We were BEYOND BLESSED to get to spend a week in Tampa on the bay at the house of a dear friend’s parents. We had so much fun swimming in the pool, going for rides on the boat (looking for dolphins, eating at a bayside restaurant, and riding on Big Mabel), and visiting Winter at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium. It really was one of our best family trips yet.
For more pictures, click on the “Tampa 2017” page to the right…
Roman and I checked out the new splash pad in Franklin this afternoon (while Jonas and Xander were in camp at Encore). It was so cool…two slides, a huge bucket that drops water, spray rings, water guns, etc. What a fun addition to the splash pads we like to frequent in the summer!!!
The boys and I went blueberry picking this morning and picked almost three pounds of blueberry goodness…
The boys have VBS this week and are loving it already…
A rainy day made for a good day to go bowling…
The boys had fun building with marshmallows and toothpicks this morning…
Xander and Roman painted pavers for our pathway through the garden this morning (Jonas will be working on his contribution soon). They turned out so great!!!
This afternoon, the boys and I took our lunches to the park for a picnic and some play time.
I took the boys to Goofballs this morning. They LOVE that place…ski ball, bowling, video games, inflatable, and jungle blaster room. Their favorite part, I think, is earning tickets to redeem for fun little prizes at the end.
The boys and I drove up to spend some time with MeMe today. She has a HUGE garden that she’s planting and tending to…and I loved that the boys were able to get in there with her. She paid them $6 each to fill up paint buckets with rocks from the garden and let them pick vegetables (onions, squash, and zucchini) to take home. We ate lunch at Sonic (with a little Subway thrown in) and hung out at the playground for quite a while. It was such a sweet time.
Xander is our resident dolphin-lover, so he was SUPER excited when he found out about the fundraiser kit that we could order through the Clearwater Marine Aquarium to raise money for Winter the Dolphin (and other rescued sea creatures like her)!!! The boys and I had so much fun setting up the table with flowers from our garden, pink and yellow lemonade, fruit ice cubes, homemade cookies (oatmeal raisin and snickerdoodle), and all of Xander’s stuffed dolphins. With the help of our friends and neighbors, we were able to raise $60 for Winter!!!
The boys and I went to the lake this morning!!! We met several moms and kids from our moms’ group and really enjoyed just hanging out…playing on the playground, swimming in the water (even though it was a little bit cold), digging in the sand, and having a picnic. The boys didn’t love the mommy enforced, wear-your-puddle-jumper-in-the-lake-even-though-you’re-pretty-good-at-swimming rule…but oh well, that’s what happens when it’s one mommy and three little strong-willed and not always listening boys, a lot of people, and water you can’t see to the bottom of…they still had fun, though.
The boys and I went strawberry picking this morning at Valley Home Farms…our very favorite place to go pick berries. We’ve gone every spring/summer since Roman was 2 months old, and he’s 5 years old now!!! We picked strawberries, sampled homemade treats (blueberry and strawberry ice cream for the boys and a blackberry/blueberry ice pop for me), and picnicked in the sun.
I loaded up on rainy day activities for the boys this summer. So, today we did some tie dyeing!!! It was so much fun.
Jonas and Xander’s last day of school was today!!! We celebrated with ice cream from the ice cream truck in our neighborhood and a visit to the splash pad. It was a wee bit cold but still a fun way to kick off the summer.
Roman and I went on our Mommy and Me Trip this week to the Atlanta Zoo and to the Georgia Aquarium!!!
We had fun at the zoo on Sunday afternoon…seeing the animals, riding the carousel, and riding the train. Afterwards, we checked in at the hotel and went for a swim before walking to the Waffle House for dinner. On Monday, we walked to the aquarium and spent the morning: checking out the Ocean Voyager, the Cold Quest, and the Tropical Diver exhibits; watching the amazing dolphin show; and getting Roman’s face painted. We picked up a Subway for lunch and walked back to the hotel for a rest. Feeling refreshed, we walked back to the aquarium for the sea lion show, the Aquanaut Adventure and the River exhibits, and Happy Feet in 4D. We had dinner at Johnny Rocket’s before walking back to the hotel and crashing for the night. What a special time with my little guy!!!
Click on the “Mommy and Me: Roman 2017” picture page to the right for more pictures…
Roman had his Kindergarten Sneak Peak tonight!!! As soon as we pulled up in the parking lot, he jumped out of the van and started running into the building saying, “Mooooooom, cooooome ooooon!!!” He’s seen everything a hundred times before, but we talked about where he’ll go for lunch and for specials (the library, the gym, music class, art class, computer class, etc.). He got to check out all of the kindergarten classrooms as well…he was super pumped to find the desks of two of his best neighborhood friends. Kindergarten, here he comes!!!
On Easter, we celebrated with mass at church and an Easter Egg Hunt at Aunt Jean’s house. Here’s a photo of the whole gang on the steps of MeMe and PaPa’s house and one of me and my dear cousin, Heather. Happy Easter!!!
Roman was so excited for the Easter Egg Hunt at the park with our moms’ group this morning!!!
(I was a little emotional, realizing that my baby boy will be a kindergartner next year…moments like these are more in slow motion for me these days.)
