Vacation and July 4th

A week of vacation for Dave made a wonderful week for all of us.  Olivia lost her sixth tooth on Wednesday and the tooth fairy has to guess where we will be each time.

We spent the first part of the week enjoying lake time and the later part of the week in Ponte Vedra, FL as guests of Zach's favorite racer, Hurley Haywood.  Zach received star treatment at the qualifying race in Daytona on Friday.

Olivia and I sat back at the beach house and soaked up the ocean views, reptiles, cats and puppy.  Indie, the puppy spaniel, had lots of attention from Olivia and Zach.  She's probably resting well now that we have vacated.  It was nice to have twin friends (kids of Hurley's friends) to play with for Olivia and Zach.  William and Grace welcomed our kids with gusto and we hammed it up for the 4th.  Everyone was gracious and welcoming, so our trip was relaxing.  St. Augustine was visited several times over the weekend for dinner, fireworks over the water and by Hurley's boat.  Indie, the spaniel, went along for every step of the way.  

Lake Artwork

The kids and I had a free weekend at the lake while Dave was traveling to London.  I promised Zach last year that he could paint a huge canvas like the one Olivia painted last year for our lake house.  He reminds me every few months, so I figured why not?  We spent over 6 hours on Sunday painting on canvas with acrylic on our screened in deck.  It was unusually hot, so Olivia told us when it was break time - meaning air conditioning time.

Olivia had completed a beautiful giraffe at art camp the previous week, so she wanted to do more.  This time she drew and painted a seal (with a little help from mom).

It was so nice to have the entire day to ourselves to paint, relax and be creative.  Zach is extremely proud of his color assortment of fish....with a fishing hook.  I do like how it turned out.  Zach cannot wait to show everyone.

For our next painting, I think we should try to recreate the look of the sun setting.  Take a peek at the view from my friend, Amy Storm's, place on the lake last week.  The kids (all 10 of them, along with Amy's dad and uncle Joe) took the canoe's out for a spin.  I ended up going myself.  It was a lovely night.

I felt quite a bit of pride that evening because I finally took the boat out by myself (without another adult).  I have finally gotten to the place where I knew I wanted to do it, but needed the nerve.  Now that I have that experience under my belt, I'm ready for more.

Lots of Visitors in Eden

Where do I begin?  I guess with the Mitchell's...Our first full time weekend at the lake, Bridgette, Dave, Elizabeth and Lauren came to have some fun with us.  We beached the boat on Sunday and spent a little too much time on the island.  We applied sunscreen many times over, but at the end of the weekend, we had all seen a little too much sun.  Dave and the Mitchell's took off Sunday evening after dinner.  Dave was traveling all week, so Liz came out with Clare and Danny.  Since Dave installed the guards along the floating dock, it has made boating (and docking) much easier on me.  I think I still made Liz work a little too hard (for a pregnant woman).  Thanks Liz :-)  We found a cozy beach (at the Ridge) and played one afternoon.  Each morning, Liz was great about trading out to walk and exercise (without the kids).  We also went to visit Catherine's Market and the Russell Crossroads Stables.  We boated up to a dock, called for the golf cart, were picked up and taken to the stables to see the horses, then headed to Catherine's Market for a sweet treat of a cinnamon roll before we had a real lunch at Chuck's Marina.  Are these kids spoiled or what?!  Dan, a Percherion horse, was a big hit with the kids.

They made their way over to the blacksmith shop for some fun, but dangerous, play.  "You'll poke your eye out with that kid".

One evening, I can't remember if I felt the need or was begged to, but we took the boat out for an evening ride.  What a lovely time of day and the colors the sky make on the water are stunning.  This is my favorite time to be on the lake.  My kids were excited to show the 'green monster' light to the Seymour's.  I was excited that I could 'hover' the boat over the green monster light long enough for the kids to see a fish or two!

