Our summer in a nutshell + vacation post (before the - now late - back to school post)

First the nutshells: 

Summer sort of felt like this in a nutshell:  Water + driving + laundry.
- With two kids taking daily swim lessons at two different times in two different spots for 6 weeks (Mercer) and 5 weeks (Isabella)... there was TONS of driving around and TONS of laundry.  I've already blogged, however, how worth it that adventure was as both kids are doing so well in the pool!

And when swimming finally ended, it felt like this in a nutshell:  Driving + work + schlepping Mercer to camp. (the work and camp thing happened above too on top of the swimming, but the water seemed to take precedence)
- with my commute and taking Mercer to various camps around town, it seems that a ton of time was spent in the car.  I was going into my office at least 4 days a week while school was out (and usually worked the 5th day at home).  A couple of weeks, I went in every day (when Mercer had camp near my office).  That seemed like a good idea when booking him for the camps, however, I had to commute every day and he had to experience my long commute. (It's about 45 min +/- on the way in and about an hour +/-  on the way home.)  One thing that we did, however, that helped passed the time:  we listened to some great books on CD.  
- Todd mostly handled Isabella's daycare (a couple miles from home) and of course worked every day at his job.

We think that Mercer had a good summer.  He went to a bunch of YMCA camps (they were close to his swim practices). The first couple of weeks, he went to general camp where they played games, did crafts, swam, and had all sorts of outdoor fun such as something called ga-ga ball, archery, etc.  Then he moved into week-long sports camps at the Y.   Flag football, lacrosse, tennis, and basket ball.  There was also the drama camp at the nearby church as already reported on a previous blog.  He ended his summer camp adventures with a LEGO camp as well.  (This is where the pictures are from.)  Last year, he was really sad because all of the older kids were on a team at his House-Building LEGO camp.  This year, I think that the organizers mixed it up a bit.  His team won for various characteristics at this year's Tank-Building LEGO showdown.  He was pretty excited.

There was no camp on Monday / Tuesday... so Todd and I each took Mercer on an adventure to Six Flags this week.  I hadn't been since Todd and I went (before we were married??) Todd took Mercer last year one day with a free kid's certificate he earned for reading, so he made some recommendations of things to do while there.  

On Mercer's 2nd day there, he did not really want to ride any roller coasters.  He and Todd did that the day before.  The "screaming" picture here is fake.... this was on a little kiddie ride and was not scary at all.  The other photo below, however, is of us waiting in line to get on an awesome & huge water slide.  Definitely, the water slides were mine, Todd's and Mercer's favorite part of Six Flags!!!  That part of the park is sort of new and it's an AWESOME addition.  So much fun!

Because we were going to the theme park a couple of days in a row and because Mercer now knows what White Water is, we joined for a year membership.  (Mercer never noticed White Water before but now it's visible from the highway since a bunch of trees were removed & he is VERY curious about it.) Six Flags (and White Water - which is a part of the membership) will be on next year's summer agenda, for sure!  

One other "camp" sort of thing that Mercer got to do.... he spent the week at "Camp Grandma and Grandpa" in Florida!  It was a new experience for him to spend the night away from home that long and he did really well.  Dad and Charlie enjoyed having him there and getting to know him better.  He enjoyed spending time with them (and their dog, Kinsey) and said he'd like to do it again.  They were talking about "next year" we could do XYZ.... so it sounds like they want him to come back again.) 

We talked to him every day.  And - they sent pictures often.  Some of these pics are of him checking out nearby parks.... and.... some are from nearby themeparks.  (Being near Orlando - there's a lot to choose from.) 


Dad took Mercer to Gatorland -- a place where they feature gators, of course, but also have a variety of animals there as well.  He came away with a super cool gator t-shirt, but also memories of "pea-hawks" (peacocks), goats, and walking around the lake with different animals.  I didn't get a photo of him wrestling an alligator.... so I guess they didn't let him get too close!
































They also went to the Crayola Experience -- a venue that has attractions based on color, creation, and fun.  Mercer came home with some wax spin art, a puzzle that he made, a water-color picture, a "custom" crayon he made and labeled, some coloring sheets, squishy modeling clay, etc.   

This coloring sheet image cracks me up (I guess a camera would take your photo / spit it out on a printer as a coloring sheet with a rock-and-roll background.)  Notice how angelic Mercer looks.  ha!  

The concept for a Crayola play place is brilliant.  Crayola does SO MANY different kinds of things -- their resources for this place are limitless.  

