And now she’ll be in middle school!
Katie’s last day of 5th grade
Category Archives: Owen
Owen & Grandpa throwback
Owen grew just a little bit!
And just like that we have a high schooler.
Owen volunteered to play in the jazz band before his promotion ceremony!
I love that he was able to walk with his good friend Lucas…
And Anna (as school board president) was able to give him his diploma!
And then it was off to our celebratory dinner at The Chocolate Sanctuary because it’s closing soon! Of course I forgot to get a photo of our whole group but I did get a picture of my chocolate strawberry martini!
Owen’s last day of middle school!
First and last day photo!
First day at the pool 2023
It wasn’t too busy thankfully. It did get a little busier but nowhere near as bad as I thought it would be for a really nice holiday weekend.
Trying to start new habits over summer.
After he picked out books, he wanted to play. I haven’t played in 30 years. I lost in under a minute.
They are always super excited to pick out the books, then they sit in a pile until it’s time to return them. This summer phone use will be tied to reading…
Dad to Owen’s rescue!
Owen’s 8th grade graduation boat trip at Navy Pier is today. His entire outfit is courtesy of Tom – since Owen couldn’t wear jeans and didn’t realize until last night that he didn’t have khakis (even though I asked him a week ago) and then also realized he didn’t have any clean shirts or matching shoes. Because kids.
My two Cubs.
Owen’s final MS band concert
Katie was running around with a friend and brought me some lilacs from the bushes outside! My first of the season!
He had to turn in the band tux so this was how he came home!
When Owen beats me to the couch
And then when he has to finish getting ready for school…
Last jazz band concert
Baseball picture night
I never order the photos but I do try to get a photo of them myself!
And let’s reminisce… Baseball in 2015 (his first season):
How the girls say good morning to Owen!
Egg hunt 2023
Tell me you have kids without telling me you have kids.
Spring Break Day 6: State Parks
We were up early to start the day at Weeki Wachee State Park — we were planning on hitting the waterpark and the live mermaid show (which they are famous for). But unfortunately, Linda and I BOTH read the information completely wrong in the exact same way…so the actual waterpark (slides, lazy river, etc.) wasn’t open. There were some birds wandering around but other than that it was pretty dead.
We did stay for the mermaid show and though it was neat it wasn’t super exciting. I guess it’s a cool “Hey we did that” time!
So then Lin wanted to head to another park—Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park. We stopped for lunch at a random pizza place I found on Yelp and had to laugh when it was right next to a Marine Corps recruiting office!
I can honestly say I’ve never seen this sign before:
Then we stopped for ice cream on our way home…because how could you NOT stop at this huge ice cream cone?!
And then it was time to go home…which the kids were excited about because Grannie said we could go to the pool and promised Owen he could drive!
It was pretty dead when we got there around 6. I actually went in the pool and underwater with Katie! She was impressed I could do a front and back somersault — and she finally did a back one on her own. When Owen and Grannie came back about an hour later, the pool was empty except for my two.
Sidenote: The yacht-rock-esque station is playing Soldier of Love by Donny Osmond. It’s from 1989. GET OFF MY LAWN.
Then Katie and I sat on the back of the golf cart for our final ride…and had some fun as we rode over some bumps and Owen took some corners a little crazy.
Spring Break Day 5: Manatees!
Linda surprised us and told us she wanted to take us swimming with the manatees! So, being in a wetsuit was a first for me and the kids!
Unfortunately, this time of year is the end of the season — most manatees have already begun the trek to warmer waters — so we actually had to hunt for them a bit. We eventually found this mom and baby and followed them, hoping they’d go into calmer waters…which they did, but they didn’t really go to a place we could easily get to them.
We did eventually get into the water but it was hard to see much since the water was so cloudy. That said, at one point, a manatee swam directly under me! Like inches below me!
The guide was taking photos for us so that was nice not to have to worry about…but the manatees weren’t very calm today so we didn’t get pics of us with them underwater. This is about the best we got of us in the same photo:
The kids loved the guide’s description of them as “2000 pound sea potatoes!”
Back home, we completed the beach glass puzzle with one day to spare!
