August Routine

Last weekend was super busy. Luke played in a baseball tournament. It was his first kid pitch tournament. I wasn't able to go because of other kids' activities, but Thomas said it was some of the best games Luke's played. His team only won 2/4, but Luke pitched and played amazing defense. He struck out batters and made several good defensive catches and plays. We are really happy with most aspects of his team. The coaches are patient and are more focused on learning than winning. They played a team with a kid who had a 90+ pitch count, which is insane for this age. Our coaches would not do that. They are good about rotating people around the field and really emphasize good sportsmanship. The only aspect we are not happy with is we signed up to just do tournaments. Last season, Luke played on a regular team and also the tournament team (not really a travel team, as it stayed relatively local). This season, the team was going to stay together, but only do tournaments. But now they have decided to do both. Overall, it shouldn't be quite as bad because it is the same kids, so they won't have additional practices. The worst part is that the practices are from 7-9 twice a week, and it isn't the field closest to our house. Luke goes to bed at 8, reads for a bit, and is usually asleep by 9 so I am not sure how it will work for us.

While Luke and Thomas were doing that, Jack had his first basketball game with high schoolers. He is playing with the YMCA and is excited to be on a new team with some older kids. He still practices almost every day. Which is surprising because, thanks to band, his schedule is crazy. Me and the girls went to his game and enjoyed watching them play. Jack had a few points and his team played well. 

Jack shooting free throws

Sunday, I took Anna ice skating. She had a really good practice. Her spins are coming along nicely and she practiced those and jumps and backwards crossovers and who knows what else. She gets frustrated at Thomas and me because she doesn't think we appreciate her skating in the same way we appreciate Luke and Jack's sports. It occasionally causes contention in the house. I feel like we are supportive and encouraging, but she doesn't think it is enough. I know she wishes she had started earlier and was competitively skating and she wishes that we liked skating as much as she does. It is hard.

Going into her sit spin.

The week passed by uneventfully. Kara is staying after school twice a week for theater club. As an 8th grader in her third year of the class, she gets to be one of the leaders. She is enjoying it and looking forward to the Thespians competition and the spring musical. Luke had a baseball scrimmage. He pitched well but didn't play great in other positions. Luke also had a dentist's appointment. No cavities, but he does have to get a tooth pulled as another tooth is blocking it from falling out. Poor kid has had a lot of mouth issues! 

waiting for the dentist

Jack had band practice on Tuesday and Thursday. Then, the football team had its first game on Friday. It sounded like a pretty miserable experience. It was raining and they had to sit on the buses for a long time because of lightening. The stands were wet, the game started late, they didn't get dinner until 930pm, the team lost 42-0.  And, what is weird to me is that they still don't know their halftime show. They have only learned the first song. I don't understand what they did during their 2 weeks of band camp and now all the after-school practices for hours and hours? The other school performed their full halftime show, so I know it is possible. And, Jack didn't get home until around 1130pm, after leaving for school at 6:10am that morning. It was a very long, often unpleasant day!

On Friday, Thomas and I did a day date to Universal. We went right after the kids started school. We rode a couple of rides, walked through the castle, browsed the shops, and had lunch at Circus McGurkus. We spent a few fun hours there and were home in time to greet Luke after school.

Anna asked what we were doing, so we sent her this picture.

Jack had another basketball game Saturday. They were grossly outmatched, but Jack and his team hustled and were good sports. Anna went ice skating and Luke went along. Anna was not as pleased with her practice this week and Luke fell and hit his head. He said ice skating is now his second least favorite sport. The only thing that falls below it on his list is tackle football. 

