Hockey Class

St. George's Island - Part 2

On Tuesday morning, the weather was a bit cool so we decided to climb the lighthouse on the island. William was just barely tall enough but Alex had to sit it out. Will did a great job climbing the 92 steps and up the ladder to the top. There was a great view of the island and causeway. Then we went into Apalachicola for lunch. In the afternoon, Will was able to spend some more time in the pool. 

On Wednesday, we spent more time on the beach and in the pool and then went back to Apalachicola for ice cream. Then Grandma and Grandpa took the kids home and Phil and I did some shopping and had dinner.

Getting ready to climb the lighthouse

View from the top!

Snoozing in the pool

Ice Cream

Dolphin sightings

St. George's Island - Part 1

We flew from Charlotte to Tallahassee (through Tampa) and then drove south to St. George's Island. Kristen's parents rented a house right on the beach for the entire month of March. We got in late on Sunday night and put the kids right to bed. They were up bright and early and ready to start the fun!

On Monday, it was actually pretty nice in the morning with temps in the 50s. We went down to the beach and the kids fed the birds, put their toes in the ocean, and dug in the sand. We stayed at the beach until lunch time. They both took great afternoon naps and Will went in the pool for a bit with Grandpa. We picked up some fresh shrimp for dinner and then enjoyed a storm as we all went to bed.

More pictures to come later this week...

Good Morning, St. George's Island!

Mmmm.... breakfast

First steps on the beach

Don't get wet!

Will loved the pool!

Beach snooze

Weekend in Charlotte

Last weekend, we went down to Charlotte, North Carolina to celebrate Phil's Grandma's 80th birthday. Aunt Maran, Uncle Josh, Allie, and Grann also flew into Charlotte so we could all be together. It was such a fun weekend! On Friday, we spent the morning at Great Grandma's playing. Then we went back to the hotel to get settled and let the little kids take naps. Then we wandered around the Phillip's Place shops before having dinner at Wolfgang Puck's pizza place. It was delicious!

On Saturday morning, we went back to Great Grandma's and she and Aunt Sandy took Will and Alex to the train station so we could take the train downtown. Will loved the ride and Alex thought it was pretty fun as well. Then we went to the Children's Library which had all sorts of fun toys and activities for kids. Will and Alex each got a balloon sword before we went in and they loved them. We met up with Aunt Maran, Uncle Josh, and Allie and then grabbed a quick lunch before the little ones went down for naps. Then we went to the nice mall to wander around before Great Grandma's birthday dinner.

On Sunday, we all visited for a while before Grann, Aunt Maran, Uncle Josh, and Allie had to head back to the airport. After they left, we played on the playground across from her apartment and grabbed lunch before we had to go to the airport. After we left, Will kept talking about how he wanted to go back! From Charlotte, we flew to Tallahassee so we could spend 5 days at the beach with Grandma and Grandpa on St. George's Island. More on that later...

Alex's First Plane Ride

Playing with Great Aunt Sandy and Great Grandma



Family Dinner

Alex and Allie - Best Buds

Waiting for the train

Outside the Children's Library

Balloon Sword

Building with Great Grandma

Moms and Babies

Birthday Dinner

Great Grandma and Her Family

"I love Great Grandma this much!"

Great Action Shot

Happy Brothers

Follow the Leader

Soccer Class

Will had his sports class today at school - they learned all about soccer.  Will didn't seem to have quite as much energy as he did at the basketball class and he asked me if it was time to go a few times... but I think that might have been because he knew we were picking up Jimmy Johns and visiting Oma after class.  They practiced kicking, dribbling, and passing.  They also got to take a few shots on goal.  (Note: the girl he is holding hands with part way through the video is Emma)

Adventures in the Sugar Bush

On Monday afternoon, I took Will to Blanford Nature Center to do their Story Time Hike. It's maple syrup time! We got to watch a short puppet show where they talked about how you get maple syrup from trees. Then we went on a hike around the center to see how it was done. Will got to drill a hold in a tree, see lots of buckets collecting sap, and watch them boil it down in the sugar house. We got samples of fresh maple syrup and maple sugar along the way. It was a very fun outing - he seemed to really like it. Originally, Alex was going to join us but the Hofmeyers got back from Florida early and Aunt Mara offered to stay with Alex. It was for the best - it got a little cool on the trail and it was a little icy. I'm sure he had more fun playing with her than being lugged through the woods!

In the Sugar House



After our sample of fresh maple syrup

Watching the sap drip

Pioneer method for carrying sap

Drilling a hole for the tap

Mickey Mouse!

This weekend Grann came into town because we had tickets to Disney on Ice. She gave Will tickets for Hanukkah and it was finally show time! We all went out to dinner on Friday night and the boys had fun playing with her before the show on Saturday. Will absolutely loved it. He hasn't seen many Disney movies but he really liked seeing Mickey Mouse and thought the ice skating was really cool. Alex was on his best behavior for about the first half but then needed snacks to make it through the rest. But he still did great considering he was sitting in my lap for almost 2 hours! On Saturday night, Grann babysat so Phil and I could go out to dinner.

On Sunday afternoon, we had some friends over to watch the Michigan Basketball game. Go Blue! Both Will and Alex had a few friends over as well and they all had fun playing. The big kids did quite well together with only a few arguments over game token colors.

The Happy Mousketeer!

Intense game of Candy Land