Playing hookey

Friday Banana got to play hooky from school and spend the day sailing with his day.  Lucky guy.  They took a picnic lunch and headed off to see if they remembered anything from those sailing lessons.

The water was nice and warm and they spend over an hour just floating in the water talking and enjoying themselves :)

Beach day again - Yah!

Fun day at the beach

 JonJon playing frisbee with J -  kind of blurry

About 5 minutes before he fell asleep

Trying to surf of the boogie board

Beautiful Sarah

Fun day a the beach

Last Saturday we headed to the beach.  We were suppose to go to a Jimmy Buffet concert that night but sold our tickets and hit the beach as a family.  It was a super fun day.

Banana in the sand

Carrot on the boogie board

J not smiling for his picture

 I wish we could spend every day doing this.

Captain, Skipper, and 1st Mate

This past weekend J, Banana and I took a 3 day sailing 101 course.  We have been discussing getting a sailboat as a activity we could do as a family.  J loves boating so it would be a great hobby for him but he was pretty adamant that I take this class along with him so I know how to operate the boat in case there is an emergency.  At first it sounded horrible to have to find someone for the daycare and be away from Carrot for 3 days but I admit it was pretty fun and a memorable time with Banana.  I also like to give J a hard time :) 

The details actually worked out smoother than I could have ever imagined.  The week of the lessons 2 of my daycare kids were on vacation and Sarah had not been given her date to leave for her Disney cruise line job yet so she was able to come substitute for the daycare which only was Carrot and one other 5 year old girl for Friday.  Then she took Carrot home with her for the weekend and she was entertained by her Aunt Paige, Sarah and Meaghan (Big shout out thanks to all you you).

Day 1 we went on the boat and discussed all the parts of the boat and all got to practice tacking the boat back and forth.

Day 2 we were discussed the proper way to sail using the different points of sail, tacking and a little jibing while the wind was low.

Day 3 we practiced the figure 8 man-over-board technique which made me a little nervous.  It was one thing to practice using a floating device as the item you needed to "save" but thinking of having to sail away from your child in order to turn around was another.  We also learned to dock the boat on a mooring and then after we sailed to a local restaurant for lunch we took a 100 question test.

The test was not too hard but a little different than I expected.  Many of the diagrams where backwards from our practice book and Banana looked completely lost when he first started the test.  My mommy heart wanted to so rush over and explain it all to him but I knew I couldn't.  There were times I was trying to concentrate on my questions and he looked so confused and my heart just broke.  I had to press on and get out of the room and let him do it on his own.....and he sure enough did.  He passed with a 91%.  I was so proud of him.  There was so much to learn and some of the questions were were pretty tricky.  

It was a fun experience and I am glad we did it....and Yes, J -  I am glad you made me study ahead of time.  I might not be able to say that out loud but I can at least blog it :)

Day 1

Day 2 J and Banana look much happier LOL

J probably wondering which boat he would like 

Can you believe I know that the metal thing Banana is touching is called

Banana at the helm

When else can you sport some pigtails when you are in your 30s

Captain Larry

Lunch break

Day at the park

Some days you just have to go to the park.  Last week we had one of those rare July days that had low humidity and deep blue skys.  I had intended to just stay around the house all day since I was so behind on so many things but you just have to take advantage - Carpe Diem. 

 These are the days that make me so thankful I took the plunge to start a daycare and am not stuck in my office building anymore.  You know the set up - rows of cubicles, no windows, electric lights.  

We packed a lunch and headed for the park by the water...I just couldn't resist.  At first I thought we would got to the close park just down the road but the beautiful day left me wanting to go to the park on the river and that is just what we did.

Me and Banana

 Carrots "monkey face"

Giving little sis a push

Down at the fair

The best part of my job - FIELD TRIPS!!!!  It was also pretty awesome that I had some daycare kids on vacation this week so I only had two kids other than my own to take.  It was very very hot but still fun and a day out of the house.

The girls felt pretty sure that these two cows were "in love"!

Enjoying a show put on by out lovely library ladies!!!!

Eat more Chicken