Enjoy the Sunshine!

It has been crazy at our house with the start of school and everything that comes with it. Sara Brooke is playing soccer, taking dance and still playing her guitar. Mary Reese is taking dance and getting her guitar lessons from Daddy.

When we are not running around from all the activities or watching Bama play football, we like to go fishing. We have had such beautiful weather lately, we decided to get out and enjoy the sunshine!

We went to Orange Beach to Uncle Godbee and Aunt Judie's pier, and had a ball! Both the girls caught huge catfish and loved every second of it.

Another Milestone

This past week was the first week of school, and it could not have gone better. Mary Reese started Kindergarten, and Sara Brooke started 4th grade at the Middle School. They are both very lucky, they have WONDERFUL teachers.

Mary Reese has Mrs. Kenney, and she loves her. The first day I picked her up in the car line, she was upset because she was not ready to read. She did not have any homework this week, but she is learning to read already. She had a couple of words that the teacher wanted to make sure that the students could recognize the letters. Mary Reese wanted to write and sound out the words to be able to read them, so I told her to write them three times. She asked me if she could write them four times because she was going to need to know them before she was 16. She then informed me that Sara Brooke was about to be 16 and already knew the words, so she really needed to study. She took the paper to school the next day that had the words on them so she could show Mrs. Kenney, and she brought it home and showed me, she was so proud. Mrs. Kenney had drawn a smiley face on it and wrote "AWESOME!", needless to say, Mary Reese was very proud.

Sara Brooke was very nervous starting at a new school, and she only knew a couple of people in her class and was not sure who she was going to hang out with at Snack and Lunch. She has since made new friends, and is loving everything about school. She has Mrs. Blackmon for homeroom, Language Arts and Alabama History. She has Mrs. Alms for Science and Math. I think the fact that she has more than one teacher is very cool. A good friend of ours is the PE coach, and she could not think of Stacy's last name to call her Mrs. Lipscomb. She is learning volleyball and thinking that she might play for the Raiders when she gets into 6th grade. She had her first test on Friday, and needless to say, she made an A.

Both are doing great and loving school, which makes me very happy.

Almost Over

We have had a wonderful summer. It started with some fishing and dance recital, with a Jimmy Buffet concert thrown in the middle. We are now in school mode. Tonight we went to meet Mary Reese's teacher and got to see her room. She was so excited and is going to have a great year! I think Kindergarten is going to be fun and full of fun.

Sara Brooke gets to meet her teacher next week, and I think she is ready. I think 4th grade is going to be a great experience and know she will do great. It will be a change for her, she will at the middle school. I am a bit nervous about both, but I know they will be great and do a wonderful job!

Here are a few memories from the busy, fun, WARM summer!

Island Time

Jimmy Buffet came to Gulf Shores for a free concert, which I am sure you are aware. We got VIP wristbands, which was very exciting, and the girls could have not been anymore anxious. There were thousands of people enjoying the beautiful day on the beaches, and thank goodness there was a small breeze every now and then. We got to the VIP section and found a spot where we could see the stage and also give the girls a bit of room to play in the sand while we waited to hear Jimmy Buffet and Friends.

Sara Brooke enjoyed listening to the music and watched the big screens for any glimpse of Jimmy playing his many guitars. She loves playing her guitar and watching anyone else play, so this was a big highlight in the summer events. Mary Reese enjoyed playing in the sand, and after getting her "castle" built, she took a break and watched for a few minutes, up on daddy's shoulders. She told me that her favorite song was "Cheeseburger in Paradise", very fitting.

The day was beautiful, the music was fun and it was nice to get to the beach. Maybe next time we will just take our Jimmy Buffet CD and listen where there is less of a crowd.

Zoo Camp

Well, I finally broke down and did a blog. I guess I will follow in the footsteps of my sister-in-law and tell you about my wonderful family here.

I will begin with Sara Brooke and Mary Reese's week at Zoo Camp. They had a ball! They made projects for the animal cages, learned about all sorts of animals, made butter, and even got in the cages with Lemurs and baby Joey's! At the end of the day, because it was so hot, they got to Slip N Slide and get in baby pools. I think this was the highlight of the summer, so far.