Here Comes the Sun ...

The sun came out and we had a couple of hours left of fun in the sun with everyone. We are all sad that this vacation is over!! I know that Andrew, Katie and Matthew will really remember this vacation .... so much fun!!!

Kind of Cloudy

Today is cloudy and drizzly, but the slides are all open and the kids are having fun on them. My tailbone is KILLING ME!! The kids think it is hilarious to keep repeating, "Momma broke her bum!: Seriously, very painful and I am definitely not going on any more water slides. I could have caught myself when I fell, except that I was holding both Julia and Will as we were getting into the pool!! What we do for our kids!! I got to play a little ping pong with Andrew and Katie and I took Julia to see the dolphins. When we got over there, it started raining pretty hard, so we only stayed for a little while. Noticed the sun is peeking out ... taking the little ones back out for one more swim.

Day Six - Boo Hoo

The last day of vacation is always the worst --- so sad, time to get ready to go home. The weather looks iffy today, so we are going to grab a quick breakfast and then off to the pools and slides. Andrew, Katie and Matthew are going to the kids nightclub tonight from 4 - 7 and the rest of us are catching an early dinner. Sean is going to take the kids to a comedy club tonight while I pull all our stuff together!! Julia is begging me to take her to see the Dolphins. We are not doing the swimming with dolphins ($160 per person - ouch!), but I am going to try to walk down there and see if they will let Julia look around. Hopefully we will get a bunch more pictures today .. signing off until later

Stand By Me

Video of Will learning to stand .. sorry for the wrong orientation but could not figure out how to flip it. Some still photos below ..

Day Five - Rain Out

Jules and Kate checking out the lillypads

Brotherly love

So many pretty girls


Part of going to Atlantis during hurricane season is the risk of rain. Well today we got rain. It started right after breakfast and never stopped. We ate a later breakfast and then just walked around the property for a while. We looked at tons of fish, took some pictures, Sean took all the kids for ice cream, played Ping Pong in the rain, went to dinner and then Sean and Andrew went to the movie 21. As I am blogging, the kids are watching a Hannah Montana concert on tv. Tomorrow the weather looks better so we are going to start early and make the most of the day on all the slides and pools!!!

Family Night Out

At least everyone is looking at the camera

Shy Julia

Do you see Will peeking out from the stroller?

What a handsome boy? Looks like Andrew, huh??

We had a nice dinner at Carmines tonight ... huge portions We are all stuffed. Tried to get a few family pictures. Julia wasn't that compliant, but when is she?? Off to bed early for another fun day in the sun tomorrow.

Day Four - Matthew's Day

Today was Matthew's day at the water park. He ruled the slides and the rides. He has done all the rides except the Leap of Faith (the straight down slide on the side of the Mayan Temple). He is loving the water park and even though he fell off two rides today (his nice brother Andrew rescued him both times), he is gaining confidence!!! Way to go Mr. Moo ....

Mom took a spill into one of the pools and hurt her tailbone!! Ouch!! Going to an early dinner and then the older kids and Sean are going to a comedy club. Mom is going to chill with the little ones and try to get some reading done while they are asleep.

Day Three - Mom and Dad are Tired!

We knew this vacation would be a total blast for the family, but at no point would it be relaxing. We were CORRECT. What a workout Sean and I are having packing bags, unpacking bags, applying sunscreen hundreds of times in the day, pushing the stroller that looks like an RV with all our stuff, riding rides, working through meltdowns, and to top it all off, Julia locked herself in one of the rooms and the latch was on at the top of the door, so we had to call maintenance to get her out!!! Eating out every meal is a challenge with all the kids, but the food is great, and the kids are doing well. Julia has done the arts and crafts each day, Sean and the big kids went to the movie last night and tonight. Tomorrow Mom and the big kids are going to ride the big slides and maybe even get in some parasailing!!

Day Two - This place is huge!!

We had a fun, filled day in the sun on Wednesday. We got up early, ate a huge buffet breakfast, and head to the pool. Mom, Jules, Will and Matthew hung out at the huge kid’s pool with tons of slides, huge structure, so many things .. while Dad, Andrew and Katie checked out all the big slides. We were surprised by how big Atlantis was and how many people are here .. kind of has a combination of Las Vegas mixed with Disney World feel. I know the kids were all annoyed at my insistence every 2 minutes to take a group shot. “There are enough pictures already for the blog” an original quote by Julia!!

Day One - We are here!!

