Just Keep Swimming!

Last weekend, Ben had a swim meet at Loyola University. I've been excited about this meet since I saw the schedule back in August. Loyola is where Tom and I met. Tom is still very involved there and well, we'd be pretty excited if any of the kids wanted to go there too!  Also, the original swim coach who got Ben into swimming when he was 9 years old swam there. It's all a pretty fun connection.

He was in the morning group both days, so we had to drag him out of bed at 6am to be there by 6:45. That part was rough. LOL. The facility (Loyola built a new Athletics and Aquatics center a few years back) was AMAZING. Nicest one we've been to so far. Ben swam great and even got his best time in 50 fly, and swam 100IM for the first time without disqualifying. Great experience all around.

His times have ended up qualifying him for two different championships. One is the B championship, in which he would be really competitive, because most of his times are on the fast side of "B", close to BB. (it goes B, BB, A, AA) The other is Junior Champs (only qualified with his 50 back and 50 fly). He would be on the slow end of the swimmers there, but it's a huge deal that he qualified! I asked him which one he'd rather do.... the one where he could likely place and win some medals, or the one where he could swim his fly and back and he chose the tougher one. I was surprised and proud of him!

So just when I thought the season was kind of wrapping up for us, it looks like we have at least 3-5 more meets between now and April. Hoping he can qualify for Junior Champs in a couple more events between now and that meet.

He's already looking forward to summer team and his goal is to take all the 13-14 records. ;)

It's neat to see your child love something so much they are as driven to succeed as Ben is with swimming. We struggled with drive and Ben for awhile (still do academically) and worry about the other two in this respect too.... but I guess they all just need to find their thing... their confidence... and their groove.. :o)  Definitely one of the most fun parts of being a parent!

Christmas 2015

We had quite a lovely Christmas. :)

Right before we left for Christmas Eve festivities, Jonathan tried to take a bite out of his gingerbread house. I caught him with icing all over his face and this on the floor.

For Christmas Eve, we went out to a late lunch with my family and then to church at the church attached to Ben's school.  Didn't get many pictures because we ended up being a little rushed!

We were in the mood for a quiet, very traditional service and that's exactly what we got. Since it was at an Episcopal church, Tom's family came too, along with Tom's youngest brother and his family. 

After that, Tom's family came back here for appetizers and hangout time. The kids had a blast and stuffed their faces with desserts. ;)

Tom and I exchanged our gifts to each other and set up for Christmas morning after everyone left. The Christmas Eve tree photo is always one of my favorites. (only two stockings on the fireplace because the boys' were already on the floor stuffed with gifts) ;)

The boys slept until almost 7:30! (unheard of!) I got a halfway decent stair photo this year.

Simon's big gift was a drone. It has turned out to be exceptionally complicated though.  It went totally crazy when we turned it on in the house. We set it aside for another day when we had more time to read through the directions.... LOL. 

Jonathan got an iPad mini... he was a little excited....

Ben got a whole box of football stuff, including a new Ravens jersey, which I think might have been his favorite present. :)

My parents, my brother and his wife, and Aunt Debbie came over for breakfast...  here are Brandon and Shayna with their presents. (my brother's shirt is from Pee Wee's Big Adventure... one of his favorite movies.  ;)




My dad spent a significant amount of time determined to get Simon's drone up and running... he was not successful, but mom and I have decided he needs one of his own. LOL. 

After breakfast, we headed over to NaNee and Pap's house for cousin-time and more gift opening! It was surprisingly orderly this year. :)

Tom and the rest of his family went over to have an very early Christmas dinner with Tom's granddad, who is in a retirement home/nursing home. The boys and I spent the afternoon just laying around and playing. I was coming down with a cold, so it was nice to just have some quiet time after two days of non-stop excitement!

When Tom got home, we ate Christmas eve leftovers and watched a movie and the boys just played and played.... it was a wonderfully peaceful Christmas! Love that Christmas was on a Friday so we have the whole weekend to take our time getting cleaned up and just spending time together.

Tom is off with Ben and Simon this morning seeing the new Star Wars movie. We thought it would be too scary for Jonathan, plus, I'm still not feeling great. So Jonathan and I are just hanging out together for the afternoon. :) We are still in jammies!

Another Christmas in the books and time to look forward to 2016!

First Day of Middle School....

Tuesday, Ben FINALLY started school.  First day of sixth grade... first day of middle school.

He was nervous. Even though he is in the same school as last year, the middle school is different. They have different classrooms and teachers and there are lots of expectations and LOTS to keep track of.

Check out this schedule!

Every single day is different... and then it changes every other week. It's a lot to remember. I hope he can get in a good routine with it all or he will never have what he needs! This is where I am thankful he is in such a small school and where I feared he would really get lost in the shuffle in the bigger school most of his JES friends went to.

The first day, he came home overwhelmed and not so happy. He said middle school was super serious and he was afraid he was going to forget things. The second day was better. He LOVES math and English, so far. I also think he's going to end up loving Tech and Life Science. And, while he thinks Ancient Civilizations is going to be boring, I have been getting emails from his teacher that suggest otherwise. He is the only teacher to send emails out so far and they are SO funny. Seems like he is really going to make an effort to make it fun and engaging for the kids.

