Day 7 - Back to School!

This morning, I woke up at the usual time and as I walked out on the balcony with Coco, I realized the sun was close to coming up.  Outside of hunting, I've never watched the sun rise so I grabbed a blanket and Coco and I snuggled in on the couch.  I started some praise music as I did my morning prayer time and watched as sky changed colors and the sun burst up from the ocean... Gorgeous!

Once I finished, I headed in to start my day and as I climbed into the shower, couldn't help but snap this pic... the view from my shower continued to impress!

After breakfast, the kids and I sat out on the balcony for our school time.  We only had time for Bible, before Tyler and I had a FaceTime meeting with Dr Rozendaal to discuss his therapy.  During our conversation, she asked Tyler how it was going and just hearing his response gave me some ideas.  So after lunch, Tyler and I ran downstairs for the vending machines and bought M&Ms.  When he was ready to start, we made a new rule... for every answer he got right, he ate 1 M&M, for every one he got wrong, he ate 2.  I know it sounds backwards, but we were trying to help him accept the "failures" and retrain himself to think positively.  Plus, if he completed his exercises in 45 mins instead of 1 hr 15, he would earn an extra 30 mins of screen time.  It worked like a charm.  He was motivated and had a great attitude.  I think we found the key to success!

Next we went back outside for History and Science.  For History, we ended up moving onto the couches and lounging.  It was pretty great!

I got a call to come down for a delivery.  We get them several times each day so the call itself wasn't a surprise, but the delivery certainly was!  A very sweet floral arrangement from the Adema brothers who stayed at our house this last week.  I cannot tell you how great it is to see/smell fresh flowers and how much they brighten the dining room!

After dinner, Scott and I ran out to Lowe's and gave the kids some free time.  On our way, back we decided to surprise them with a special treat.  We didn't give details but told them to meet us downstairs and we took them to Steak-N-Shake for shakes.  They were pretty happy!

We got home and quick changed into our suits so we could relax in the hot tub for a bit.  Then it was off to bed!  It was a great day.

A Perfect Day In So Many Ways - Day 14

After a lot of minor disappointments... no pan to bake my apple turnovers then finding out WAY too late that they put coffee in my chai (Yuck), my day took a significant turn toward improvement when I found these waiting for me at the front desk.

We had a great lunch at Uncle Rog and Aunt Gretchen.  It was a fabulous recipe!  After we finished, Rog and Gretchen had to get back to work so we headed down to our condo to prep for the beach.  We started off with a great walk.  The kids loved running in the surf again.  Then it was back to our cozy spot with our umbrella and beach chairs.  It wasn't long before we found ourselves in the ocean for a LONG session of body surfing and jumping the waves!  

Next it was time to dig holes... and bury ourselves!  I was so excited to see how well the kids worked together and kept themselves busy.  Katie and I were able to relax and enjoy their giggles.

We did the usual ritual of beach, pool, hot tub, then home for showers.   Even though its been repetitive, it doesn't get old!  Neither does this view.  

We had dinner at home and then prepped for our crab hunt.  Below is a giant one we found... bigger than any we've seen before.  The kids spent some time chasing it down the beach with their flash lights... shrieking as it scooted in their direction and jumping out of the way.

So much fun today!