Summer fun

Big brother encouraging little sister before swim lessons:

At the farm for Grammy's birthday: Cake Time!

Miss G won Pin the Tail on the Donkey!

On the way home:

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

"Why, yes, I do have some ice cream on my face, now that you mention it."

In training for a ten mile Scout bike ride at the end of the month!

The sight I see far too often when I wake up in the morning lately!!

At the farm, we find walnuts, baby goats, dogs, a gimpy Grampy and four wheelers. No picture of the adorable day old calf because I only had my iphone and couldn't get close enough to the suspicious long-horn Mama steer to snap a good picture!

St. Thomas (non-reunion edition)

The day we arrived:

The day we left:And everything in between!

This next series of photos is of "my beach", as in where my house used to be before it was leveled and 500 condominiums were built on its ashes!!

The black gate in the foreground used to be part of our driveway, and our house was down on the little beach.

This picture is taken from about where our front porch used to be!

Okay, time for tears and nostalgia is passed!

This is back at the main hotel, where (for Mom's info) the Lighthouse restaurant used to be.

If the waitstaff isn't really prompt (and let's face it, it's St. Thomas!) the birds have great fun with the leftovers on the plates.

On the way to the pool:

The view from our room at breakfast:

Ah, vacation!

Reverting to type?

I've read a lot of blog posts this spring about reunion anxiety; people not sure whether they wanted to go, people who went and didn't enjoy it, etc. There was never any doubt that I wanted to attend (after I was certain I wouldn't be the only one!!), and with my 20th high school reunion now behind me, I've got to say, it was amazing.

Thirteen of the twenty-eight members of my graduating class made the arduous trek to the tropical island where we were raised (for some, as far away as Calgary, for some, a simple drive down the mountain). Within minutes of seeing each other again, we were once again our high school selves: the brain, the good girl, the quarterback, the class clown (man, that sounds like the opening monologue to The Breakfast Club!). We were (with very few exceptions) all friends back then, and even after an absence of a full twenty years for some of us, we still seem to enjoy each other's company.

The remarkable thing that I realized is that in a larger school, we still would probably have filled the same high school demographic niches we did at Antilles, but in a larger school we probably never would have known each other, let alone become friends. My husband went to a large public high school, and the social lines were drawn in much starker terms (the jocks didn't hang out with the debate kids who didn't know the partyers, etc.).

So I raise my glass (of water, since I'm the "good girl"!) to Antilles School, and especially to the class of 1989!

See you in five years!

Deep breath...

First, the fun stuff:

Because the kiddos don't get enough computer time at home, we had to get some at the library:

Hey, there's Nemo! And Dorrie!

And yet again, more water fun! (Are we sensing a pattern?)

And then there's the not-so-fun: Sam has gone on sleep strike and is spending 30 plus minutes screaming before choosing to go to sleep. And then waking up a couple of times in the night and repeating the show. Not teething, so far as we can see, not sick, nothing different in his room. It's a freaking mystery.

And the big kids are pushing each others' buttons (and mine) non-stop lately.

And I'm a big ole' crankypants.

Sounds like a good time for me to get the heck out of dodge for awhile. Happily, I'm off to Kansas City for the weekend to attend a yoga teacher training conference (keep your fingers crossed that I'm not revealed to be a big faker dilettante of a yogini!). Then home again for three days before heading off to the high school reunion in St. Thomas for four days! (I just hope that Sam gets his sleep issues under control before he's with the grandparents for four nights...)

Beautiful ballerina and gorgeous guys

While enjoying Little Sister's performance, Big Guy was NOT a fan of the rest of the LONG recital!
Ah, home at last!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Little Guy was chillin'

Moments

Miss G, in her ballet gear, doing her favorite thing:

Rain boots and bathing suits are the new trend this summer: "Whaddaya want, lady??"
Water rockets in flight, afternoon delight: Little Guy and his pal, Albert:
Miss G's dress rehearsal for her ballet recital: And finally, my newest project, half complete (and unblocked as the still wonky toe attests)! They are Monkey socks in Dream in Color Smooshy (and if anyone can tell me why Cookie A named these socks "Monkey", there might be something in it for you!!): Obviously, I need some more pictures of my oldest child!!