I met dad and Charlie for lunch mid-way between their house and ours.  They were raving about how good Mercer was all week.  How polite he was -- how helpful (holding doors for strangers / car door for Charlie / how he event helped out a lot at their church as they were moving food from one building to another in preparation for setting up a food bank).  Major props for Mercer on getting compliments from adults!!!





























Mercer and I took a quick stretch break at Mercer University near Macon on our drive back home after lunch.  He thought it was SO COOL to see his name everywhere!  He said he was famous there.  ha~

Mercer and Isabella seriously missed each other.  Todd and I had work, as normal.  Isabella had daycare, as normal.  But - when she woke up in the mornings, she would ask about Mercer.  One day - when he wasn't here and Todd had already left for work, she WAILED for a long time.  She wanted someone other than me!    Check out this sweet "reunion" pic.












Now..... for our summer vacation (in a nutshell and a TON of pictures):  beach + swimming at the pool + biking + Todd and I getting to go kayaking / snorkeling + nap-time activities + putt putt + Playmobil Fun Park + sea turtle sighting.


A couple of general comments about Palm Beach Shores:  the water was GORGEOUS.  clear blue.  beautiful! 

The sand was HOT.  people were selling "sand socks."  We've never seen them - but totally understand the need!

 
 

Isabella spent a bit of time under the umbrella because she was not digging the sand as much as in previous beach trips.  She was being a little bit of a princess about getting her hands dirty!  (Although she had no qualms holding a baby dragon fly that we found!) 

Isabella and I chased sea gulls away from our blanket and flew a kite (Yes that's a storm that was in the distance... we watched it go all the way around us.  It made for some great kite-flying wind and waves for boogie-boarding - sorry - no pics of that one... we were too busy in the water).

The place we stayed was right next door to a city park & public beach that was barely used.  It was perfect because there was a playground in the park that the kids liked to climb on day and night.














There were restaurants nearby.  We rode bikes to check out our end of the island such as the nearby marina.  (Mercer rode solo -- with his training wheels on.)

 
 
 

 It pretty much rained every day.  (One day we checked out Playmobil Fun Park which was really close.)

We barely dodged a rain storm while playing putt-putt with metal clubs.  Um.... that one was a little close for comfort. 

 

 

Isabella needed an afternoon nap every afternoon.  Sometimes the rain and the nap coincided.  Mercer and I got to do some fun stuff together during her naps, however, such as going on a hotel scavenger hunt one day, a treasure hunt another, a trip to the turtle rescue center, making some solar print cards, and having a mommy-son date at the tiki bar.

 

I'm not quite sure where this fits in with the flow of the blog, but I have to say.... when we first got to the island, we were sort of confused watching a large cruise liner make it's way to the shore. 

We did not realize how close we were to the bottom of the island 'til exploring more, but we were.  It sure made for some really odd-looking photos, though!  (It's a little more clear here in the next couple of photos at the entrance to the inlet.)

 

Some more randomness.  Here is a bird that Mercer liked to talk to that was next to the pool. 

Also, we went to a hibachi grill.  We had taken Mercer when he was only a few years old.  It was funny when we took Mercer the first time - he was really afraid of the fire.  It seems that he is still not so comfortable around it, but Isabella seems to be fascinated!

Here are some selfies that Todd took of the family. 

 

 

 

A MAJOR highlight for us:

 

Todd and I did something new.  We hired a babysitter through the hotel so that we could go on a kayaking / snorkeling trip!!

(Actually, the sitter was a nurse practitioner that the hotel works with for their guests with medical needs, so we felt a little better and could relax on our little tour!) 

Our guide lured out an eel with some fish.  It was pretty cool. 

Luckily, we were at one of the top 10 spots in the US for snorkeling.   It was SOOOOOO AMAZING.  I now absolutely love being under the water with the fish!  Todd loved it too (pictured here).  We both agree that we need to find more opportunities to snorkel more!

Here are our photos from "Peanut Island" and the kayaking pics are in the channel getting out to the  small island.  We obviously had to follow some basic traffic laws seeing that we were in tiny plastic boats! 

We even snuck in a post-snorkel visit to the tiki bar before meeting the sitter at the agreed-upon time.  We discussed the need to get out on the water more often (kayak, canoe, row, sail, motor... whatever the method) and the need to get the kids out to do stuff like this too. 

 

 

We took the kids over later in the week & tried to get Mercer to snorkel, but he wasn't that into it.  So.... Todd and I had to take turns swimming around the cluster of rocks that we explored with the snorkel guide.  It was still pretty exhilarating!  The kids did have fun taking the water taxi over, however.

And - MY absolute favorite highlight of the trip (hoping it's Mercer's highlight too)... was coming across this adorable sea turtle hatchling while we went out to see the sun rise on our last day at the beach! 