He's still thinking about whether he wants to join the Math Club (which is run by the teacher mentioned above!). I hope he does it. Most of his friends were also invited, and I think he'll really enjoy it.

Anyway, so far, so good. He has forgotten his lunch box once, and a history homework... and there is a snafu with his gym uniform and he left his tennis shoes at school on Thursday...  LOL... but all in all, I'm optimistic for a good year. ;)

First Week of Kindergarten... Second Week of Third Grade...Middle School orientation....

Well, it's Friday.

It took Jonathan until Thursday to try to escape kindergarten. Thankfully, it was a half-hearted attempt, he turned around on the way through the doors and tried to run for me. I blocked though and a kindergarten assistant who was standing there ran interference and he walked with her to class. The rest of the day went well, I guess, because I never heard otherwise.

He has had all of his specials at this point, since Monday is just his extra Phys. Ed day. He has liked them all so far. (I'll hear about music when he gets home) ;)

Here he is with his first ever library checkout!  Mrs. Terry said he was good in library on Wednesday, a little silly here and there because he is really comfortable with her, but good. He even helped a non-English speaking classmate walk to the bathroom!

He says the day is long (and it is), but it must be filled with enough to keep him occupied because his complaints aren't constant.

I got roped into room mom duty for the first time ever in my entire kids-in-school history. A preschool mom friend asked if I would do it with her. I told her I would if no one else stepped up.... apparently no one did. So, this will be new and interesting! LOL.

Simon had a good second week. They launched headlong into multiplication in math and he seems to be doing ok with that. Handwriting has regressed a ton and all of his work is a mess again/still...  so I guess we'll be working on that at home a lot. School in general, is still not his favorite (especially since they are not currently doing a science unit and he loves science), but he goes without complaint for the most part and seems to enjoy having so many friends in his class this year. 

I really like the whole third grade team, even the teacher I wasn't thrilled he got seems ok for now. 

I guess we'll see how things progress and how conferences go... but for now, all is well in school land.

Ben had his middle school orientation yesterday and is already overwhelmed by all the class changing and things to remember. THIS will for sure be an interesting transition. He got his schedule and he is taking pre-algebra... which means I am officially out of the math homework helping game with him. Gah.  Pre-algebra, which I'm pretty sure I did not take until 7th grade, was when things really went south for me, math-wise. He must have a better math head on his shoulders than I did though because I got an email that his standardized test scores from spring were high enough to qualify him for the math competition club. He is considering it... I hope he does it! :)

Anyway... so things seem to be off to a good start! I hope it's a great year for all three!

Disney 2015

*** I am adding to this post day by day.... scroll down for more.... **** :)

Second go-round for an August Disney trip.  Last trip was in August 2013.

This time, we took my parents and a family friend. Mom and our friend Joan took the train and had left the day before. (my mom didn't want to fly... this figures in later... so stay tuned.). My dad flew with us.

The morning of, I made us some mouse-eared pancakes!

Off to the airport..... sailed through luggage checkin and security... only to find out flight was delayed for two hours due to weather in Florida. Little did we know, this was only the tip of the "delay" iceberg! More on that later...

At 12:30 instead of 10:30, we finally got on the plane.  Off to Neverland!

Around the time I felt like we should be landing in Orlando, my dad noticed the plane was doing an AWFUL lot of turning. I thought it was just a runway approach.... dad pulled out his phone compass and saw we were heading northwest.

?!

A few minutes later, the flight attendant got on the speaker and explained that we had been in a holding pattern and should have landed in Orlando awhile ago, but that the airport was shut down for weather and we were running out of gas and had to reroute and go land in Jacksonville, about 120 miles north.

He went on to say that we did not know how long this would be, or whether we could get off the plane when it landed in Jacksonville... oh, and that they would be turning off the a/c when the plane landed, so close the windows and turn off the lights. 

Mercifully, for this fearful flyer, we landed safely in Jacksonville where we sat waiting to see if they would give us a gate. The flight attendant, who at this point was ONLY the bearer of bad news, came on and said it could be 20 minutes, could be 2+ hours... also that we had no gate, so we'd be sitting on the plane for an indefinite period of time. 

Lovely!

Ultimately, it ended up being about 45 minutes. The kids were great. Every kid on the plane (and, it being a flight to Orlando, there were a lot of them) was great. We took off and finally were allowed to land in Orlando close to 5p.m., about four hours after we were supposed to.

The baggage claim took forever because, since all flights had been delayed coming in, EVERYONE was coming in at the same time... also Orlando's airport baggage claim situation is a nightmare on a NORMAL day anyway.

Our rental car wasn't quite ready, so there was more sitting and waiting. 

FINALLY... finally... we made it to our Disney villa around 7p.m. The kids were such troopers. No one cried or complained. :) I, on the other hand may have done both. 

We met up with my mom and Miss Joan who had taken the train and were already there. Said hello, put our things down and then went to have a quick dinner by the pool. :)

After a good night's sleep, we were all ready for a park day!

