Summer is finally underway. We took the boys to Florida as soon as Tim got out of school. We went to Sanibel Island and had a ball! We saw so much wildlife and so many shells...some still inhabited! It was especially meaningful since Colton studied water creatures this past year in science. We saw dolphins almost every time we went to the beach. We saw fish jumping out of the water. Eli spotted an aligator on a bike ride with Tim. Tim and I saw a manatee swim by us, and Tim even saw a small shark before we were out of the water! Eli wasn't left out, though. He'll be studying flying creatures next year. We had a nest of ospreys right outside our condo. We realized the first day that the two "babies" in the nest (they were full grown in size) were stretching their wings and about to fly for the first time, and we were watching when they did. By the end of the week, they would fly out for pretty good distances before returning. We saw several types of birds that are common to us.
After vacation, the boys began swimming lessons. They were in the same class which covered levels 1 and 2 of the Red Cross levels. Eli finished with level 1 completed and a few skills of level 2. Colton finished all the way through level 2 and has signed up for level 3 in August! He also completed another belt testing in taekwondo and has now earned his blue black stripe belt (or 4th degree blue belt).
This past week, as we finished swimming lessons, we also had VBS week at church. The kids had a blast! Attendance seemed a little down this year, but the kids that came all seemed to really enjoy it. And there were quite a few visitors with us all week, so that was great!
We have been trying to start yard sale season since May. We've had weather issues (including the tornado at the end of April), end of school conflicts, out of town trips, etc. And I'll be honest, I've had a hard time getting motivated. I was not looking forward to the 1st yard sale. Gearing up for the 24th was no easier. Finally today was the day! We had everything ready. We got up early even after a week of late VBS nights. We opened at 7:30AM and closed at 10AM due to sprinkles and thunder. Normally we wouldn't panic over sprinkles, but the radar showed more rain and a small storm heading our way. We threw it all back in the garage and headed inside. Because of the impending storm, we decided we really didn't have time to pull it all back out only to rush around packing up again in a little while. So, we called it quits for the day. I hated that! I was finally mentally prepared for having a sale today. We had already had a very productive 2.5 hours. If we had kept going at the same pace, we would have been well over our average for a day's sale. What's worse is here I sit at 1:00 (just 1 hour shy of our usual closing time), and we've had MAYBE one more round of sprinkles. Apparently, the storm disapated or rerouted before it got here. Grrrr! Now I really feel like we wasted the day. Well, we'll just try again next weekend, and this time it will probably be Friday AND Saturday.
Oh, I just noticed my last posted included pics of the storm damage. We now have the roof repaired and new roofing on the front half of the house. The trees are cleaned up, and we are waiting for parts for the fence. Next, we still need to replace the trampoline and do a minor repair and repainting in the girls' room that leaked that day because of the tree damage. One other projected this summer is to at least get on the installation list for a storm shelter. Then we will be ready for the next tornado season.
I don't really have a couponing or Curves update today. I probably will in another week, but I hated to put off posting AGAIN.
Hope your summer is a great one!! I'll leave you with some of our vacation pictures.