Amy came Wednesday through Saturday and we kept ourselves busy yet again.  We didn't actually ride the Viper, but the kids sure had fun on it as it was tied to the dock!  A few fight ensued, but they wore themselves out enough to sleep and then get us up at the crack of dawn every morning.  I finally installed a clock in the bunk room and slept peacefully after that.  5:30 am can wear on you....7:15 is much nicer.  The kids are swimming like fish these days, so they enjoy the water so much more this year than the previous two.  I cannot believe this is our third year at our house on Eden Dr.  Wow!  The days flew by when Amy was there, but we stopped to have time for a glass of wine now and again.  Our lake neighbor, Teri, dropped by Friday night and we ended up having cocktail hour on our screened porch.  How nice!
The kids and I had the weekend to ourselves, but Jill McCurry and her girls came out Monday through Wednesday.  Garrett, our other Smyrna neighbor came with and it was a nice mix of kids.  Zach wasn't the only boy around, so he was very happy to have Garrett for a while.  My camera wasn't working during this time, so I'll have to rely on Jill to forward some photos.

And so summer begins...

Welcoming in our 3rd season at the lake, we invited my cousin, Zac, not to be confused with my big 5-year old, Zach, to join us.  My cousin, Zac, and I haven't seen each other in 20+ years.  What a great way to catch up with each other!  Zach and Olivia loved having a fun cousin around and luckily, Zac is great with kids.  He brought 'gifts' of water guns, tons of bubbles, Hot Wheels and a squishy bear (for Olivia).  I think my kids were thinking "you had me at the bubbles'....  water gun fights ensued, led by the older Zac.

A huge congrats goes out to Zac for graduating medical school at Medical College of Georgia.  He's heading to North Carolina to complete his residency.  So, here's to you Dr. Zac Lane!  Thanks for joining us; we had an awesome time!

My friends, Liz and Allyson, kicked their summer off at the lake as well.  We had 6 kids and 4 adults (thanks for hanging in there with us Zac to entertain the small people).  At one point, Liz said, "they all sound like the pelicans on Finding Nemo....'Mine, Mine, Mine..."  And guess what - they really did!  It was a bit chaotic at times, but chaos can be fun, so that's what we made it into.  Along the way, we had HVAC failure 4 times, a flat tire on Liz's minivan and dead headlights on Zac's car.  On the plus side, Sophie caught her first fish and Zach continued to bring them in, we boated around, roasted marshmallows, ate wonderful dinners, traded babysitting so we could get a run/walk in and enjoyed ourselves thoroughly.
Dave was out to an almost quiet house for Memorial Day weekend.  The rain threatened for hours before it actually rained.  We still were able to boat before the flood gates opened.  The lake is nice when it's sunny and nice when it's stormy.  You just take it as it comes. Take a look at the crane that hung out on our dock; it's stunning.

We headed back to Atlanta for Memorial Day.  Military helicopters, hummers and firetrucks were on display in downtown Smyrna, but our kids were more interested in the dogs.  Olivia asked no more than 7 times "can I get a dog?"  She needs a dog.... We played in the pool and also watched 'How to Train Your Dragon' in 3-D.  I liked this movie!  We missed grilling for dinner, so Waffle House had to suffice.  Yes, I wasn't pleased with this scenario, but we missed our opportunity.  Luckily, we were able to hang out at our neighbor's house for some homemade ice cream and a small gathering.  That tidbit helped me.  Happy Memorial Day!

Miami....oh Miami!

