No salt, no sharks, no worries

Emma and Joe,
Holland beach
Lake Michigan

School Lists

Emma's elementary school posted the class lists on Friday afternoon. We stopped to take a look on our way home from the beach. Emma will be in Mr. Haskell's 6th grade class. There are 26 students in each of the four classes.

A few more warm days

We are taking every possible opportunity to enjoy the pool during these last few warm days of summer. Joe LOVES jumping off the diving board. Emma has been practicing her dive off the 1 meter, 3 meter and 5 meter boards.

Sunflowers

The kids received "Lemon Queen" sunflower seeds in their Easter baskets and we planted the seeds in late May. Now they are flowering. I took a photo of Emma and her friend to show how tall they have grown. I think the tallest is over eight feet.

friends

Cocoa Beach

We have returned from our week at Cocoa Beach with Tutu and Papou. We had a great time! The kids loved using the boogie boards and swimming in the ocean and the pool. The highlights of our trip included:

A Trip to the Magic Kingdom

Seeing a rocket go to Jupiter

Finding a starfish

Seeing newborn leatherback sea turtles on their way to the ocean.

The best part was spending everyday on the beach:

Day at Disney

While we were at Cocoa Beach last week we drove to the Magic Kingdom for 12 hours of fun! Emma went on all of the roller coasters (2 with Chris and Splash mountain with me) and Joe achieved a lifetime dream of meeting Buzz, Jessie and Woody. Joe loved the outdoor rides and all of the trains and people movers, but did not enjoy the indoor rides. Emma went on everything including the spinning tea cups which she has to go one by herself because on one else in our family could do it. I could barely take photos of her on them!

CMS Musical Theater Camp

Emma is at musical theater camp this week and tonight she will perform "It's a Hard-Knock Life," from the musical Annie. She is in other numbers but her solo speaking part is from this song. What is the line that she will be shouting tonight?

"You'll stay up 'til this dump shines like the top of the Chrysler Building!"

-From the song It's the Hard Knock Life from the musical Annie based upon the popular Harold Gray comic strip Little Orphan Annie with music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Martin Charnin, and the book by Thomas Meehan which opened its original Broadway production in 1977 starring Andrea McArdle.

Dinner and Dancing

What to do when it is too hot to go outside after dinner?

Garden late July

The freezing cold winter and the very hot summer (yesterday it was 98 degrees) has done great things for our plants!

Rock and Roll

Not everyone in the household appreciates music.

Day #1 at overnight camp

These photos were sent by the camp. E. is in the neon green "be your own boss" T-shirt. Third from the left in the front row.

Overnight camp

Running to the cabin after we said "goodbye."

Looking for their cabin. Yes, my daughter did bring a rolling suitcase to camp.

Joe in the luggage cart

Chris and Joe by the lake.

We dropped Emma and her friend off at their first overnight camp today. They both were excited and ready to do everything as soon as we arrived. Another plus--a favorite counselor from the local YMCA day camp is at the overnight this week and so is his sister. It's a pretty spot and the girls seemed very happy.

First Lost Tooth

While we were in Boston, Joe lost his first tooth (at age 8)! The two bottom adult teeth have come all the way in but the bottom baby teeth have not fallen out. He is scheduled to have them extracted next week. So, we were surprised that he lost a tooth on top. It was loose but we thought the bottom two would either fall or be taken out first.

Friends!

Got Rights?

We visited the National Women's Rights Museum in Seneca Falls, NY. At this spot in 1848 a number of soon-to-be famous women (Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, Susan B. Anthony) and some already famous men (including Frederick Douglas) gathered together a signed the Declaration of Sentiments. The impetus for this meeting began when Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott traveled to England for an antislavery convention but were not allowed to enter the convention hall because they were women. They returned to the United States and called a women's rights convention in the town where Stanton lived.

4th of July in Boston

plimoth plantation

swan boats