Trace had his first day of 6th grade today. He is attending Jupiter Middle School this year. Unfortunately, his school is only open to virtual school at this time. Trace was excited to report that he already knew at least one person in each of his classes, whether from the neighborhood or one of his sports teams. I'd say that make for a successful first day.
Birthday Breakfast-
Birthday Dinner-
Kianna made me her gourmet burgers for my birthday meal, which never disappoint. Kaylee made me the chocolate chip cookie dough cake I requested. The kids made me nice cards and Trevor gave me the Apple Watch I requested. I'm a blessed woman.
Pickleball Tournament and Beach Day-
Not sure if this will become an annual thing or not. My youngest two got a little too competitive, but it was fun regardless. Afterwards, we packed sandwiches and went to Bathtub Beach on Hutchinson Island. It was a wonderful day!
Our little miss Kianna is 14 years old. She is a girl of many interests and strong opinions. She loves animals of all kinds and currently wants to be a veterinarian. She frequently requests a new pet, whether it be a hairless cat, snake, frog, fish, etc., She wants them all.
She is very creative and loves to decorate her room. She is super organized when she wants to be, just look inside her dresser drawers and you will find perfectly rolled tops and pants. Yet her room is nearly always messy and she is somehow always cleaning it...
Kianna is very smart, but procrastinates. She enjoys reading book series and listening to audiobooks. Her all time favorite being "The Selection" series. I'm unsure how many times she's listened to it. She also has read the "Hunger Games" series, the "Harry Potter" series, and the "Divergent" series recently. She has a tendency to become a bit obsessed with whatever series she is currently reading.
She loves playing sports, her favorite being soccer, followed by basketball. She plans on going out for cross country this season, although she hasn't ran since last summer. She loves her teammates.
Kianna loves to laugh and does it loudly.
She also loves to sing and does it loudly.
Kianna is a strong, confident young lady who is not afraid to speak her mind.
We love our Nana Bear and all that God has created her to be.
Manicure-
Aunt Stacie's gift was taking the girls to get their nails done. Kianna is a girlie tom boy, if that's possible...
Friend Party-
Kianna invited Courtney and Jessica over to help her celebrate her big day. Trevor created a photo scavenger hunt for them. They had a blast playing messy twister. They made bath salts. They did a night swim with glow sticks. They ate yummy food with buster bar and red velvet cake for dessert.
Bubble Tea-
One of our birthday traditions has been going out for bubble tea. This year, we invited Kaylee, Lauren and Marianna to join us.
As if 2020 hasn't been crazy enough, today 120 mph winds swept 700 miles through the midwest wreaking havoc along its path. It came at 2:00 pm with only 20 minutes warning. It caused significant damage throughout Cedar Rapids and Marion along his path from Nebraska to Ohio.
Becki watched her front tree get lifted out of the ground and then set back down. Bree had a tree fall on her car totaling it. My mom has a steering wheel sized hole in their roof, along with damage to the back fence and trees. My dad and Sue, lost their back fence, had damage to their garage door and lost screens in their three-season porch. Thankfully despite the damage all of our loved ones are safe.
I thoroughly enjoyed my mom's visit. Not only did we have a great time in Madeira Beach, but we time by the pool, as well as, walks and bike rides around my neighborhood. She even got to meet my new friend, Fabi, who joined us on one of our bike rides and loaned my mom her bike with its comfy seat. The highlight though was our bike ride with Shelli and Stacie on the Lake Trail on Palm Beach. We thoroughly enjoyed it beauty until the torrential downpour began. Then we laughed as we got pelted with rain and soaked completely. It was fun having Shelli and Stacie join us. I love my family!
One of Kaylee's summer bucket list items was watching the sunrise on the Atlantic Ocean and the sunset on the Gulf of Mexico. Aunt Bree and Aliyah are currently vacationing in Madeira Beach, so we decided to visit them for the day.
Sunrise:
Mom, Kaylee, Kianna, Trace and I all got up early to watch the sunrise at Coral Cove Park. After enjoying it, we went out for breakfast at Berry Fresh Cafe. Once Trace realized we were driving three hours across the state, he decided to stay home with Dad. We dropped him off and headed west.
Madeira Beach:
We had an awesome time with Bree and Aliyah. We got to meet Bree's boyfriend, Matt, and Aliyah's friend, Jensyn. Both were great!
We spent the day walking the beach and chatting in the water. We swam out to the sand bar and found the mother load of sand dollars. The girls had never been out there before. They each took home a sand dollar as a souvenir. I also was able to show them the coquinas, which are tiny, little clams that kick their butts up in the air whenever a wave disturbs them. They are super fun to watch! We ate pizza on the beach for lunch and went to John's Pass and had ice cream for dessert. It was super fun sharing some of my fun childhood experiences with the girls.