Owen was serenading us with his snoring.
Spring Break Day 4 Sunday
Today we went out to eat a late lunch with Linda’s Aunt Carol (who lives about 30 minutes away) and then went back to swim in her community pool! The kids loved the indoor pool!
Once again, Grannie and the kids went to the village square to listen to the live music while I stayed home and worked!
Spring Break Day 3
We started the day with a delicious breakfast at The Flying Biscuit and then did some souvenir shopping.
On the way home we stopped at a farmer’s market to get some Honey Bell oranges (omggggggg they were super juicy and delicious) and couldn’t resist taking a pic of this gigantic carrot!
Then we went home and went to the pool again for a bit.
It was nicer outside than in so I did my reading thang on the porch (yes, with sunglasses and reading glasses).
Grannie and the kids went to the village square to listen to the live music while I stayed home and worked!
Spring Break Day 2
Grannie surprised the kids with a longer golf cart drive…for Johnny Rockets for brunch — somewhere we ate on the cruise! They loved it! Grannie and I enjoyed adult shakes.
Then we walked around a little, Katie named two turtles in the bay, we got some souvenirs, and then went to another pool.
I had this exchange with the waitress:
Waitress: So that's a strawberry daiquiri.
Me: Margarita.
Waitress: Yes, daiquiri.
Me: Not daiquiri, margarita.
Waitress: Yes I know what you mean.
Aaaand it tasted like a daiquiri to me! (Not bad but…not a margarita!)
Back to the pool after dinner…
Unfortunately someone got a little too much sun…
Soooo happy to be able to wash my face tonight!
Spring Break Day 1
Welcome to creepy crawlies!
First practice session driving the golf cart! Grannie is brave!!!
Driving all of us to the pool!
My view today from the shade of a cabana at one of the “executive” pools.
Katie: I haven’t put sunscreen on in a long time. This feels weird to be doing it in March.
The kids immediately disappeared in the pool. Grannie was in the sun. The music was great. I read my Kindle and hit the adults-only hot tub — then ordered a frozen margarita!
Of course I was 100% in my element—so the kids didn’t want to stay too long. (I thought we’d be there all day like we are when we go to our pool…but we were only there like 1.5 hours!)
Aaaaand we’re off to Florida!
It only took us about 15 minutes from Tom dropping us off to sitting at our gate!
I gave the kids mini lessons on how to navigate in an airport—checking boards for gate info, following signs, using the moving walkway, how to take your suitcase on an escalator, etc. Gave them my credit card and told them to go buy their own lunches.
This was the biggest gate I’ve ever been at—an entire room!—which makes sense because it was the biggest plane I’ve been on (3/4/3 seat configuration)!
Aaaaand I realized halfway to the airport that I forgot my cleanser! If you know me at all, you know I’m crazy about my skincare regimen!! So it was INSTANT panic! So I asked in one of my distributor chats if anyone happened to be close to where I was staying…thinking someone could mail something and I’d maybe get it next day. And a handful of ladies volunteered to ship something but someone was actually in the same area! And she’s dropping off some skincare samples for me tomorrow!
NIMCon music festival
Of course I had the worst seat possible to get a picture of Owen…This was Tom’s shot. They did well.
It must be gremlins, then?
I discovered this mess today. No one claims it. Not even Owen, the only person in charge of emptying the dishwasher.
When Ivy hasn’t seen her boy all day.
NIMCon Solo Ensemble
Northern Illinois Music Conference
Thankfully it wasn’t too far to Highland Park Middle School—and they looked pretty alert for 8am.
Between performances we just hung around the library/cafeteria area with Lucas’ parents. It’s a really nice school.
Owen’s big ensemble did The Entertainer and it was really good!
After the performance, the judge gives them a few tips and suggestions and has them practice some bars again to see the difference. It’s really neat.
Band concert at the high school
Can you spot Owen?
Why am I not surprised?
Owen couldn’t find the black shoes we bought him for band concerts so Tom went up to his room…and piled ALLLLL the dirty clothes on his bed to make searching easier. They still didn’t find them so who knows where they are.
Before school doggo cuddles