I told him that there was a 99.9% chance that we would probably not see anything, but there was a slight chance that we could see something.  We kept walking along the beach because the sun was not up yet.  We came across a patch with a lot of tracks.  We had just been at the turtle rescue center the day before and knew what those tracks were.  But -- we were a little confused because the tracks were not in the same location as a turtle nest -- which there were dozens of within view.  We weren't quite sure what to make of all of the tracks, but knew something had happened.  A man fishing asked if we saw a turtle.  No, sadly.  We kept walking after exploring and following the tracks a bit more.  THEN, we saw a little bit of movement.  It was a lone baby hatchling!!

What had happened (according to a resident who was out walking and came to see what we were watching) was that the group of hatchlings went out to sea overnight and that this lone hatching came out late.  The big mass of tracks was definitely where the nest was.... but the hole that the turtles crawl out of closes back up... the sand fills it in, so it doesn't look like a nest at all.  HOW COOL IS THAT?! 

There was a crowd of people that gathered by the time the little turtle made it to the ocean.  Here are some video links that captures our experiences:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNfnX_PTyJE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWOq_6FI4NU

and here's Mercer's photo of the sunrise (with a turtle nest in the shot)!

What a unique, wonderful, special experience we got to share!  It was the PERFECT ending to our vacation. 

A quick post before the "big vacation" post is uploaded...

Isabella is a FIRECRACKER.  She is adventuresome.  She is fearless.  She is determined to accomplish things.  Wow! what a kid~   After twenty-three (23) 10-minute lessons... less than 2 hours in total... she was able to do all of this:

Her swim instructor tips her over upside down in her clothes in a pool.  Isabella came up to the top / rolled over/ and floated so she can breathe.  The instructor pushed her down to the bottom of the pool another way (feet first) and she was to do the same thing.  This first series of photos was taken from class # 24 - the first "test." 

The next day (class # 25), she did the second "test."  She had to do it again but with big, bulky winter clothes on.  It was pretty incredible.  She passed her two tests, as she clearly demonstrated during the lessons that she can swim, roll over to breathe, roll back to swim, roll over to breathe, then swim again.

She was "rewarded" with being able to jump off the diving board at the end of each lesson the last couple of weeks of her instruction.  Did I already mention that she's fearless??!! (The instructor said she was one of her best students & that she "gets it" really well for her age.  Next summer, she may only need 1 week as refresher on how to react if falling into the water.)  

