We drove home from Florida on May 21 – Izzy’s 11th birthday. We decorated the car for her, and we took a quick tour of her birthplace, Chattanooga. We got to see the house she was born in, the house I lived in with my folks when I was in high school, and we ate lunch at our favorite barbecue joint, Bones. Isabella spent the rest of the day navigating from the front seat next to me and doing homework. Believe it or not, this is the only picture from that day:
Of course, we threw her an excellent birthday party a couple weeks later. That post is soon to follow.
We packed up the shuttlecraft and headed to Florida in the early hours of May 14th. We found a place on the beach just 15 minutes from Mike and Ginger’s place. It was 6 days of fun, sun, rest, and relaxation. We got to hang with Grandma Ginger, Grandpa Mike, Uncle Nathan, Aunt Miki, Rachel, Vera, Koen, and Nolan. The kids spent most of the time in the pool, while Nicki and I spent most of our time at the beach. We really enjoyed St. Pete Beach: it wasn’t crowded, the sand was clean, the neighborhood was nice – it was no Siesta Key, but it was close to Ginger and Mike and gave us everything we were looking for in a relaxing vacation. Perfect.
Home for the week.
The view from our balcony.
Koen, Izzy, and Nolan get ready to hit the beach.
Ace plays on the beach for the first time.
Izzy and Ty play in the sand.
Ginger and the kids.
Uncle Nate and Ace.
Bearcat and the kids.
Koen, Aunt Miki, Izzy, and Vera approach the rough seas of the first day following a storm. The surf those first few days contained the best waves I’ve seen in the Gulf since I was a little kid. It was awesome.
The boys have had enough.
Nicki is quick enough to snap a picture of the dolphin that hung around most mornings.
Picked this up in a little shop on Madeira Beach. It’s a true statement.
Rachel and Nicki – Nolan and Ace
Pool full of Masons.
“Hey,baby…if you squint it’s easy to imagine we’re in Jamaica.”
The sunsets were beautiful. Nicki showed some skills getting the gull in this pic. We were very happy to have such a great trip to introduce the newest Mason to the beach.
As we do every Easter morning, the kids searched for their Easter baskets, got fueled up once they found them, went outside and searched for Easter eggs, got fueled up some more, and we took the trek down to Hillsboro and Aunt Gaye’s house for another Easter egg hunt. Lots of candy, lots of hunting, lots of awesome family, and lots of candy. Also – some candy.
On March 3, Ty turned 6 years old. Of course we had cake and presents at home on his birthday, and the following Saturday we celebrated with his friends and a few family members at McDonalds. This was our first McDonalds birthday (can’t believe we were able to avoid it this long), and it really was a great experience. They assigned us a dedicated server lady who provided everything we needed. The kids played in the Playland and screamed like banshees. They ate cheeseburgers and sucked down sodas. Ty blew out his candles, everyone had cake, and we wrapped things up with presents. No cleanup, no hassle, dirt cheap. Everyone had fun and Abby Finch didn’t even have to get a cast or any stitches. A perfect birthday celebration.
Ty opens some presents. You’ll notice a pretty nice scrape on his nose. Further evidence that “SAFE Place” isn’t so safe afterall.
Every 6 year old boy should get Sea Monkeys for his birthday.
…and a bike.
This is what Ty looks like when you call him on his birthday to wish him a Happy Birthday and find out if he liked the present you got him:
Earlier in the day, Nicki was invited to celebrate Ty’s birthday with him at school. That kid is something else.
Now for the real party:
Ty and his best friend, Clinton, who Ty refers to as his ‘step-brother.’ Although this is not accurate, it’s still amusing.
Charming the McDonalds lady.
Jon Turns 37
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
We went down to Hotel Thacker to see the Chicago Thackers while they were in town. Ace and his cousin Wilson.
Isabella and Dut tinkering out in the woods behind Hotel Thacker.
Our party of five was in full swing during the late winter/pre-birthday season. We celebrated Ace’s first Valentine’s Day, took in a Blues game, and began wrapping up the school year. There were school functions and a great focus on education.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Nicki and I tried to pick fights at the hockey game but nobody wanted a piece of us.
Ace and his daycare lady, Miss Tina.
Izzy and a few of her classmates presented their Rube Goldberg machine at the University of Illinois Springfield to a few hundred people. It was quite impressive. Check it out here. Seriously, she had a lot of fun and their contraption was awesome. It was made using paperclips and rubber bands, and it opened a hardcover book and turned a page. Here’s the team:
Ty did great in school. His reading/writing is quite impressive. Look for a sample soon to be posted on his page. In the meantime, we were quite proud of this little progress report from Mrs. Walters:
We got Ace a bouncy seat. It’s not quite like the models we’ve had in the past that clip to the top of doorways. This one is freestanding. It’s much bigger than what we were anticipating, but after a few attempts he really seems to like it and has learned some pretty cool tricks. It’s too large to keep it assembled in our house, so there is a little setup time involved. Getting him in and out is sort of a tense hassle, but we try to play it off like its additional extreme adventure. Once he’s perfected his triple-lindy back flip 720 mctwist with a frontside ollie I’ll post another video. In the meantime, this is his maiden voyage:
Ace has started solid foods, and we’re all pretty excited to see how it goes. Masons LOVE food, so its important that we get him started right and teach him the 5 food groups: tacos, bbq, steak, Chinese food, and pasta. However, the Doctor lady insists that babies can’t eat those things, so he’s had to settle for rice, oatmeal, and veggies. I don’t blame him for sticking his nose in the air at it. Thanks to Sadie for the highchair – pretty sure it’s the best one we’ve had, and not just because of the pricetag. The first picture is actually his first bite:
Grandpa Dean celebrated his birthday in January. Izzy and I were sick that day, but Ace, Ty, and Nicki got to celebrate with him at Aunt Gaye’s. Dean is a special part of our lives, and we celebrate him as often as possible. Thanks to Grant for the awesome photo bomb:
Speaking of the Fuller clan, we all went bowling down in Litchfield. We had a great time visiting with everyone and bonding over janky equipment and laughable service. In fact, we’re planning another similiar gathering in Bloomington this month. Hope to see you there.
Please keep Papa Stu in your thoughts. He’s been having a rough time with some health issues. Mike came up to see him and surprised the kids with his visit of a few days. It was great having him here – we’ve missed him a great deal, and this was his chance to finally meet Ace. Surprising the kids was classic. Check out the look on Isabella’s face when Bearcat came strolling through the door at 8:30 on a weeknight.
Note: Isabella demanded that it be made clear she had just gotten out of the shower and her hair was wet and that’s why it looks like that. She’s so cute…she thinks she’s people.
Thursday was Ty’s 6th birthday, his party is today, and tomorrow is my 103rd birthday, so there’ll be another update shortly. Included in that will be a video of Ace’s first go in his Bouncy Seat thingy.