Jonathan spent breakfast watching the attractions channel. LOL. 

After everyone was ready, we set off for the Magic Kingdom and our first monorail ride!

We had a tight schedule, trying to cram a TON of Magic Kingdom into our morning. Touring Plans did not fail us and we managed to hit ten attractions in 3-1/2 hours. WOO!

Got a little wet.... but had ponchos on hand. ;)

 We ended the morning with Minetrain, which caught my parents by surprise.  LOL. Loved that ride! It was our first time on it since it wasn't open yet last time we went.  This was the first of Jonathan's favorite rides! Simon was not a fan. Ben still isn't sure.

That night, we headed into Epcot for dinner at the Rose and Crown. Everyone was hanging in there nicely, so we stayed for the fireworks! First fireworks for us in a LONG TIME. :)

Here's my mom in the red telephone booth in the UK. ;)

 On the way into Epcot, we stopped at Guest Services to get our Tables in Wonderland card. Something went wrong with the computer and it took awhile, so the guy gave us two free fastpasses! We only had time to use one, but we all got to hit Soarin that evening. So fun. Simon was nervous (so was my dad)... but everyone ended up having fun!

The next day, we took a day off from the parks. The kids and Tom and I were changing rooms to be closer to my family. As you can see, the boys amused themselves while we packed up. (sigh)

My parents and Joan and I hit the grocery store. (it had been raining so much the previous two days and with the late flight and all that, we just hadn't had time) After we were all stocked up, we hit Downtown Disney for a little shopping and some lunch. For those who go to Disney frequently, Downtown Disney is kind of a mess right now. I don't especially recommend a visit, however, the crowd wasn't too bad the day we went. 

I bought a couple new pairs of earrings, mom bought a Malificent sweatshirt, Joan shopped for her granddaughters, and dad got a Ghiradelli's milkshake. The boys spent some of their vacation money in the toy store. :)   Jonathan had a little birthday giftcard from Aunt Debbie and bought himself some Lego guys. (which we then had to keep track of the rest of the trip, but I'm pretty sure we came home with all the pieces! WOO!)

Later that night, we hit the Hoop Dee Do Revue, one of our favorites. We hadn't been in a long time and really wanted my family to see it. As usual, it was a blast!

Even more exciting, Ben got picked to go on stage! SO funny. Jonathan was also recognized for his birthday! :) Best time ever at the Hoop Dee Doo! 

The next morning, we were off to Epcot BRIGHT and early. Several members of our troop are not morning people, but they were troopers. ;)

Grandmom and Poppy with Ben and Simon

Bruuuuuuceeeee!!!!

Ben chickened out of Test Track (not sure why, he has ridden it before), as did Simon (same!).... so my parents sat out and Tom, Jonathan, Joan and I rode. Jonathan LOOOOoooOOooooved it!

Ben waited patiently for our stop at Club Cool, his favorite.

That night, my parents and Joan had a reservation at Narcoosee's, and we headed off for dinner in Mexico and visiting the countries. 

The Pokemon section of the Japanese store very nearly caused Ben's head to explode.

Simon played a little Agent P in Germany and I discovered a fantastic grapefruit beer while we waited....

Dinner in Mexico was fantastic! Jonathan approved! :)

The next morning, we hit Disney Hollywood Studios....  

 Jonathan rode Tower of Terror for the first time. He came out and this was the only photo he would let me take. He claimed he didn't like it, though since we have been home, he has changed his tune. Nevertheless, he was the only one of my kids (and me) brave enough to ride! So, hats off to him!

 Everyone loved Toy Story Mania! :) So excited they are making a whole Toy Story area soon!

The next day, we gave the other adults the morning off. They were most grateful. It was HOT and we were ALL exhausted. We would have skipped Animal Kingdom too, except the kids were pretty insistent about going to ride Kali River Rapids. It's one of Ben's favorites. Simon was wary, but ended up loving it. Jonathan thought it was awesome. 

Ran into DeVine on the way in. Jonathan was the only one brave enough for a photo. (shaking my head...)

Two out of three were in the REALLY wet seats. LOL!

We rode Dinosaur, Ben and I rode Primeval Whirl, and Jonathan and I rode the Tripceratops Dumbo ride ripoff and then we left... really not feeling the heat that day and we had a big evening planned at the Magic Kingdom!


Did the Enchanted Tales with Belle for the first time. Cute, but probably won't do it again. Kids weren't that into it. Pretty magical though! Ben was a horse and got his photo with Belle. ;)

Posing with the gargoyles while waiting for our table at Be Our Guest. :)

We were seated in the West Wing this time. Super cool. Neat special effects all over! Dinner was delicious, Jonathan and I tried the grey stuff. It was delicious. Mom got her photo taken with Beast. ;)

Jonathan, Joan and Tom rode Splash Mountain (J loved it, of course) The rest of us did the Hall of PResidents, much to Tom's dismay. LOL. I promised him we'd see it again next trip.

Headed for teacups!

Stopped for a quick pic at the castle and packed it in. Did I mention it was hot? SO hot.. Gah.  Had intended to stay for the Electrical Parade, but none of us had it in us...