First Day of School 2022

The kids have returned to school! It is nice to be back into the school routine, although I am not a fan of the high school start times. As I complained about previously, Jack and Anna's bus arrives at 6:15! We have been driving them to the bus stop to give them an extra 10ish minutes in the morning, but I feel guilty about not driving them to school. However, on principle I don't want to do it (and, it would impact our work schedules). The school board is encouraging parents to drive, but I want them to fulfill their transportation obligation. I feel like we need to put pressure on them and they need to put pressure on Tallahassee to get the funding necessary to have the proper number of bus drivers. We got a message on Friday that they will be reevaluating bus routes over the next two weeks, so I am REALLY hoping that they will get a later time. Although, it has been the afternoons that are the biggest problem. School gets out at 2:20 and they are on a second bus run. They are supposed to get home at 3:19, which isn't terrible, it is only about 30 minutes after last year's time. However, it has been 3:45 and they have to sit outside at the school and wait for the bus to return for 80 minutes! It is really hot out and unpleasant. At least for Anna, Jack hasn't really complained yet. Update: because I have taken so long to finish this blog, small update is that they are now allowed to wait inside the cafeteria. They can also get a free snack. 

Meanwhile, Kara's bus time has been better than expected. School gets out at 4 and she has been getting home around 4:35, which is only about 15 minutes later than last year. She also gets to wait inside for the bus to get there. Fortunately, Luke doesn't have to deal with any of the bus mess, as we are within easy walking distance of his school.

No one is complaining about school. Luke likes his teacher a lot. He says she is funny and nice and that he can hear another third grade teacher yelling at her class all the time, so he is glad he is not in that class. 

Band has been very time consuming for Jack. He doesn't mind, but it is is a lot. Practices are on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4:00-6:30. He doesn't have time to come home and then go back to school. Even if the buses were running on last year's schedule, it probably wouldn't be worth it. So, he waits at school. That means he is at school for over 12 hours! Anna is patting herself on the back for not getting suckered into band! Kara has just started doing a theater club. They also meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays. But, they get out at 5:30. With where the schools are located and traffic at that time of day, it doesn't make sense to drive home after picking her up and then going back for Jack. We are back in the thick of the multiple kids/multiple activities shuffle.

In non-school news, we tried out a new baseball park last Friday night. It was in Daytona Beach, really close to the water. It took us about an 1:10 minutes to get there, which is much closer than Lakeland when traffic is at issue (but when games get out, we can usually be home from Lakeland in 53 minutes, so it evens out). The stadium was really cool. It has been operating since 1904 and has a lot of history--at our game, there was a man in attendance who was a bat boy when a young Hank Aaron played there! The food was reasonably priced, they had a guitarist performing before the game, and did lots of funny activities between innings. They also had a much bigger crowd than the Flying Tigers. We got rained out after 4 innings, but were glad we gave it a try and will definitely go back. 

This edition's sole picture is courtesy of Anna. Taken right outside the stadium.

Saturday, Luke had baseball practice and a birthday party, Anna went ice skating, and Jack had his last full day of band camp, which included a family preview (which had to be moved indoors for weather, so we didn't get to see any marching). I also did early voting. We were all running in different directions, but met up for dinner at Culver's after Jack's band. I know I started by saying I am happy to be back in the school routine, but I may be rethinking that a bit!

Final Days of Summer Break

We always try to make the last week of summer break as fun as we can. Before I went back to work, I would let the kids pick one final activity and we would spend the week fulfilling their wishes. They were small and easy to please, so it was generally trips to the library or out for ice cream. We would also usually take one final weekend away. When we were in Maryland, we would go to Philadelphia or Williamsburg. Our first year here we went to Atlanta. The last two summers were plagued by travel restrictions, so we didn't go anywhere in 2020 or 2021. This year, we contemplated another trip to Atlanta, but we have so much travel booked, that it didn't feel prudent to spend the time or money on a weekend away. However, we did try and fill the week with as much fun as we could while Thomas and I still worked.

Monday afternoon, we went to Universal. It was nice to focus on one park and we had a good visit. Tuesday, we went to Islands of Adventure. We had dinner at someplace new (Blimpie's) and rode several rides. The wait for Velocicoaster was reasonable at 50 minutes, so we got in line. About 25 minutes in, they started making announcements that the weather may cause the ride to temporarily close. We checked the radar and thought we could beat the storm. And, we did. But, just barely! We were the second to last group to make it on. Literally, 90 seconds later and we would have missed the ride. We decided to leave after that, although I wanted to try and wait out the storm, but was out-voted. That ended up being the right call, because the outdoor rides never reopened. 

