Winding {down} and Gearing {up}

We are still winding down from our busy week we had last week visiting with old friends, completing a Lego Robo camp, starting a new session of ice-skating and finishing up volleyball! 

Monday- Picking up Alex from staying at Grandma's for two nights...shopping and eating lunch...makes for some sleepy passengers...

Tuesday-Friday- Alex and Emily completed a Lego camp where they learned to build and program their robots to complete obstacles and challenges...competing against each other on the last day to see who's robots completed the most obstacles correctly...

{Emily's teammate was one of the only participants who completed the first programmed obstacle correctly...landing her and Emily in the local newspaper...not only was she thrilled to have her name mentioned in the paper...but it was front page material!  She was super excited!}

Tuesday- We met with our old friends who moved away and now live in Tennessee and came for a 'work' visit...her husband had business meetings which meant we got to have fun!
Emily also started ice-skating again, beginning a new session a level higher!  Good job Emily!
We also watched her volleyball team win their very first game!  They were so pumped and we couldn't contain our excitement either!

{Emily earned 5 points for the team...and also recieved the 110% Effort Award!  We are so proud of her energy and willingness and enthusiasm in everything she does!  She had fun on and off the court!}

Wednesday- We had another fun afternoon meeting up with our friends for a pizza lunch and play time at The Commons and kidscommons kid's museum...

{Alex and Emily love climbing the rock wall and Alex climbed the wall blindfolded as one of his challenges...and he made it to the top!}

Thursday- One more visit with Carmen {can you tell we miss her tons?} for breakfast before she heads back to Tennessee...until next time...

Friday-Saturday-Sunday- The weekend awaits!  We made it through a busy...but fun week! 

Time to catch a breath...

Enjoy the gorgeous skies we had every single day...

Celebrate a braces-free smile with ice-cream and Twizzlers...

{...new retainer...still with his bottom braces...}

{...squeaky new grin!}

Getting rowdy with a new bouncy ball...

Preparing for Sunday school...

{cutting out paper crowns for the kids to decorate...David, Shepherd Boy and King!}

Getting up early and spending all morning outside...catching grasshoppers and spreading mulch...

...And trying to get a little bit of sleep...

...as we are gearing up for a much needed relaxing vacation at the beach...
...leaving our best furry friends behind...

{...bless Skipper's heart...he is going on 14 years old and he will be staying with the vet while we're away because he needs a few more tests to rule out this and that...we are not sure what to expect yet...but we've been preparing for the day he will no longer be our loving pet for a long time...and have been giving him lots of extra love and hugs until we leave!}

...here's to another week full of fun and family...as a sunny beach awaits!