Sunday is a Fun Day!

Now that the boys are bigger and more mature, we are able to do lots of super fun things with them. Last Sunday, we decided to have a super fun day with the boys. We started the day at Recbar, where we played lots of arcade video games. Afterwards, we went to King Pin, where we went bowling. We also went to The Melting Pot, where we all enjoyed fondue. We ended the day with family movie night. It was a really fantastic day and we are all looking forward to doings more new and exciting things together!

Recbar

King Pin 

The Melting Pot

The End of Summer is a Bummer

It is still officially summer, according to the calendar and the warm weather. However, summer definitely feels over for our family now that school has started, and the passing of Labor Day means that the pool is closed until next spring. We are now busy with school and sports, which just isn't as much fun as our laid back summer days. We made the most of our last days of summer with trips to the zoo, pool parties, a picnic, a trip to House of Boom and lots of fishing trips. It was an amazing summer filled with lots of family time and I am very grateful for all of our time together.

We all enjoyed St. Joe's Picnic!

Evan and Preston really like to fish, so we made lots of trips to the creek for catching fish. 

The boys love House of Boom! Evan likes to practice his flips and his parkour skills. Preston likes the zip line and the obstacle course, where he likes to pretend that he is an athlete on Ultimate Beastmaster!

We took a couple of trips to the zoo. The animals are always fun, but so were the Lego creations and the the adventure ropes course!

The Labor Day pool party was so much fun on the first day, that we went back for the second day too! We loved the giant slide, the games, and playing together.

We are ready to welcome the fall season! We are ready to cheer for our U of L Cardinal football team!

Preston's Special Day with Daddy

When Evan started kindergarten, he got a special day with Daddy. Now that Preston is in kindergarten, he got a special day with Daddy too! We offered him lots of choices, including some big things, like visiting the aquarium in northern Kentucky. He decided on a few small adventures in town. He and Daddy went to Bricks and Minifigs, ate at Taco Bell and went fishing. It was a really special day for both of them.

Preston and Evan Go to School - 2018

Evan and Preston recently started school and, for the first time ever, they are at the same school at the same time! Preston is in kindergarten and Evan is in fifth grade. Preston is excited to be at Evan's school. He is also excited to see his good buddy, Mr. Murphy.

I was a little worried about Preston going to kindergarten, but he has had such a great start! He walked in the first day and he knew where his classroom was and he remembered the names of his teachers. He found his cubby and his table and got right to work on the first day. I was so impressed! I was worried he would cry, but he didn't and that made for a great start to the day. He likes Mrs. Reynolds and Mrs. Walker and he enjoys seeing Quinn at playtime. He is also making some new friends and trying new things!

Evan has gone to Chancey Elementary School since kindergarten, so the first day was really easy for him. In fact, he didn't even want me to walk him to his classroom or take his picture in the school. I was a bit sad, but then I realized that he is just growing up and becoming independent. Evan is enjoying school so far and is happy that he has some friends in his class. His main teacher is Mrs. Lotze, but he will switch to Mr. Polloack for math and science. 

I hope both boys have a great year. I am excited to watch them learn, grow and mature. I am sure they will be doing lots of amazing things!

Preston loved his special kindergarten orientation. He was especially excited to see Quinn!

Evan was excited to see his classroom at orientation too. He really likes Mrs. Lotze.

Evan and Preston were excited for the fist day of school!

Preston Can Fish!

Preston has enjoyed going fishing with us over the years. He has spent time throwing rocks in the water, looking for crayfish, dipping his feet in the water, exploring the trails, playing hide and seek, etc. Sometimes, he even tried to fish!

He has helped reel fish in when someone else has got a fish on the line and has always seemed pretty excited about it. We thought that he was happy to go fishing like that, but he recently told us he wanted to catch his own fish, since he had never done it.

We went fishing the weekend before school started and Preston learned to fish! He LOVES going fishing now and asks to go often. He gets so excited when he can cast, catch a fish and reel it in. He typically catches several fish each time we go and he has told us all that he is "so good at fishing." We all love seeing his excitement!


Here is Preston on the day he caught his first fish all by himself!

Key West - Summer 2018

We had an amazing trip to Key West. We always have a good time, but this trip was extra fun because we got to do so many new things. It is so nice that they boys are both getting bigger. We can do lots of things with them now that they are old enough, mature enough and no longer require daily naps!

We did lots of the usual things in Key West, such as swimming in the pool, going to the beach, going to the botanical garden, visiting the wildlife center, etc. We also did so much more! Evan went to Coral Camp, which he absolutely loved. He got to go to the Key West aquarium and the Eco Center, as well as the new water park and playground. He also got to go out on boats and snorkel, dissect a barracuda, and lots more! He even came home on the last day with a huge sea turtle painted on his back!

Carl and I did something that we have been excited about for quite awhile. We went to Dry Tortugas National Park! We tried to take the ferry that goes out each day, but it was full. We decided to check on the prices for a sea plane and got an amazing deal for a full day at the island. I am SO glad that we were able to take the sea plane, because that part of the trip was amazing! We could see sea turtles, sharks and dolphins from the plane, as well as having great views of Key West, ship wrecks and some of the other keys.

