Weekend Getaway

For Memorial Day weekend we decided we needed to get out of town for a few days and found an awesome deal to stay on the Hilton Resort right on the beach in Daytona. Despite historic rainfall (30 inches in 4 days) we decided to brave the weather and make the best of it. The first day was yucky, but we got some shopping in...the rest of the weekend was WONDERFUL! We spent countless hours on the beach and in the pool and then our last day there we went to Daytona Lagoon - a water park Blake bugs to go to everytime we go to Daytona. It has to be the best one we've been to as far as family friendliness is concerned - they had 8 "adult" rides, all but 2 of which Ashlyn could ride on the tubes with us or on our laps and a big kiddie area as well. We got there when they opened at 11m and left a few minutes before closing at 5pm and boy do we have the sunburns to prove it! We ended up getting a set of extra tickets to get in free next month and can't wait to go again! We had so much fun all weekend, I forgot to get the camera out...here are a couple of pictures I did snap though....

Ridin' In Style

All of the students who earned enough Accelerated Reader points were entered into a drawing, of which two names from each grade level where chosen. The prize - a limo ride and lunch at a restaurant downtown with the Media Specialist, Mrs. Teston, and the Assistant Principal, Mrs. Lambright, yesterday! Blake had enough points for two entries and was lucky enough to win for 1st grade!Blake was excited that his friend from his class the past two years, Madison was also drawn along with two 2nd graders that he goes to Gifted class with, a 5th grader from Primary and one of his best friend's older sister. So he ended up knowing all but 3 of the kids who went, which made it a lot of fun.
He couldn't stop talking about it all day, not to mention bragging that Mom's never been in a limo before - he was one excited kid!

Another Poster

Blake earned another READ poster last month that his school gives as rewards for the Accelerated Reader Program. (His first one I showed in a post from February) He was excited that he and 4 other students in the entire school were the only ones to hit the mark to earn the second one - measuring 18 x 24, much bigger than the first one, to be hung in the hallway. He hasn't seen it yet, but will be presented with it at an all school assembly tomorrow. It's fun to see all of them hanging up at the library and to see all the kids' reactions to them. I was there one day and saw some kids talking about how famous those kids were to have there pictures hanging up like that - too cute. Here's the link to see some of the other kids' poster, minus the names for security purposes...

http://greer.schooldesk.net/MediaCenter/AccelReaderBallyR/tabid/1712/Default.aspx

Ice Cream Party

Here Blake is with his friends Madison and Anthony at the school's AIMS ice cream party. At the end of each quarter the students are administered 3 different benchmark (AIMS) tests, 2 in reading and 1 in math. Blake scored 100% on them the first quarter before the material was even taught, but since each test was different and tested the kids' knowledge in a different way, he contined taking the tests all year.

To his surprise all the kids in the school who had scored 100% on the tests by the end of the year were treated to an ice cream sundae party with the Principal and Assistant Principal. There were only 6 kids from 1st grade who attended the party, three of which were in Blake's class - way to go Mrs. Madala! I was surprised when only 1 other kid from Blake's gifted class was able to go...Blake's reply - "Mom, just because you're in Gifted doesn't mean you know EVERYTHING...there are a lot of things other kids know that we don't!"

Drum Roll Please....

I forgot to tell everybody what my new calling is, sorry! They sustained me last week as our ward's Primary President...wish me luck!

Our Little Drama Queen

If you haven't watched the national weather the last few days - it's been nasty here in southern Georgia. Since Sunday afternoon it's been pouring and it's only been in the 60's, which is borderline winter weather for us. We've been in the 70's and 80's since the beginning of March and the 90's recently. The last three days though- wet, windy, overcast and just yucky!

We had to run some errands today so I made Ashlyn put on pants and her "winter coat" (Old Navy zip-up sweatshirt). As she put on the pants she started whinning that something was wrong with the leg of her shorts and they were hurting her because they were too long! After explaining they were pants and that they were meant to be long to keep her warm when it's cold she settled down...until I made her put on the "winter coat".She started freaking out that it was hurting her arms, that it was choking her neck, she couldn't breath...
...and then it was an all out temper tantrum on the kitchen floor trying to get the coat and pants off. Holy cow! Ten mintues later, still freaking out, I had to throw her in the car kicking and screaming to go to the store. What would this kid do if we lived where there were real winters that required a real winter clothing? Boy are we spoiled here!

Here's Your Sign!

I couldn't help using Jeff Foxworthy's famous phrase from the 90's as the title of this post because of what Rick had to go through to get his sign. Depending on how recently we've talked to you, you may or may not know that Rick bought Millican Eye Center's office out in Jesup, Georgia and it was his as of April 1st. Needless to say, he had to change the name of the office and being as it is in Wayne County - Wayne Family Vision was his choice. This week he FINALLY got the sign finished, delivered and hung after almost 2 months. He's excited to own his office and the opportunity to do all the business stuff that goes with it...and yes that means we're moving to Jesup, Georgia - eventually. As you can imagine, it's not the time to sell a house. Business is going great, even though this is traditionally a slow time of year for Optometry - wish us luck!

