Upward Soccer Awards Night!

Saturday was the last soccer game of the season for Upward Soccer. Even though Tanek didn't get to play in the game since we were at the Homeschool convention we did get back in time for the Awards night. They had a ventriloquist that was very good and the kids as well as the adults enjoyed him. He was very funny and did a great program and brought the gospel in at the end. Each child got a backpack at the end of the evening. This was the first time Tanek had played soccer and he really enjoyed it. He ran his little legs back and forth on the field every week playing as hard as he could. He even scored a couple goals. Watching children play any kind of sport is so much fun. I especially enjoyed soccer as it was all fun and the coaches were all good and everyone got to play and have fun. I am really glad our church offers this program. I think it is very good for the kids.

Tanek was very proud of his new backpack. We are very proud of him.

Homeschool Convention

Thursday morning we left early for Orlando. We spent a good part of the day at Disney. After we had done what we wanted at Disney we left for the Gaylord Palms Resort. We got checked into our room and then we went to look around the grounds and headed to the pool.

The Gaylord is a beautiful resort and we enjoyed our stay there very much. Everything about this place is first class.

The decor is beautiful. It is a great place for a convention. We attended several conferences, spent lots of time looking at all the "home school" supplies and literature and speaking to some about their programs. The home school conventions are always interesting to go to. They have SO much to look at and it is amazing how much help is out there for those who wish to home school and I am amazed at how many are choosing to do it.. This is one of the larger conventions and they had something for everyone. Most parents had their kids with them and even small babies. We took Tanek to several of the conferences and found that he would sit quiet through the conference as long as he got to play games on my phone. Very thankful for technology. The conferences are all very encouraging and full of good ideas. I always feel encouraged that we "Can" do this and it is a good thing.

We also had some good free time to walk around, eat ice cream, swim, etc. We loved watching the alligators and turtles. We watched them being fed by someone from Gator Land that works with them. He told us that alligators are not aggressive, are very lazy and normally eat very little. The problem is people feeding them that makes them think we are food. I guess he knows all about them, but I don't plan to get close enough to see if they are lazy or aggressive.

They certainly were lazy in this place. These fish were in another part and are very pretty.

The gators being fed. They did seem pretty compliant with him.

Both nights that we were there we had dinner that we had pre-ordered. The first night it was baked chicken, macaroni and cheese, veggies, and bread. The second night it was lasagna, salad, and bread sticks. The meals were pretty good and reasonable. Tanek is a pretty picky eater. He loves mac and cheese so we saved the left overs in our fridge for him the next night.

We had a fridge, but no microwave. So we warmed up his mac and cheese with the hair dryer. It worked good and he ate all of it and said it was delicious.

He loved sitting out on the balcony. We had a nice view of one of the atriums from our balcony.

The pool and slide of course was his favorite part. We love the slides in the pool, and sorta judge our hotels by how good the slide in the pool is. This one was fun and fast and there is nothing we can say negative about the Gaylord Palms, but we decided we like the slide at Disney's Port Orleans-Riverside the best. It is bigger and has more curves in it. It did not stop us from having lots of fun on this slide. Their pool water was definitely warmer than in either of our pools so that was a plus.

This little guy loves to swim just about more than he likes to do anything. He is always happy in the pool.

Doesn't always like to get out though, but sometimes you just have to.

And that warm sun feels good after being in the water.

I tried to catch him on the slide to get a good video, but couldn't get a good spot so here are a couple short shots of him on the slide.

Our Karate Kid!

Today Tanek took his second test for his 2nd belt. He broke a board with his foot into 3 boards.
Yes he is just in the little tykes 4-6 year old, but it is neat how that little foot can break a board.

Doing some of their drills

He is such a cute little Karate kid. He just has that look.

Here he is breaking the board

And here is the board in 3 pieces

Receiving his new belt from the instructor

I love watching him do his Karate. I also love that they are teaching them discipline, respect, and saftey. Little kids are just fun to watch regardless of what they are doing. (especially when they are your grand-children)




Getting his belt

A day in Tanek's life

Today Stephanie took Tanek to the eye doctor for a check up. He did so well during the exam. He had all kinds of test run and did a great job. He also got a good report. He did a test with sunglasses on.

And one with colored glasses

He read the eye charts

With a patch over his eye

They dialated his eyes and we went to lunch and came back for some more tests. He was so funny because everything up close was blurry to him. But after all the tests he was happy to show the doctor his little lego man.

On the way to Gainesville he was singing his favorite song. He loves the song "I Will Follow You". It was so cute we had to get a recording of it. A little shopping before the appointment at my favorite store Kohls. We saved $194.06. Love shopping at Kohls. Love when you save more than you spend. It was a very pleasant day.

Swimming time

The time has come again when most of our outside time with Tanek is with him in the pool. He gets papa to go in with him for a few minutes. The water is still too cold for me, but Tanek goes in until his teeth are chattering. After he has taken as much cold as he can he gets in a nice warm bathtub until he is nice and warm.

That nice warm sun shinning down gets you warmed up pretty good once you get out of the water, but it doesn't take long to get cold again when you get back in.

The easiest way to get in is just jump in .

Papa helps get him warm again.

I am looking forward to the water getting warmer, but by then the weather will be unbearably hot so I am not sure I am ready for it. Kids can swim regardless of the water temp. They just love swimming. I just like to sit out and take the pictures. It was starting to warm up pretty well until we got the much needed 3+ inches of rain and a cool front came in.

