At the Pool

Today was the first day in a long, last weekend of summer fun. With that in mind, I decided to take James and Lilly to the Huntersville Aquatics Center for a fun day at the pool. The Aquatics center has lots of water fountains and slides for the kids and the pool is about 2-3 feet deep in most places. The babies love it because they can run and play in the fountains and touch the bottom the entire time.

While we were at the pool, we had two surprises. James and Lilly were swimming and playing when James found a frog swimming in the water! We managed to catch him in our bucket. He got away several times (he kept jumping out) before we finally managed to get him over to the grass and away from the pool. James thought that it was hilarious and Lilly kept yelling "crab, crab!"

Our next surprise was Daddy! Todd left for work early this morning around 7:00 am. He is in the process of obtaining his next level of Cisco certification and he had his first of a series of four test today at 11:00. He called me around noon to tell me that he had finished the test (and passed!) and I told him that we were at the pool. He decided to take off from work early and dropped by the pool to surprise us. The kids were so excited to see him. James immediately told him about finding a frog. Lilly told him about finding a "crab". We played a little longer and then we headed home for some lunch.

We ate lunch and put the babies down for their nap. Todd and I had some "us" time. We don't get much alone time with three kids in the house. It's nice to be able to just talk with him one on one every once in a while. I am so proud of him for passing his Cisco test. There was no doubt in my mind that wouldn't. He is so smart and motivated. He can read something one time and understand how to do it. It just amazes me. I am so lucky to have him in my life and I am so proud of all that he is.

Preschool Open House

James will be starting preschool next week. We have been talking about it with him for a while now. He has not been overly excited. Today, we visited his new school and attended open house. He had a chance to meet his teachers, fellow classmates, and look around the classroom. At first, he was a little nervous. As time went by and we were there longer, he began to get more comfortable. There was a bookshelf with dinosaurs displayed which caught his attention. He made a beeline over to check them out.

As James and I were looking at the dinosaurs and the books, I heard a scream. I looked over to find Lilly pulling a baby doll and on the other end was one of James' classmates. I went over to see what the commotion was all about and Lilly balled her fist up and shook it at this little boy and said, "I'll bop you!" Needless to say, he let go of the baby and Lilly went on about her business. What had happened was she was playing with this baby and he was trying to take it away from her. Once she told him what was going to happen to him, he let go real quick. Lilly didn't hit him, but she sure made her intentions clear. She is the sweetest, most loving baby that I have ever seen. But, on the other hand, she does have two older brothers. She already knows how to take up for herself. Today, she backed down a 3 year old boy with no problem! She has had a lot of practice with James!

I took the kids to McDonalds for lunch after we left open house. Once we got back home, Grace (our neighbor) came over and played with James and Lilly. They played outside on the swingset and rode bikes/scooters/tricycles/etc. while they were waiting on Trevor to get home from school. We had a nice afternoon at home.

Still Hot....Still Summer!

It's still hot and it's still summer! We stayed inside most of the day today because it is just so hot to go outside. Once Lilly woke up from her nap, we went to the pool. Trevor came down and met us after he got off of the bus. We stayed at the pool for a while and let the kids cool off and burn up some energy.

After we left the pool, we ran to Barnes and Noble for Trevor to pick up a few books that needs for school. They have an Accelerated Reading program that he participates in. They read certain books that the school system has chose and then they take a computer based test. If they pass the test, they get points. Each book is assigned a certain number of points based on it's reading level and difficulty. At the end of the quarter, the students get extra credit in their Language Arts (what we use to call "English") class. He was eager to get started, so I couldn't deny him a trip to Barnes and Noble. Of course, James had to pick him up a Spiderman book while we were there.

Todd was late at work tonight. There was a Microsoft Conference in Charlotte today that he and a few people from his office attended. His employer has employees all over the world and some of his coworkers from the UK were in town for the conference. They had dinner after the conference with their partners. So, the kids and I picked up Chinese take-out on the way home from Barnes and Noble. After we ate, everyone took their baths and were ready for bed.

He Survived!

Trevor eating breakfast before his Big Day!

