The first day of the 2012 school year

I think the last few weeks we have been experiencing the funk before school starts.  This happens at the end of the year also, not sure if I know which is worse.  There has been a lot of bickering and a lot of anxiousness. 

So today was the first day of school.  Tee saw the weather forecast and heard it was going to rain today, by the way it never ended up raining.  He asked me if he should stay home from school today because of the rain.  I wanted to say, yes that make perfect sense but obviously that would not happen. 

The boys got ready in the morning and I was able to snatch a few pics.

5th grade and Kindergarten

A little hesitant but got on fine.

I did end up finding someone to sit on the bus with him.  He has to sit in the front of the bus and his big brothers get to sit in the back.

After seeing the kids off to school, I went to breakfast with some friends.

I did go to the school to help out with the Kindergarten lunch.  Tee was so happy to see me.  It was a little funny to see all of the kids.  Some still a little nervous.  It was a lot of work, opening lunch items and managing bathroom visits.

So my friends decided that we needed to make a little gift for the kids when they got home from school.


So we made little fruit baskets.

I wanted to catch his coming home reaction.

Not really sure where to go.

And sure enough he was as happy to see me as I was him.  I got a big hug!

He had a really good day, but it was a long day.  I could tell from the behaviors of the boys this evening.  They were all very grateful that I made them the fruit basket.  They loved it. 

Before bed, Tee asked if he had to go to school tomorrow.  He was a little disappointed but I am sure he will be fine.  He wants me to go to help out at lunch again....you know like every day.

Twas the night before Kindergarten

It is hard to believe that tomorrow I will send my little baby to Kindergarten.  I think it hit him last tonight as I tucked him in.

He said "Mom I am a little sick of school". 
I said you mean you are a little sick that you have to go to school tomorrow?
He said "yes"
I told him we would be fine.
He said "without you"

He went to his classroom on Friday and met his teacher. 

The older boys also met their teachers on Friday.

I guess I have to admit I have a bit of a knot in my stomach too.  We will see how it goes tomorrow.

Ahhh.....Vacation

It seems like just a distant memory now, but it was just last Saturday that we got home from our wonderful vacation. 

We always have the same thought as we start our drive down to SC.  Is it worth it?  We were questioning it even more this year.  Someone decided that we had to take our four legged puppy.  You know the one who doesn't like being in the car.  She drools like you have never seen, cries like a baby and sometimes it involves vomit and or poop.  But I know that so, of course, I got her medication.  The medication I guess is like puppy Valium. 

As directed, I gave her the medication about 1 hour before the start of our trip.  Our drive started at 4:30am.  A bit early but we thought the earlier our drive the faster we get to our destination.  Sadie was not liking the drive.  Not more than 30 minutes in she vomited.  Poor Jay was next to her and had to deal with the stink.  And she was drooling like crazy.  We stopped for breakfast and to clean her area up.

I did have to medicate her a little more but she eventually settled down for the rest of the trip.

We were fortunate enough to have a big enough place and invited my parents to come up for a few nights.  My nephew, who has just completed law school, drove them up.  It was nice to be able to see my parents as it had been a year since I saw them last.  It is hard to be so far away from family.

We took everyone out to lunch at a place called One Hot Mama.  The owner of this restaurant was on The Next Food Network Star.  She didn't win but she did go far.  The food was really good.  We then stopped by the Harbour for a few pictures.




My parents and the grandchildren.




Tee was able to get across the monkey bars.




A lesson in tic tac toe with Popi.




We have to get the picture on the tree.  The tree gets smaller every year....or my kids get bigger every year.



The kids love their cousin.  He was throwing the kids into the pool.



There he goes.



And another child.



Up in the air.




Family picture on the beach.



We had one day of fairly decent waves although that didn't stop the boys.....

Tee loved the ocean

Lots of digging in the sand.



A big hole and sand castles.


  Not only were we lucky to have my parents come up, the husband's Mom was able to fly down and spend some time with us. 

Our house was on the golf course.

Our trolley ride to Harbour town. Even though we were close enough to walk



Gregg Russell.  Of all the years we have vacationed in HHI we have only seen a part of his act one time.  The boys were not overly thrilled but it was nice.




Family shot



Love my boys!



The dog loved the ocean.



Got to the beach extra early for Sadie to have one last swim.



Yes, Sadie does think that Tee is one of her playmates.




114 steps up to the top of the lighthouse.



It was a bit windy up there.



We had such a great relaxing vacation.  I felt like we did a lot but managed to spend some time relaxing. 

We spent every morning at the beach with the exception of one.  The water was so warm and felt really good.  Tee LOVED the ocean.  He told me before we left that he was not going to get in the ocean.  He would just jump the waves.  I had a hard time keeping him out of the ocean. 

The boys spent a lot of time playing in the sand.  They also played beach golf.  By the end of our vacation, I think they were getting a little tired of the beach but they managed to stay entertained.  By the last day, they were catching little fishies in the water. 

One evening we went to another location for singing and games.  There was a baseball stand and you could buy balls to determine how fast you pitched.  The boys took part in the competition.  E and Tee both made the board with the fastest pitches in their age group.  They both won $15 gift certificates for a restaurant on the island.  So cool. 

We were lucky that our first week swimming in the ocean did not involve jelly fish.  We were able to swim freely with out much worry.  Then after a week the jelly fish appeared.  The first day there were just a few stings here and there.  The next day there was sting after sting after sting.  I got a two stings.  It must have been just a little brush up but it did well sting a little.  I put sand on it and after a while it got better.

One day we were called out of the ocean because a shark was in the area.  Many days we would see the dolphins swimming.  Sometimes they looked like they were so close to shore. 

After spending time in Hilton Head Island we realize why we go back every year.  It is such an awesome place.  But it always seems as though our drive home is so hard.  It took us an entire hour more to get home then it did to get down there.  And Sadie, well I gave her medication about 2 hours before we started our drive and she did great.