Floridian Fun

About a year ago my friends and I decided we wanted to take a family vacation all together. We decided on Destin, Florida and thanks to my friend Lauri, we found the perfect house to accommodate our large party of seventeen. That's right--eight adults and nine kids all under one roof! And the oldest kid was Jacob at six and a half. Some might see this as crazy and total chaos however the week was so much fun. We had a great time together and enjoyed all that the beach has to offer! 


We all decided to drive since we had so much stuff to take with us. From Prosper we had a twelve hour drive ahead of us. I think the longest drive we have ever done with the kids was to Houston, five to six hours max! I was a little nervous about how the kids would do but they did great. We hit the road around 1:00 on Friday after Jacob finished VBS. It was Sarah's nap time so she was O.U.T-out for the first part of the trip!

I got a little nervous when we had been in the car for a total of fifteen minutes and Jacob said he had to go poop. Oy! Oh the joys of traveling with kids! We drove about six hours to Baton Rouge, LA where we had booked a hotel room for the night. And boy were they glad to be out of the car...and me too to be quite honest. 

Since the kids wake up at the crack of dawn each morning we were able to hit the road by 8:30 Saturday morning. After a brief stop to fill up the tank and a run into the convenient store for breakfast we were on our way. I had printed off a few car activities for the boys to do. Their favorite--tracking our road trip progress on their map by coloring in each state as we crossed each state line. 

Yes that is a package of powered donuts Sarah is proudly holding up. And you better believe she ate four of those stinkin' donuts. And we all know she doesn't eat four of anything. Two bites and she's done!

Oh and let's not forget--about fifteen minutes into the drive Saturday morning we got pulled over for speeding. 75 in a 60! Eek! We clearly weren't paying attention and assumed the interstate speed limit was 70. Oh no, not in Baton Rouge! Thank God for a safe trip to and from!

We arrived in Destin in just enough time to go to the grocery store to stock up for the week before our 3:00 check-in time.  Here was our house for the week- the Tangerine Dream.

The view from our room. So great!

Our view from the balcony!

The kids LOVED the bunk room and had fun playing in their own room.  

Tropical storm Debby made her way to the Florida panhandle ALL day on Sunday, our first full day there. It rained off and on all day but we somehow still managed to swim in the pool a few times in the rain. And Jim took the boys down for a walk on the beach during a rain break. The rip current and waves were extremely strong that day and Luke got knocked down by a wave which made him want nothing to do with the ocean for the next few days. Thankfully the kids kept themselves entertained by playing all day and the "big" kids kept themselves entertained by a little poker game in the game room. 

The kiddos relaxing by watching a show on an Ipad. 

Ryan and Sarah hugging, so sad it's blurry since they are both looking and smiling!

Sarah and Kaitlynn definitely bonded on this trip. Kaitlynn is about a year older than Sarah and believe it or not , out of nine kids they are the only two girls! Kaitlynn was a sweet little friend to Sarah and I think she enjoyed having a younger one to look after! 

We woke up Monday morning not sure what Debby was going to do. It ended up being  cloudy the first part of the day but cleared out a bit later in the afternoon. Getting ready to head to the beach for the first time!

Luke was SO excited about his new shark trunks, hat and flip flops.  Sweet boy!

Connor and Jacob had a blast playing in the waves!

The others enjoyed their time in the sand and staying far away from the water! Lol!

Jim and Jacob LOVED playing the waves! I'm not sure who enjoyed it more...

Jacob and Connor are about seven months apart and play so well together. Both are such sweet boys and  they really enjoyed each other. 

Snack time!

Sand time!

Amanda and her sweet little Andrew, the youngest of the bunch. 

Alex and Luke trying to catch bubbles. 

Buddies!

 A beautiful sunny Destin day! 

Hugs for Luke!

My sweet family!

Jeff made the Texans logo in the sand! 

This was down the beach from us. Very cool!

Luke and Sarah finally warmed up to the water about mid-week and they both enjoyed the waves. Meanwhile,  Jacob got stung by a jellyfish and was pretty much done with the water after that! Poor guy!

Feeding the birds!

Jacob, Jackson and Ryan playing together. 

  

Luke had a fun seashell search with Aunt Amanda and Alex. 

More sand time

A break from the beach. We loved having the pool at the house as another option. 

Lauri soaking in the sun!

Popsicle time!

Jim and Jerry enjoying a cold beverage!

Kaitlynn focusing hard on eating that popsicle!

Dana and Laine

Sharing a chair at lunch. 

Sweet friends!

We found Sarah and Kaitlynn playing on one of the top bunks several times. They could climb up but would yell "Mommy" when they wanted down. So cute!

We rented this little car one afternoon to drive around. The kids had a fun time!

Luke and Alex relaxing while watching Mater's Tall Tales. 

This was Luke from our Destin trip three years ago. He was sixteen months old!

And this is Jacob from three years ago. He was three and a half. 

And our family today!

He fell asleep one afternoon on the beach. Tired boy!

We decided to venture out to dinner our last night there. We got there around 5:00 and they were able to seat our party of seventeen right away!

Up next...all the family/group pictures that were taken on the beach. We got some great shots thanks to Lauri and Amanda. Coming soon!

In Memory of

William Harry Eckel
June 23, 1922- June 16, 2012

Jacob lately

These past few weeks have been so busy with year end activities for both Jacob and Luke. Here is a little of what Jacob's been up to.

A few weeks ago, Jacob lost his other top front tooth. We were on our way to Austin and we stopped for dinner at Schlotzskys. His tooth was barely hanging on so I told him to try to get it out before he started to eat dinner. He reached right in, pulled a few times and out it came. I was so hoping he would have the two top teeth gone at the same time. Such a sweet look. But it hasn't lasted long. One of the teeth is making it's way down and doesn't have much further to go.