Relay for Life

Rick was the Team Captain for a team out in Wayne County for Relay for Life this weekend. The kids and I met him out there to participate in the festitivities and had a great time. It was fun to meet all the people he knows out in the community and participte in such a worth while cause - their team raised just under $4,000. It sure was special watching all of the Survivors walk that first lap around the track with the theme music playing - I was surprised at the number of purple shirts in the county. The kids had a blast playing on all the inflatables and walking countless laps around the track...not to mention getting to stay up until midnight. We'll see if we regret it today!

Boogie Boardin' Fools

We headed down to our favorite beach yesterday, just over the Florida/Georgia border for some boogie boarding. It was hot, the water was warm and the surf was great...after we dug our SUV out of the sand. Yup, our 4-wheel drive went out, something we didn't realize until AFTER the SUV was up to its floor boards in the sand! Luckily somebody towed us out quickly and we were able to park in the parking lot and walk down to the beach. Blake, as always, caught some awesome waves and had a blast.Rick had quite a few good rides as well, but went a little further out in the water than I was comfortable with and ended up having a little trouble with rip currents. He's happy to report that he was able to get out safely and didn't have to be rescued by the life guards like our friend Melanie did while they were here visiting last summer. (That still makes me laugh really hard Melanie!)We decided to get Ashlyn trying it out, but she was too scared to take in out in the big waves, so we drug her around in the tide pool for awhile. Eventually she braved open waters, but we didn't get any good pictures, sorry. By the end of the summer she'll be a pro!Ya know it was a nice day and the water was warm if I'm in boogie boarding. I caught quite a few good ones and had a blast! Have we told you how much we love living at the beach!

It's been one of those couple of weeks!

Holy cow, I am not one who stresses out about things...but this past 2 weeks have been INSANE. However, I just woke up from a nap and am happy to report that I have crossed off everthing from my list that was stressing me out:

*Job application with the school district - turned in. Talk about a PAIN, thanks Nathan for your computer help to get in done!

*Finals - over as of Tuesday...just saw my grades for the semester - all A's, woohoo!

*Graduation test - finished, haven't heard back on how I did yet...outta sight, outta mind though.

*Spring Fling - party at Blake's school that a friend and I were in charge of the whole thing again this year (an ALL day party for 700 kids) was a big hit today and is finally done with for the year.

*New BIG calling at church - being sustained Sunday (can't say what it is for those in the ward that read my blog, sorry)but I have it under control for now...Sunday might be different story!

I now have a week break before summer term (my last semester before I'm done) starts. I'm sure the stress level will be back up there again because Blake will be home all day and classes are condensed, which means less time to get stuff done...and the new calling. However, this coming week I'm going to relax, read a book, get some scrapbooking done and catch up on some movies that I have been too busy to watch! Any suggestions?

I Live in the WRONG Part of the Country, Culinarily Speaking

We were invited to our first "Low Country Boil" this weekend, a traditional southern backyard summer event. Rick was excited, but I hate anything that lives in water...I was up for the socializing, but not for eating things that once swam. You take a HUGE pot and dump whole crabs, whole jumbo shrimp, Cajun smoked sausages, red potatoes, corn on the cob along with a bunch of seasonings and boil it all together for hours outside in the backyard, drain all the water off and serve it. Again, the socializing was great, seafood...not my thing. My family I'm sure will read this and be jealous of such an event, me I would've been happy with a good southern grill out instead. Rick can't wait to be invited to an oyster roast this summer at a co-workers house...eeesh. Oh, the joys of living at the beach and having access to fresh seafood...maybe Oregon wasn't so bad.

Gettin' Rid of our Farmer Tans, One Beach Day at a Time

OK, so my sister was quick to point out our farmer tans that we were sportin' in the last posting...rightfully so, they are pretty bad. So even though Rick was in Atlanta for the weekend, the kids and I packed up the car and head to the beach for the day for our first (true) beach day of the season. Talk about a beautiful day, it couldn't have been nicer!They got some diggin' in, complete with digging until they reached water - not too hard since we were at the beach.Blake got to fly a kite, finally. He's been bugging for one...now that we're to beach season we broke down and got one. I have to say flyin' a kite in Georgia is WAY easier than Oregon. I explained to Blake how you have to run for a little bit to get it up in the air and that it takes TONS of tries to get it up there...not so. Our feet never moved and we finally reeled the thing in because our arms were tired after we had let all the string out and let it fly for awhile. This kite flyin' thing is a piece of cake here!Ashlyn was a little braver than last year and went further out. She still runs "as fast as fast can be" when the waves come her way though!Blake was able to get some great body surfing in. He watched some of the other kids skim boarding, which is probably more compatible to Georgia's beaches, and asked to get a board. We'll see...it just screams E.R. visit since he tends to have issues when it comes to things that require a great deal of coordination.There were even some decent waves for Blake to board on, which doesn't happen too often at our beaches. (Ya gotta go down to Florida for the good waves.) All in all it was a great beach day, can't wait to go again.