Florida visit

I took a quick trip to Florida a couple weeks ago to visit family and friends over a long weekend. The weather in Florida this time of year is so pleasant, not too hot or humid. Here is a sunrise view from my parent’s balcony.

My parents live close to the beach, and one of my favorite things to do when visiting is to go on morning runs or walks by the water. One morning I took a walk with my mom, and the other morning I went on a run.

The waves were bigger than I’ve seen in a while. It’s usually very flat…and the jelly fish were out everywhere. See the purple looking bag in the forefront? That’s a giant jelly fish!

That afternoon, my mom and I visited with my Aunt Eileen. It was so nice to get one-on-one time with her and catch up, but no pictures :). The next day, we went to my parents favorite seafood restaurant, 15th Street Fisheries for lunch. It was a nice view eating on the water and watching the boats go by.

That evening, I went to visit my best friend Marissa, her mom, husband, and kids. I have many childhood memories in this home, and it’s always so nice to visit with them. We didn’t plan but were twinning it:).

Marissa’s sweet husband Mike - we always joke that we got lucky marrying midwestern men ;). 

Their kids: Henry (11) and Sloane (5). Sloane looks a lot like Eliza and they are 5 weeks apart, we joke they are long lost sisters, and look forward to when all our kids can get together.

That evening Lauren invited the girls over to her house so we could all get together. Anytime I am in town she has a gathering and her and her husband Mike’s hospitality is always wonderful.  This is our high school crew minus Priscila, who now lives in Texas. Marissa, Lauren, me, Danielle, and Paula. Even though I only see them every few years, we always pick right up as if time never passed since we last saw each other.

Our famous picture pose we always did in high school. I love these girls dearly and am thankful we have remained good friends after so many years.

On the way home, I took a detour to see Plantation Racquet Club, where I grew up. 

The window on the left was mine, and on the right was my brother’s.

My dad planted all the trees and bushes in the early 80’s. They are pretty overgrown now!

Our backyard and the tennis courts and pool area. It was a nice place to grow up.

Center of the neighborhood and the clubhouse. So many childhood memories from living here for 15 years.

Another day, we went to visit my dad’s two sisters, Gail and Eileen, cousins (I always called them aunt and uncle growing up) Anita and Andrew, and cousins Alexis and Ashley. We had a very nice day together, and it was especially fun to listen to my dad and his two sisters talk about their childhood, friends, places they would go, and things they enjoyed growing up. Aunt Eileen brought out pictures and it was fun to listen to everyone reminisce. It was a very nice visit with everyone. 

Me and Aunt Gail, my dad’s younger sister. 

I love this picture of the siblings, oldest to youngest: Aunt Eileen, my dad, Aunt Gail

My aunts and I.

My sweet cousins Ashley and Alexis. I still remember when the girls were born, and watching them go from crawling to walking, then running, and now they are mature women. I always enjoy opportunities to spend time with them.

We also visited with my mom’s sister Avra, Uncle Ari, and my mom’s cousin John, and Mary. It had been many years since I have seen them all and was such a bonus treat to get to visit with them.

I had an early flight back to VA the next morning, and dad and mom saw me off to the airport. It was a full weekend, and I am so thankful I got to spend the time with my parents, extended family, and friends.

Wresting

Caleb joined the Reagan Middle school wrestling team, and he has been enjoying the season so far and is wrestling in the 75lb weight class. The season is about 7 weeks long and they wrestle the other middle schools around western Prince William County. Here is the singlet they wear for the meets.

The first match was against Nokesville Middle school. Here is his team warming up before the meet.

Waiting for the match to begin.

There are a several exhibition matches before the meet starts. They go lowest to highest weight class so Caleb’s weight class goes first. Unfortunately there was not a wrestler in the same weight class on the other team, so Caleb was the default winner. 

He was ready to wrestle and bummed to not have an opponent, but he enjoyed cheering on his team for the meet. The weight classes go from 75lb to 265 lbs and there was a match in just about every class except for one other. Their team unfortunately lost the meet, but it was an exciting first meet for everyone. Our entire family is learning a lot about the sport of wrestling!

The following week, Caleb’s school had their second meet against Unity Braxton Middle school, and this week Caleb wrestled. The meets start with several exhibition matches, then Caleb’s weight class was the first match. Each match consists of  (3) 1:30 second rounds, unless one of the wrestlers gets pinned then the match is over. Caleb wrestled hard, but unfortunately he got pinned with 1 second remaining in the first round. He did a great job for his first match and is looking forward to learning from this match. He was excited that his school won the meet, and he is looking forward to competing in next week’s meet.

Music Concerts

Benjamin and Caleb  have had music concerts at school recently. Benjamin is taking a strings class twice a week at school and plays viola. Caleb is in the 6th grade band and plays the baritone, and after his concert he moved up to the baby tuba. They worked hard in music class, and it was fun to watch their shows and how much they learned. Essentially everyone is new to their instruments and the teachers did a great job developing the students and putting on a great show. Benjamin’s strings concert was at his elementary school. It was a full house in the cafeteria.

Benjamin is right behind the teacher so you can’t see him in the video.

Caleb’s show was in the middle school gym and the bleachers were packed and it was standing room for many people. This was just for 6th grade band…we are still getting used to how big the schools are around here.

Caleb is in the back row near the center, hidden behind a giant baritone!

Both boys did a great job, we are proud of their hard work and glad they are enjoying the new instruments.

 

Snow Days!

We all enjoyed the snowy week and the two snow days that came with them. The first snow was on Tuesday after a long holiday weekend. We got about 5 inches of snow the night before and they cancelled school and work on Tuesday, so we ventured to the hills by our house and then to the bigger hills at Long Park to go sledding and hiking.

The snow-covered trails looked so pretty.

Happy campers!

Everything looks peaceful 

The pond behind our house.

It snowed again all day Friday. They said it would just be a few hours in the morning, but it didn’t stop until 4:30 pm, and we got about another 5 inches. School was cancelled, but work was open, so Nathan went in and I stayed with the kids. It was fluffy pretty snow and the kids had fun playing around the neighborhood, sledding with friends, and making snow cones with all the fresh powder. 

Snow days are fun days!