone.  I think he'll end up with the saxophone.

Amidst this crazy schedule, we have a whole list of house projects to do and Penn State football games to watch on TV and attend in person.

Pictures from the first days and weeks of school:

Meet and Greet

checking our her new desk

Excited for first grade!

trying to get a picture with all front teeth still in place

First day of school

Coco wants to go to school, too!

Fourth grade, here I come!

a hug for dad before she gets on the bus

walking Luke to his bus stop down the street

Dewey Beach 2016

Another successful beach trip is in the books and hopefully in the memories, too.  This year we ventured to a new house and I think the consensus is that everyone liked the old house better but the location of this one was better.  It was nice to be able to just walk out the door, over a dune and be right in the action.  We had perfect, if not a little hot, weather and more sunshine than we could take.   Of course, we did quite amount of relaxing on the beach with beverage in hand and many "planet ices" to take the edge off the heat.

As usual, the kids found many friends to play with at the beach.  They made friends with the kids of the professional lifeguards...this allowed them to use the huge rescue boards at paddle boards and had special access to the "life guard" house.  Luke made a friend whose parents even took him to the boardwalk for an extra visit.  Adrienne made friends with a few little girls who were collecting jelly fish.  I'm confident that Luke was the better judge of character on this trip.  For her part, Coco enjoyed the beach in small amounts but also enjoyed watching Dora and Diego in the comforts of air conditioning back at the house.  Violet also enjoyed the beach, particularly playing in the transport sled turned baby pool and eating sand.

We took our normal excursions to places like Dogfishhead and Jungle Jim's water park.  We took a few different turns at Dogfishhead so that no one had to take their kids :-)  Coco really loved the water park and keeps asking to go back.  "Shall we go back to the water park today?"  I think we went to the boardwalk twice.  I know that Fun Land is every kid's dream but I just really don't enjoy it!  Luke is now into the phase where he likes to ride to most ridiculously scary rides and I hold my breath while he's on them, hoping his body doesn't go flying out of the contraption.  Adrienne, thank God, isn't quite tall enough for the crazy rides but she already wants to do them.

As for other activities, the weather was so nice that it prevented us from taking too many trips to the outlets but Luke and Ade made out as usual with some school shopping with Gma and Gpa.  The kids got to learn the fun of a shopping spree!  We also had family craft night this year with a tie dye project.  We now all have coordinating Dewey Beach t-shirts thanks to Mimi.

The week always goes too quickly but the memories made last forever.

And then there was a boat

2016 will go down as the year that we ventured into the world of boating.  Inspired by a lifelong dream and the sight of an empty boat slip, the adoption of a vintage 1984 Sea Ray was destined to be.  We've all but abandoned our home and have exchanged yard work and laundry for as many jaunts on the lake as the kids can handle.  This unusually hot and dry upstate summer has worked out well for us and we'll be sad to see it go. Until then, we'll bask in the sun, swim in the lake, and eat and drink more than we should.  


As with any new hobby, every time we go out in the boat we learn more about its' quirks and even more about ours.

We've learned:

• Luke's vehicle obsession extends to the nautical and may have been kicked up a notch
• Adrienne is our true water child as she earns the water bug award at the end of every boat trip (bestowed upon those who spend the most time in the water and not in the boat)
• the boat is a great place to take a nap
• no matter how recently we've eaten or how many snacks we bring on the boat, it's never enough.
• that the food boat sells really crappy hot dogs wrapped in a piece of sliced bread but that their burgers aren't really too bad
• dry towels are a hot commodity and you can never bring enough
• that koozies are a necessity
• feeding the seagulls is the fastest way to get yelled at the by the captain
• it is not beyond the realm of possibility to walk from the water on the sand bar, to the shore, across the street, and into the Hess station to either use the bathroom or replenish supplies