Vernon Volumes text

Vernon Volumes text

Friday, March 30, 2018

Spring break 2018 at Wild Dunes



This past week we spent Spring Break at Wild Dunes in South Carolina. It is our third Spring Break at Wild Dunes, and we've also been there twice for Thanksgivings. We drove in on Sunday, and throughout the week we played tennis in the mornings, went to lunch, worked in the afternoons, and played together in the evenings. The weather was a little cold on Monday and Tuesday, but once it warmed up on Wednesday we had perfect weather. We were worried we wouldn't get any tennis in on Friday since there was a lot of rain in the forecast. Thankfully on Friday, the rain started just after our tennis wrapped up. 

The kids enjoyed their tennis, and there was another family that had their three kids in tennis with them all week. They all got along well together, had some decent competition, and most importantly had a lot of fun. Andrea and I picked up quite a few good tips on our tennis and enjoyed some tough competition during our clinics. The Hudson Market wasn't serving ice cream for some reason, but we went to the boardwalk every day so the kids could have ice cream and Dippin' Dots. We had plenty of goodies to eat, and we also enjoyed trying some new restaurants that were out on the barrier island. We really liked Luke and Ollie's, where we had cheesy bread, pizza, gyros, and spaghetti. 

I took a bunch of videos throughout the week and rather than posting them all separately, I made a long video with them all together. It's a bit long, but I thought it might be fun to have a long format video for a change.





















Connor's 5th Grade Field Day


Connor had his 5th grade field day on March 22nd 2018. He loves his class with Mr. Zerrahn, however he knew going in to field day that they weren't going to be the most competitive class with all the physical challenges. Andrea went to see him compete, but unfortunately showed up just after he'd competed in the 50 and 100 yard dash. The races included a couple kids from each class, and the top few from the initial heats moved on to the final race. Connor made it to the final race both times, and while he didn't win, he was apparently super fast and we're proud of him for doing his best.

The class did their best in the different events, but didn't win anything the entire day. The last event was tug of war. Connor's class beat two other classes to get to the final and they were all very pumped to have a chance of winning an event. Andrea got it all on video, and it was super exciting. Connor and his classmates were so fired up and we loved seeing them get a win, especially on the final event.



Sunday, March 18, 2018

PVIC Patio for lunch


Today, after our morning tennis, we ate at the PVIC beach patio for lunch. The patio lunch service just re-opened for the season this weekend and we've been looking forwards to eating there again. The kids love the chicken tacos on the kids' menu, and Andrea and I split the California Club. The staff remembered that I liked a lot of sweet tea, and they were happy to see us. They had a new ice cream cookie that Andrea tried (still not as good as the chocolate chip and ice cream cookie that they got rid of last year). Paige tried their new unicorn cookie, which is covered in icing and sprinkles. She liked it pretty well and Andrea tasted it and also thought it was pretty tasty.

It was fun to eat at the beach again and we're happy to spend some time at our beach club again. We were there quite a bit over the weekend, playing at the playground and walking on the beach.

St. Patrick's Day PJ party at PVIC


Connor and Paige went to the PVIC PJ Party on St. Patrick's Day on Saturday night. Paige wore her St. Patrick's Day swag as well as her Unicorn Onesie. Connor brought, and wore, his onesie as well, however he didn't have it on when we arrived so I didn't get a pic of him in it.

Field day - Paige's 2nd grade class


On Thursday, March 15 2018, Paige and her class had Field Day and Mommy went to watch and take some pics. The weather was a little cool, which was perfect since they were going to be so active. The kids did tug of war, jump the river, a relay race, ball toss at bowling pins, and a flag pulling game. Paige wasn't super pumped for field day, but she had a lot of fun, participated and had a great attitude, and was happy that Mommy came to watch.











Birthday NBA jersey


Amanda and Abby got Connor a new NBA jersey for his birthday and it arrived in the mail this past week. We took a pic of him so he could send a pic to everyone to say thank you.

Sunday, March 11, 2018

Wolfie's paintball birthday party


On Sunday, Connor joined Wolfie, Namath, and Harrison for a birthday party to celebrate Wolfie's 11th birthday. Connor hadn't done paintball before, and we had a talk about being safe and responsible with the gear. It was funny to see in some of the pics when the kids were holding their paintball guns, Connor opted to keep his mask on and had good trigger discipline.

The boys played a few different games, 2v2 and eventually played with another group of boys that showed up. They got messy and worn out, and after paintball they swam at Wolfie's for a little while.






