First day of School

I know I have plenty of other things I still need to get busy and post, but the first day of school was yesterday and I wanted to get this posted before the end of the school year and I forgot. It's hard to believe that summer break is already over, it always goes by entirely too fast. Cutter was the one most anxious for the start of the new year, mainly because he couldn't wait to ride the school bus. And for the first time, quite possibly in their entire lives, Hank was home to watch them leave for school and get home!

 Cutter, Kindergarten, age 5

Sailor, 4th grade, age 9

Tucker, 9th grade, age 14

And no first day would be complete without pictures with our Morgan. Enjoy this one, because it's a rare occasion to get a good one of these two goofballs.

And there you go, back to normal.

All ready for a new year!

No fear, no tears. My baby is off to kindergarten.

 

That is the look of pure happiness after a great first day!

That is the look of a 9 year old with lots of attitude who did not want her mom taking pictures.

YOLO

We've been here for five years now, and I'm pretty sure that entire time I've been wanting a paddleboard. Probably would have been a good idea to try one out first, but I'm not sure that I've ever done anything on the water that I didn't like, so we jumped in feet first and finally broke down and bought one. My only regret is that we didn't buy one sooner, and that I'm not strong enough to load and unload it myself.

Isn't it beautiful?!

Hank even built us a place to store it and the kayaks both. 

 Taking it out for the first time.

We decided to start in the sound on what we thought was a rather calm day.

Hey Mom!

And each of the kids wanted to give it a try. Tucker has had the opportunity to try paddleboarding before, so we counted on him to give us a few pointers.

 

We weren't sure how Sailor would do so Hank rode with her.

She struggled turning it around and managed to dump both of them in the water.

So she got to practice on her own.

  And if the big kids can do it, then Cutter can too.

I can assure you Hank wasn't far from him, especially since he didn't have his life jacket on.

  Finally, my turn. Turns out that although the water wasn't rough, the current was fairly strong that day and it required more effort than I realized to control it. I can see where this can be quite a workout. Looking forward to getting it in the Gulf!

 

Under the Sea

Sailor's class spent the last part of the school year working on a big Under the Sea project. Each child was assigned a specific creature to research and work on. In addition to their research project, they each had a box to complete and well as some larger art displays. I really had no idea what to expect, and at first glance when walking in the room with the lights on it kind of just looks like a big mess. But when the lights are off, it's amazing what great work they did!

Sailor made the large sailfish hanging from the ceiling, I thought she did a fantastic job.

This is her box that she designed and made.

This is wall of brochures they made explaining various dangers of the sea.

The classroom with the lights on.

Lights off and black lights on.

With the lights off, each child got up and spoke about their research project. Not only did they do this for the parents, but they had quite a few classrooms throughout the school come for a show also.

   This was also their end of the party. Sure wish I could take credit for this, sadly I'm not that talented.

Sailor had a wonderful year with Mrs. Bryan and we wouldn't have asked for a better 3rd grade teacher. Hard to believe this time next week she will be a 4th grader.

End of the year party - softball

Sailor's softball team decided that since their end of the year party didn't go quite as planned last year, this year they would make sure to have a good one. We had some great moms and dads that stepped up to make sure these girls had a good time. This season certainly went better than last year and I have to thank the great parents that helped out, especially since I spent all my time in between games.

Someone brought pink mustaches for the girls and Sailor thought these were the best!

Coach Hank was a good sport and let the girls decorate his hair a little.

Each girl had their own cupcake, they loved it.