Wednesday we went out for ice cream. Thursday was Kara's back to school night. I took her and we met all her teachers. Friday, Luke and Anna went to Marta's to spend the night. Luke has been wanting to spend a night there all summer. We don't let our kids do sleepovers with friends, so he was very excited about this. Marta picked them up around 10. Originally, it was just going to be Luke, but he was a little nervous, so Anna went along. And, they had the best time! They went to the Minions movie and had pizza for dinner. On Saturday morning, they had pancakes and bacon and then I dropped off the other kids for bowling. It was rock-n-bowl and they loved it. Meanwhile, I went to lunch with my sister. After bowling, they went to Pelican's for ice cream and then we met back at Marta's house. We swam and chatted and had a delicious dinner.

Wednesday ice cream

Bowling with Marta, Elizabeth and Travis

Sunday, we visited my dad and then went to a Flying Tigers game. We did the Sunday brunch and enjoyed the meal and the baseball. Luke got two balls, which he used to practice with that night. Thomas took him to the park and they played for almost two hours! I think that made up for the Saturday practice he missed.

Monday, Thomas and I took off work early. We went shopping at Kohls and then took Luke to his meet the teacher. She seems very nice and has been teaching 3rd grade for 13 years. Then, we all went bowling. Bowling can be frustrating for me, because I used to be really good at it. Now, I am pretty bad. The first game I didn't even break 100 (I got a 95)! But, I managed to not get grouchy about it, I was trying to be a good example to the kids. Overall, I would say the bowling and the attitudes were mediocre (except Thomas--he was good with both). Jack was super sporadic, getting spares and then throwing gutter balls. Anna gave up and quit, then sat sulking for some unknown reason. Luke used the bumpers, so there wasn't much for him to be annoyed about, but he kept hoping for a strike. Kara didn't bowl the first game, but was a good sport the second game. We ended better than we started and I think everyone, except maybe Anna, had a good time. After bowling, we went out for ice cream. Everyone did definitely like that part. Except Thomas. Have I mentioned on here that he has not been eating added sugar? He started in January and it was going to be just until our cruise in March. But, he liked how he felt and has kept it going. It is very impressive!

Tuesday was our last day before school starts. Kara babysat. Thomas had to go into the office, so it was a quiet day. We did play Settlers of Catan (Me, Thomas, and the boys) and went to dinner at Dairy Queen (Luke's request). 

And that concludes summer break 2022.

End of July

Jack's second week of band camp went well. They learned the show routine and I think Jack enjoyed it more than the first week. The family Kara babysits for was out of town, so she enjoyed a quiet week at home (she doesn't babysit everyday, but she does babysit quite a bit). Luke went to camp at the YMCA. Anna worked on her online classes and painting. She bought some challenging paint by number canvases at the start of summer that she has really enjoyed. I did the Harry Potter puzzle I got for my birthday, which was missing a piece. I looked at the reviews and saw it was a somewhat common problem, so I didn't feel too crazy about it. It was relaxing to do an easy 500 piece puzzle.

Anna's paintings, 3 complete and 1 in progress.

499 piece puzzle

Saturday afternoon Thomas took Anna ice skating and then to the high school for freshmen back-to-school. Jack went too, although he had accomplished most of the tasks during band camp (mainly getting his laptop). They had gotten their id cards at freshmen orientation, which saved a ton of time.  Anna got her laptop and then I guess they walked the school. They didn't have a meet the teacher portion. But at least they know where most of their classes are (everything except the portables). The school is going to be super crowded this year.  I can't find the exact numbers, but I know they are expecting 4400 students and I think it was built for 3200. Next year will be even worse (so much building in our area!), then the relief school will open in 2024. 

