Quick visit with Caleb and Zac

Since the Smith boys were on spring break we kept them after Dave's robotics competition for a couple of nights. Josh's mom came and got them during the day on Monday and then we met back up for dinner on Tuesday. Super fun for the kids to get some time together (we had tried to get them earlier in March but it just didn't work out!).

Playing some Uno Attack. They love this game.

Off to the pool. 

On Monday Ike competed in Battle of the Books and his team won!

Ready for some spaghetti.

 

Looks like they coordinated their outfits for this picture!

Indoor Soccer and Robotics

In March we were super busy with lots of robotics competitions and a couple of soccer games (Ike only made it to 2/6 games because of previous commitments!).

Here's an action shot of Ike super kicking the ball. Indoor soccer is absolute chaos it turns out so I don't think he'll be trying it again next year! Also note his giant shirt if you can see it...they gave him a mens large when I ordered a small, ha!

Dave and I started walking a lot with the weather getting slightly better. The water tower on campus is a Pokemon Go stop so we usually wander that direction. 

We took Ike and his teammate Jacob along with Ben (who is on OJ's team) to Caston's robotics competition. It was Ike's last chance to make state and unfortunately their team didn't make it but we were excited to hear Ben's team did!

Documenting two of my favorite things. Planting season and the NCAA tournament! This year Ike won our family bracket so he gets to choose a dinner out, pretty sure he'll go with Junk Ditch in Fort Wayne because he looooves their gnocchi dish!

Since Dave's team did make state for robotics, we went to Indy for that competition. The kids had to try out the hotel pool, then it was all business!

Dave and his buddies Jericho and Alec walking over to Lucas Oil from our hotel. We stayed at the Omni and it was super nice!

The builders, Dave and Eli with the robot. 

Zac and Caleb came to hang out and we took them home with us for a while because it was their spring break the next week. 

Stopped for some Chick-Fil-A on the way home. 

 

Florida 2023: Part II

Wednesday morning the forecast was the best for Manasota Key Beach. We hadn't been there before so we drove on down! The kids had a blast and the beach was super clean (at other beaches there were lots of dead fish from the red tide, gross!). They even made friends with some other boys and played a little football. 

Football continued on the street when we got back.

Josh and I went for a walk and man my hair was a frizzy mess!

This year the boys graduated from sleeping on cots in our room to sleeping on the sofa in the living room. They loved it!

Annual trip to get ice cream. Pretty sure one or both of the boys will be taller than me next year!

We took it to the beach to watch the sunset, another first! It was such a gorgeous evening.

Friday was our last day and we decided on Venice Beach-we don't go to this one very often but we really had a great time there, very few people were there so the kids had the run of the place. 

And bonus, the waves were great so they got to boogie board finally. 

We went to Darrell's Restaurant for lunch. We went once a long time ago and Dave has said ever since they had the best sweet tea he's ever had. He decided it still is true after trying it again. Josh and Ike tried crawfish for the first time and the food was delicious. 

Alligator sighting. 

We always have such a fantastic time staying with Josh's grandparents! We love the park and the people there so much and it is just the most relaxing trip.

We drove the whole way home on Saturday and got back right around 11 pm. All in all not a bad drive and we were happy to have all day Sunday to recuperate!

 

Florida 2023 Part I

We took advantage of the kids having President's Day off this year and headed down to Florida towards the end of February. 

Leaving cold, dreary Indiana! We stopped for the night just south of Atlanta for the night then were on the road again bright and early the next morning.

One of our friends kept insisting we stop at a Buc-ee's so we finally made it to one. Dave got the brisket sandwich which was a real hit. 

Finally made it to Florida and of course had to immediately go jump in the community pool. 

Grandpa Dave provided us all with delicious breakfasts throughout our trip :) And Grandma Mary knocked it out of the park with dinners too!

We went to several different beaches this year-Caspersen a couple of times, Manasota Key, Venice, and the jetties. The red tide was really bad so we tried to check the forecast and see where it would be the least impactful each day. 

Lots and lots of bike rides. On this one we spotted the alligator.

Another day, another beach. I think this was at the Jetties. 

Back on Caspersen. Tuesday started out a little cloudy but cleared up and turned out beautiful. We had the best weather ever this year!

We took a picnic lunch and ate right by the beach. 

Grandma Mary made a cool dinner with taco bowls that she did homemade! 

Watching some basketball in the evenings and the kids got us to play charades several of the nights. It's become a tradition!