blink

this happens every year.

one day we are celebrating the last weeks of school with a million spring-time activities...

choir concerts

spencer sang a solo

 (no pic of allie singing?)

dance recital - beautiful dance, terrible pic

pre-school field trip

and graduation

jr.high graduation

 and lots of great lacrosse

 (this next one is of of him shooting an actual goal even though it's hard to tell)

not to mention, the musicals, which i already documented, final projects, AP and other end of year tests, and even, a new job. 

spring is busy, and by the last day of school, we are all jumping for joy.

literally.

because by then, we most definitely need the break.

and then,

(this is the part that happens every year...)

i blink too quickly.

and the next thing i know,

i'm making breakfast,

packing lunches

and taking first day of school photos.

and even though, it's going to be a BIG, awesome, exciting year for each one of the kids, 

i just can't believe that

 summer is over.

 wow.

five for friday

1. i love it when cousins come to town and everyone just picks ups being best friends where they left off. even the little guys just play like they've never been gone. love that about cousins.

2.  with a little help from a garbage can, a picnic blanket and the self-timer, we got this impromptu family portrait that we'll call,  moores minus eleven since that's how many family members are missing from it. the next time we are all together, i am going to INSIST on taking a large family portait. it's way over due.

3. it's summer, therefore we swim. mostly with trent and cousins because the teenagers are too busy with other things.  the boys didn't even get swim passes this year - first time ever. strange. i bring my camera every time, but so far, this is all i've got. :)

4. the summer of cards. this has been a big favorite activity of my kids this summer (probably because it's an air-conditioned activity). usually there are many neighborhood and other teenagers at the table with them, and occasionally a board game, but usually cards. they're not asking to watch tv or play video games, so it's good with me.

5. this pic was a happy accident.

i was trying to take a self portait of  four of us and it didn't turn out. i'm so glad. it's my new favorite.

in orlando...

 spencer showed great bravery by riding on all four plane rides even though it made him a little nervous.
you know, come to think of it, i am not a very good flyer either, and i was brave too. :)

i only wore my hair down for about ten minutes on the first day - then in a messy bun for the other six and three/fourths. even a pony tail was unacceptable because hair was still touching my too-hot neck.

we saw penguins (my favorite) and dolphins and whales.

tasted all kinds of coke from around the world, it was pretty gross.

rich channeled john lasseter.

spencer had the gall to tell me that the rockin' roller coaster was "just ok, mostly it was just turns". what the? it's one of my favorite rides of all time.

then i saw the photo and laughed at him because it seemed to me like he was having a good time.

woody gave ethan his hat as a reward for being brave enough to give him a hug. (he must have known that ethan was nervous.) that moment made the whole trip worth it.

taylor's long thick hair reacted so awesomely to the amount of humidity in the air, that it provided daily entertainment for us all. this photo doesn't even do justice to the sweet fro that it was.

allie purchased the ultimate pin and lanyard collection she's always wanted - with her own hard-earned cash.

we ate really bland, over-priced food at the famous planet hollywood. (we're smiling because we didn't know how bland and over-prized it would be yet.)

ethan was psyched to be just tall enough for most of the rides we rode.

the kids, little guy included, salivated over this sweet ride at epcot...

 we fed the dolphins and pet the sting rays.

we saw all the important people and took photos with most of them.

even in orlando, the teenagers managed to make time for texting. usually while waiting in the long lines or riding shuttles in between parks.

taylor channeled his inner viking.

 his fellow SBOs would be so proud.

all the people in our family INCLUDING rich, rode this ride. the photo was terrible or i would've purchased it as proof for rich doubters.

spencer managed to sneak into several photos without me noticing until reviewing them later. these two are my favorites.

we walked at least 100 miles over the seven days - seriously, and i had about sixteen blisters on my poor feet to prove it, i'll spare you the photos. with the heat and humidity, we were all pretty wasted at the end of each day - ok half way through each day.

 hot and miserable, but i still managed to get them to smile for me. ya, i got skills.

  we all loved chilling at typhoon lagoon in the water for one whole day to beat the heat.

there was one more part of orlando that we all loved, but it deserves it's own short post. so you'll just have to wait. but here's a little clue...