gone with the wind

i am back.  where am i back from?  let's leave that with moving and winter.  so camille you turned TEN!  yep. pictures please.
                                         

                                                                        T.  E.  N.

Whoo Hoo! 

                                                 yummy zebra cake that dad made!

 camille, this school year you got the self-discipline award and 4.0 honor roll for both quarters thus far. take a bow.  sorry for the blur??!!

gabe, you got the responsibility award and are just received an honesty award this very second, this a.m. of april 25th.  thanks for that smile that makes me smile when you are so very proud of who you are.
   

 also, you are playing your first session of indoor soccer. you asked to play the goalie in the game last saturday, which is a very brave thing to do because you wanted to so badly and you did and you dove-for a save and one got by!  way to go, awesome sauce!

camille it has been so happy, happy to have you in art at the red barn.  you are doing hard things and i am in awe of you.  this is your third session and i hope you hold on forever.  the groovy girls (as your teacher calls you)
           
so here are some during pics and i will need to add some before (they are on the computer that gabe smashed his head into while camille was running and it is July so)  and after pics but we are not done and i haven't even begun to add those familiar things we need to survive like all of my pictures of you two.

 this is the original 1960's floor under the carpet in the dining room and hall.  and as you know me you know i would have kept in a heartbeat if you could save it.  lucky for us gabe you have a small amount of it in your closet for me to smile on.  

                                                     dad and grandpa crowbaring it down...

   

                                                             

we pulled carpet out of the living room and all bedrooms to find a mix of white and red oak from 1960.  here is the refinished floor.  

not the end but can i finally post this after how many months?  okay.  

almost ten (many firsts) years...

                                                       

 

 

orange you going to smile for me?

                                       take me to my happy place...

backing it up, way up...to school

                                                         here

                                                          i

                                                       am.

                                                         love.

                                                        i

                                                         am

                                                        here.

                                           5th is here, too.  hello. 

we took a trip...

Thursday, our first 24 hour day in Puerto Rico we ventured off to El Morro in Old San Juan.  In the morning we walked to the grocery store (I should say danced on golden conch shells in the park) in a lovely torrential downpour.  A shopkeeper ushered us under his front stoop awning for shelter.  We smiled but kept splashing on our way.  Dad asked a woman on her porch if we were heading the right direction and she said yes, looking at us with pity or like we were crazy!  I am pretty sure we left trails of t-shirt, shorts, skirt water in the aisles of the store.  We have no pictures of these moments but unexpected ones are usually the best.

                              Looking up toward the lighthouse.

 

Doors...

                                       Sibling lighthouse love

                      Another gorgeous doorway with two lovely leaning kids.

Any sort of dugout with bars on it was a jail according to Gabe.  Not this time...

       Our nine-thirty Saturday nighttime destination: Bioluminescent Bay in Fajardo, Puerto Rico.  We kayaked through Mangrove forests to arrive at one of 5 bays in the world where micro-organisms light the water, including oars, hands, etc.  It was peaceful and amazing.  Gabe and I brought up the tail end on the return trip and had our own personal tour.  Gabe was kicking it.

             Trunk Bay at St. John and yes I could bake with that sand flour.

                                                      Coconut boat

                          I am still in awe that water like this exists.

                                      Father/Daughter water moment

                                            Braxton and Camille

                            First time snorkeling, um, couldn't be a better place.

                                                 Aqua Boy

                                    Kind of love it here with you guys

Gabe and I are working it-next picture-Camille stepping AWAY!   

 Love this man!

 7! Wow! Gabe turned 7!  I will take this boat (helicopter, ambulance) and any mode of transportation with you any day!      

                                          Barbados Shipwreck Snorkeling

 Wave Jumping

    St. Lucia and Dad's favorite-the Catamaran trip to Anse de Pitons.

         Water misting your back, sun cozying your body...I say yes!

                                                 La Famille

 

 St. Kitts Jeep Safari

                                                  Sugar cane

The Ponderers.

                                               Hiking it up!

                      A little football on St. Maarten-Le Galion Beach

                           And we come full circle-Old San Juan, PR

   Brett and I were here years ago before kids and it was nice to stand here again and see the walkway we traveled that twists down from El Morro along the ocean to the fountain. 

I guess I am ending it-the big finale-the fountain anyhow! It brings back memories and makes new ones and that is good.