Everything went very smoothly on our trip to Nassau. The flight time is less than 50 minutes so that is so great to be there before you know it!! The kids did great on the plane, but were bummed there was no beverage service. We have 2 towncars pick us up so it was pretty seamless getting to the hotel. We checked in and our rooms were ready We are on the 8th floor with a beautiful ocean view. The rooms are not fancy, but plenty big!! The kids did their customary bed jumping (from one to the other) and back!!! Guess who started that tradition – Sean of course!!! We explored a bit before dinner and then came back and went to bed early Ready for our first full day at Atlantis ….

Atlantis Bound

All the bags are packed, all the paperwork done, plants watered, the to do list is done ... so now time to relax and enjoy our long, overdue family vacation. We leave this today for a week to Atlantis (Paradise Island) in the Bahamas. The weather looks great - a bit of a risk to vacation during Hurrican season!! The kids are so excited - Julia keeps saying, "When we are going to Lantis?" Andrew and Katie can not wait to ride all the waterslides. Matthew asked if there are 2 beds in each room. I am sure he is thinking about jumping from bed to bed!! Will is clueless!! Just along for the ride. I am very thankful for this week with Sean and the kids. As soon as we get home, Meredith and John are here and then we roll right into football, softball and getting ready for school. Signing off for a while ...

Let's Hit

Katie has been hard at work on her hitting. She started with a new hitting coach a couple weeks ago, Dot Richardson. Very cool to learn from one of the best softball hitters of all time and a former Olympian!! Dot is so enthusiastic in her approach and an amazing motivator. Katie has a lot of drills to do at home (with Sean of course!) and she is improving every week. Keep it up Katie!!!

4:00 am Blogging

So it is 4:00am and William has been up for 2 hours. So unlike him to be up in the middle of the night. He started SCREAMING and I know he must have had a nightmare. Calmed him down and then he was so happy, we began playing. I know this sounds crazy, but it is so nice and calm and quiet and I am enjoying just playing with him. Let's see how I feel at 8:00am Mass. We had a great time last night with the Stellwags, Gourgues and Bakers for our cookout. Yummy food and lots of good company. Come to think of it, that may be why William is up. He kept eating, and eating and eating .... Today will be the day of preparation and packing for our Atlantis trip. We can not wait. A family vacation in long overdue ..... Sean and I actually made a "patience pact" yesterday!! Luckily the flight is just under an hour and we have 2 rooms. I can't imagine jamming us all in one room. My eyes are getting heavy ... time to get this boy to bed.

Another ballplayer?

I was making dinner last night and I looked over to see Andrew and William playing catch with a small blue ball. William actually stood at the coffee table for over 20 minutes "fielding" and throwing the ball back to Andrew. I can't show this to Sean or he will begin saying to Will, "Get the right grip, get your arm back, look at your target". It was so cute -- can't believe he is going to be one is less than 2 weeks. Boy times flies ....

Nothing much going on ....

Rain has been here for days .. everytime we think we should pack up for the pool (and believe me that is no easy task!), the dark clouds roll in, the rains come and we are trapped in the house. We did a bunch of errands today starting with a hitting lesson for Miss Katie, school uniform sale, book store, grocery store, bank and post office. The kids were thrilled when they saw my to do list this morning. Sean is traveling today so easy dinner .... not much else here. Everyone is chilling so the house is quiet at the moment. I am sure in a about a minute, the age old question, "What is for dinner?" will begin.

Lazy Summer Days

Finally our week has slowed down ... Andrew is still going strong in football camp and quicks and Katie is pitching, hitting, quicks and softball practice, but we are finding more time at home (and rain outside!). Andrew, Kate and Matthew have summer work that needs to get down before we leave for Atlantis. They have all started reading their books and should be done by the end of the week. Yesterday just took a few snapshots of the kids enjoying relaxing ..


Loving Legos

Matthew is digging Rock Band!!

We heard him singing "Should I Stay or Should I Go" over and over and over ...

Katie looking for cheat codes for her DS game (no lack of technology in her room, huh?

Check out katie's new long layered haircut!!

Something besides baseball & softball ....

Yes - we actually had an activity that didn't involve a ball. Yeah. Jules, Will, Matthew and Mom went to Monkey Joe's for a friend's birthday party. Monkey Joe's is full on big inflatable bounce houses, slides, etc. The kids loved it!!!

Even in a bounce house, she still wears a dress!!!
Will felt like such a big boy!!
Matthew was a crazy man going down the slides!!!

