School starts early these days!

We have to leave to walk Resli to kindergarten no later than 7:20 or so in the morning, which is pretty early for us. So it's always a challenge to get everyone ready on time. Today was "spirit" day at Glen Springs, so Resli was allowed to wear a school t-shirt. Lela picked her own spiritual outfit and everyone was ready in time for a quick photo shoot.

And of course there's always a little time for some goofiness.

And a nice hug before breakfast.

I think all days should start like this.

Quiz time: spot the difference!

Can you find the primary difference between picture (A) and picture (B)?

A.   (a few weeks ago)

B. (today)

The end result is a brand new smile for Resli!

KINDERGARTEN!

Resli started kindergarten this week! She was super-excited for her first day, "uniform" and all. 

Lela, on the other hand, was saddened by the idea of being left behind at preschool.

(She's over it now, she had a happy fun day there today.)

Resli is thrilled to be a Glen Springs tiger...

And to be a student in Mrs. Bigler's kindergarten class.

 

(The look is because the backpack was falling off!)

She immediately got right to work setting up her desk. (Yes, like mother like daughter!)

And started off on the right foot, being a good listener and staying on task. 

Hopefully the rest of the year will be as exciting and successful as this first day was!

Gator game night

Daddy and Resli has a great Gator adventure on Friday evening. They got their Gator gear on,

and headed over to the soccer stadium to see the women's team play.

Resli enjoyed it for a long time, following the ball up and down the field with her eyes and cheering for the Gators.

Eventually though, as the evening wore on, she decided it would be ok to read about the final score in the newspaper the next day. Turns out the Gators won, and Resli got almost a full night's sleep.

Building blocks

We stop measuring milestones like how many blocks you can stack after you're, like, 2 years old. But nonetheless we are still occasionally impressed when Lela decides to build a skyscraper - out of particularly unsturdy materials.

She then finds great joy in knocking it down.

What's that you say? Cute dress? Isn't it!?! It's a little big though so we had to get creative in the back to make it stay up:

(Back) To School Shopping

Today, thanks to the tax free holiday and the fact that public schools start in a week, we went back to school shopping. Well, in our case, it was really "to school" shopping, as Resli will just be starting kindergarten this year. Thanks to the newly adopted school uniform policy (which is really just a dress code but they insist on calling it a uniform), Resli of the plaids and flowers and stripes found herself in need of quite a different wardrobe. Not to mention the outrageous list of supplies she needs to show up with on the first day of school.

So off we went. It was a challenge to find uniform-acceptable things to fit her relatively tall and exceedingly slender frame. Here are some of the options.

    

Close-toed shoes are a must too, no more crocs and flip flops.

But wait, doesn't it seem like just yesterday we were shopping in THIS section of the store?

And now our baby's headed off to kindergarten... >>snif!<<

Yep, daycare is still closed...

So Lela came to campus with me today. (Resli came and did a lot of great work with me Tuesday, but I forgot the camera.)
We played in the fountain, of course.

We also had a (sort of) brush with Gator fame - we walked past a poster of Tim Tebow and Lela recognized him at once and ran over to say hi.

So I couldn't pass up the photo op.

She promptly reported though, correctly, that he's not really a Gator anymore and that she likes Johnny Brantley now. She makes her Daddy proud. And the frat boys walking by as we were having this discussion were, I dare say, pretty impressed.

Weekend at the beach: highlight reel

We went to Clearwater for the weekend to have some fun at the beach and get a little mini-vacation in. No single blog post could do those few short days justice so this post, instead, focuses on some of the real highlights of the weekend. We hope you'll enjoy the pictures as much as we enjoyed our few days away!

HIGHLIGHT #1: THE OCEAN

We all loved swimming in the ocean, especially Resli, who couldn't get enough of it. There was a pool too, but we spent most of our time with the salt and the sand. 

(In the pool, Resli actually swam  on her own for several feet!)

HIGHLIGHT #2: AFOREMENTIONED SAND

Lela - and Resli too but mostly Lela - could have spent hours and hours just digging in the sand. 

General running and jumping and skipping were also a favorite. 

And burying Mami in the sand was a true attraction that never seemed to get old.

HIGHLIGHT #3: REST AND RELAXATION

We all did a good deal of this.

HIGHLIGHT #4: RAINBOWS

It rained Saturday afternoon for a little bit and once it stopped we saw not one but two rainbows! 

HIGHLIGHT #5: EATING OUT 

We do this sometimes at home too, but to eat all our meals out was a special treat. And getting to stay up later than usual made it extra-enjoyable.

 

HIGHLIGHT #6: EATING IN

Resli and Lela were simply flabbergasted by the concept of 'room service.' We only splurged once, but it was worth it to see the wonder on their faces.

HIGHLIGHT #7: THE BED

Resli and Lela shared a bed (and we all shared a room) - a first for us to try these sleeping arrangements. It worked surprisingly well. First and foremost though, the bed served as a wonderful toy:

Otherwise, everyone slept wonderfully, believe it or not! This is the girls pretending to sleep,

but here they are really sleeping - too cute not to risk taking a photo.

(The flash didn't wake them up, by the way. What did wake them up, at 7:45am, was their parents jumping on their bed!)

HIGHLIGHT #8: MAMI'S MARGARITA

Saturday night Mami relaxed with a margarita. (R and L couldn't understand why they couldn't taste the lemonade...) Somehow, she seemed to be enjoying it a lot more than anyone else.

Granted, it had been a long and exhausting day. But they managed to rally for a smile eventually.

HIGHLIGHT #9: A VERY PEACEFUL RIDE HOME

Campus fun

Today was girls' day. In addition to the usual errands and playing, we also took a trip to campus so I could squeeze in a little work. And, of course, the requisite fountain playtime. As usual, it starts of slow...

... but then much water craziness quickly ensues!

Luckily, I'm smart and I come prepared now with towels and changes of clothes and shoes and everything. It was quite a successful trip!