At the year end award assembly, Jacob received an award from his music teacher, Mrs. Tucker. She said he always participated in music class and put forth a lot of effort. She said this award was very well deserved. Yea Jacob!

So proud of our little guy!

The Friday before school was out was Field Day for the kids. The kids enjoyed all the different stations they had set up for each grade. Jacob's class was teamed up with another Kinder class and they raced against each other. At the end of the day, Jacob's class has a few more wins than the other class. And you know at this age, it's all about winning! :)

His best buddy, Brett.

 Most of the games involved water to keep the kids cool. 

Brett, Jacob and JT- best buddies!

After Field Day was over, they had a family lunch where they actually grilled hamburgers and hot dogs outside on charcoal grills and also had fruit, chips and cookies. Luckily Jim was able to join in on the family fun. 

Jacob had been asking me to come up for lunch before school was out. I decided to go the Monday of the last week. It's always fun having lunch with my buddy even if they do eat at 10:40!! 

Our last Kindergarten lunch date!

We sit at the "family table" when I bring him lunch and they get to choose if they want a friend to sit with us. Usually Brett joins us for lunch but this time he chose his little friend Meredith. We had just gone to her birthday party the day before and he said he chose her since it had recently been her birthday. Sweet.

You know how I like my comparison pictures. Here is Jacob on the first day of school back in August of 2011. 

These pictures brought back a ton of emotions of my little guy starting school. 

First day of school- August 2011. 

Last day of school- May 2012

Is it me or does he look taller and thinner compared to the first day?  Heart. aching.

I have to say, I was unexpectedly extremely emotional Jacob's last week of school. I think it was a number of things. For starters, how can it be that my baby boy is done with Kindergarten and now officially a first grader?? There is just something really special about your first child starting Kindergarten. I really can't seem to grasp just how fast this school year went by. Jacob's class was unbelievably great! The kids were awesome, the parents were amazing and Mrs. Naber was the best teacher we could have hoped for.  I had the opportunity to volunteer in his class room on Thursdays and had a chance to work with and get to know the other kids in his class. And of course having a chance to chat with Mrs. Naber was always great. Prosper is opening a fourth elementary school in the fall and Mrs. Naber will be moving to the new school so  I think part of my sadness is knowing we won't see her up at school and Luke and Sarah won't have the chance to have her either.

I just can't say enough about how great Jacob's first year was. We were blessed with such a great experience. Mrs. Naber created such a fun learning environment for them and Jacob truly had fun at school. He made some great friends that made it even more fun for him. Part of me feels sad that this first year is over and moving forward will be more "real" and serious. With homework, spelling tests, real grades etc. I'm sure he will be ready for that when the time comes but this year sure was a good one. Praying for another great teacher and another great year!

The last day of school was their end of year party. A pirate themed party complete with water games, bounce houses and a snow cone truck.

They are always so accommodating to the siblings. Luke and Sarah got to enjoy a snow cone too. 

Jacob huddled up with his buddies!

I'm so glad they asked the kids to wear their swimsuits. 

Bunny ears are a popular pose with this age!

Oh Mrs. Naber how we will miss you!

I always enjoy seeing the answers the kids provide to these questions. The question, "What do you want to tell next year's Kindergartners?" Jacob's answer, "We learn to read a big level book." (*Warning- proud mommy post here!*) Now that you've been warned, I have to brag on Jacob. Jacob has excelled far more than I could have ever imagined in reading. Mrs. Naber did an awesome job teaching them so many great reading skills. The reading groups and weekly book baggies were so successful for these kids. Mrs. Naber said that they expect all kids to enter first grade on a "4" reading level. According to this particular Rigby reading level scale they use. Jacob finished the year on a level "20". He's reading on a second/third grade level. The last few books Mrs. Naber sent home were chapter books instead of picture books. Moving to chapter books seems to be a big deal to the kids! I bought him several chapter books for the summer and we have made time so far each day to continue reading. We are so proud of him and hope to continue to provide a positive reading environment for him so his reading skills will continue to grow!

I saw an idea on Pinterest to have each teacher from Kindergarten and on sign the Dr. Seuss book Oh, The Places You'll Go. Such a sweet idea for the kids. Here is what she had to say...

Another thanks to Pinterest, I thought it would be fun to make a "Welcome to Summer" banner on Jacob's last day of school. Since we are going to the beach in a few short weeks, I decided to make little buckets full of summer fun items. A new beach towel, bubbles, balls, a few sugary treats, water/sand toys, goggles and of course a few books and an activity workbook. They loved it!

The last week of school, Jacob started swimming lessons in the evening and continued the next week during the day. He was swimming pretty well last summer but seemed to have forgotten it all when this year rolled around. After the two weeks with Ms. Julianne he is doing great. The last day he swam from one end to the other (the shorter length of the pool) and we were thrilled. 

I swam with Luke and Sarah while Jacob worked with Ms. Julianne. Here is Sarah striking a pose.  She insists on wearing her towel over her shoulders! 

One day we packed lunch and enjoyed it by the pool. I have a feeling we will be at the pool all the time this summer. Jacob is loving it!

Jacob also wrapped up his baseball season. He had a great season and he loves playing baseball! I think he has found his sport! His coach had to nominate two players from the team for the upcoming All-Stars game and he choose Jacob as one of them. Sadly, we will be out of the town the weekend of the game but feel happy for Jacob that he got recognized!

End of year party, receiving his trophy from Coach Jim! :)

Summer sure has taken on a different feel now that Jacob has started school. I'm thrilled to have all three of my babies with me every day for the next three months! I'm looking forward to spending summer together and I'm excited for the things we have planned! Wishing you all a fun, happy and safe summer!