School Carnival




This Saturday, in the afternoon, we went to the school carnival. The kids have been looking forwards to it for a while, and Paige has been rehearsing some songs to sing with her classmates. When we arrived, we looked around for a little while and then went to the middle area so Paige could sing with everyone. There were some soloists during a few of the songs, but Paige didn't wan to try out for that. She did enjoy singing with everyone, and it was cute to hear all the kids out there.



Connor ran around with his buddies for most of the day. He did some obstacles with his buddies and we also bought them all a few turns on the ball toss and thankfully Connor's buddy hit the target and dunked that turtle.




Paige ran around with a few of her friends, but spent most of her time with Caitlyn. They got stickers on their faces, did the cake walk to win some cupcakes, and enjoyed some shaved ice.




Both kids enjoyed their time at the carnival, and it was all for a good cause to improve the security at the school. We could already see some new security doors and some new fencing going up.

Cooper's 12th birthday party - Top Golf


On Saturday morning, Connor went to Top Golf for Cooper's birthday party celebration. Connor hadn't ever hit a golf ball for real, only mini-golf. He took some pointers from Cooper's dad Steve, and then the boys played some games, hitting the balls at the big targets. Connor placed 7th of 8 in the first game and 5th in the second game. It was also kind of a neat opportunity for Connor to meet some of Cooper's friends from Ocean Palms. Other than Cooper, all of the boys at the party will be going to the same middle school next year.

We're glad Connor had fun and got to celebrate with his buddy Cooper.



Paige's hair



Most days Andrea does Paige's hair and I do Connor's, but recently Andrea and I will pick one day a week to sleep in. On sleep in days, Andrea has to do Connor's hair, or I'll have to do Paige's hair. I decided to take a quick pic this last week of Paige's hair before school since I thought she looked extra pretty.


Sunday, March 4, 2018

Connor's 11th Birthday


Friday was Connor's birthday and this year we took the opportunity to celebrate with family since the Vernons were in town. After Universal Studios, Chris, Abby, Max and Alex went to Grandpa Rick and Grandma Alice's house for the week. I met them for lunch one day, but on Tuesday through Friday it was mostly a normal week for us and the kids went to school and got caught up. On Friday, after the kids went to school, Andrea went to the store to get some decorations and for some sweets for Connor's birthday party.


After Connor got home from school, we snapped a few pictures of him with the decorations before everyone arrived.




Once everyone showed up, Connor opened his cards and presents. He was pumped to get a Minnesota Timberwolves jersey and a Jacksonville Jaguars pillowpet. Grandma and Grandpa got him a new basketball, and Chris, Abby, Alex, and Laura got him a new Xbox Forza Race Car game.






Paige's card and gift to Connor was super cute and homemade. She made a card with Connor and Paige on the front, and inside was a picture of Iggy. Inside, she wrote: "Happy birthday Connor. I hope you enjoy my present I gave you. I hope I can see you when you go to college.". She also made Connor a bookmark and a cute red bow.





While everyone was together in the family room, we got a Vernon group picture with the tripod.


After opening presents, we played basketball with Connor and his new basketball. Connor chose Mommy for his team as well as Alex. Chris, Abby, and I did our best against them, but we were definitely outmatched. After basketball, I went on a short golfcart ride with Chris, Abby, and Alex. Alex drove us around to the North Island and to the Found Forest area. We wanted to ride on the golf course, but it was a busy day for golf and we weren't able to. Once we got back, the pizza arrived, and we all pigged out. Since it was a nice day out, we ate in the lanai area. As the sun set, we brought out Connor's candle and we all sang happy birthday to him.








Max liked the candle, so we gave him a turn to blow it out as well.


In the evening, Connor and Chris did some NBA quizzes on the iPad and we also tried the new racing Xbox game.



Andrea and Paige dug out Paige's toys for Max, and he had a lot of fun organizing the Shopkins.



Max also wanted to play "tennis", and Andrea hit with him for a little while.


After they finished, a bunch of us took turns playing doubles ping pong together. It was super competitive, and Connor was pretty impressive hammering everyone with his big shots. Unfortunately, the video I got wasn't the best, but everyone had fun with it.




After it got late, everyone eventually left and we all went to bed. Connor said he had the best birthday ever, and we're glad everyone was able to celebrate with us together. Thanks to Andrea for getting everything together for Connor's big day, and for making his day so special.