Todd's Turn

After waiting for two long weeks, Todd finally got his turn in the spotlight. It was FINALLY his turn to go to school. And he couldn't be more excited, because this year? This year, he is a BIG kid! So long to the baby two year old class because big kids are 3 year old PANDAS!

Ditching the Training Wheels

We're attempting to teach Hayley to ride a bike sans training wheels.
We've got a LOT of balance and confidence building work to do.
Unfortunately, one of Hayley's instructors still seems to have too much little boy in him!
I'm not sure leading by example is going to help too much in this situation!

And so it begins

Today was a big day. A day filled with excitement, anticipation, new beginnings, and anxiety (mine, not hers).
We've chosen to embark on a unique, new experience. Hayley will be attending a community school this year. A Christian based school that partners with the family and the community, to offer students the best of the traditional school world and the homeschool world.

And while I was a stressed mess, rushing to prepare for what the coming weeks will bring while wading through my emotions and trying to accept that in what has been the blink of an eye, my baby has grown into a beautiful little girl; Hayley was nothing but overjoyed at the prospect of meeting new friends, learning new things, and spending time with a new teacher. I have yet to find anything that intimidates my little lady... well, aside from bugs and bands-aids.

And Todd had plenty of emotions to wade through as well. As we walked through the parking lot back to the car after dropping Hayley off, I looked down to see Todd's bottom lip sticking out and a tear rolling down his cheek. I picked him up, put him on my shoulder, and he let the tears flow freely... saying "I gonna miss Hay-yee."

More sun, sand and surf

Gidget has nothing on this surfer chick!

And then there is my Mr. OCD who truly believes it is his duty to get every last bit of sand on the beach, back in the water. It's a good thing he brought TWO buckets for this task! Aside from the occasional dip in the ocean to cool off, Todd worked diligently on his task for 2 hours. Good thing we go back every Sunday. He still has LOTS to do!

ESSC - Week 2

Another Sunday, another afternoon spent on Anna Maria Island at Eternal Summer Surf Camp! Yes, life is rough when you're a beach bum in Florida! The waves weren't really happening today, so the kids got to work on paddling and balancing on the boards. And Todd even got to try out some surfing.

The Roberts Rough It

We just returned from a week long trip to the Mountains of Blue Ridge, GA. It was a nine hour car ride to get there and who would've thought a car DVD player would be such a godsend! A spacious minivan and movies to keep them entertained for hour after endless hour... these kids (and Chloe) have it so good!

It felt SO good to get away. We've never taken a road trip like this with the kids, and we haven't really taken a trip that wasn't to Colorado since I can remember. Blue Ridge was definitely quaint, although something about heat, humidity and holy heck the bugs, that just didn't quite feel like the mountains this Colorado girl knows. (Although my Wednesday morning run did more than teach me respect for the MOUNTAINS of Blue Ridge.)

We spent our first day recovering from the drive. We brunched at the cute little L&L Beanery that was profiled in Southern Living magazine, explored the shops on Main Street where we traded Todd for "Todd Boone,"
hiked to a waterfall,
relaxed in the hammock......and watched the kids play on the playground at our cabin.
On Tuesday, we rode the Blue Ridge Scenic Railway. The train begins in Blue Ridge and is a 26 mile, hour long ride to the town of McCaysville, GA which borders Tennessee. The kids enjoyed the ride, especially Todd who is enthralled with all forms of transportation.
The views along the way were gorgeous and made me think of the movie "A River Runs Through It." On the other hand, Brian was reminded of "Deliverance." I guess it's all about perspective.
The kids got to see a little of Tennessee...
... and Hayley got to meet an American Indian while Big Chicken Todd ran the opposite direction!
On Wednesday, we ventured to Helen, GA where we tubed the Chattahoochee. Never knew there were so many rocks in the ol Hooch!! Brian and I both wore ourselves out dragging our tethered bundle of three tubes over rocks for 6 miles. The river was packed with summer campers and even Hayley was happy to finally see our river exit point! We had a picnic lunch near the river...
...before a quick walk through the town of Helen.
On the way home, we did out best to avoid a stop at this place:
Because if the name wasn't bad enough, they include a picture?? Seriously, who in their right mind is going to stop in for a quick snack at this place!
Our days were filled with outdoor fun and adventures...


... and our evenings were filled with campfire building,
marshmallow roasting,
and smores eating.
An overall good time that made the kids go from this:
to this:
in seconds!

While the kids had a blast in Georgia, they were beyond thrilled to return to their own beds. Hayley is doing her best to wiggle smores out of me and has inventoried all the remaining marshmallows, chocolate bars, and graham crackers. And I've told her that while we have all the smores ingredients, we're missing that essential campfire. I can see the wheels turning in her head and fully expect her to present me with a campfire alternative in the next day or so.

