hello June

 Wow, the end of the school year 2021. It was such a strange experience spending half the year online and then going back to school in person for the spring semester. I really wasn't sure how the boys would do adjusting, but as always, they surprised me in the best way. They didn't catch covid or spread it. They were so happy to be back with their friends. It was SO GREAT for them to be with their teaches in the classroom. As much as I loved having them home, it wasn't 'homeschool' because I had no way to interact with them other than my usual 'help with homework' job. I know it was a great growing experience for James especially, because his study skills really improved, and he really took responsibility for his own work. It was great seeing how much they gained from both experiences. Our little Hayden was the 'tech support' for his whole class, helping them all accomplish whatever task on their computers. Bless sweet Calvin, who was so YOUNG to be sitting at his screen for so many hours a day; he was able to have the attention of his teacher and get back into the normal swing of things. All in all, it was a great spring semester. Masks and all.

Mother's Day for me came with this beautiful eucalyptus wreath! Sadly, it didn't dry very well, and I didn't keep it for a long time. But for its short stay, it was lovely!

Thank you Lord, the last day of school!! 

Seeing how much they grew this year was crazy. I can't handle how much 5th grade grew my James UP. Hayden was in that inbetween year of 4th grade, but Calvin too was in that big year of 2nd. 3rd grade seems to usher them into the 'big kid' stage of elementary where they get that more grown up look in their face.

My end-of-the-year party for my Young Life girls. We just have the three of my favorites, and we decided to kayak in the lake. I loved getting to spend some time with them before summer kicked off. We decided to do a summer prayer book- so those little books are journals and prayer books with illustrations to help kick off the prayers.

Another one bites the dust! Calvin lost that top left tooth. Those big front teeth & that face changing shape. growing up!

This summer because of covid, I decided to try and 'raise' some caterpillars into butterflies. It was great fun, and they ate SO MUCH milk weed! But watching them emerge from the chrysalis was incredible. I even sat on a basketball for hours waiting to catch the event on video. amazing!

 

We got out of the house; it seemed like it had been forever since we had. So we decided to go to the 'Fountain of Youth' in St. Augustine because we have lived here for long enough without going! It was a fun trip, and of course we drank the water. They had demonstrations for the blacksmith of colonial days, and the boys got to see some other exhibits of Native Americans for this area. My day was made by the peacocks though!

Oh my yes! For Valentine's Day this year, Matt booked a trip for me to go on a shark tooth dig in with a guide right here just south of town. I was so excited for this trip! It was supposed to happen at the end of spring break, but the weather turned on us, again and again. But this time it was great! Hotter than I had hoped, but we had a wonderful time. Our friends Dalton and Ann went with us, and they are great shark tooth hunters. We all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

The boys each had a collection bag, so at home we spread everything out to get a better look at our finds!

Yes, we found two meg teeth!! It was a truly exhilarating day!

A fun little trip to the Get Air - We really started getting out again this summer to places like this that we had not been to since before covid.

Sadly, the only picture of our part 1: 'summer sleepover with the Zepps'. We had Gus come over to stay while James and Hayden went down to their house. Part 2 coming soon...

We got to go on a river trip with Grandpa & Mimi! Uncle Mike, Aunt Natassja, Jack, and Max came too. I remember the river trip was very relaxing and fun. The boys were having a blast playing and goofing off the whole way. I remember the gyros we had before we got on the water- so yummy!

Since Grammy and Papa bought a farm, for Father's Day this year I sent Papa a pair of overalls and a farmer's hat. I thought it looked perfect!

After the river trip, the we girls decided to take the grandboys to the Wiki Watchee springs. No mermaids for us, but waterslides! The water was really cold but the boys had a blast. This was their first time swimming here where their dad was a lifeguard when he was a boy.

I love a good back seat picture. This is a classic. So excited for Word of Life Camp!!

Here they are, 3 big boys headed to camp for the week! David got invited to Grandpa & Mimi's house for time to spend with them.

Before we left town, we went to Nana's house one more time. David got to go swimming while Daddy and Mimi were looking into a couple things.

For our anniversary this year, Matt and I went to Key West! It was a place I had never been, and we chose it because it wasn't too far away. We flew from outside Tampa which made our flight super short.

This Bed and Breakfast was in my Select Registry book, and I was so excited to stay there! The Mermaid and the Alligator. I would highly recommend!

The best part about Key West for me was the food. It was amazing! Not as pretty as I would have thought, but it could have just been the weather. I was expecting really clear water and pretty sand, but there was no pretty sand where we were. The water was not super clear even when we went diving, so that was a bit disappointing. But we ate our way through town and loved it all!! We tried every kind of Key Lime pie, which is Matt's favorite. It was worth the trip just for the awesome food. Hilariously, Matt would not consider moving there- which he nearly always says about any place we visit.

We got skunked fishing and caught in a bad storm. It was a doozy! Then the captain told us we could walk to this well known restaurant, Hogfish, but sadly he was not well informed. It was a long, very wet (flooded streets) walk through some sketchy-garbage filled streets. But the food here was great!

We visited Ernest Hemingway's house- so cool! and it had 5 toed cats. People tell me they already knew this about him, but I definitely didn't.

This little island was how I thought Key west would look. We took a ferry boat from Key West to this one- Sunset Key where we had a very lovely dinner. It was really peaceful and picturesque.

Our last day of exploring we went up the historic district and the Shipwreck Museum. It had an awesome view from the top!

We had one last amazing meal at the A&B Lobster restaurant overlooking the harbor. I don't think we ate Lobster, but I can't remember!

One special key lime pie for our anniversary - complete with sparkler!

We found the mile 0 on our bike ride back to our bed and breakfast, so we stopped for a selfie!

Thank you Lord for the never ending opportunity to look back over my life and all you have given me. Thank you for the memories made with our family, for our sweet friends, for the great experiences the boys have at camp and for trips with just Matt&I. We are so grateful for all you've done. I can't imagine this life without you Lord. The pictures may look the same, but inside each photo there wouldn't be knowing these moments are gifts from you. That makes all the difference. Your gifts are wonderful; thank you for reminding me. Amen.