It's officially summer here

It's officially summer here School ended Friday with the last sections of the standardized test. I gave them the CAT5 and we order the tests from family learning organization since we have a history with them and kind of want some consistency in this regard. The Saturday after the tests were finished I promptly got ill. Some weird thing that followed a mild sinus infection (that I think we all got from great wolf lodge) and working out too hard. It involved a wicked sore throat and fever as high as 104.3 and chills. I'm feeling a bit better today- though the sinus problem remains. It's just so dry here in the summer compared to Atlanta. The kids are on the swim team at a local club. We got a year membership just for swim team really. They've made some friends- being up at 6:45 everyday with the same poor souls will do that to people. There are only two more weeks of swim team and then the real sport begins- or so they call it here. Water polo. A bunch of the swimmers here are only on swim team to condition for polo. So they've talked Henry into joining. And Samantha. And Max I believe. I haven't blogged in awhile so let's talk about Everyone- maybe an informal update.

 Alice- she's standing and holding onto stuff. Sometimes she'll let go absentmindedly only to be reminded by a soft thump of her bum meeting the ground. She growls and loves to wrestle. She's not a cuddly girl- She's a wrestly girl. She loves baths and bananas.

 John- he's so much fun. I truly love this age. He's not quite thre-evil, but he's outgrown the terrible twos. It's a nice breather in the middle. He is so active! Always hunting for a toy, dancing, looking for snack. His appetite is very healthy and he eats most anything. Something new he tried out and likes is roasted and salted seaweed.

 Frankie- she's on a training team for the swim team. It's where she learns all the strokes and practices with other kids of her skill level. She LOVES the monkey bars at the club's playground. If I ever don't know where in or out of the house she is all I have to do is listen for the live rendition of any song off the frozen soundtrack.

 Mary Jane- she is a fool for monkey bars too. Can't get enough. I have to include a picture of her and some friends blisters. She enjoys swim team and homeschool Monday night soccer. Chris took them last night so I could rest and she enjoyed him being her "coach". She is also working her way through the magic treehouse book series.

 George- He's into swimming and soccer as well. But he really enjoys hunting for huckleberries in the woods. The woods here are just chockfull of berries! He'll be taking his first real art class this summer and he's excited about that.

 Max- he is baking a lot nowadays. Most of the time not following a recipe. And in baking, you need to follow a recipe- but nobody told him that! His stuff comes out delicious- as evidenced by how quickly they disappear. Last night he made these pecan spice cookies that smelled heavenly. 

Samantha- she enjoys acting goofy- really enjoys it. You know teenage girls- how they have these outbursts of attention grabbing actions? That's her. I think I like this age too. So fun and refreshing... And dizzying really. She loves trying to scare Alice (nothing scares Alice). Her friends at swim team are fun. Her social life is beginning to pick up.

 Henry- he's quite the social butterfly. The older guys at swim team didn't realize he was just 14 until time trials. He seems to be always chatting up a group of people during meets. Samantha and Henry have made friends with a girl that wants to dye their hair. I think they've planned this for later this week. Pictures of the results of this extravaganza to follow. He's not stopped growing. He's about 6 foot now and Chris said he probably has another year before growth vertically stops. I think he'll be awesome at polo- with a reach like that.