It was a crazy time to go, being the last week of school and all, but totally worth the trip to Miami.  Dave and I went to the annual Premier Dealer event that Porsche hosts.  Two years ago, the event was in Jackson,. Wyoming, it skipped a year and this year the event was held in Miami.   The Porsche dealers and spouses we have met throughout the years are so friendly and gracious.  This event is a time to say 'great job' and thank you for taking care of our customers.
Where do I begin?  We stayed at The Betsy Hotel in Miami Beach, had Vespas at our disposal (I took advantage this perk a couple of times).  Activities we could choose from - any and all that we could fit in to the days we were there....Spa services at the Delano Hotel, Cigarette boat rides, jet ski rides, sport fishing, yacht tour, shopping and beaching it.  If you know me, I like to be active, so I enjoyed as much as I could.
We arrived Tuesday and Porsche hosted a cocktail hour and dinner on the roof top of The Betsy.  Fresh rolled cuban cigars were being made, sushi, great cocktails, live acoustic music and a we had a sunset to die for. That was just to get us warmed up.

Wednesday we woke early to head out on the sport fishing boats.  Fish were biting that well, but we all managed to pull something out.  I ended up with one of the better catches on our boat...a 3' baracuda.  It was easy to pull him in, slow and steady.  Of course, plenty of food and beverage was provided, so we were all happy boaters.  I zipped off to a massage at the Delano, came back refreshed and headed to a beach dinner party.  A tent was set up on the beach with couches, tables, full dinner and cocktails to please everyone.  The beach dinner was over at 8 pm due to the nesting turtles.  By law, the lights have to be turned off before dark in order to not confuse the turtles.  Perfect timing for all of us since we had a full day.

Thursday was filled with boating on the yacht "Never Say Never", which was in the James Bond movie.  We had a personal chef (who filled us with gluten free delights - thank you) and a wait staff that catered to our every need.  You would think we were getting used to this service, but no, we were still very impressed.  Before lunch, jet skis were sent via tender to the yacht and we jetted around Biscayne Bay and frolicked with the dolphins.

The dolphins liked the wake from the yacht, so we had plenty of fun encounters.  As we rested and lounged on the deck, the other Porsche people zoomed by us on their cigarette boat.  I think they all got a face lift with this adventure.  Once again, a group of us had appointments at the Delano, so we were wisked away again to the Delano (facial this time).  I walked home along the beach to take in the scenery.

Thursday nights dinner was held at Versace's mansion, now called The Villa.  It was a sultry evening and unfortunately, the air flow was limited, so dinner was a bit hard to get down, but it was still a lovely evening.  Dinner was topped off with a milkshake martini bar - yum.
Dave and I had Friday to take a breather from all of the activity, so we spent the morning on Vespas and at the beach.  It was a wonderful week and we needed time to take it all in.....

Graduation from Pre-K and K....

Where did the last 5 years go?  Olivia started Vinings Creative Learning Center the summer of 2005, right after Zach was born.  Since then, five quick years passed by and last week I was looking at my little girl in a white cap and gown.  The cap was falling off of her head and she was concentrating intensely on keeping it on, but that's one cute, little snapshot that I can remember from this wonderful graduation evening.  

Zach decided to expend all of his energy at the end-of-year Karate show one hour prior to the Spring Fling/graduation, so by the time his turn rolled around, he was a quiet, almost shy, Zach with his hands in his pockets.  It just reminds me how Zach's personality is flexible.  He fits in where he wants and plays the shy bit when he's not in the mood.  On the other hand, Olivia has been painfully shy for the past several years, but is opening up more and more.  Case in point, she gave a speech in front of an entire audience during gradation.  All of her classmates did, but I had a small doubt that she wouldn't do it.  I was so proud, just knowing her personality, that she trusted herself and did it!  She walked away with a smile....well, Grandpa Bob's shout of encouragement probably helped, but a smile is a smile!  

Both children walked to the podium to receive their diplomas and the afternoon went by in a flash.  We officially have Teasley Elementary bound kids now.  

I had a tinge of sadness knowing we were leaving VCLC, but five years is a good run, so onward we must go.  I missed saying my final goodbyes to the group due to a crazy scheduled week.

Lucky for us, I think both kids are excited about starting Teasley....but first things first....let's enjoy summer.  August 5th will come way too soon.  

Let the festivities begin!