Hello Ocean

My family and I successfully drove 13+ hours in one sitting to and from Sea Grove Beach, Florida.  When we left for our week long beach vacation we decided to make the drive in the evening so the children would sleep the way down and we would cut down on the amount of "potty" breaks we would need to take.  It was a complete success and I'd do it again in a heartbeat!  We enjoyed our week stay on the beach, spending the majority of our time playing in the waves, basking in the sun, and building sandcastles.  My sister in-law, mother in-law, and I enjoyed a day shopping in Destin and my husband and his brother and father finally got to go deep sea fishing.  It was a nice relaxing vacation while it lasted.  Now it is back to reality!  My hubby is back at work and I'm working on things for my new group of firsties this school year.  I have to say I'm getting quite excited about my classroom theme this year and some of the great things I have found on Pinterest and Teachers Pay Teachers!!!  These sites can be quite "dangerous" for teachers!!!  Well here are some pictures of our lovely vacation.  Enjoy the remainder of your summer.  The 2012-2013 school year is quickly approaching.

Firsts

I hope you have been able to spend some memorable moments with your little ones this summer.  I have thoroughly enjoyed spending my summer vacation with my kiddies at home.  As you have seen, we swim quite often, play hard at the park, and enjoy a little library time each week.  I've enjoyed seeing lots of FIRSTS for my children this summer.  Elly started crawling...YES CRAWLING in June.  Immediately following, she began pulling herself up onto EVERYTHING!  Now, I am constantly on the go because she is getting into everything she can get her hands on!  Lily can climb up the pool slide all by herself now!  She's gotten quite good at "swimming" in what we call the big pool.  I say "swimming" because of course she wears a life jacket.  For the first time she has been using kick boards and goggles!!! Lily has also gotten quite good at riding her "bikes" all by herself.  She is learning how to appropriately turn the handles to steer her bikes.  I'm such a proud mommy of BOTH of my children. My girls will also experience another first together.  In a short while my family is going to be vacationing in Florida.  It will be the first time my husband and children go to Florida.  It will also be my children's first visit to the beach.  I've been searching Pinterest for tips on packing and vacationing in general.  I found a great pin on packing and I plan to use this strategy.  I'll let you know how it goes.
All Things Simple

This packing tip comes from Kim McCrary over at All Things Simple.  She puts her kids' outfits for the day (including accessories) in a Ziplock baggie.  Then, her kids can pick out the outfits they want to wear for the day once on vacation and everything is inside the baggie.  I think this is a great idea and am willing to give it a try!

And now for some pics of my summer fun...

Lily with her new goggles!

Lily's art project from story time at the library.

Elly was entered into the baby contest at the Prairie Home Fair.  

She took 2nd place!!

Elly pulling up for the first time!

NEW Common Core App....get it now!

Once again thanks to Dr. Lori Elliot for this FAB find!  You can now access the common core standards on any of your devices.  Mastery Connect has created an app for the common core standards that you can download to your phone or iPad.  You can even place it on your blog or website.  Check it out below.

Mastery Connect Core App