Skipped a Week Again (And I'm Only a Little Sorry)

I don't know how time got away from me last week, but it did.  I didn't blog.  I know you noticed, but I assure you--you didn't miss too much.

Last weekend, we took the kids to Jump to try out their new Ninja-type obstacle course.  The kids had a great time.  And, thankfully, it wasn't too crowded.

We have two weeks of dance under our belts.  There is another girl from Ryleigh's class last year who also found that the Tuesday class worked best for their schedule, but the rest of the girls are new to Ryleigh.  But, it should be a good class--they all seem to have a decent amount of experience.  RJ's class only has one other girl from last year's hip hop class--the other kids either moved up to the next hip hop class because they aged out or they moved on.  But, thankfully, the girl who stayed is RJ's dance soulmate--she loves Pokemon and Roblox as much as he does.  We're still trying to figure out how best to fit in a meal in the 45 minutes between their classes, but thankfully Atlas Pizza, which is two doors down from dance, has worked out so far.

On Monday, I started a weekly online class to help me study for a national exam to become an Accredited Financial Counselor.  Once I pass the exam (hopefully in November) and complete 700 hours of training and acting as a counselor, I will earn a credential that will make me a better NMCRS volunteer and maybe translate to other professional work somewhere, someday.  One of the textbooks was soooooo awful, but thankfully the online class that accompanied that particular text was good.

Over this last weekend, Greer and Gavin joined us for a movie (Angry Birds 2--it was almost as awful as my textbook) and dinner out.  Greer spent the night, but Gavin was exhausted from being up too late on Friday night, so he skipped out on being up late with RJ and Greer.  Ryleigh will host Kayla, her best buddy from her 1st grade classroom, in a couple weeks for another sleepover.

This week should be pretty normal with activities and such.  Saturday we have our annual photo session with the amazing Dyan.  Then on Sunday, I go to DC for 4 days for an NMCRS Conference.  Jip volunteered to take leave (don't kid yourselves--he'll be working from home) so he can make lunches and take kiddos to the bus and to all of their activities.  I'll get home super late Wednesday night, but I'm sure Jip will be very ready to be up at his usual 3:30 and ready to go back to work.  :)

As always, pics to come.  Until next time, cheers!

Back to School

The day finally arrived.  It was time to go back to school.

If you are curious what they look like now compared to the first day of school last year, check out last year's first day of school post.  First Day 2018-19

They both had good weeks, albeit short ones.  Hurricane Dorian decided to cut our week short by blowing in overnight Thursday/Friday and sticking around for a good part of Friday, leading to no school or activities.  Friday was a looooong day with some serious cabin fever.  But, once the storm blew out, we were able to put the patio furniture back to normal and Jip went for a run.  We did our best to get back to normal on Saturday with a little shopping to get ready for dance classes to start, some Code Ninja, and lunch with Jip (he had to work on Saturday to help get the shipyard back on the right post-storm path).

(Did you notice that once again the first week of school and a hurricane coincided just like last year? Weird, wild stuff.)

This week, ballet and hip hop classes begin.  Gymnastics and Code Ninja continue.  And, maybe, just maybe, we begin to find our routine.

As always, pics to come.  Until next time, cheers!

Come Fly With Me

We went to iFly last Monday.  We all had a good time, but... I didn't love it as much as I thought I would (but I'm glad I tried it).  RJ was the bravest and asked to go for a high flight.  And Jip loved it the most.  

I put together a video of the three best fliers (I'm not in it).  Enjoy!

We also met the kids' teachers and had the last sleepover of the summer.  And just like that, summer is over.  School is back in session (pics in next week's post).  

On a different note, the Hampton Roads area is busy making preps for Hurricane Dorian--I did my part by refreshing our bug-out bags, getting water, and getting gas for our generator.  Could be a very wet end-of-the-week for us.  We'll keep you posted on how it goes down for us.

Until next time, cheers!

Brunch for 53

53?  Yep.  53 people were at our house for brunch.  Most of them were here all at the same time.  But, thanks to some guidance from the master of group dinners, Amber, and apps like Einstein Brothers, Dunkin Donuts, and Harris Teeter, we pulled it off.

Thankfully we had beautiful weather.  People enjoyed sitting in the garage and playing games on the lawn without totally baking or getting soaked.  Our two had a lot of fun meeting new friends.  People who have worked together for years finally had a chance for their spouses to meet each other.  Lots of mimosas were imbibed.  It was a grand time!

What you don't see in the pictures is the hot food that was in the dining room.  We had bacon, sausage links, scrambled eggs, and cheesy potatoes.  Jip and I spent a couple hours Friday night cooking all the meat, then warmed it up the next morning.  The kids help me make 90 eggs into scrambled eggs.  And the cheesy potatoes cooked in my three crock pots (well, two crock pots and one instant pot set on slow cooker) overnight, so it wasn't really too hard to bring it all together.  We ended up having too much of everything, but bagels and cheesy potatoes freeze nicely.  :)

Oh, yeah.  Do you see that board with the bagels?  Jip made that for me.  He glued three 2x6 segments together, added some dowels that screw in from the bottom, put on some rubber feet, and sealed it 4 times with butcher block conditioner.  It was sturdy enough for people to cut on and make the bagels just the way they wanted them.  It will also work great for donuts.  I love that it breaks down and can be stored with my cutting boards.  Thank you Pinterest for the inspiration and Jip for making it our own.

I'm glad to have that over with, though we're already thinking about hosting something else this fall for all of the officers at the shipyard.  Glutton for punishment, maybe?

This week is the last week of freedom before school starts.  iFly and meet the teacher events are in store.  We're still working out the details of that last summer sleepover, but I'm sure we'll make something happen.  As always, pics to come.  Until next time, cheers!

Born in the Wrong Decade

Each week this summer, Ryleigh's team has had one day that has a theme.  I was super glad that Ryleigh agreed that I could dress her as an 80's girl for Decade Day last week.  She looks like she walked out of a Jane Fonda video.

The kids wrapped up swimming lessons, with both doing very well.  Ryleigh squeaked through Level 2, but I don't want them in Level 3 together, so we're going to figure out how to get them some pool time this winter and get RJ the last skill he needs to move to Level 4.

I stumbled across a new place for RJ to hang out--Code Ninjas.  He will go 2 hours per week while Ryleigh is at gymnastics (Mom's taxi keeps getting busier and busier) and work on Scratch, Java Script, Roblox Design, and Unity.  I can keep up with Scratch and somewhat with Java Script, but the rest will be well beyond me.  Thankfully there are senseis at Code Ninja to guide him as well as other kids who are just as into it as he is, if not more so.

Summer is winding down.  It's been a good summer, but both kiddos have declared they are ready to go back to school.  I'm definitely ready for them to go back, too.  :)  We are fitting in a few last things in these last two weeks, including hosting a brunch for Jip's work peeps and going to iFly.  Meet-Your-Teachers is next week.  And, I'm sure there will be at least one more sleepover in there somewhere.

Until next week, cheers!