Rooms With a View

SPRING ORCHESTRA CONCERT!

Vinny's spring Orchestra concert was a couple of weeks ago. It was a very sad night since her amazing teacher is moving to England this coming summer. Now, before I start to cry, I will show you some photos...

Vinny and the other children who participated in the Region Orchestra.

Vinny receiving her award for Region.

Vinny and the other children who participated in the All State Orchestra. Vinny was the only 7th grader, the others were 8th graders.

Vinny receiving her All State award from her teacher.

Vinny won the Musicianship award for 7th grade along with her good friend Julia.

Vinny and Julia.

Vinny and Julia with their awards.

After the awards were given out, the kids who went to Allstate read a poem for Mrs. Gleeson. If you know Vinny, you know that she is very shy. We were quite surprised to see her at the podium reading part of the poem. I must share the video of this reading...

 

PAINTBALL!

A few weeks ago, a friend of Mitchell and Vinny's invited them to join them for a little paintball. The paintball takes place in the woods with a few different courses. The people who work there, split you into teams and make sure you behave yourself. I went along to take a few photos... surprise, surprise.

Getting ready to head out.

Vinny's friend gave her his vest to wear.

Mitchell.

I shot this through the woods. Mitchell was having a blast while Vinny was hiding behind a log.

Vinny was shot twice on the second course. This one was right below the vest and the other was just to the side of the vest.

The shoulder shot.

The brown spot is Vinny's birthmark. The spot above it is her welt from the paintball shot. She was finished after this round.

Mitchell did not get hit until the third course. He was still not finished. Here he is filling up his gun with more paint balls.

Did I mention it had rained the night before creating a muddy mess?

LAST YEAR AS A TEENAGER!

Today my baby turns 19! I cannot believe it. Either can he...

Patrick at 18 months riding a trolley in New Orleans!

He has not change much has he!

More on Patrick on Monday. The tears are flowing so I will have to try this again later. Have a great weekend!

SCHOOL BOARD HONORS!

In April, Mitchell was honored along with those students who were selected to the SC All State Orchestra as well as those who were in the National Honor Choir. Last week, Vinny was honored along with those students who were selected to the SC All State Orchestra. Here are a couple of  photos.

Mitchell shaking hands with the Superintendent of our district.

And Vinny doing the same. They both received medals and certificates. Yes, we are very proud.

MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE!

Vinny and I are heading to Atlanta today to see these guys in concert!

Tomorrow we are having lunch with a friend of mine from high school.

Happy Wednesday!

HIDE & SEEK!

On our second night in Folly Beach, we decided to make dinner in and then play some games. So, after a lovely dinner of Spaghetti and Meatballs, the games began.

Sunset from the screened in porch.

Three full kids.

Vinny & Claire have the same colored Toms.

During a round of Hide & Seek, it was either Patti or I who went out to the porch and discovered Claire hiding behind the Air Conditioning Unit. It was very startling. I had to take some photos...

There was no light out on the porch. The only light in this photo was from my flash. So, you can imagine it might scare the person who sees this in the dark.

She is just too adorable to be scary!

Too adorable! Vinny and I spent the night at their condo and the next morning it was time to say goodbye.

Saying goodbye is never easy! 

Patti & Alex. We have vowed that we will not wait another 4 years to see each other. We are hoping for next summer.

STARFISH!

 Before telling you about our afternoon on Folly Beach, I must tell my sister in law what happened to Mr. Crabs. The men who caught the Horseshoe crabs, tossed them back into the ocean. When the large one hit the water, it sounded like a car hitting the water.

After lunch, we decided to spend some time at the beach. First stop was under the pier to see what we could find in the tide pools.

A starfish inside of a sea shell.

More starfish.

And more starfish.

Me and my beautiful friend Patti.

Vinny took this photo and I played with it a little. I plan on printing a copy to frame.

Claire, Alex and Vinny.

Vinny & Alex

Alex, Vinny & Claire.

Claire & Vinny have had enough water. Patti and I also got into the water. I just could not take the camera into the water for photos.

Patti showing she still got it! I wish I could still do a cartwheel this well.

Claire & Vinny showing Alex how to do a handstand.

Claire & Vinny doing cartwheels. 

More Folly tomorrow! I hope you had a wonderful Mother's Day!

MORE FISHING AND LUNCH!

More photos of fishing.

The guy next to us caught these two and put an end to their romantic moment.

These are Horseshoe crabs. The big one was all caught up in the net, the little one was not. 

The little one was making a run for it back to the ocean. 

I decided to pick him or her up.

Isn't he/she cute.

Vinny, Claire and Alex with Mr. Crabs.

Vinny got gutsy and picked up Mr. Crabs.

After the crabs were back in the water, it was back to fishing.

Patti is Irish which makes her kids half Irish. This means they have Irish skin. So, Patti spent most of the time making sure her wee ones were covered in Sunscreen.

Sunscreen for Claire.

Vinny & Claire calmly fishing.

After fishing, we ate lunch on the pier. Nice view don't you think.

Claire and Vinny.

I hope you all have a great weekend and for those that are mothers, have a wonderful mother's day!

FOLLY FISHING!

On our second day in Folly, we decided to go do a little fishing off of the Folly Pier. We were able to rent the gear and bait at the pier. I had not fished since I was young girl but amazingly, it all came back to me.

While Patti was attempting to put a hat on Alex's head, she hit her lip with the bucket of frozen shrimp and gave herself a fat lip. I told her to put the frozen shrimp on her lip to control the swelling. It worked.

The man next to us caught this cute little guy.

Claire fishing.

Alex fishing.

Vinny fishing. The best part of this pier was the abundance of dolphins playing near by. I took about 100 photos of these cute guys. I promise to only share a few.

Claire was the first to catch a fish. After a quick kiss, we tossed him back into the ocean.

A dolphin jumped but I missed the jump and got the splash.

Claire caught another fish. Alex wanted to give it a kiss but decided it was too slimy.

Two dolphins!

Patti fishing.

I promise this is the last dolphin picture. 

More fishing photos tomorrow!

RED ROOF & BRIDGE!

I thought I would share a few photos of our hotel and the bridge in Charleston. Our hotel was actually in Mt. Pleasant which is one the other side of the bridge.

The view from outside of our room. That is the bridge.

I saw these contrails in the sky when I went outside. There must be some military base near by.

I have never seen this many contrails in one sky.

Vinny took these photos as we crossed the bridge. She did not enjoy this experience. I was not aware that she hates bridges.

Looking up!

A C 140 which is proof of a military base. 

Have a great Wednesday!