Tile Project

We tiled our kitchen/dining area this past week--quite a project! We began by removing all of the furniture, then linoleum (as well as scrapping and peeling off decades old glue which took two days in and of itself), then carpet, then finally cleaned the area so we could put down mortar. My advisor, John, and my friend, T.J., came and helped me on two separate days (one of them being a 12 hr. day)--so that was a big, and graciously welcomed help. The kids even wanted to be involved in the early stages! Ultimately, it turned out well (although I had my doubts at a couple of points).

Superkitty

Viggo at Play.

Spidergirl

Kale at play.

Dinosaur Battle Royale

Connor at Play

Kale the Author

Kale has entered the "I want to write on everything" phrase...this includes herself. She wrote on herself with permanent marker. After being scolded by me, and discovering that it was not coming off as easy as she thought it would, she got pretty upset.

Track Meet

The Columbia Track Club holds a weekly track meet for kids during the summer. Connor participated in shotput and the 400 meter. The Columbia School system is holding a "competition" for kids throughout the summer. Over the course of the summer, they run 26.2 miles (marathon) and they get free items from local businesses when they hit certain mileage. These track meets can count to that grand total.

Venice, FL

After Disney, we stayed at Jen's Aunt Lynn's who lives in Venice Florida. The beaches there are uncrowded (because it is not a resort area) and one of the best beaches in the United States to find sharks' teeth (we found around 30). The beach also had a great sand bar about 100 feet out, which was really cool and fun to play around on.

A Few Pics From Disney (Animal Kingdom)

The afternoon nap was a great idea and everyone returned to cooler temps. and with more energy.






Tinkerbell with Tinkerbell (Jen made this dress)

Pirates of the Caribbean

Swiss Family Robinson Tree House

Disney does early park days for resort guests. This means any person staying at a Disney hotel can get in an hour early to certain parks. So after getting to bed about 1:30 AM, we were up at 6:00AM getting ready to head into the Magic Kingdom (definitely the shortest night the kids had ever had).

After Connor and I spent the first hour running around and riding the few rides that Kale and Jen (who is pregnant) could not ride--like Space Mountain...we took off for Fantasy Land, which has a lot of rides based on Disney classics...such as Flying Dumbo. This ride is one of the oldest rides in the park, and while it only last 30 seconds, the 1/2 hr. wait was worth it to ride a Disney icon (and the kids really liked it as well).

So after Dumbo, Peter Pan...

...Winnie the Pooh, Its a Small World After All, and other attractions...we were ready for lunch. So we made are way back down Main Street...

...to Tony's Italian Eatery (supposed to be Tony's from Lady and the Tramp):

I tried to get them to string a piece of spaghetti between their mouths but they refused...

And then after Kale (who must have still be hungry) captured and ate one of these ducks...

which made her happy enough to kiss her brother...

which her brother liked...

But we were all getting tired. So based on the advice of Disney travel books et al. we went back to the resort for an afternoon nap (since we would be at Disney until midnight).

It was quite task getting everyone to sleep but eventually Kale fell asleep on me...and Connor climbed under the bed and slept there.