Mother's Day 2011

Today was a good Mother's day. We went to church, then to Mama Mia's for lunch and then I came home and took a nice leisurely nap. Then I went over to Stephanie and Ricky's to watch Tanek in their new pool. They are just filling it up with water, but that didn't stop him from having a great time in the water. He was so excited and having so much fun. He is really going to enjoy it when it is all filled up.

After a while Stpeh and I went on a nice long 3 mile walk around the lake. It was a rather warm walk, but nice just to walk and spend some time together. I also had a nice long phone conversation with my son, and messages from Heather and others. It was a nice relaxing peaceful day.

When they get the pool filled and running it is really going to be nice. It has a fountain and water jets plus colored lights. It is really going to be nice and Tanek is SO excited about it.

He was in the water so long. When we left on our walk he was playing in the water and when we got back he was still in there. He is definitely a water lover.

Library TIme

Tanek enjoys going to the Library. We usually go on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday for story time. For the month of May they are not having it, but will start their summer program in June. So we go every two weeks and check out books. He likes to pick out and read books and has become a very good reader. I am so glad he enjoys reading and can read well because I think that it the most important step to learning. If you read well the rest seems to come easier.

We started on the series of "The Boxcar Children" thanks to a tip from Jan. I had not heard of these books before but they are very good and he loves for me to read them to him. We are just on the second book but there are many more to read. The story is about 4 children and they are very responsible kids and get along amazingly well. Very good stories for kids to hear. Our Library days are a special time. We usually go to the Library and then out to lunch or play at the park. It is a nice break in the day between school.

And of course there is swimming time. This is what he does when he gets so cold his teeth are chattering. We wrap him up in a big towel and he sits in the sun until he is warm enough to go back in. We are looking forward to the water getting much warmer.

Half the Fun!

There is a nice walking and bike trail in Keystone now and Tanek likes to go ride his bike out there.

Half the fun is stopping for a nice refreshing drink.

Often

And then continue on the ride.

Disney Trip 5/1&2/11

Stephanie, Tanek and I had a short overnight trip to Disney this weekend. It has been awhile since we were there and we were missing it. We had a great time. The weather Sunday was next to perfect. Warm, breezing, sunny and clear. The breeze really felt good. We got there early on Sunday morning, checked into our hotel room and then went to the Magic Kingdom. We beat the crowds and got to do something we have never done before. We rode Thunder Mountain 4 times in a row without having to wait in line. Thunder Mountain is Tanek's and our favorite ride. It is so much fun. I am not much on extreme roller coasters, but this one is just right. We then rode Splash Mountain. If you ride Splash Mountain be prepared to get wet, you will. The last time we rode it we were in the back seat and got drenched. This time we were in the very first seat and got drenched. This time the water fell on our heads. Tanek loved that too and would have rode it more, but we didn't want to.

We had Magic hours on Sunday night or actually Monday morning. From 12-3 am if you were staying in a resort you got to stay and ride. The crowds were down big time by that time and we got to ride everything we wanted and still left by 1:30 am. As you can see we are wearing jackets. It was cool enough at that time of morning to wear them. Very enjoyable.

Tanek liked climbing the rocks while we waited for the water taxi at the hotel to take us to Downtown Disney for dinner. And of course we went to the newly redone "Lego store".

This is a view from our Hotel. We stayed at Port Orleans-Riverside. We have stayed in many different resorts and I think this is our favorite. Their rooms are nice, the grounds are beautiful, the water slide is FUN and their food is good. At certain times you can get a really good rate like we did this weekend. I love just walking around the grounds along the river.

This is the Swiss Family Robinson tree house. It is pretty cool.

This little guy is ALWAYS happy to be at Disney. He loves it and is so much fun. Now that he is older and can ride some of the really fun rides (like Thunder Mt. and Splash Mt.) we really have fun. We got to go on so many rides this time. We rode everything we wanted at least once.

Mommy and Tanek on the flying carpet

Today we went to Epcot for the flower show. They had a couple nice play area's set up for children and Tanek enjoyed it.

He loves riding the Disney bus and he loves to sit in the back. On this ride back to the Hotel at first we were the only 3 on the bus.

More of the playyard at Epcot

Our favorite part of the flower show today was the set up of Lightning McQueen and Mator in Radiator Springs. They really did a nice job with all their plants. They also had a butterfly area, and a fairy display. I sure wish I could have someone like their gardeners and landscapers to take care of my yard. They do a great job.

We got back to our room around 2:15 am and were getting ready for bed. Tanek didn't think he was sleepy yet but he was the first one asleep. This afternoon we came back to our room, went swimming and then came back for a little time of rest since we got up so early and we knew we would be out so late. Tanek didn't think he was sleepy but soon fell asleep and slept for 2 hours. When he woke up he thought it was the next day and was upset that he had missed mommy reading him his good night story. He said he couldn't remember what she read. She finally convinced him it was still the same day and it wasn't time for his good night story yet. He was quite happy when he realized he hadn't missed all the fun we planned for that night especially going to the Lego store.

Good night. Time for a few hours of sleep before we start a new day. We had a great trip and are looking forward to our next one. I love living this close to Disney World and having season passes so we can go whenever we want. It is always fun and we never feel like we have to do "it all" in one visit.