Today was Trevor's Big Day. It was his first day of Middle School! This morning, it wasn't very hard to wake him up. I think that he must have slept pretty light last night. When Todd went in to wake him this morning around 7:00, he popped right up and got in the shower. He took his usual 30 min shower and came downstairs for his usual bagel breakfast. He was ready to go. You could tell by his face that he was excited.

He caught the bus around 7:45 and didn't get off the bus until 5:20 this afternoon. It was such a long day for him. His bus is suppose to drop him off at 4:45, but they are always running late the first week or two of school until they get the route down correctly. When he got home, he was starving. He headed straight for the pantry and told me that he had to get something to eat before he could give me the run down of his day. Once he got some Oreo's and Chips Ahoy in him, he was ready to talk. He told me about his teachers and his classes, who he ate lunch with, who was on his bus, etc. Getting information out of Trevor is like making the dog talk. It's almost impossible. If you've ever tried to talk to him, then you know what I mean (this is another way that he is just like Todd!). He will answer your questions with a word (or two, if your lucky) and leave it at that. You have to poke and prod him to get the details, and then you usually don't get it all! Anyway, it turns out that he had a great day and that he is very excited about going to middle school.

Todd got home shortly after Trevor and we decided to hit the lake this evening and let the boys get some wakeboarding in. We headed to the lake and stayed for a couple of hours. On the way home, we stopped and got "Cheeseburgers in Paradise" take-out. We ate dinner when we got home and everyone took their bath/shower and hit the sack. They kids all passed out as soon as they laid down.

ps: I wanted to take a picture of Trevor at the bus stop this morning, but that wasn't an option. He would have been too embarressed, so I had to settle for the breakfast shot instead!

Party Time!

It was a party today at Lake Norman!

Trevor's 11th birthday is coming up next week and he decided that he wanted his Dad to take him and a few friends to the lake for the day on the Malibu. Everyone gathered at our house after lunch and the boys helped Todd get everything together. As they were loading the boat with snacks, drinks, life jackets, floats, tubes, and wakeboards, Miss Lilly was running around the house with her swimsuit in one hand and a swim diaper in the other yelling "I wanna go!". It was suppose to be a boys day out, but she wasn't having any of that!

The boys finally got it all together but in the process, Lilly had just worn herself out. I told her that after she took a nap, she could go on the boat. She quickly passed out and slept about an hour. As soon as she woke up, she said "I wanna go!" I said, "You wanna go where" and her reply was "on the boat with my daddy!"

I called Todd and he met me at Blythe Landing, the public boat launch that is about a mile from our house. She was most happy to see her daddy and the boys pulling up to the dock to get her. I had a previous obligation, so I handed her off to daddy and away they went.

They got home around 8 pm and they were all worn out. I had ordered pizza for dinner and everyone ate. They were all starved. Being out in the sun all day and on the water will sure make you hungry. After dinner, everyone talked and hung out for a while before going home. One of Trevor's friends, Jacob, spent the night with us. They are still up watching movies as we speak.

I haven't mentioned James yet. But rest assured, he was by Trevor's side the entire day. He was on board from the beginning. No nap is needed for James when there is boating on the agenda. He loves going out on the lake. I get so much pleasure just from watching him talk about the boat, the lake, and swimming. Sometimes, he gets so excited that he can't even get his words out. He stays right with Trevor no matter what he is doing. He even gets to ride in the tube with him. Talk about getting excited. When James is tubing, all you can see is his smile from ear to ear and his long, wavy hair blowing in the wind. It is the best thing!

Overall, Trevor had a fun day and was able to celebrate his birthday just how he wanted: with a few close friends.....doing just what he wanted: boating, swimming, tubing, wakeboarding, and just having a blast!

Middle School

Trevor and Bryce in the school courtyard

Today was a big day for The Ganns, Trevor in particular. We visited his new school, Francis Bradley Middle School. Yes, I said MIDDLE SCHOOL!!! He is entering upon a new period in his life, the preteens.