While we were on the island, we enjoyed some good snorkeling. We also had fun on the beaches, which were not very crowded. We also had fun walking around Fort Jefferson. The water was super clear and we even saw a shark while walking on top of the fort. It was a really nice trip and Carl and I had lots of fun together. We hope to take the boys there when they are older and maybe even camp overnight!

Preston got to do something new and special too! When we got to Key West, he worked hard to learn how to snorkel. On our previous trips, he has enjoyed going out with Carl and Evan. He couldn't use the mask and snorkel though, so he just used his goggles and would put his head up to breathe. He really wanted to learn to use the mask and snorkel on this trip and he did! He was so excited and so were we! Bonnie Mom treated Preston to a trip to Aquarium Encounters in Marathon. It was an awesome aquarium and it was very interactive. Preston got to see several touch-tanks and also got to pet and feed the sting rays. We also got to see sharks in the wild, that were in the ocean just outside the aquarium! The best part was that Preston got to snorkel in the big aquarium, where he got to feed rays by hand, feed the small fish and even feed a shark! He LOVED it!

Preston got to feed the rays in the touch tank, as well as pet them. He really liked this part!

The aquarium had turtles, alligators, and hermit crabs, which Preston also really liked.

The two large aquariums were really cool. Preston liked the sharks.

The touch tanks were cool. Preston got to hold a starfish and a horseshoe crab.

Preston was very excited to snorkel and I was pretty excited to get to help him!

We couldn't get many good pictures of the underwater activities from outside of the tank, but these were pretty good. Preston hand fed a ray and a shark!

It was awesome! Thanks, Bonnie Mom!

The last really awesome thing we did was got out for the Ultimate Adventure with Fury. It is an all day adventure where you go out on a large catamaran for snorkeling, large water toys, jet skiing and parasailing. The boat ride itself was pretty cool and the boys probably would have been happy to do that alone. They both really enjoyed the ride out to the reef and Evan and Dad even saw a few sea turtles. When we got to the reef, we went snorkeling, which Daddy and Evan liked, but the water was pretty rough for Preston and me and we didn't stay out very long. We had a nice lunch on the boat as we headed to the next stop. We played on the giant water toys first. The boys liked the big slides, as well as jumping from the ledges into the ocean. Next, we went jet skiing. I took Preston out and he literally squealed with joy the entire ride! Our last adventure was parasailing, which was my favorite part. It was so much fun and the views were amazing. Carl and I got to enjoy adult beverages once we were done and the boys enjoyed cookies on the way back to shore. It was a really amazing trip and we will definitely do it again!

As I mentioned before, Preston learned to snorkel! This was his first real time to snorkel in the ocean.

We had fun at Higgs Beach for the first few days of our trip. Unfortunately, the water on that side of the island was too rough and murky for most of our trip.

As usual, Evan caught lots of lizards! On this trip, Preston became VERY excited about catching lizards too. We spent LOTS of time at the botanical gardens (otherwise known as the "Olive Garden" or the "Mechanical Garden" to Preston.  At the garden, Preston could easily find lizards and catch them. Thankfully, the gardens are an enjoyable place to visit and I also got some great pictures.

On our last day in Key West, both boys caught lizards at the same time! They were so happy!  Soon after, the boys also found an injured king bird.  We hopped on the Duval Loop trolly and rushed it to the wildlife center/bird sanctuary.  The boys were happy to have helped the bird!

The boys liked the new playground and splash park. We went a couple of times while we were in Key West.

This large banyan tree was lots of fun to play on. It was located right by the playground, so the boys spent a lot of time climbing around and exploring.

Carl and I enjoyed a few date nights. We went to The Upper Deck at Louie's, which is our favorite outdoor dining place. We also went to the Cafe and out on our traditional sunset sail.

The pool is always lots of fun!

Evan caught a baby iguana! He was excited because it was the biggest lizard that he ever caught!

We didn't have a lot of fun at our visit to Fort Zachary Taylor, as the fort was closing when we got there and the boys were super tired and cranky. They did pose for one nice picture though!

Preston put on Grandpa's hat and declared that he looked just like Grandpa. It was too cute!

Daddy and Evan enjoyed walking to the pier and getting some special time to hang out and talk.

We visited USCGC INGHAM Museum. The ship was active in World War II and is the only boat left that sunk a German submarine during the war. It was really cool to take a tour of the ship. Carl and I found it really interesting, while the boys thought the ice cream was the best part of the tour. 

We spent a couple of afternoons at Lagerheads, where the water was clear and the boys could swim and snorkel. We were thankful that the water was calm an clear on that side of the island.

I love this palm tree, which is near Bonnie Mom and Grandpa's house. The boys posed for picture here and it turned out so cute!

We too family pictures on our last day. We had a wonderful trip! I love that we get to travel and do so many fun things together. I hope the boys will always remember our special times in Key West.