Birthdays, Prom, Memorial Day

Actually, not a whole lot to write this time.  At some point, life just happens.

We got a few good birthday presents.  Cora is showing her new dress.

Finn got a pretty great camera.  We'll see what he does with it!

This ice machine probably takes the cake.  I don't know what it is with my family and ice these days.  

Renee got a pretty good present.  I guess she had this shipped from the West Coast, from a little bakery there.  The story is that Tom Cruise sends this very cake to his friends on their birthday.  So Renee got one for Lisa.  It was good.  

I took the kids to Harry Potter the Broadway production.  It was okay.  I think the special effects were the best part.  Lots of magic was woven in there.  

I introduced the kids to Settlers.  It went really well.  We had a little hiccup the first time, which threw us off, but overall they really like the game.  More to come on this I hope...

If there was an epicenter of the neighborhood, it would probably be this trampoline.  Honestly.  

Cora finished her gymnastics classes.  

Layla did her last dance production.  She said this was her last year.  Sad...  but hey, on to bigger things.

Lisa and I have started having breakfast in bed (when we can) on the weekends.  I got this tray, and it's really upped our breakfast game.

Layla had prom for the first time, I think.  She's in 10th grade so she couldn't go unless an upperclassman asked her.  I feel like Lisa helped set this up, but I can't prove it.

Annnndd the pool went up just in time for Memorial Day.  We had 26 people at our house, and then the neighborhood kids started showing up.  Because there's a pool, -so of course they show up.  It was fine, though.  At some point it's just a large crowd and you get over it.

I spent a few days planning out the burger situation.  All in all, it went well.

 

Alabama v2

And we're back to Alabama.  The send-off for this trip was somewhat stressful.  My job was uncertain, so we were left wondering if we should even go on the trip, but in the end, I got some work a week or so before we were set to leave, so we could go stress-free and enjoy some time together on the beach once again.

This might not look very inviting.  I imagine most people are looking for a cloudless blue sky (which we did have at some points), but these days were just wonderful.  The wind, the waves, all of it.  Mostly having a shoreline to yourself is just lovely.

The size of this house...  always impresses.

The trip is long, but it's always a good time to listen to an audiobook, watch an iPad, or simply think about life.

Some fun in the pool.  You can't always get Layla to join in these days.

Chasing the sunset.  Lots of sunset chasing.

Lots of long walks.  Here we walked all the way to the end of our part of the island.

Layla.  Haha.  Always walking around with her dress and hair blowing in the wind, looking lovely.  

You always feel like you need to be on the beach, listening to the waves and enjoying the view.  Doesn't matter if you're reading, sleeping (which I did a few times), or doing anything really.  It just draws you in...

I finished a book on this one.  

Lots of time spent on Lauren's porch.

Crabs were a bit of a deal on this vacation.  LOTS of time looking for crabs.  We finally found a few bigger ones, which was really fun.

Everyone wants a picture with Lisa.  Or rather..  Lisa loves a good selfie and will take it with anyone who is around.

Sigh...  We just love this place.

 

Theater, Skiing, Passports, and normal winter happenings.

So here are some random things that have happened over the last few months...

Layla was in another play, not surprisingly.  The play was okay.  I forgot what the name of it was, but let's just say, they've come a long way since this one was created.  Watching Layla is always a treat, though.  So much expression!  You can tell she's loving every minute of it.

Look at that girl!  (below).  This play included a lot of dancing, which she really enjoyed as well.

Layla also had another theater-intensive day.  Here they are doing skits or something at the end.  

Finn was in a play, too.  Enough said.  

I'm of course joking about Finn's play.  He actually does get into it and always prefers when they use his writing edits.  This one was for a class at school.

I haven't been able to take the kids skiing in maybe two years, so we finally went this year.  It's just SO expensive, and the weather hasn't been great either.  But we got a day in this year, so the kids were happy.  It was just Finn and Cora this time.

We had a big snowfall late in the year, and Finn and a friend of his built this snowman.  It's looking right up at our bedroom window.  Haha.  Good times.

Here is Lisa with some work colleagues.  They love her, and she loves them.  I guess they're like the perfect team.  Lisa really likes going to work and being with these two, and I'm just really happy that she's found a place that really works for her.

We got our kids German passports and birth certificates recently.  Here are their new passport photos.  

I created another terrarium.  This one is better than the first for sure.  I have a few more containers and have tried to create a third, but it was a flop.  No good.  Making them look decent is more of a challenge than you'd think.  Hopefully, I'll do another one soon. 

Cora had a Hunger Games party, where they watched all the Hunger Games movies.  Insane.  So much for these girls.  With all the laughter and yelling I heard downstairs, I was amazed they were even trying to watch something.  Just imagine the best little girls' party you can, and you're somewhere in the vicinity of what these girls are up to during a sleepover.

Cora did her hair like the old woman in the movie, I think.  Took a lot of work.  I like, maybe Layla did this?

Lisa and I eating breakfast in bed on a typical Sunday morning.  It's sort of become our thing.