The instructor also says that after having gone through this program, the children are not "drown-proof" but at least they have a fighting chance should they fall into a pool.  This is a little comforting to us, as Isabella seems to LOVE the water.  She wants to go go go... swim swim swim.   

~~~~~~~~~~

Part of the "big vacation" post is about Mercer spending time in Florida after our week at the beach.  But - I mention it here because early last week, my college room-mate, Cindy, and her family stopped by for a brief visit / eat dinner together.  They are living in Germany right now while her husband works overseas.  They are back in the US and in Atlanta for some specialist doctor's appointments for her kids.  Mercer SO ENJOYS hanging out with these boys when they all get together.  He would be crushed to know that there were boys his age here playing with a few of his toys and entertaining Isabella.  It's too bad that he couldn't hang out with Daniel & Trevor, but... we're really grateful for the short amount of time that we did get with them!

Except for the medical issues they're having making them unsure, Cindy and her husband love it there and are considering staying over another year -- extending her husband's work contract.  

We miss seeing them a few times a year (they normally live about 2 1/2 hours from us), but if they stay longer... somehow... we need to sneak in a trip over there to visit!!

One day.  (~maybe~)

Swim team wrapped up at the end of June.  It was an intense 6 weeks of daily practices and weekly swim meets.   But - wow - what an improved swimmer Mercer has become!!  It was hard to get him up and be excited about going to practice each morning, but he did it.   He ALWAYS enjoyed the meets, however.... they were full of action. Often he snuck in some junk food that he doesn't normally get.  He had lots of fun playing on the pool deck and outside (playing football most meets on the grass with various kids).  He enjoyed the actual swimming too - mainly so that he could earn a ribbon for each of his events.

Mercer came a long way in those 6 weeks.  We are both very proud of him!!! 

(This funny pic shows Isabella sleeping through much of this final meet.  She was not as excited to be there, obviously.)

Here are some shots of the overall team as well as the 7-8 year old group (minus a few of the boys).  I was one of the "bull-pen" moms.... and had to round up each of the boys for their events.  There were around 70-80 events each meet.  The group of boys were in approximately 8 - 10 of those events each meet.  Mercer swam in 2 - 4 events each time.  (Some of the more experienced boys swim in additional events with more advanced strokes.)  Mercer focused on freestyle and backstroke individual events as well as relays.  If he does this again next year -- which he says he wants to -- they'll likely work on his breast stroke and butterfly.  Then he would compete in more of the races.

Here are some photos of the awards ceremony at the end-of-season swim party.  The coaches (a group of dedicated high-schoolers) came up with a special award for each kid, they said something about every member of the team as well as presented each with a trophy.

Mercer's special award says "No Brakes," the Jr. Coach who presented his award citing that he did not want to stop swimming at the practices.  When the kids were to swim to one end of the pool and get out / walk back... he would swim back instead.  

Isabella has her own swimming adventures going on as reported previously.  She's in her 4th week of Infant Swim lessons that are focused on life-safety.  From where she started (learning how to hold her breath and propel herself a few feet as shown on the last post)... now she is jumping in / swimming a little / rolling over onto her back to float and catch a breath.  She can roll back over and swim a little more, then roll over again.  The program is 4 - 6 weeks long.  The instructor thinks that she will not need the full 6 weeks.  She will "test" fully clothed where she's dropped in the pool and she has to show that she can float, breathe, and possibly even get out.  We'll see how far she goes!  It is seriously amazing to watch this progression.... and Todd / I are both SO IMPRESSED by her abilities so far.  This is exactly the sort of thing that we wanted to get out of those years of swim lessons we put Mercer in when he was really young.  I think we found the "right" fit for toddler lessons.  https://www.infantswim.com/ 

Isabella is not strong enough to go across the entire pool, but that will come.  She is VERY comfortable in the water.  This is definitely just the beginning for her; she has no fear!  In fact, after her lesson tonight, she went straight for the diving board.  The instructor let her jump, but made her "work" for it by swimming and floating afterwards.  


We had enrolled Isabella into another session of "tumble tots" at the gymnastics center (before we decided to sign her up for the infant swim program).  There was a couple of weeks where we had cross-over between Mercer's swimming, Isabella's swimming, and her tumble. It was a bit much!

But, she enjoys it. The cutest thing about the class... her getting dressed in her leotard and then saying "tumble" why patting her belly.  It can't be just the leotard... check out this smile!

My mom popped into town to see the trifecta of the kids events:  a swim meet, the infant swim classes and tumble.  We were constantly on the run.  It was a short visit, but she packed in a lot!  


A few other highlights from the past few weeks:

Todd finished "phase I" of the fort-building project.  (Mercer got a set of his own tools / helped a little bit.  This was precious:  him explaining each tool to Isabella after I educated him on the pieces in the kit!  SO CUTE~) 

Part of the fort is previously owned -- from someone who has teenagers now and was getting rid of their set.
Part of the fort was funded by my 8th grade students who pitched in for a Home Depot gift card.  ALL of the fort was built with patience and love.  (the weathering will make the pieces match at some point in the near future)  There will be a "phase II" at some point too when we take over the arbor.... maybe next summer??  

We ordered something called "Squishy Forts" from a crowd-funding site called kickstarter about 1 1/2 years ago.  The fort finally came in.  Crazy how long it took for this guy who visualized this product to get it into mass production.  

The developer of the product kept us abreast of his manufacturing ups and downs along the way.  We were one of the first people in the world to receive a fort.  Hopefully his company does well now that he has a viable product.  Check it out:  squishyforts.com  

The kids are having a lot of fun with it so far.  

At the end of June was the Great American Campout.  We thought about trying camping with Isabella at this time, however.... she's definitely not ready.  She and I slept inside while the boys and the dads slept outside.  The boys stayed in the tent with Todd and zonked out.  Todd did not sleep well - nor did the other dad.  Maybe it was the sporadic croaking of the frogs??  Even though the dads were worn out, the boys had a great time.   

Another "event" that happened in June.... the 24th annual Bo Read Putt Putt Golf Tournament on our street.  The thing is - this is the first year that there was NO golf!

There were lots of water toys available for the kids, so they had a good time even though there was no golf to play.  

Everyone loved Isabella's water-sport style.  (she picked out the boots herself)  They stayed on until they became filled with water.

Also, we have proof (we have photos) of Mercer dousing his sister with water over and over again!  She just took it.... with style~

And - to wrap up recent events - here are a few photos from the 4th of July.  There was no parade this year.  It got rained out once again.... boo.  I think Isabella has only seen one so far.  Mercer still donned his red, white, and blue.

And - after cooking out with friends - we did make it up to the square for fireworks.  That was a blast.  (sorry.... couldn't resist!)