The Sanders Wedding

 In September we flew to Baltimore for Brandon and Katy's wedding.  The kids were a little extra excited because we were flying up, and we haven't flown anywhere in about seven years. 

 We arrived to Baltimore in time to pick up our rental car and make it to the rehearsal.  It was here where we met up with our Sanders family, and we were so glad to see them all.

 Later in the evening, we attended a really nice rehearsal dinner at a restaurant outside of the city.  The kids had a great time playing with their cousins.  I was amazed at how much Addie and Gavin had grown since I had last seen them.

 The big day arrived, and everything was just so lovely.  The venue where the wedding took place was gorgeous, as was the bride and all of the wedding party. 

 After the wedding, we had a nice dinner followed by dancing.  Brandon and Katy started things off with a choreographed dance.  It was so cute.  None of us were topping that.  We danced the night away.  We had such a wonderful celebrating this sweet couple, and we wish them much happiness in their marriage.

Cross Country

Olivia has aged out of rec sports.  I still want her to stay somewhat active, so I told her that I wanted her to try out for at least one school athletic team this year.  She decided to try out for the cross country team, and she made it.  At the first meet, she finished about 30th out of about 60 runners.  I was surprised that she did so well because she's never run like this before.  As the season went on, she got better and better.  She was one of the seven runners on her team to go to the conference championship where she had her best time of the season and finished 20th.  Her team finished in third place at every single meet all season long, but at the conference meet they finished second and received the runner-up trophy.  All of that practice and running in the heat paid off, and the girls were so excited.  Olivia is now enthusiastic about running and is looking forward to trying out for the team again next year.  This has been a great experience for her.

Let's Get Caught Up

 I have been slacking big time on my blogging.  I see it's been two months since I've done anything.  We have had a lot happen in August-September, and this post will serve to catch-up on some of it. 

Family news:  We have spent as much time as possible with our favorite people.  We even had a visit from our Cook cousins, whom we have not seen in a while.  We also celebrated several birthdays- including Papa's 91st. 

 Church news:  Both kids are now officially in the youth group, and they are enjoying all of the activities of that program.  Olivia has also "graduated" from being an acolyte and is now working in the sound booth during the morning service. 

 Olivia's news:  Olivia is doing well in seventh grade.  She has a cell phone now, so we have seen an uptick in the amount of time she spends talking with her friends.  She ran cross-country this year and really liked it.  She even wanted to try a 5k, so she and I decided to go for it.  We have run two 5k races so far this school year.  I just may have found myself a new running buddy- even if she is way faster than me.

Owen's news:  Owen is loving middle school.  He has joined the band and is playing the trumpet.  He is still eligible to play rec sports, so he will be doing that this year.  He also tried out for the middle school robotics team and made it, so he will be joining his sister on that team this year. 

It has definitely been a busy start to the school year.

Middle School

It's official, I have two middle schoolers.  Summer break is over and we are back in the swing of things with school and other activities.  It feels kind of weird to not have to drop a kid off at Wacona anymore, but I guess I'll get used to it.  The kids have both had a positive start to their school year, and I hope that it continues that way.  Here is a picture of the kiddos on the first day of school.

Rolling Stones

 We went to a Rolling Stones concert!  We have been looking forward to this for months. I am on the Stones mailing list and when I received notice that they were coming to Jacksonville, I couldn't believe it.  We usually have to go to Atlanta, Orlando, or Tampa to see bands this big.  Jacksonville has been upping their game lately, so maybe we'll get more bands of this caliber.  Anyway, I purchased the tickets for Brian and myself the moment that they went on sale in November.  My parents, Quincy and Chase, aunt Libba, and Jessica also purchased tickets.  Most of us had seats in the same general area, but not directly beside each other.  Originally, the concert was set to be in April, but Jagger had to have heart surgery so it was pushed back till July.  Between the time that I purchased the tickets and the time that the concert took place, both of my children began to get seriously interested in classic rock music.  So, we made a last-minute decision to buy two extra tickets so that they could see this excellent band who is, in my opinion, the greatest band on the planet.  Seriously, I love them- and they haven't lost a step.  They put on a fantastic performance and played almost all of my favorite songs.  Mick Jagger was high-energy which surprised us because he's 75 and just had heart surgery.  Didn't matter- he was dancing all over the place and he sounded great.  I'm so glad we decided to take the kids.  This is something that they will always remember. 

Here's a bonus picture from my first Rolling Stones concert in 2006. I was pregnant with Olivia (which is why you may hear her claim that she has been to "two" Stones concerts).

Summer STEM Project

The kids have met with their friends all summer to build an underwater remotely operated vehicle (ROV).  It was definitely a challenging project.  The kids learned how to measure and cut PVC, drill, waterproof, solder, assemble, troubleshoot electrical issues, and adjust buoyancy. It took 20+ hours to assemble. Soldering the circuit board was the most difficult part by far.  We were all nervous that something would go wrong or not work.  The first two tries were duds but after a few adjustments, the ROV was up and running.  Everyone was so excited and we rushed out to the pool to try it out- and it ran great.  There is an underwater robotics competition that we can enter in the spring, and we may participate.  I have to say, this was a great way to keep the kids engaged in STEM during the summer.  They loved the project and loved the fact that they got to do it with their friends.     

Pool, Pier, Putt-Putt

When not on the beach, we hung out at the pool or on the pier.  The pier is still not fully rebuilt from the damage it took during the hurricane two years ago. so fishing could only be done around high tide. Both of my kids swim well enough that they can be in the pool without me right there, and that was nice (meaning more time on the beach for me).  We were also able to eat out a few times during the week.  In addition to our usual favorites (hello, Salty Pelican) we tried some new places including the brand new Salt Life.  We ate on the rooftop overlooking the ocean.  The view was incredible and the food was also good.  Papa Buie gave all of his great-grandkids money to get ice cream, so we hit up Fantastic Fudge.  I ordered Vanilla and was given a Lemon Custard flavor by mistake, but it was delicious.  I was glad for the mix-up.  I also took the kids putt-putting, and that was fun.  We had such a great week at the beach and are already looking forward to next year.