So many have asked, why homeschool in the summer? And, quite honestly, I wondered on Monday if starting on Tuesday was really giving us all the break that we needed. Well, turns out that starting on Tuesday was the best decision for our family. We are only homeschooling three days per week during the summer. This morning as we were doing our work I had one child begging me to please give him a test tomorrow and the other one asking if he could still read me a story tomorrow AND they BOTH were pleading with me to continue reading our assigned Read Aloud story.....I had to remind them that tomorrow was not a "school day". They were visibly sad and happy at the same time. In other news, we are finishing off P's baseball season tonight barring no rain. C also has his last season game tonight and then his team will head into playoffs next week. The boys swam their first swimteam meet on Tuesday. Our neighborhood team won! They both did marvelous and they were beyond exhausted! We all were. MK continues to swim like a fish. Three weeks into the swim season and she is jumping into the pool alone (float on, of course), she swims with her face in the water and her little legs kicking as fast as they will go....then, when, if, she tires, she flips onto her back where she proceeds to grab her feet and float until the rest is no longer needed.

"1,2,3....GO!" This was taken at the beach. Now that we are home, she has graduated to jumping from the side of the pool. No fear.

"Pink baby" swims with us everywhere.

Seabrook Island

As we approached the island that our family has become so familiar with, Pryce was the first to shout "hey mom, Seabrook, we are almost there....I can smell the ocean!" And he was right. Even in the pouring down rain, my three children were more than excited as we took on the last leg of the trip. Ryan first introduced me to Seabrook Island in March of 1996. Seabrook is like no other. It is nestled in just beside Kiawah, SC, not commercialized, bike riders adorn the streets, deer munch on grass along the main road, gators lurk in the many "swamps" as my boys like to call them, pelicans flock in behind the shrimp boats as they make their way back to the marina, dolphins frolick in the ocean....the island is lush and green yet it has that salty smell and sticky appeal all incorporated in one. To say that my family enjoys every minute of our time spent there would be an understatement. There are not enough hours in the day when we are visiting the island - we simply can't get enough. The ocean, the pool, the bike rides, the treks to the Lollipop Shop, the wave jumping, the wave surfing, castle building, jaunts to the ice cream shop. This past week was our first trip to Seabrook during the 2009 summer season. As I sat and watched the children play at the beach during our first day on the island, I took note of the fact that this is the first year that all three children have played contentedly for hours at the beach. Years past, C has been my beachgoer....he always finds something to do whether it is building an elaborate castle creation or bodysurfing in the waves. P has always enjoyed the beach but once a crab appeared in the surf, he was done, ready for a snack and a trip to the pool. MK, last year she was skeptical about the whole sand thing so in order to keep her content there had to be food involved. This year, all three of them played until I said it was time to go....me, I had to literally pull them away! We also got to spend some quality time with our friends, the Hantzis family. Their daughter, Molly, was in P's Kindergarten class and they have become the best of buds. In summary, our first beach trip of the season was a huge success!

When the children were not swimming, they were hunting for ocean life in the surf. One day they dug a hole to house the many hermit crabs they found....they worked meticulously together as a team to keep all of their hard shelled finds happy!

My mom used to tell me that my face would stay like this if I didn't stop. For whatever reason, MK's newest trick is this pose....and she finds it quite hilarious especially when the camera is around.