Bradley Middle School held their annual Open House today. Todd came home from work early so that he could keep James and Lilly while Trevor and I went to the school. Trevor's friend, Bryce, also went with us. The boys were so excited. First, we went into the Gym for a briefing by the principal. Next, we found Trevor's homeroom and met his teacher. Once we were in there, she gave us an entire folder of information including Trevor's schedule. He will be changing classes this year and has a locker and dresses out for gym and everything! I just can't believe that this is my baby that we are talking about! Anyway, after checking out his schedule and meeting a few teachers, we walked the school and located the cafeteria, office, library, etc. We also ran into several of Trevor's friends and their parents and had a little social time catching up with them and what they did for the summer.

I have to brag a little bit on Trevor and say that he really made me say "WOW" today. At the end of each school year, the students do "end of grade testing". This is a standardized test that every student in the state takes at the end of the school year to determine if they are performing at, above, or below their current grade level. At the end of the school year last year (5th grade), his teacher called me to say that he had received all of the test scores back and that Trevor had done very well. I was pleased and I congratulated Trevor on a job well done. However, I did not fully understand at the time exactly what that meant. Today when we received Trevor's schedule of classes, I was ecstatic to find out that he was put into HONORS classes!!! His highest grades came in Language Arts (which is what really amazed me) and math. This entire year, he will be in honors language arts and math. I am so proud of him. He has always been good at math. But there have been times when he has really struggled with his spelling, writing, grammar, and reading. I guess all of our (and his) persistence paid off. Trevor is just like Todd (in more ways than one!), in that he is very bright. I am glad that he is starting middle school off with these high academic expectations already being set. Trevor is one that must be challenged, otherwise he gets bored and is not interested. These classes should challenge him mentally and make him raise the bar. I think that it is very important to start with these expectations. Once you accept anything less, the precedent is set. These next few years will be critical to Trevor's development and play a huge role in the person that he will become.

One last thing to mention: He and Bryce also had a good time checking out all the girls at the middle school!!

Back from the Beach

Trevor, James, Lilly, and Nana in the lobby of our resort, The Marriott Beach and Spa Resort, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina

James getting his crab-cracking lesson from Daddy at the Land's End Restaurant, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina

We made it back from the beach late Sunday night. We had a great time.

We left Thursday afternoon heading down to Hilton Head, SC. We stopped about half way there and ate dinner at Texas Roadhouse and let the kids run around a little. The drive is only about 4 hours, so it's not that bad. After we ate, we saddled up again and finished our drive. We got there too late to do anything. By the time we checked in, got our luggage, and made it to the room, it was time for bed. Nana met us there and she got there a few hours after we arrived.

Friday morning, we got up and went to breakfast at IHOP. We figured that if we ate a big breakfast, we could stay at the beach all day. After breakfast, we headed to the beach. We stayed at the Marriott Beach and Spa Resort. It is right on the ocean and has 3 pools. It was a great place. There is an outside bar for drinks and a cafe for lunch time food. They will serve you at the pool or at a table. We stayed at the beach all day and finally came in around 5. Lilly and James took a short nap before we headed to dinner. We went to the Salty Dog Cafe but the wait was almost 2 hours. So, we ate at their sister restaurant instead, Land's End. It was pretty good. Todd got a lowcountry boil, which included crablegs. James got a lesson in crab cracking and he was amazed. See picture above.

Saturday was another beach and pool day. This time, we opted for a dozen Krispy Kreme's for breakfast and split them between us. And it was off to the beach. We stayed there until lunch time and then we hit the cafe' poolside. We all ate until we were full then we went back to the room for a nap. James and Lilly fell right asleep. Trevor wasn't up for a nap and wanted to go back to the pool. So, Nana and I took him to the pool while Todd stayed with the sleeping babies. Once we got to the pool, I decided that I needed a little nap time myself. The resort has about 10 hammocks right at the pool (off to the side where it is quiet) that overlooks the beach and the ocean. I laid up on one of those and in no time, I was out. I slept about an hour. It was so relaxing.......I just wish I had more time. We went back to the room and waited to the babies to wake up. After everyone was up, we went back out to the pool. For dinner tonight, we ordered Mellow Mushroom take-out and ate poolside. Although, James suggested crab legs again!

