Life Lately

These past few weeks have flown by as Derrick was traveling for work, Amelia had started with Ballet lessons and I prepared for my trip to Europe. The first picture day is already in the books and more school events are on the schedule. It looks like we will be busy this year. Here is a snapshot of my girl on picture day. 

Two weeks ago, Amelia started her first ever ballet/tap lesson at the dance studio. Due to a recommendation from her pediatrician to improve her posture, we signed her up for dance lessons and she is one happy girl. She loves the tap shoes but also being a ballerina. Every Tuesday, her lesson starts off with 30 minute tap and then 30 minutes of ballet instructions. Doesn't she look adorable in her leotard?!?

And while the girls dance, the brothers play patiently in the hallway. 

Or we visit friends who live nearby to look at their robots. Elliot is my little robot fanatic and jumps at every opportunity to see a Lego robot in action. 

Dance lessons for sure wear her out: 

The cutest breakfast date even though he didn't want to share his Chicken Minis with me. I can't blame him though as these are our favorite treats at Chick-Fil-A. 

Uncle Lee and Ryan stopped by one Friday afternoon to hang out with us while he was on his way to the East Coast. Elliot and Amelia always love when family members stop by because they get all the attention. 

That same night, I had to leave as soon as Derrick got back from his business trip, as my friend Emily had invited the girls for a Hallelujah Back to Schooljah night to celebrate that the kids are back to school. Next to yummy drinks, which I had none of due to my race the next day, and the most delicious appetizers everyone brought, we also played "Are you Smarter than a Fifth Grader". Given that it was 10pm after a long week and a glass of wine or two, this game wasn't as easy as you might think it would. 

The next morning, I participated in the annual Stop, Drop and Run 5K race despite my strained groin muscles. It is always on the second weekend of September and my company is a sponsor as well.  This is a local event our firefighter host every year to collect money for Christmas gifts for children in need. While I won last year as First Female Overall, I did not expect to win this year due to more participants and my painful leg muscle.  However, I gave my best and had my personal cheering squat to support me from the sidelines. In the end, I came in as 4th female overall with a time of 23:24 minutes. I'm happy with the results and now will rest my legs for 3 weeks to hopefully heal the strain. 

 The kids worked together to make the signs for the race:

Now, with a touch of Fall in the air, we spend most of our afternoons and weekends outdoors. We even were granted two days with temps in the low 70s F before the thermometer went back up in to the 90s F. 

Both children love digging for worms..and then they upgraded to playing with the Praying Mantis, who lives in our garage. 

And then it was time to pack my bags, get my hair done, write a note to my loved ones and head to the airport for my two week business trip to Europe. I like to leave everyone a little treat as well as a personal note so they know that I miss them while I'm gone and think of them during my trip. 

Germany and Holland, here I come!

Farewell, Sweet Summer

Oh, hello September and everything Pumpkin Spice...well not everything as we are actually still harvesting handfuls of strawberries from our "magical" strawberry patch in the backyard. 

But hopefully not much longer and fall weather will arrive. Until then, we are making the most of these last hot summer days. And hot it is, with a daily average temperature of mid 90sF/ 34+C. So naturally, we pulled out, for the first time this summer, our little pool and jumped right in. It was so refreshing and I was so sweaty after some yard work that I had to join the kids. 

Only 2 hours later, there came a huge rainstorm that lasted at least an hour. But after that, the kids were back in the pool. 

Reading in her "club house":

For the past two Thursdays, we met our friends at the Y Pool after school. 

While Amelia caught a ride on Eli's back, Elliot practiced swimming on his own. He really surprised us how well he did.

On Friday it was Luau Day at Elliot's preschool and my little guy dressed to impress: 

This week, I also volunteered twice at Amelia's school as her teacher asked for an extra set of hands when they decorated pig cookies. The children completed the book Charlotte's Web  and as a treat, the teacher came up with this sweet idea. 

Labor day weekend was spent with chores around the house but also by taking time to be with my family. Even though it was super humid and hot on Saturday morning and there were lots of cars and people attending a Car Show, Amelia wanted to go to the park to feed the squirrels. So, off the girls went:

The boys were busy taking apart a remote control car in order to build a BattleBot. This is Elliot's favorite show and my little engineer will soon figure out how to build his own robot, I'm sure. 

They fight, they compete but most often they play well with each other: 

Still going strong on our daily reading lessons. Elliot is doing great and after 3 weeks, can read already a couple of sentences by himself. 

Today is a holiday and we spent it wisely: a last hooray at the YMCA outdoor pool before it closes down for the season. 

My two water babies are so close to passing their swim tests. We will keep up with the swim practice in the fall and hopefully by next summer, they can join the swim team. 

 

 

And so we say farewell, to this sweet summer of 2018. It was a really great one and felt much shorter than usual. While there are a few more hot days in the forecast, we are now getting ready for all things fall. In less than two weeks, I will be traveling to Europe for another business trip and can't wait to see my family. Here is a little throwback from the early 90s: 

My friend and 2nd cousin, Tanja, is on the right and I'm pictured on the left during a sightseeing tour in Berlin. We always wrote letters to each other and while that has stopped we are still in touch via Whatsapp. When growing up we lived in different cities and only saw each other once a year. Now, Tanja lives in Mallorca and I'm in the USA but I love that this doesn't hinder us from keeping in touch.  Also, it is fun to receive pictures when there are coincidental meetings in Germany:

My mom, Juergen and Tanja in August 2018

Fall we are coming for you!!!