Because of the overcrowding and bus driver shortage, many buses are doing two runs. Jack and Anna are getting hosed, as they are on the first run in the morning (6:15 pickup!) and the second run in the afternoon. I sent a nicely worded e-mail complaining, as I don't think it is fair that they have to sit around at school in both the morning and the afternoon while the bus does its second runs. I certainly understand the necessity and that hard decisions had to be made, but I think it should have been one or the other and not both. They responded that they had to base it on location, which doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me for the morning run, and that they will reevaluate as they hire more drivers and see how many kids are actually riding the bus. Kara is also impacted as she is on a second run in the afternoons, which means she won't get home until 5pm!

I am pretty sick of how overcrowded everything is in Florida. I guess I can't complain too much, as I am part of the problem for moving here. But, we honestly thought the area we were moving into was fairly well established, after all our house was built in 2003. We knew there was still going to be construction south of us, but it is everywhere. Including land we were told they couldn't build on because of the airport. And, most of the building is massive apartment complexes. In the 3 years we have been here, there have been 4 giant complexes built within 3 miles of our house. Traffic is insane during commute times!

Okay, enough complaining. Onto a happier note. On Friday night, Sunshine called and asked if I was free on Saturday afternoon for a birthday surprise. We had already planned on Thomas doing the high school stuff, so I was available. She picked me up at 2:30 and we went to "Nailed It" and had the best time making welcome signs. I absolutely love how mine turned out! Then, we went to Red Lobster for dinner. It was a really fun afternoon/evening. Sunshine is definitely one of my favorite friends and I loved spending the day with her!

Birthday Week

The week of July 11th, Jack and Anna worked on their online classes and Kara spent a few days babysitting. Luke went to baseball camp. His friend Mike went too and it was nice to carpool. Then, we discovered another friend was also enrolled. So, the three boys got to go together every day. Friday was a short camp day, so they came here and had lunch and played. It was actually kind of a rough afternoon, I think trios can be problematic and the boys didn't get along as well as I would have expected. Meanwhile, Thomas escaped the chaos and took the big kids, and some of their friends to see Thor (I didn't want to go, so I told him to plan it for when we had the playdate). They all enjoyed the movie.

Anna was supposed to have special math tutoring to prepare her for Geometry. But, the teacher ended up being sick and had to cancel. Which was fine, because Anna got sick too. In fact, she was on and off sick for a few weeks. We tested for COVID and it came back negative, so we assumed it was allergies or a cold. But, she couldn't kick it. She seemed fine one day and then would wake up coughing or with a sore throat the next. Eventually, I took her to the doctor, who diagnosed her with an ear infection and maybe a sinus infection. She has been on antibiotics for about a week and is finally back to normal. 

On Sunday, the 17th, we went to Marta's house (everyone but Thomas who stayed home to do projects). Elizabeth and Travis have moved back, so it was nice to see them. We swam in the pool and had lunch and dinner and lounged around. It is always nice to visit with them, in part because I am completely comfortable in their house. After all, I have been hanging out there for about 25 years! We enjoyed our visit and had an easy drive in both directions (so rare!). 

Happily hanging out at Marta's

My birthday was Thursday. We went to lunch at Bento and picked up Jack early from band camp. That afternoon, we went to Universal. It was really crowded, but we had a good time. We rode several rides, browsed some shops, and had dinner at the Red Oven Pizzeria. And, I finally got to do the water rides! I feel like I have been trying to get on them for several visits and kept getting thwarted.  And, everyone gave me really thoughtful presents. Kara gave me a hilarious shirt that combines two of my favorites--The Office and Harry Potter (Prison Mike as a wanted wizard based on his comment about the dementors). Jack gave me Harry Potter companion books, Anna gave me a Luke's Diner apron, and Thomas gave me a Harry Potter puzzle and a Gilmore Girls t-shirt. Luke gave me 100 hugs. My family knows me well!

They have an Irish store with a countdown to St. Patrick's Day aka Luke's birthday

Anna and I got to sit in the front of the Trolley in the Sky

The Tribute Store was awesome! It had rooms for Back to the Future, Jaws, and Kong.

Dinner!

