First Day Finally

After a busy week and a half back, I'm finally getting around to the first day of school pics. I described the first week to my mother-in-law as a carefully-placed house of cards. In addition to the usual stress of getting back to a morning routine, I worked full-time and threw a baby shower for a co-worker, and Jeff had an overnight trip for work.  We survived on lots of prayer and caffeine!

Meet the Teacher Night

Ashley started 3rd grade at Roberts. Including PreK, this will be her 5th year at the same school. She has literally grown up here.  

Back to School Night

Nate, however, has moved on to middle school. It was the first time in 4 years that we've had more than one stop to make in the mornings and afternoons. We are so thankful to have a brand new charter school right down the street and for the countless hours that people have put into making this school a reality. We are also very thankful that some of Nate's best friends are there with him. 

Nothing Runs Like a Deere

As an early birthday present to himself, Dad got a brand new tractor today. Since he would NEVER let us open presents early, mom joked that he didn't get to ride it until his actual birthday next Saturday. 

We went out this afternoon and took turns driving around the "garden". Nathan was big enough to drive it by himself. We've come along way since these pics on their first John Deeres.

The Rest of the Summer

Our big vacation has gotten most of the blog posts this summer, but we've been cramming many of our other usual summer activities into this abbreviated summer break! The kids go back to school in just 17 days!!!

Annual Cow Appreciation Day costumes

Going to the pool

...again

…and again!

Remember how I raved on the marketing genius of Coca Cola a little while back? Well, they got us again. Nathan found an "Ashley" bottle early in Coke's summer "Share a Coke with ___" campaign. We still have not found a "Nate" and haven't even looked for a "Racheal"--not even Coke could mass produce an "-eal". :)

We've had LOTS of cousin time this summer. Jeremiah has been here so long that he might have re-established residency.  He spent 2 weeks in Arkansas by himself this summer, and it was a pleasure having him here. It's so easy to get lost just managing the chaos when there are 5, 9, or more kids running around. I'm glad to have spent a few days with these guys. Love you, J!

We worked in a trip to Professor Bowl while he was here. Micah and Lily joined us again, and we had a big water balloon fight one afternoon. If you need help tying water balloons, call Lily. She's a machine! We have played at least one game of Wahoo everyday that she's been here, and I can't tell you how many fashion shows that she, Ashley, (and sometimes Micah) have put on for us this summer. I will spare Micah the future embarrassment of his fashion show pics. ;)

5 kids + 2 dogs on a 3 mile walk. Whew!

So far it's been a great and crazy summer! I've already started buying back-to-school clothes and hope to get started on the school supplies this weekend. 

Suburban Gardening

So back in the spring, Jeff and Ashley decided to plant some seeds in flower pots. The seeds were old and never sprouted, so Jeff planted some flowers in the same soil. A few weeks later, we found cucumbers in the hanging basket and watermelon plants growing on the deck. We harvested a couple of cucumbers, but so far just blooms on the watermelons.

Apparently this amazing summer weather has created ideal growing conditions for tomatoes. My intentionally planted little garden is more like a jungle!

A Few More Vacation Pics

What We Ate in Grand Cayman

I thought I would recap our dining in a single post. I know some people don't want to cook on vacation, but I don't mind. Our condo had a nice, well-equipped kitchen, and (as previously mentioned) was within walking distance of a supermarket. 

As also previously mentioned, almost everything was closed on Sundays, so I was glad that Heritage Kitchen was open for lunch when we arrived. I had the Sunday special: BBQ chicken. It was falling off the bone and covered with a sweet, Caribbean sauce. We took in our first ocean views and Caymanian culture there. The cooks were three ladies who gathered around a tiny television to watch the World Cup when they weren't serving customers. There were chickens wandering around and an old radio playing country music in the background. 

Another lunch with a great view was at Over the Edge on the east side of the island. The food was pretty good, and it was a nice place to stop on our day trip around the island.

We got takeout one night from a Cayman island staple: Chicken! Chicken! Rotisserie chicken, goods sides, and weird cornbread seasoned with cinnamon and nutmeg. And, oh, the brownies! Caramel and coconut on a moist, dark chocolate brownie. Need I say more? 

We stopped for a quick dinner at Da Fish Shack in Georgetown. It had more of a bar feel to it on Friday night than a restaurant. Yeah, we were those people with kids in the middle of a noisy bar. In our defense, it was a full service restaurant and even had a kids' menu. 

Our last meal on GC was breakfast on Saturday at The Greenhouse just down the road from us in West Bay. Perfect breakfast to end our week. I would go back just for the sweet potato hash browns.