Hayley played in a golf tournament Saturday morning with one of her good buddies. Nine holes of golf with 2 five year olds playing best ball made my early morning 10 mile run in heavy heat and humidity feel like a walk in the park! But, Hayley had a good time and Todd thinks he also played in a tournament, so it was totally worth my second sweatfest of the day. Coach Mike here has the patience of a saint!

Sunday afternoon we headed to the beach so Hayley could participate in the Eternal Summer Surf Camp! She had a GREAT time and did her best to hang ten, well, at least as much ten as you can hang on the little waves at Anna Maria Island. The surf camp was a great experience and Hayley surprised us and was actually able to get up on the board and ride a wave on her second attempt. We plan to attend throughout the summer, so will be sure to post some pictures from our forthcoming adventures.

Below is a video clip from one of our hikes in the Aska Adventure area.

Gone, but not forgotten

Yes, I know. You've about given up on blog posts since my last post was ohsolongago! I had about given up too. Granted, the last half of the school year was insanely busy. But really, the past six months have included many things I really just did not want to think about, and writing forces me to think about things. So, like any mature adult does, I just ignored the things that were tough for me. I also do really dumb things when I'm stressed, like committing to marathons. I've found that there is mental value in being too physically exhausted to even contemplate worrying about ANYTHING and these huge steps out of my comfort zone give me something harmless to focus my worries on! Nontheless, I'm determined to make blogging a part of my regular schedule. I stink at keeping up with the kids' baby books, I'm not a scrapbooker, so I rely on this blog to document our family activities.

So, who would have ever thought I'd be such an emotional mess about Hayley starting kindergarten? Ugh! There are many positives to this kindergarten adventure. Namely, I get to spend a LOT more time with my little girl. She attended PreK every weekday last year and she'll be going to kindergarten at a community school this year, a decision I have absolutely agonized over. The community school seems like it will be a great mix for us. While technically we'll be considered homeschoolers, Hayley will attend an actual "school" on Tuesday and Thursdays and the curriculum will be guided by a teacher. I will teach her at home on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Todd will also be going to 3 year old preschool on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so we actually should have a lot more time together then we did this past year. And I suppose that's good and bad! While both the kids are lost without each other, I've definitely been refereeing my share of knock down drag outs. Turns out Todd isn't nearly as passive as we thought! I "think" we're making the right decision in terms of schools, so I think I'm just having a hard time accepting that my little baby is suddenly old enough for elementary school.

We're into our second week of summer vacation and absolutely loving not having to be somewhere every single morning. I'm finally getting the chance to check off some items on this long to do list. Amazing how carting two kids to half day preschool everyday can completely eat away your day! I've still done my share of chauffeuring, however. Todd ended the school year with two weeks of ISR swim lessons, and when his ended, Hayley started swim lessons at the YMCA. Hayley has become an absolute fish in the water. The child who refused to back float through three years of ISR lessons is now a champ at the backstroke. We'll be starting the next level of YMCA swim lessons in a week. The goal is to get Hayley proficient at the different swim strokes and then possibly move her to a developmental swim team just to keep her comfortable in the water and as a continued form of exercise for her. We've had several practice triathlon runs and she is SOOOO excited to participate in an actual event at the end of July. She really loves to run (and she's good at it) and I'm so looking forward to the day we can do a race together!

On top of swim lessons, Hayley has been taking golf lessons as well. Todd is not old enough, but the golf pros have been awesome at including him in the lessons and both the kids seem to really enjoy them.

I've been doing my usual road race training with the IRunMommies and have been busy running a month long Green Smoothie Challenge for the ladies. It's involved a lot of writing, but has been rewarding to see these moms get so excited about the changes they are seeing in their energy levels and the wonderful healthy changes that are spreading to their families. I figure the more moms and kids I get on board with these green drinks, the less it will make my family look like the weird ones! ;-) It's been brutally hot way before it should be this hot here in Florida, so running in this heat has been a challenge. I'm a tad bit, okay a LOT bit nervous about beginning marathon training in the next few weeks. I've been fighting plantar fasciitis for almost a year now and am finally getting some relief after a few acupuncture sessions. The relief from the severe pain is making me feel a little bit better about getting all those miles in, but I still have a ways to go in order to feel completely pain free.

Brian has been hard at work and after a long day at the office, often has come home to do more coursework for this Advanced Joint Professional Military Education class he's been taking. For the first time in our married life, he actually has vacation time built up. Vacation time that he HAS to take. Not just the kind where he's told he has it, but really isn't allowed to take it. I'm not sure either of us quite know how to handle it, but we're going to try to handle a small (dare I say it) "vacation" to the north Georgia mountains in a few weeks. If we haven't lost all our marbles by now, I'm sure they will definitely be lost after a 9 hour car ride there and back with Hurricane Hayley and Tornado Todd.

Donuts with Daddy Day at school
Graduation Day with Uncle "Wee" (Lee)
A visit from our Kentucky cousins

	Todd was ENTHRALLED with this golf ball collector. He did everything but take it completely apart to figure out exactly how it worked.
1st lesson	3rd lesson, big improvement in form!