Thomas' birthday was Saturday. Unfortunately, the day was full of kids' activities. But, I tried to give him a break by taking Luke to baseball, which went from 9-1130. Then, I took Anna ice skating. Finally, Jack had a basketball game at 5, which we both went to. We planned to go to dinner after. However, the game started late and went late, so I ended up picking up pizza instead. Not a great birthday, I'm afraid. He did get some nice gifts. Kara gave him a copy of the script from the pilot episode of Community, Anna got him a Tigers bracelet, and Jack got him a book from the President's series. He was also hoping for 100 hugs, but Luke made him a card instead (he said he didn't want to give us the same thing). Like me, Thomas was happy with how thoughtful the gifts were.

Sunday, most of us went to lunch at a Mexican restaurant to make up for missing dinner the night before. We also went to Target and finished Luke's school shopping. Kara already had plans to spend the day with her friend Sophia, so she was off on her own fun adventure. 

Now, it is another work week. Jack has band camp. The days are long and he doesn't love it, but he has no regrets. He is still excited about being in band. We (mostly me) spent a lot of time trying to convince Anna to do it, but she is content with her decision. I hope she finds something she enjoys and doesn't regret this decision when she sees all the fun things Jack gets to do (and, maybe Kara in another year). As the old saying goes, you can lead a horse to water...

Random pictures of the week. Florida has crazy storms, one night we were standing in the kitchen during one of these storms and heard an enormous crack of thunder. Outside the window we saw a tree get struck by lightening! There was a massive ball of red light, like a small explosion. It was loud and scary.

The tree that got struck. You can see stripped bark.

I dropped Kara off to babysit and we saw another tree that had been struck. You can't see it in this picture, but it was stripped the entire length of the tree and looks like it was split.

July 4th and the Week Thereafter

My sister and her family came over on July 3rd. We had lunch and played Apples to Apples (Luke's request). The kids swam for a little bit and we went through the box of my mom's stuff. It had been a long time since we had all gotten together and we had a good time. We missed JD, who is on a mission in South Dakota (at some point, he is supposed to go to Japan, but Covid is still interfering). 

On Independence Day, we went and saw my dad's new apartment. He showed us around the building and we met some of the other residents. They have a lot of different activities and clubs. One person described it as a cruise ship on land. My dad is still very excited about the move and I am crossing my fingers that he continues to be happy with his decision. It is a large complex and they have three different levels of living. Right now, my dad is in the independent section, but they still have some safety precautions in place. For example, they have something on the door that they reset every night and it moves when the occupant opens the door. The staff will check on you if your door hasn't been opened. It provides a bit of peace of mind. 

After visiting with my dad, we went to a Flying Tigers game. Usually, there are maybe 100 people at a game (in a stadium for thousands). But, because of the 4th of July fireworks, there was actually a really good crowd. We had bought tickets that included a dinner buffet and allowed us onto the field for the fireworks. Everyone had a really good time. Kara was maybe even happy that she had to come home from camp early.

The work week was relatively uneventful. Anna had skating, Jack had basketball. Sophia came over and spent a day with Kara. Luke didn't have any camps or baseball. He had no idea what day of the week it was most of the time. Everyone spent time in the pool. It was an easy week.

Saturday night, Thomas, Kara, Jack and I went to Universal. It was an odd combination with Kara and Jack. Not bad, just odd. They used to be good buddies, but I would say they do the least together of any of the kids now. Anna was tired after ice skating and said she didn't want to go. That was good news for Luke who also did not want to go. I think right after Anna spoke the words she regretted them, she loves Universal, but Luke was too excited for her to feel like she could take it back. She said they ended up having a nice night together. 

For a Saturday night in July, it was a surprisingly light crowd. We had dinner at Krusty Burger and rode some rides. Thomas and I are rereading Harry Potter, so it was fun to revisit Diagon Alley with the books fresh in mind. We were eating ice cream from Florean Fortescue's when we felt the first rain drop. Rain hadn't been in the forecast, so that was a little surprising. We were on our way to take the Hogwart's Express to IOA and continued on. While in line, it started pouring and we pulled up the weather and saw that thunderstorms were now forecasted for the rest of the night. We got to IOA, got soaking wet and decided to see Poseidon's Fury. We had never done it before (a walk through special effects show). Thomas, Kara and I really liked it. By the time we got out of there, the rain had stopped, but there was crazy lightening. Most of what we wanted to do was outdoors, so we decided to call it a day and to see if we could make it to the car before the rain started again. I was a little disappointed, as we had planned on doing the water rides, but it was still a really fun night.

