Truck Obsession

I mentioned Fin's obsession with trucks in a previous post.  He goes nowhere without at least one truck in his hand.  Diaper changes, swim lessons, meal time, doggie duties, anytime we go "bye-bye"... you will rarely find him without a vehicle of some sort on his person.

As is our early morning routine we sit on the couch (he with his bottle and bag of Cheerios and me with my "hot") and watch some sort of kiddie show until I'm fully caffeinated.  He will hand me the remote and ask for "truck" at which time Grandpa has to give up his morning CNBC Squawk Box.  :-)  I recently discovered a really cute toddler level show available on Amazon Prime called Tom the Tow Truck and it totally mesmerizes him.

Once I'm fully alert and functioning we start right in with playing.  You may be asking just how does one play with trucks?  Well, we stack them. We crash them.  We wash them.  (Especially after he's eaten lunch with them.)  We line them all up. We practice their names.  We talk about what each one does....and then we start all over again.  He can do this for hours...and hours...and hours...so lately this is how we've been spending our days.  

I shared this video on Instagram recently so I apologize to those who've already seen it but I need to do some bragging to the rest of my family.  

At the time of this video we were missing the helicopter and the fire engine but trust me, he can pick out all seven by name.  I know I'm biased but I think that's pretty incredible for a 20 month old.


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Other randomness...

Against her many pleas, I attended Meg's high school open house this week.  I realize that she's in high school but I like to be able to place a face to a name when it comes to her teachers.  Chemistry (Honors) will definitely be her most challenging class but I have full confidence in her.

I started a Zumba Gold class last week.  (Think Zumba for the "older" generation.)  Two of my local book club friends attend and it's been a lot of fun. The ladies were all very welcoming and it's so nice to exercise in privacy (no windows to the outside world) and without judgement.  (I have no Latin blood in my whatsoever so while I can do the moves, I can't do them with style.)    

My Miami book club meeting is this Saturday.  Our book is  Lab Girl by Hope Jahren.  I loved it and while you certainly don't need to have a scientific background to appreciate it, I am very interested in hearing how our non-scientist members felt about it.  

That's all folks!  I know I'm not posting as regularly as usual so I appreciate that you're still taking the time to stop by.

Fin Can Swim

Fin began private swim lessons a few weeks ago, something I consider a must for all Florida toddlers. His instructor actually lives one block away from us so it's been very convenient to keep up the routine on Grandma days.

I've watched him slowly progress but was floored by this video that Colleen shared with me yesterday.  He has come so far in just the last couple of lessons!

I love that in addition to swimming, he's also learning to count.  :-)






I am soooo proud of the little guy and as you can see from that final smile, he's pretty darned proud of himself as well.  Go Fin Go!

Family Photos

My brother and his wife recently organized a family vacation in The Keys.  It's difficult for our entire family to all gather at once so this trip was extra special.  

I know not everyone in my family is keen on having their photos shared online so I will only be posting my immediate clan.  Today I thought I'd share a couple of photos taken during our first night's dinner.

You'll have to excuse my mussy look.  I had just spent 15 minutes entertaining a very active Fin outside in the 150 degree heat.  But my husband and daughter look fabulous, don't they?

And is usually the case with a toddler, it was impossible to get a photo of my son, daughter-in-law and grandson all looking at the camera at once.  But given that it was way past his bedtime, a busy boy is a happy boy.

I had no problem getting him to look at me later, especially when he decided he wanted to take the photos.

I'll share additional photos as I get them sorted and edited...not my favorite activity.

Back to School

If you think that only the parents of younger children relish "back to school" you would be wrong. Very wrong.   :-)  The summer boredom of elementary/middle school soon morphs into high school teen drama and while I love her like crazy, I was not sad to see her out the door this morning.

She is officially a high school sophomore and, as is traditional in our house, she is required to pose for a first day of school photo.  Please note her carefully chosen "all new (but doesn't scream new) slouchy outfit" as she put A LOT of thought into this plain white tee, gray sweatshirt and skinny jeans ensemble.   *eyeroll*

She has a fairly rigorous schedule so I'm hoping she likes all of her subjects and teachers.  This and "a bunch of friends in her lunch hour" will make the difference between smiles or tears when she walks through the front door at 3:00.  Wish us both luck.  

My Poor Neglected Blog

Dear Blog,

I haven't forgotten you.  Truly I haven't.

I wake up every morning with good intentions but somehow get sidetracked with one thing or another.

Right now I'm blaming it all on Meg.  (drama this, drama that, can you take me here? can we do this? can so and so come over? blah, blah, blah...blah, blah, blah, blah)

Princess starts back to school on Monday (hence much of the drama....don't even get me started on that) but if you bear with me, I'll be back to visit next week. We'll do some catching up, I promise.

I do wish I could stay and chat right now but you guessed it, Meg has to be somewhere in fifteen minutes.

Before I go though, I'd like to wish my father a Happy 75th Birthday today.  :-)

Love you Daddy!


Sincerely,

Jules