Yep, I don't want to post too many times, so here is a basic rundown of our spring and summer. Hold on to your hats, ladies and gentleman!
1. April--We went to Florida! Disney accepted us with open arms, as did Universal Studios and the Epcot Center. The boys had a ton of fun and even though we couldn't ride the big rides, it was enjoyable to watch the kids' faces
every time a character made an appearance. We got to eat lunch with Winnie the Pooh and his friends (who all gave lots of hugs to the kids), and we saw many more!
At Universal (or
Universival, as Colin called it), we had the best interaction ever--
Spiderman! Colin was in awe, especially because he was wearing his
Spiderman t-shirt (and so was I, just for the record). Then there was a call for heroes and we watched him run out of the store! What an experience. While at Universal, we saw lots of Dr. Seuss stuff. There is a whole section devoted to him and his zany stories! Colin and Christopher were super excited to meet Thing 1 and Thing 2, to whom Colin proudly announced, "I have your shirt!" Watching their reactions were priceless! I would be posting a picture or two, but crazy Angela has lost the memory card with all of the pictures on it. Oops. So much for those memories! If I find them down the road, I will be sure to post them.
2. May--My birthday and Mother's Day were on the same day this year. I got treated like a queen. We went to Concord, NC and visited the Great Wolf Lodge. It was a lot of fun to be away and to hang out with the kids and Roger, but
jeez, it was unexpectedly expensive. It is definitely a trip to take with older children and after some money saving! We had a good time together, though and it meant a lot to be the special one for a whole weekend!
Also this month was Colin's 4-year-old graduation. I think it is silly to have a big graduation with gowns and hats, but that is what was done. He was so proud and earned "Most likely to replace Toby McGuire as
Spiderman" for his class. He sang some super cute songs and there was an adorable
slide show put together for the class. Again, no pictures due to that pesky memory card. Bah.
3. June--One 5-year-old and one 2-year-old coming up!! We celebrated with the kids and their friends the weekend before their birthdays since both were in the middle of the week. I actually have some pictures of that! We braved the massive thunderstorm that hit right as we set up shop at the park, and the kids ended up having the time of their lives playing in the rain and puddles! It turned out awesome, albeit a little bit wet and windy!
On Colin's actual Birthday, we filled him up with Iron Man toys and let him pick dinner. He picked Red Lobster! I guess all my bad mouthing of McDonald's has worked! I have a couple of those pictures, too.
Christopher also had an Iron Man kind of day, although those pictures are on the same memory card as the rest that are MIA. (Ugh. This is starting to depress me!) We had another fun day, and I believe we went out for lunch on his day, although my memories are a bit blurry here.
On June 5
th, we headed up to my parents' house to stay for a 3 week long vacation. It was such a blast! We celebrated the boys' birthdays yet again, and were inundated with toys (mostly super loud ones thanks to my lovely family members). They had the time of of their lives! I was able to help mom weed her flower beds (it took us quite a while, but we got it done) and I helped my Grandma prepare for her move to Florida. I got to spend a lot of time with her which is always such a blessing to me. I loved spending so much time with my mom and dad as well...and I even got a little bit spoiled by them. :)
During this trip, Roger had a business trip in DC, so he was up for the weekend in the middle and we got to spend an evening in DC while Mom and Dad hung out with the boys for us. We went to Morton's Steak House for dinner, and once we stuffed our eyes back inside our heads after getting the bill, we walked back to the hotel and just relaxed without worrying about what the kids were up to. We still have nightmares about that dinner bill, but we figure we don't do stuff like that, say, EVER so one time will not ruin us! We headed back to my parents' stayed one night, and then drove to Stafford to visit with Roger's family for Father's Day. What an added blessing that they live so close to my parents. We had a wonderful day of water slide and food, some adult beverages and Rock Band, with some b
adminton thrown in for kicks. It's always a lot of fun with Bobby, Elizabeth, Danielle, and Sue. There was also the added bonus of Aunt Doris being there that put the cherry on top. It's times like these that we really wish we lived closer to everyone so we could have more weekends like this! After our weekend, Roger drove back down south, and I headed back to my parents house.
Colin was also taking swimming lessons during this time, and in 3 weeks, went from non-swimmer to being able to float without assistance (in deep water) and swimming like a fish under water. It was really fun to watch! He had a lot of fun, and Christopher even decided that he wanted to learn to swim...he is an eager kid and wants to do everything that Colin does. He thinks Colin is the bees' knees!
4. July--I was deep into training for my half marathon, Roger was deep into studying for his full load of courses, and we were all deep into the summer heat! We had several days over 100, which keeps my "I hate heat" self inside. You would think that this would make me do things around the house, but nope, I just enjoyed my leisure time with the kids. My nephew came down for a week during this month and stayed with us. It is always fun to experience my nieces and nephews on a solo trip. It's cool to get to see more of their personalities that sometimes get overshadowed by their siblings when everyone is around. It is also a special bond for me. Watching them grow up has been amazing!
5. August--This month has been spent preparing Colin for Kindergarten and me preparing to kill my body in a 13.1 mile run over Labor Day. Colin had shown anxiety about Kindergarten all through the summer because he was afraid of not knowing anyone. We talked and talked about how great it would be, and finally, right before the meet and greet with his teacher, he decided that he was excited about being a big kid. I found out that his teacher was Mrs. Watson (the same teacher who in the parent orientation told us that we could make learning "funner" for our kids if they don't know they are learning. Anyone who knows me can attest to the fact that this blatant mistake in speech drives me bananas. I was none too pleased with this teacher selection, but decided to give her a chance. Upon actually meeting her, I found that she is a very nice and seemingly knowledgeable person and Colin seems to like her, too. Unfortunately, at the meet and greet, he had one of his famous headaches and couldn't wow them with his happy, smart, talkative self. I felt so bad for him! He started school on August 16, and cried every morning for the first 2 weeks. He seems to have finally gotten used to it, and has loads to tell me every afternoon!
Christopher is going to preschool! He starts tomorrow for 2 days a week in the 2-year-old room with Ms.
BethAnn. I had gone back and forth all year about whether or not to send him this year, and when the job thing kept changing, I just decided to not put him in. Well, as soon as Christopher saw that Colin was going, he literally was begging to go to school, too! "Me go school! Me go school, too!" I was so excited to get the call that there was an opening!
I am also excited to announce that I will be working at the preschool those two days a week that Christopher goes in. I will be in the baby room! I can't wait to get my hands on those adorable little ones! It will be nice to be in the same place as Christopher, with people that I trust, and also be here for Colin in the mornings and afternoons. God blessed me with this schedule! I will also be able to maintain my training schedule with my clients and will be picking up a couple of new ones in the process. Looks like it will be a busy year for me! Can't wait.
So this leads me to now...I am supposed to run the Virginia Beach Rock and Roll Half Marathon this weekend with my brother, Jimmy and my friend, Carole (who I have been doing all of my training with). I will have to let you know how that turns out, considering that Hurricane Earl is supposed to hit at the end of the week. Hopefully, I don't blow away!
I hope you enjoyed this encapsulated version of the Millers' lives this summer, and I will do my best not to wait so long in the future...it was annoying to try and remember it all.
This is not one of the greatest pictures of us, but it's the one we got that night!!!
