Eating well

I was a bit apprehensive about being able to avoid gluten on our trip.  Since we had a suite at the Hyatt we brought food items for lunch so it was easy to fix our lunch each day.  It was fun to eat lunch out on our balcony too.  I also found out that dining at restaurants that served seafood & international foods made my life much easier.  We ended up eating at the Columbia restaurant twice...once with our good friends Mike & Becky as well as for our 'anniversary' dinner. 

 

Columbia's famous 1905 salad

 Palomilla

 Celebrating 11 years together

 Veal topped with asparagus & crab

 our boys

 Columbia's popular dessert - blueberry rum cheesecake

The boys loved the Cuban black beans & rice

Summer 2013 Family Trip

 This was my ideal vacation...a beach, water, spending relaxing days with my boys.  I don't expect a trip like this very often, but it was simply wonderful.  The Clearwater beach just west of Tampa was amazing...warm water, clean & pristine beach area, not crowded (except on Memorial Day), shells (but no jellyfish), calm waters.  No wonder USA Today ranked it as Florida's #1 beach.

We took a few excursions, but otherwise just relaxed on the beach.  Our great friends took us to Florida's oldest restaurant - Cuban/Spanish - with amazing food.  There was a meeting close by on Wednesday & it was really special to meet new friends. 

The excursions included:  Tarpon Springs - a Greek town where they dive & harvest sponges, the Clearwater Marine Center - where we met Winter & other sea animals that have been rescued.

Finishing 1st grade

May 23rd was Benjamin's last day of first grade.  They had a Hawaiian themed celebration & it was a happy day for everyone.  Congrats Benjamin on a very successful year in school!  We are so proud of his hard work & improvment this year.

And now the summer fun begins....

More about May...

1.  Benjamin pulled out his 5th tooth in Spanish class this month.

2.  The strings ensemble performed a great selection of pieces...America the Beautiful, Wabash Cannonball, Minuet 1, When Johnny Comes Marching Home.  This was Benjamin's first time to play in an ensemble of 5 violins & 2 cellos.

3. The boys were thrilled to see the Disney on Ice performance.  It was so fun for them.

Cupcakes!

After 21 days of being "very good", Lori & I enjoyed an outing with our munchkins...savoring some of the finer things in life...amazing carrot cake cupcakes & Madagasgar Vanilla tea.  What a great treat with special friends.

Mother's Day 2013

Every year at Mother's Day I feel blessed beyond measure.  It gets overwhelming just thinking about it.  I love our boys so much & they are such a joy.  I'm so grateful for my Mother's love, steadfastness, & all that she has taught me.  There is always a bit of sorrow interwoven when we remember Russell's mother & how much she still means to us.  I wish our boys had known her.

The day got even sweeter when we enjoyed these scrumptious cupcakes while sharing them with new friends from London.  What a great weekend.

Wellness Day & IB Celebration

"The IB Director General in Geneva, Switzerland has officially authorized Meridian as an IB Primary Years Program School effective immediately."  So, the entire school had fun celebrating together.  What a great accomplishment for them.

Wellness Day - Yoga, obstacle course, canoe relay races (the boats had wheels), dental class, farm education, outdoor playtime, picnic lunches in their classrooms, & much more.  It was so fun to help out for half of the day.