Sunday we did the first of our back to school shopping. We went to the outlets and ended up doing a lot of shopping. Jack got sneakers and a new backpack; Anna got two pairs of Converse high tops, a wallet and some leggings; and Kara got clothes and some fun sneakers. We also went to Five Below and Books a Million (where Luke was rewarded for his patience and everyone else also got books) and then had lunch at Johnny Rockets. It was a fun, but expensive outing!

Now, it is another work week. I have to go into the office for an all-day meeting on Tuesday. I am not dreading the meeting, as I think it is important and will be productive. But, I do have to go in 2 or 3 times this week, which just messes with the schedule. Luke is doing a baseball camp, which he is very excited about. 

In final good news--we got the end of the year test scores back for the older kids and they crushed it! The tests are scored on a scale of 1-5, with a 3 being a passing score. No one got lower than a 4 and two of them got straight fives!

Elk's Camp (and end of June)

On Sunday, June 26th, Kara went to Elks Camp. All the big kids went last year, but it is only for ages 9-13, so Kara was the only one eligible this year. She also convinced her good friend Sophia to go. We had Sophia and her mom, Anita, over for dinner on Saturday so they could talk about the camp. Sophia was a bit nervous, but the kids told her how much fun they had and I think she felt better. Anita brought desserts from Whole Foods--both a cheesecake and a key lime pie. They were so good that Jack decided he wants the cheesecake in place of a birthday cake this year!

Luke and Jack had basketball camp this week. They both said they liked it, Jack enjoyed it more than Luke. Some of our neighbors went, so we were able to carpool. With Kara away at camp, Anna was the only kid home. We went to lunch a couple of times and I think she enjoyed being an only child for a few days. 

I had to go into work on Wednesday for a briefing. Then, when I got there, they canceled it. This was especially annoying because it is the second time I've gone in for this briefing and had it canceled. Then, I had a last minute in-person meeting scheduled for Thursday, so I had to go the office two days in a row. Crazy that I used to be there everyday, but I am definitely out of that habit.

Friday, we got invited to Aquatica with (some of) the Grunds. Thomas and Jack opted out and went to see Elvis. They both liked it, but thought it spent too much time on Colonel Parker. They would have liked more Elvis and less Parker. Jack also said it was a bit too fast-paced. Meanwhile, Anna, Luke and I had a blast at Aquatica. We hadn't been there in a over a year and it was super fun to be back. I am glad that Luke and Mike were in Kindergarten together, because it has led to a really good friendship. 

It's always nice when friends have siblings the same age as your siblings.

On Thursday afternoon we got a text from the Elk's Camp. Kara was supposed to be there for two weeks, but they had a flu outbreak and were sending everyone home early. So, on Saturday morning, Anita picked me up around 630 and we went to get the girls. We didn't get any letters (one arrived on Saturday, but by then she was home), so we had no idea how camp went or how she felt about coming home early. Fortunately, both she and Sophia enjoyed the camp. Sophia gave it a 7.5 and Kara gave it an 8. They both said it would have been higher if they hadn't been sent home early. It was fun listening to the girls chat in the car and relay the best, and worst, parts of the week. Kara has the option to go another week this year or they will waive the age limit and let her return next year. She is leaning toward going next year, which would work out well, since Luke could go too and we would feel better sending him for his first sleep-away experience if a sibling was around. Kara said her favorite thing about the camp is the overall experience (being away from home, surrounded by nice girls her age and having a break from regular life). The worst part was the field games they "had to play in the scorching hot heat without water because they forgot the cooler."

To celebrate her homecoming, we went to lunch at Steak n Shake and then to Target. We were all happy to have her back, Luke even moved his mattress into her room for the night.