Griffin's Lunch Date

Griffin "reunited" with his'old' friend ella, who he has not played with in months! They had so much fun together. Ella's mom Holly & I were cracking up at them...1st they wanted to sit at a table by themselves & they were discussing their schools like they were old college buddies. They had a blast at the Family Fun Station & finally went to Kilwin's for ice cream... which Griffin watched his melt! The finale was that they just couldn't say goodbye to one another, so we let them drive home together in the back of our NEV & they were making plans for the next time they would play together (determined to be at Ella's house). So, so cute.

Steppin' Time

Griffin decided & convinced Sophie & Josie that it would be fun for him to walk on their stomachs. I was just hoping it would not end in tears & it didn't. They laughed so hard, they were crying. Funny how a 2 year old can come up with ideas for games for 8 & 11 year olds & the older kids follow along.

Tool Time

Warning...The Lowell men got their tool boxes out! Let's just say we still need a plumber, however, it was a good effort made by all. Thanks for trying, xoxoxo!

The last Lowell heads off to school

Ready to walk out the door (lunchbox is for Grammy's house)
Sophie, Sydney & Josie are there to support Griffin on his 1st day
Sophie walks Griffin in to school

Griffin (with a full entourage) headed off to his 1st day of preschool. Yay. He is ready to work & play hard. Griffin's 1st stop on his way home from the hospital when he was born was to The Montessori School here in Celebration to pick up big sister Josie who was in kindergarten at the time. We'll keep you updated as his year progresses. No tears for mom, a few from Griffin- which we were told he quickly got over. As much as it amazes us what a boy he has turned into almost overnight, we embrace this next phase!

Annie Leibowitz...he is not!

Lee wanted to show me a picture he took of Josie sleeping with our cat Lola last night. When we uploaded the picture to our computer it said we had taken 38 pictures! Apparently, Griffin took our camera & starting shooting various pictures, including some of us...& I had no clue (mommy of the year!). I am thinking he may not be the next Herb Ritz.

The boys get their haircuts

After the last haircut fiasco, Lee took matters in to his own hands & made an appt. with Pedro who cuts his own hair. Lee is waaaaaaaay more picky about his hair & who cuts it compared to me (Okay, i don't have much of a style these days, but you get my point). Griffin was not happy to have his hair cut. Although he does love scissors, he kept saying "Ouch, ouch, ouch" everytime Pedro cut his hair. This one was much better, we left a few curls against Lee's wishes, but I still miss crazy long haired Griffie.

3rd grade...here comes Josie!

Josie is off to a great start. We know she is going to get a great education because she has the same 3rd grade teacher as Sydney did...Mr. Fiorito. He has a money system in his class where the kids earn money based on AR tests they take, problem solving etc. In Josie's world, "money talks'- she has always been incentive driven & she is completely onboard with Mr. Fiortio's plan. In fact, when I picked the girls up yesterday, she walked right by me with her nose in a book. I told her I didn't even know she knew how to walk & read at the same time! She was reading she told me because the 1st student to score the highest AR points in the 1st 3 months gets $50 (Fiorito $'s). Who knew that was all it took!

Hello Middle School

1st day of school
Sydney is ready


How can we be sending Sydney off to Middle School? Time is flying by. Sydney was excited & nervous at the same time. We met her teachers last Friday & they all seemed great. She has her good friends Sophie & Hannah in most of her classes...unfortunately, she does not have one class with Maija, but atleast they had grades 3-5 together. When Mr. Melrose was told they had no classes together he asked Sydney if her hands were shaking from withdrawal! She came home exhausted & although this is a big change for her, we know she will do great & we are thankful she is so organized!!!

Week two at IMDP

jazzy josie
she loves hip hop
Sydney & Hannah - always laughing
silly faces- it's over!
All the campers

The final week of summer, Josie & Sydney continued to dance at IMDP. All this time Sydney has been our dancer & Josie has been playing sports, but Josie, it turns out, really really enjoys dancing...her new favorite is tap! The kids put on a very entertaining show...

R & R at The R-C

Lee & I had some alone time this weekend- we spent Saturday & Sunday at The Ritz-Carlton here in Orlando. We love this hotel. We have ventured out & tried other resorts, but we keep coming back to The R-C Grande Lakes because we love the service & it is so close by. The weather wasn't so great until Sunday afternoon, but we ate & drank well, had amazing massages at the spa & were able to finish all of our conversations without interruptions (priceless). Thank you to Angie, who watched the kids (mostly Jo & Griff as Sydney had back to back slumber parties). All Sydney cared about was that we brought her back the chocolates they leave on your pillow at night- which is her definition of a quality hotel! The girls were also quite impressed when I told them I was in the sauna with the person who plays Hannah Montana's mother on televsion. Now we're back to reality...

Hammock Beach Rocks!!!

We had another quick weekend trip to the beach...this time to the Atlantic Side- Hammock Beach Resort. Itwas totally fun...all we did was swim, eat, beach, sleep & repeat for 2 days. Unfortunately, some of us got too much sun & lesson learned...reapply sunscreen every 2 hours!!! We love these quick beach weekends- very fun to try out different resorts.

Summer Intensive Dance Show

Finally...the girls go back to camp! The last 2 weeks of summer they are dancing all day at IMDP. Josie has never taken a few of the classes offerred & she did great & actually enjoyed it & (barely) complained about wearing tights & leotards - although she quickly made her own dress code! The girls came home exhausted & starving everyday. The end of the week show was lots of fun to watch & quite impressive- they learned so much in such a short time.