Not Enough ...

We came up a bit short today in our Championship game this morning. We lost to Conway 14 - 10 and just didn't put it all together!! Andrew had a nice game with 2 nice hits and some clean plays in the field. I was so proud of Andrew and his hard work this All Star season.

We also got a nice picture of the Kane Boys!!

I also was very proud of Sean's dedication once again to this All Star team. Sean has a passion for baseball (we all know that!!) but what alot of people don't know or don't see is how much he really puts into the kids, the practices and the games. He prepares so much for each and every practice (down to the minute and I am not kidding!). He cares about each player, their baseball skill development and their personal growth and character. He loves to teach each of them and is able to hone in on what each boy needs. He makes great sacrifices for his teams (and for our Little League) and doesn't do it for recognition or praise. He does it because he loves the game of baseball and wants to pass that down to each of the kids he coaches. I am lucky that my children have him as their coach. THANK YOU COACH SEAN!!!

A Perfect Night

The stars aligned, the rains, stopped and we WON tonight 5 - 3 against most likely the favorite team of the tournament. Andrew pitched his first complete game (85 pitches in 6 innings) and only threw 16 balls. He was in the zone and I must say his changeup was nasty. He struck out 10 and walked only one. The defense behind him rocked, we got the keys hits when we needed them and it was one of the nights you make sure are etched in your memories. I always remind Sean that these are the good ole days, the days 50 years from now you still recall and talk about. The excitement on the faces of those 12 boys was priceless. Can't wait until the morning (I guess only 9 hours from now) when they get to play for the championship ... Didn't take hardly any pictures because I was doing the book and holding Baby Will. Love the one with Andrew and Pawpy!!! I know that my dad was looking down tonight loving the game.

We Won!!

We played a great game tonight and beat Kissimmee 13 - 4. We play tomorrow night in the semi-finals against a tough St. Cloud team. Andrew will most likely pitch so I will have a nervous, baseball mom stomach tomorrow!!!

Not Our Night

Andrew pitched great last night and had several nice plays in the field, but we did not come out on top. We lost by one run -- the kids hit well but the other team fielded great. We play again tonight at 7:00pm. We have to win to stay in the tournament. Weather looks good ... wish the team good luck!!!

Rain, rain go away

So we got rained out last night!! Bummer. The rains started early afternoon in Celebration but we had to go to St Cloud. No better weather there. We ended up going to Kissimmee to try to watch the 12s and they got rained out as well. We will try again tonight and see how it goes.

Katie, Matthew and Julia decorated the front door so when Andrew got home from baseball camp he saw them!! That was so nice. They are all very proud of him.

All Stars 2008

11 Year old Team - missing Brandon J, Brandon S, Saige, Jonathon and Tim

Andrew definitely plays the hardest position on the team - Manager's son!!!
Tonight is the big night ... Andrew's first all star game in St. Cloud. He is a member of the 11 year old team and Sean is managing the team. They have had 15 practices over the past 3 weeks and are ready to hit the diamond tonight. We are so excited and hoping that the afternoon rains are light so the fields stay playable. Below is a picture of part of the team at the 4th of July parade. I will post more pictures tonight from the game. Good luck Andrew ... knock them dead. Do your best, have fun. We are all so proud of you.

Then and Now

4th of July 2008

4th of July 2005 (missing Andrew and Larson)

Kane Kids - 2005

Roberts Kids 2005

Kane Girls 2005

Kane Girls 2008

Fireworks Galore

The fireworks in Celebration lasted 28 minutes. They were awesome and the grand finale the BEST. Our friend, Ralph, and Sean set up some tents in the morning right after the parade so we had a spot reserved!! We walked from our house after a big cookout and arrive downtown around 7:30. Fireworks went off at 9:00 so it was the perfect amount of time to mingle, run around. do sparklers, and of course eat some more before the fireworks. Matthew is getting better with fireworks - he had to sit on Sean's lap but really liked them this year!!

Another 4th with the Roberts

Buddy spends the majority of her summer in Hilton Head with her sister and always makes the cross country journey!!! This year she left a bit later and was able to stop here for the 4th. We had such a great (short) visit, but we always get the most out of our time together. Tom flew home on the 5th and they stayed on Saturday and then they were off to HHI. Of course, we tortured the guys and kids with our picture requests. It is amazing to see how big our families have gotten when you take a picture of all the kids.