Sunday was our day to head home. We wanted to get one more trip to the beach in before we left. Our checkout was 1:00, so upon wakening, Nana went to McDonald's and got us some biscuits and pancakes for breakfast. Then, we hit the beach for a few hours. Trevor rented a banana peel. It is a 3 wheel "bike" with no handlebars. It is real low to the ground and you just drive and pedal with your legs. I wish I had a picture. He had a good time, but he was tired! After the beach, we all went back and showered before heading out. We stopped at Nick and Jim's BBQ for one last lunch together. After lunch, we hit the road. This time, we only stopped for gas and bathroom. We made pretty good time.

The kids enjoyed the beach, as always. All 3 of them just love the water. The babies are like fish. James loves going under and jumping in. Trevor learned what a "jack knife" in the water is. And Lilly was her usual sweet, social butterfly. They were all happy to see Nana and spend some time with her. None of them wanted to part ways with her on Sunday when it was time to come back home. James doesn't understand that she lives 4 hours away from us. He always says that he wants to go to Nana's house, but he doesn't realize that it is a journey. He thinks that we should just be able to get in the car and go at anytime.

I didn't take alot of pictures this time. The main reason is that we just bought a new camera before we took our trip to Yellowstone and I did not want to take it on the beach. Our other digital camera just got destroyed by the sand and water and everything else. So, I am trying to take better care of this one. I did take our old camera and get a few pictures at the beach, but I also got a few (away from the beach) with my new camera.

Out for Ice Cream

Today was another long, hot August day. We stayed in most of the day. Trevor went to the woods with Jacob to work on their fort while James, Lilly, and I stayed in the house and read books and played. Before dinner, we finally made our journey outside. Trevor and James rode bikes and Lilly wanted to swing. We were outside playing when Daddy drove up in the driveway from work. The kids went running to meet him, as they always do. They get so excited when he comes home in the afternoon. I haven't figured out if they are just really happy to see him or just really tired of being with me all day! Probably a little of both!

We finished up dinner on the grill and we sat down to eat. At dinner, we always discuss how our day was, what we did, etc. Daddy had a great suggestion of what we could do after we finished eating. He wanted to know if everyone was up for some ice cream! Of course, we all were. So, after finishing dinner and cleaning up the kitchen, we all piled into the car and headed to Dairy Queen. I should have taken my camera. I'm new at this blog thing, but I'm learning. I just wish I could post of picture of James' face. He got a chocolate cone with sprinkles. Before he was finished, he had chocolate from forehead to chin and everywhere in between! He even had ice cream up his forearm and down his legs. How he managed, I'll never know. But he sure did enjoy that ice cream. Lilly got a vanilla cup and ate a little bit of it. She was too busy trying to socialize with everyone that came in. But James helped her out with hers after he finished his chocolate cone. Trevor got his usual, M&M Blizzard. We all had a good time eating ice cream and laughing at one another.

After ice cream, we stopped by Target to pick up some last minute things for our beach trip. We looked through the toys, movies, and games before we were ready to check out. Once we got back home, the kids were beat. We read 3 or 4 books and it was lights out.

We are leaving tomorrow afternoon for Hilton Head. I'll try to take a few pictures so that I can post them when we get back home. I know that we'll have a ball!

NOTE: The picture above of Trevor was actually taken on 7/6/07 in Jackson, Wyoming. It was just the only ice cream picture that I could find!!!

Lazy Days

The past few days, we have just been kinda lazy. Sunday, Todd and Trevor were trying to recuperate from their whitewater rafting trip. They left Saturday morning around 6:45 and got home around 11:00 that night. They had a full day of rafting, swimming, goofing off, and just being boys. We laid around most of the day until it cooled off a little bit. James got a bicycle for his birthday and he loves to ride it. We went on a walk through the neighborhood while he and Trevor rode their bikes and Lilly rode the Harley Davidson Hot Wheels motorcycle. She tries so hard to keep up with the boys!

Todd and James both went to the doctor today and they both have swimmers ear in their right ear. Needless to say, they've both been a little cranky. James has been running a low grade fever. He just wants to sit around and me hold him and read. If you know James, then you know that he never just wants to sit around!

