Summer fun

This week Caden has been attending a survival camp at the Avon center.  They have been building shelters and learning things like how to purify water.  There are a few boys he went to school with attending also and he has really had fun.  It is near the park with the zipline that the kids love.  So we have spent lots of time there this week.  We also had Sam stay with us.  They had a blast having their cousin stay the night. They really do love each other.  We are hoping to fit in a few fun activities before school starts.  But it is getting close so we will have to fit them in between school shopping.  

Robotics Camp

While Paige was at volleyball camp this week Caden attended Robitics camp.  

Brayden was there also and they were partners.  Caden loved it.  They used some sort of Lego kits and built robots.  Then they learned how to program them on the computer to do certain tasks.  It was right up Caden's alley.  The last day they battled against other groups.   He is excited to try out for robotics this year in fourth grade after seeing what they do.  He talked about it all week.  So much so that I am going to try to sign him up for the advanced camp later this summer.  

Volleyball Camp

This week Paige participated in her first volleyball camp.  It is actually the first sport she has ever tried.  She was a little lost at first which was mostly from her shyness I think.  But by the third day she was having fun.  She said she really enjoyed it.  She was very happy that her cousin Danielle was one of the coaches.  They played some fun games while learning the basics.  The last day the coaches laid shirts, bows and seat coushions on one side of the net.  The goal was to serve the ball over and you got to keep the prize you landed on.  I was very nervous because she had not been able to make it over the net all week.  But she did it!  She really wanted a shirt.  Ha!  I think a sport would be wonderful for her confidence.  They are offering another camp in a couple of weeks and she said she wanted to go.  I always thought she would be a dancer but we might have a volleyball player in our future!

Destin 2015

What a week we had in Destin.  My original plan was to blog a few times this week about everything we did.  But by the end of the day I was so tired each night it didn't happened.  So instead I am going to try and cram everything into one post.  Lol. We started the week with perfect weather.  The first few days at the beach were perfect.  The water was pretty shallow far out and there was no undertow.  So the kids could venture out far without us having to worry.  Of course Caden spent most of his time trying to see what he could find under the water.  There were a ton of little fish so the kids made it their mission to catch them.  Paige loved riding on her boogie board over the waves.  We did have one little exciting thing happen.  Paige and I were out pretty far just wading around and floating around on her board.  All of a sudden she jumped up on her board and wouldn't get off.  I asked her what was wrong and she told me something big and scratchy just bumped her legs.  I told her it was probably nothing but she was really scared and would not get off.  I had just gotten the words out of my mouth when I saw a something long with a big shadow swim in front of us.  I kind of froze.  There were some people next to us and they saw it too.  One lady yelled what is that?!  Everyone started to scatter and Paige was climbing me like a cat.  We all made our way back to the beach and just like that whatever it was was gone.  I told myself it was just a really big fish.  Lol. The people next to us said it was a small shark.  Needless to say Paige didn't want to go out that far again.  Too much Shark week made us all jittery.  Ha! 

We did the usual things we love like hunt for crabs at night.  But this year we did something new and scheduled a fishing trip for the kids.  I had read great comments about Captain Robby and he didn't disappoint.  He was really friendly and even Paige warmed up to him.  He took us to some great hotspots and the kids pretty much caught fish the entire time.  Both the kids and the adults that went said it was one of the highlights of the trip.  As a bonus we saw dolphins and a huge stingray jump out of the water.  Even Captain Robby said he had never seen a stingray do that before.  He said something must have been chasing it.  It was a great day. 

When we needed a break from the water we ventured out and ate at some great places.  They also have a place called Maragritaville.  It is kind of like a bigger Kemah Boardwalk.  Caden has been wanting to zip line since last year so we had to go back so he could do it.  He loved it.  He is my brave one for sure.

Of course we went back to crab island.  It is Caden's favorite thing to do there.  We came back with tons of hermit crabs and the kids love the jet skis.  Later that night we all went bowling.  I just love that bowling ally.  Non smoking and such cute decor.

There was a new place that opened that had an arcade, putt-putt golf and a ropes course.  Paige and Caden decided they wanted to do the ropes course.  Caden loved it but poor Paige had a rough time.  We quickly realized after the kids started that they had little instruction and that it would be difficult for Paige to navigate on her own.  She made it half way and I knew it was more then she had bargained for.  Poor thing got stuck and she was shaking like a leaf.  When we realized she was crying Jimmy got one of the workers attention and they went up and followed her the rest of the way.  I felt so bad for her.  But everyone cheered her on and in the end she said she hated it but she was glad she tried.  Thank goodness the rest of the night went smoothly and Paige even one the jackpot of 1000 tickets on a game.  

We had a wonderful week.  I am already looking forward to next year! 

Painting with at Twist

One of the moms at church put together a party at Painting with a Twist for the girls at church.  Paige had never been before and she was very excited about it.  All the girls were so cute concentrating on following the instructer.  It was very hard for me not to step in and correct her mistakes but I did it! Lol. You could look around and see some of the moms couldn't take it and we're stepping in to help at times.  Overall I think she did a great job.  She can't wait to hang up her painting in her room.  It was a wonderful time of fellowship for the little girls and the moms.  We will definitely be doing this again!  

Summer fun

I can't believe it is already July.  For me summer is a tricky time.  It is definitely more laid back which can be good and bad.  Jimmy has been working 6 nights a week since May so I have been on my own with the kids.  It makes working a little tricky.  We have somehow managed to fit in some fun activities though. We went to Discover the Dinosaurs which all the kids enjoyed.  

I have to laugh at some of the ways the kids have been entertaining themselves while I work.

And no, Caden and Paige did not suddenly gain weight.  Lol. They each have on about 15 shirts.  Ha!

We just finished up swimming lessons and I can officially say Paige is finally floaty free in the pool! 

We spent the 4th of July swimming with Amy and the boys and having fun.  

This Friday we leave for Destin!  We are ready to get away and have some time with daddy.  We have missed him!

VBS 2015

The kids were away at their grandparents this year during VBS but I still volunteered to help in the preschool department.  Camp VBS was the theme this year.  Every year I try to venture out on new ways to get the lessons across to the little ones.  My group of helpers were great and we all had a blast.  I changed things up a little this year and we did not take part in the beginning singing with the older kids.  In years past there have been so many that cried and I felt like we had little to no control at times.  We did our own pledges and new songs that the kids really enjoyed.  I did not feel rushed and overall I thing it went much better that way.