Surf Camp - Saltwater Cowgirls - second week

Paige and Connor did their second week of surf camp with the Saltwater Cowgirls and it was extra fun because their friends Quinn and Cailyn were both signed up as well. The kids love surf camp and were actually supposed to do surf camp the previous week with East Coast Boarding school, but it got canceled because a hurricane blew past and the seas were pretty rough.

The waves for most of the week were not very exciting, but they still enjoyed the camp with their friends. Andrea got a few pics and videos of them out at the beach on the last few days of camp.

Top Golf with the Neals

Sunday afternoon we met the Neal family at Top Golf. We got two bays so we were able to have a kids bay and an adult bay. It was fun to hang out for a couple hours with friends and have really enjoyed golfing more than we expected we would.

 

Beach time with friends - Jackson, Emily and Kathryn

On Saturday, Andrea and I played tennis in the morning, ate lunch at the surf club right by the sand, and then in the evening we met some friends at the beach. Andrea's friend Kathryn was there with her husband Martin and her son. Connor's friend Jackson met us at the beach and we picked up Emily and brought her so Paige would have a buddy too. It was pretty warm when we showed up, but it cooled off after a while and the weather was just about perfect for the beach.

Once it started to get dark, Andrea ordered pizza and chicken strips from the snack bar and we ate by the pool and then the kids all got some oreo shakes. It was a super relaxing and fun day, we definitely enjoyed our time at the club.

 

COVID19 Update

It's been a while since I had a post around the Coronavirus Pandemic, so thought I'd post an update. The cases in America and around the world continue to rise and so far there isn't much expectation of anything changing in the near future.

In America, the total number of positive cases crossed 5 million and there have been over 160,000 deaths.

Locally, cases are increasing in Florida. We have seen masks become more widespread in public, however there is still no law or rule to wear them in our county although there are requirements in Jax Beach and other areas in Florida. We wear them whenever we're out in public. Our goal right now is to continue avoiding public places and especially indoor spaces. We have been going to the beach, playing tennis, and eat at restaurants, but only outdoors. It's hot this time of year, so it's not always comfortable or convenient, but we believe it's necessary and reduces our possibility of exposure. 

The big decision point for us recently was around school. The first day of school was pushed back by three weeks to August 31st 2020. Our school district has 4 options available: 

1. School onsite 5 days per week at the current schools
2. Online school with the current school where your child is enrolled
3. Online school with the county virtual school 
4. Homeschooling

We have given it a lot of thought and although it looks like over 70% of students are planning to go back to school with option 1, we've currently chosen option 2 for our kids. Connor and Paige did pretty well with it at the beginning of the pandemic and we feel like it would be smart to hold off on sending them back. This past week some schools in Georgia started up and there were some pictures shared on social media showing crowded hallways and students without any social distancing or masks. We've subsequently heard reports that these schools have now had confirmed COVID19 cases. 

There are lots of news reports right now around COVID19, lots of misinformation, politicization and anger/fear. It continues to be something we're learning to live with and we are still doing our best to stay healthy. 

Level 7 tennis tournament - Amelia Island Plantation

Connor and Paige both participated in a tennis tournament this past week at the Amelia Island Plantation courts. We were kind of looking forwards to playing against some new people, but most of the kids signed up were local kids we've seen in other tournaments. 

Connor's first match was on the stadium court against a boy he's played previously. They had a really close and tough first set and Connor was actually up 5-4 at one point. Unfortunately, the boy's mother gave him some coaching on the changeover and Connor ended up getting beaten 5-7 in the first set and then 6-0 in the second. His opponent got a lot of confidence after his comeback in the first set and they both played hard.

Paige's group only had three girls in her division and they were both members from our tennis club. Her first match was against her friend Zoey and her second was against Rosalyn who we'd never met before. Paige played hard and won both her matches. It was a hot day for tennis and Paige did an awesome job staying focused, keeping her energy up, and playing hard. We were so happy that she had a successful day of tennis and she earned a lot of points for her efforts. She will probably only need to do one more orange ball tournament at this point and we're looking forwards to her graduating to green dot soon.

Connor won his second match in the consolation bracket and got a medal for winning his bracket. He had a lot of great points and it was probably pretty tough with a long break between matches. 

Ritz weekend in Amelia Island

This past weekend we spent a long weekend in Amelia Island at the Ritz. The kids had a tennis tournament scheduled and Andrea planned a family weekend together as well. The kids got new twin sized air mattresses and we all got cozy in the hotel. 

We went on a Shrimping Eco-Tour on Thursday. The boat was pretty uncrowded and we did our best to keep our distance from others and wore our masks when we were close to other guests. The boat took us around the Fernandina Beach area and discussed the history and shrimping industry. Towards the end they dropped a net in the water and pulled up a few fish and shrimp. We checked out the sea life in some tanks on the boat and then the kids dropped them back in the water and helped to steer the boat back to the dock.

On Friday morning we started the day off with a kayak trip on the Lofton River. Connor and Andrea had their own kayaks and I went tandem with Paige. The water was pretty calm and it was a relaxing and quiet tour. It was a little difficult to paddle for 2 hours and Connor was pretty tired by the end, but we all finished without any help.

The rest of the weekend we spent at the tennis tournament and relaxing in the room, by the pool, or at the beach. It was a nice little getaway with the family!

Visit with the Grands

On July 27th, Paige and I went over to Grandpa Rick and Grandma Alice's house to hang out a bit and meet their new dog Pepe. We hung out on the screened in lanai and went for a walk and also enjoyed some of their yummy caramels.