We are going to Hilton Head, SC this Thursday for one last get-a-way before school starts back. Nana is going to meet us there for the weekend. The kids are excited. They love going to the beach. Add the fact that Nana is going to be there too and you have a recipe for fun! I am going to be spending the next few days packing every body's stuff and trying to clean up a little. I have to stay on top of cleaning and laundry or it just gets away from me. I hate coming home from a trip to a dirty house or a pile of dirty laundry!

On Our Own

James doing his best Nacho Libre impression!

Where's Lilly? There she is!

Today, me and the babies were on our own.

Todd and Trevor went to the Little Piegon River in Tennessee to go whitewater rafting. They went with David, Blake, and Bryce. Trevor met Bryce about 2 years ago on his football team and they go to school together. They have remained good buddies and enjoy each others company. I am glad that Todd is taking Trevor rafting. They are very close and spend a lot of quality time together. All children need that closeness with their parents. Not only when they are young, but throughout life. Todd is a wonderful example of what a father truely is. Trevor knows that he can count on his Dad at any time, for any thing.

With the triple digit weather still here, I decided to take James and Lilly to Monkey Joe's. Monkey Joe's is an indoor playcenter that has inflateable slides, jumpers, games, and a snack bar. The most important factor for me today was the fact that it has air-condition! The kids had a wonderful time running, jumping, and laughing! Take a look at the pictures that I posted and you will see what I mean. After a few hours there, we headed to McDonald's for lunch (James picked!). The kids were so tired, I just went through the drive thru. After they finished eating, they were ready for a nap. Lilly fell right to sleep. James never did nap, as usual! Around 5 pm, we headed to the pool. They wanted to go outside and ride bikes and play, but it is just too hot. I hate keeping them inside though so I suggested that we go to the pool. Of course, that was only a suggestion that I had to make one time. They were ready! We stayed at the pool about 2 hours. I was trying to wear them out, if you can't tell! Mission accomplished with Lilly. Once we got back home, I bathed them, feed them, read 2 books to them, and Lilly was out. James, on the other hand, has a serious motor! He is still not asleep. He will stay up until midnight if you let him. We always joke and say that when he gets older, he's going to be the one that closes the bar down. He will not go to bed until everybody else is going, no matter how tired he is, period!

We had a wonderful day playing and being with each other. The only thing that would have made it better were if Daddy and Trevor were with us. At least we have the pictures to show them!

Off the Wagon

Grandma and I at the Niagara Falls State Park, New York

I created this blog in hopes of writing every day. I must have been kidding myself. I wrote once and then fell off the wagon. We were at my Mom's when I decided to take the plunge. I have been considering starting some sort of journal or blog for my children and family for a while now. I feel like it's important to write it all down.

After my visit to Mom's, I came home for 2 days before leaving again. This time, I headed to Niagara Falls, Canada with my grandmother. My birthday is August 1st and hers is August 2nd. This year, we decided to celebrate. We flew to Buffalo and then drove up to the Falls. We stayed at the Brock Plaza Hotel. That is the infamous hotel where Marilyn Monroe stayed while filming her movie "Niagara". It was a nice place with a lot of history and distinction. We visited Niagara State Park while we were there and rode on the Maid of the Mist. We also visited other areas and spent time in Niagara on the Lake, Toronto (both in Ontario), and Chautauqua (New York). We had a wonderful trip and one that I will remember a lifetime!

This week I have just been trying to catch up on all of the laundry and chores around the house. With 3 kids in tow, there is always something to do. It has also been extremely hot this week. My thermometer on the car said 107 today. It has been in triple digits the last 3 of 4 days. The weather man says there's not much relief in site. With that said, we have also been spending a lot of time on the boat this week. The kids love it (yes, Todd too!) and it cools us off a little bit.

So, I will make my promise to myself once again. This time, I am not going to promise to write everyday. That would just be setting myself up for failure. Instead, I will promise to write at least 3 days a week. Once I get a handle on that, I'll shoot for the other 4 days!