Orange Beach 2010

A couple of weeks ago we went on our family vacation to Orange Beach, Alabama. It was such a relaxing time! The boys had fun playing in the pool and in the ocean as well as playing shuffleboard, going to play miniature golf, and riding go-carts. My parents came along with us, and Shane and I were able to get out on the links to play a little golf one day as well. This is the earliest in the year we've ever been on vacation to the beach and it was such a good time to go. The weather wasn't too hot yet and the crowds weren't all that bad yet either.

"Cannonballllll!!!!!"

Colby chillin' in the sand

We went out to eat at Lulu's Restaurant one night which is owned by Jimmy Buffett's sister. There was a long wait to eat, but there was a lot of things to keep the kids busy and active while they waited. Dalton and Colby joined in on a little volleyball game that was going on with other kids then moved on to building sand castles while we waited. Then, we enjoyed a nice dinner by the water.

We were treated to a spectacular lightning show the first night we arrived.

One of the big things on most everyone's mind down at the beach was the oil spill. We never saw any oil while there and the beach was still very beautiful. There were reports that the oil came ashore the day before we left, but it was reported as being a mile or two up the beach and was just cleaned up and the beach was fine again. Here was a picture of a couple of boats laying some boom in front of our condo where we were. Kind of weird though... they didn't leave the boom there so I was wondering if maybe there was some oil out there and they skimmed it up and then left.

End of School

The last two days of school included a fun water day at another student's house where they rented an inflatable water slide and then an awards day at school for the last day of school. It was a beautiful day for having fun in the water, eating pizza, and just enjoying each other before school let out for the summer. The awards day included character awards in which Dalton was given the award for being Respectful. They don't keep actual number grades in first grade so they give out these character awards along with a few other awards. Dalton has had an awesome year in first grade. He has grown and matured so much over the school year as well as learned so many new things. I'm always amazed at the chunks of Bible verses he has learned in first grade. Also, I have been impressed with how he has learned the parts of speech in first grade. I just don't remember learning parts of speech until maybe 2nd or 3rd grade.

Here's Dalton with his teacher, Mrs. Bankson. We'll miss her next year!

Dalton excited about receiving another certificate. I think he's so excited because his teacher is also handing him a Hershey bar along with the certificate.

More May Happenings

The month of May continued with many end of the year activities for Dalton and Colby. There was the end of the year Awana blowout where the kids could enjoy many bouncey inflatables, pony rides, and crazy climbing things. Where were all these cool play things when I was growing up?!?

7

Dalton turned 7 years old a couple of weeks ago. We celebrated by letting him have his birthday party at a nearby skating rink. This was only the 2nd time he had ever been to a skating rink. He went a couple of months earlier to a friend's party and LOVED it and has been wanting to have a skating party ever since. He's still got a lot to learn about skating, but he has made great improvements each time he has been . Dalton had a great time celebrating with friends from school and church. I even busted out my old roller blades for the big day to skate around a few times with Dalton. Colby wasn't having much of the skating. He wasn't feeling very well on this day and I was only able to talk him into going around the rink about 1/4 of the way when he decided he was done. He ended up having a fever for a couple of days so hopefully the little guy will try it again sometime.

Dalton even tried the Limbo