Field Trip!! Science Museum

I had the opportunity to attend field trip with Megan's First Grade Class last fall. We went to the science museum for experiments and all sorts of fun stuff!

She's such a cute scientist!

It was a very fun, but very loud field trip. Those first graders are just bundles of energy.
We are annual pass holders to the science museum and so it was fun to have some one-on-one time with just Megan looking at some of the exhibits that we've rushed through in the past.

Hot Fun in the Summer Time - 2010

Yikes, I can't believe the amount of pictures I still have to catch up on!

As we prepare for the coming summer months, Keith, the kids and I have been reflecting on last summer. We did quite a few things we enjoyed, and we did some things we didn't enjoy.
I worked way to much last summer! We kept saying that we were going to take a long weekend and go to the Brevard Zoo or maybe the Tampa Aquarium or see the mermaids at Weekie Watchie Springs. Unfortunately, we just never found the time to escape for a long weekend. This summer, we are hoping to do at least one small weekend trip.
Last summer, we taught the dog how to drive. No, just kidding...we were able to take Lilly with us just about every where we went. This summer, I'd like to check out some of the local dog parks.
One of our favorite activities - summertime and all the time, is reading the Sunday Paper. The kids fight over the funny pages and the Toys R Us ads. Joshua is starting to show an interest in some of the other sections of the paper.
Usually this Sunday morning reading of the paper is done out by the pool. I'm not sure where we were going when Daniel was reading his paper in the truck. I feel bad for our neighbors if they are night owls on Saturday nights, because we are in the pool by around 9:30am on Sunday, although we try to be quiet!
We did a lot of snuggling, and started a weekly movie night, complete with popcorn and special movie-night dinners.
Going to the park is always a huge hit with these guys! In these park pictures, we met up with Grandma and Grandpa for a lunch picnic at San Sebastian Park.

Grandpa showing Keith some pictures on the phone. Grandpa always has the fun toys!
Grandma getting a work-out in pushing the kids on the swings.
My monkey on the monkey bars! We found quite a few fun parks last summer, we hope to visit them more this summer.

Fun at Church - October 2010

Daniel absolutely loves his pre-k Sabbath School teachers. He listens very well in class and enjoys all of the crafts. In the pictures below, he is celebrating his 5th birthday.

Isn't he sweet?

The whole family participated in one of the services last year. Here's some pictures with the props...

Many Visits from the Toothfairy

Megan lost many teeth over the past few months. The tooth fairy would leave Megan a dollar, and then Megan would add it to her stash. Evidently, Megan's kitchen sink doubled as a piggy bank. The many tooth-less faces of Megan...

Adventurers Sign-up Picnic - Summer 2010

Last summer, as a way to get all of the enrollments complete, the Adventurers club planned a huge picnic on one of the local lakes. While it threatened rain early in the day, we were blessed with sunshine the whole time of the event, up until shortly after clean-up when the skies exploded with heavy rain.
We love bouncy-houses!
Megan's tooth-less, red-cheeked grin!
Megan and Daniel sneaking off for a snow cone.
Overall, it was a really good time. The kids had fun and it was a great way to spend some time with our Adventurers friends.

Summertime Fun - June 2010

In 2010, the summertime months flew by. Some of our big events...
Daniel (in the plaid) and his best bud Luke (in the stripes) graduated from the Beginners class at church. I opted to stay in the Beginners room one more year because it is so fun to teach 3-and-4-year olds! We are now drawing near to the end of my second year in the room and I'm happy to pass the little kid room on to another teacher.
Along with some help from my awesome staff, I moved the physician's group into a multi-million dollar building. It took up quite a bit of the summer, but the experience of it all was really eye-opening. I learned quite a bit, even though in the end I decided that the management tract I was taking was moving me further and further away from my patient-care related goals. I still work for the same large organization, now I'm back doing in-patient nursing and I'm happier than ever!
Lilly's dog-school took up much of our summer. We faithfully attended every Thursday night for 8 weeks in a row.
Lilly learned how to beg and she uses that skill daily. We aren't allowed to feed her anything but her dog food, since she's a few pounds overweight.
Daniel and Buddy Bear and Meow-Meow settled in for movie-night.

Mini-Golfing with Grandma and Grandpa Ketchum

Sometime last year, I had the amazing opportunity to connect with my biological father and his wife. Frank and Mary Grace have been able to visit with us a couple of times since then and by now, it seems like we've all known each other forever!

Frank and Mary Grace came to visit during the end of February/beginning of March this year. They were able to be at the finish line when I completed the Disney Princess Half Marathon and then as luck would have it, they were here for the whole week the kids were on Spring Break from school! We all met up and had dinner at Sweet Tomatoes and then did some mini-golfing.
After everyone was done golfing, Keith bought bags of dirt that the kids then panned over running water to reveal different "minerals". It was a cute activity and we still have all the gems, including some fun Indian Arrowheads.
A group shot of all of us. The kids are already asking for another visit!
Daniel as the king of the hill waiting to go onto the next hole.
Megan asked if we can get a waterfall like this for our pool.
The three golfers! They had a blast! I think it was Daniel's first time actually being successful at mini-golfing. However, not as successful as Mary Grace, she scored not one but two hole-in-one shots!
Mary Grace and Frank - we now call them Grandma and Grandpa Ketchum.

The boys. They are so handsome!

It was a very fun time. Since the mini-golf place is just up the road from our house, we all went back to soak up some air conditioning and relax on the couch.