Ice Skating Exhibition, Easter & Other News

On Saturday, April 15, Anna performed her ice skating routine for the first time. Marta came up for the day and Jack, Kara and I went to watch. Thomas and Luke were at a baseball tournament, but Thomas had watched her practice on Wednesday with her music and we recorded the performance. Both he and Luke were disappointed to miss it, but they had committed to the tournament before we signed up for the showcase.

Anna had two goals: 1) to not fall; and 2) to finish with the music. And, she easily met those goals. She remembered everything, did not fall, and finished with the music. It was probably the best she has skated. She was very nervous and her coach said she considered backing out, but she did it! Now, she is looking forward to doing an actual competition.

After her skating, we went to Cracker Barrel (Anna's choice) and then Target. It was a very fun and successful outing.

Anna with Summer, her skating coach.

Marta came up to support Anna and treated us all to dinner.

In other news, Luke got invited to try out for some special baseball tournament through perfect game. It is kind of like an all-star team. He is very excited about it. 

We went shopping for Kara's 8th grade formal dress, but it did not go well. Sometimes having teenage daughters is awesome and sometimes it isn't.

On Friday, we let Luke and Anna skip school and we went to Volcano Bay. It was crowded, but we had a great time. Kara couldn't miss school because of theater (the show is this weekend!) and Jack didn't want to. Kara said it was okay with her if we went, so we did. I have been promising them a Friday at Volcano Bay for a few months, so it was good to check it off. 

And, since this is in no particular order, I will end with Easter. We started the day with an egg hunt, Luke's favorite thing. The Mottas came up to spend the afternoon with us. We had a  ham dinner and played Grounded for Life. It was a nice day!

I actually won! Although in this game it doesn't matter, it's all in good fun.

We noticed that Luke and Amanda have the same haircut! :)

Visits and Updates

My dad turned 81 on March 24th. My brother Jim and his wife Sheryl came down from Virginia and the plan was for all of us to get together at my Dad's on Saturday to celebrate together. Unfortunately, my dad wasn't feeling well, so we had to cancel the plans. Instead, Jim, Sheryl and Kevin came here. Kim had plans for later in the day, so she didn't have time to come to Orlando. I would have gone to Winter Haven or Lakeland, but we didn't have a great place to meet and my house is the halfway point for Kevin, so I lucked out and didn't have to do any driving. It was really nice to visit with them, although it would have been even nicer to have been in the same room with all my siblings. I can't remember the last time that happened. We have all seen each other, just not at the same time. Unfortunately, no pictures. 

Our other recent visit was with the Darrows and (some of the) Rays. Me, Jack and Luke met up with them at Universal on Wednesday after school. Anna had a skating lesson and Kara didn't get home until late and had a lot of homework. But, the boys and I had fun. We had dinner and ice cream and rode a couple of rides. It was really good to see them. It took Luke and Brandon a minute to warm up, but then they had a great time hanging out. And, Jack enjoyed catching up with the kids and hearing about some mutual friends in Maryland. I was glad we were able to see them. I miss Maryland and our Maryland friends!

In no particular order:

Luke played in a Perfect Game baseball tournament. Perfect Game is a higher level than what his team regularly plays and they got slaughtered. They were in a tough bracket. There were three teams in his bracket (and I think  3 or 4 brackets) and those two finished in first and second in the tournament. One was from Texas and the other from Tampa. For us, the drive was only about 30 minutes, so pretty low investment cost. 

Thomas and I went to Fun Spot on one of our Friday's off. We had a really good time and sent this picture to the kids while they were at school.

Anna has been working hard on her skating. She is performing in a showcase next Saturday, so she has been in high gear with practices. (I have a lot of  videos, but no pictures.)

I have been super busy at work with a protest, which is when a contractor challenges the Government's source selection decision. The Government has to justify its actions, which is a lot of work. 

We have officially started swimming. Well, at least Luke and Anna have.

Thomas is trying to decide his favorite animated movie. He has 4 contenders that we are rewatching: Tangled, Toy Story 2, Madagascar. and Cars. 

Luke competed in Battle of the Books. His team finished 4th (out of 16) but only the top two get to move on, so he was disappointed, but hopes to do it again next year.

Jack has been playing basketball at the Y and it is going well. 

Kara has been going to lots of play practices. We are only two weeks away. Lately, she has mostly been working on painting scenery, which is not her favorite.