Bethany Beach 2017 (part 1)

Last week we took a family vacation to Bethany Beach, DE.  We left the day after school got out, so it was a busy time of finishing school, packing, and getting ready to be gone for a week, but once we got there we started enjoying ourselves immediately.  The weather was sunny and hot, but the water was pretty chilly.  It took some getting used to at first, but once you got over the initial chill of it, all was good.  From the very first day, it was gorgeous to be on the beach.  We rented a condo that was part of Sea Colony, so it was great to be right on the beach to come and go as we pleased with little effort.  Both Nina and Lyla are beach girls.  They love being down at the water - either digging in the sand or playing in the waves.  While they both enjoy sand and waves, Nina is the one who wants to be in the waves constantly, and Lyla has so much fun digging in the sand.

 

The other bonus to being at the beach is fabulous ice cream. It didn’t take long for the girls to sniff out a great little ice cream shop on the boardwalk that gave enormous “single”  scoop cones.  Bethany isn’t a super busy beach, but it has some great little shops, restaurants, and plenty to do, so it’s great for families, and we felt like it was a great fit for our family.

  

 

 

 

 

5th Grade Promotion and the Last Day of School

Last week was a super busy week for the Simpson family.  It started out with a really big day for Mark.  For six weeks he had been studying every day for a big exam to become PMP certified.  It’s a designation for project management that is really good for the resume and attractive to prospective employers, but it’s a very tough exam.  Mark had been studying and preparing to take the exam, however it was a stressful process until it was over.  We’re all smiles in the picture below, however, because we were out celebrating that Mark took and passed his exam and is now officialy PMP certified.  Great job, Mark!

The last week of school followed, and it was a busy one.  However, we arrived to Thursday morning, and it was the promotion ceremony for the 5th grade class.  We have really loved the girls' school, Legacy Elementary.  It’s not small by any stretch (over 1,000 kids), but it’s a close knit community of kids and parents with a great staff.  It’s been a great six years for Nina at Legacy, and while we’re sad to see her leaving, we’re glad that 95% of her class will all be going to the same middle school together, so there will be lots of familiar faces and good friends to make the transition with.

 

So, here was Nina getting ready to head off on her first day of Kindergarten… https://youtu.be/GQU_XygEtak

 

…and here she is getting ready to head off to her last day as a 5th grader!

There were some nice words from administrators, the presentation of promotion certificates, and a song, and just like that we have a middle schooler in the house!

  

Nina and her BFF, Grace - best buddies since 2nd grade!

  

The last day of school followed the promotion ceremony, and for 5th graders, it’s probably their best day of the year.  It’s kind of a tradition around Legacy that the 5th graders get an amazing party complete with human hampster balls, a DJ, awesome food, a game truck, photo booth, games, class shirts, etc. on their last day of school. This year was a beautiful day for the indoor/outdoor party, and the 5th graders had a wonderful time.  It’s all capped off with the 5th graders going on parade through the school to “Who Let the Dogs Out” blasting over the loud speakers (because they’re the Legacy Labs) and all the students lining the hallways to cheer them on.  It’s a great way to finish the day and their time at Legacy.

 

Then one last tradition that’s anticipated each year is that the buses take several laps around the bus loop while honking their horns and letting the kids wave out the windows (while spectators blow bubbles at them) as they drive away on the last day.  This was Nina and Lyla’s bus.

Lyla went straight to a class party after she got home, and Nina and I went to a little graduation celebration for some girls on our block, then we headed over to a graduation pool party for some friends.  Needless to say, by the end of the day she was exhausted, but she said she had absolutely the best day, so that was great!

Brambleton Middle School is currently in the final stages of new construction, so they’ll put the finishing touches on it this summer, and it will open brand new and shiny to the kids in the fall, so hello Brambleton Bears!

Sports Come to an End

Last weekend, Lyla’s soccer season came to an end with a Memorial Day tournament that just happened to be the same tournament Ryleigh’s team was playing in.  We enjoyed having games relatively close together in time so we got to see some of Ryleigh’s games, and they got to watch some of Lyla’s.  After games on Saturday, both girls’ teams advanced to the semifinals on Sunday. Lyla’s team ended their game in dramatic fashion, taking it to overtime then penalty kicks ending with a win, so both girls happily were headed to the finals for their age group.

  

Day two of the tournament brought torrential downpours and the temps dropped a bit, but our spectators hung in there!

Ryleigh’s team took their final match into overtime and then penalty kicks but unfortunately didn’t come out on top.  It’s such a tough way to decide a winner, and even though it wasn’t easy to leave without the championship trophy, the girls did a great job.

 

Lyla’s team played their final game to a tough 1-0 loss.  Even though they they are the second level team for Loudoun Soccer, they played again top level teams in this tournament, and they showed that they belonged.  They played tough, worked hard, and had fun. It was a great way for them to close out their year together.

  

Nina’s season also came to a close with the end of year cheer banquet.  The girls had a really nice evening that included a video recap of the year, a nice dinner, and handing out of awards and sharing memories.  Nina really enjoyed the evening with her team and the other two teams that were a part of FitWize Cheer this year.

 

  

Nina Turns 11

I am a week (almost) late on this post, but we have an 11 year old in the house!  I know I say this every year, but it’s hard to believe how quickly the years are passing as the girls get older. I can’t believe we have a daughter who is eleven!  She enjoyed starting out her birthday with a colossal Boston Creme donut (her favorite), she did have to go to school, but Mousey and Poppy visited after school and brought her an awesome new tumble mat, then she got to open some presents, have her dinner of choice (chicken tenders, mac n’ cheese and watermelon), and of course her double chocolate cake.  She said she had a great day! We’re so thankful God gave us Nina - she’s fun, she’s smart, she loves to talk, she’s sweet, and she has a kind heart.  Happy late birthday to our favorite firstborn!

 

 

Mother's Day and May Activities

It’s a little late, but we had a really nice Mother’s Day a couple weekends ago.  May is a busy time for everyone with spring sports, and the Williams had two games on Mother’s Day, we had one, and Bo had one, but we all found time to meet up for a great lunch at the Williams house.  The girls had a fun time playing, as always, and we mothers enjoyed sitting back and enjoying a nice meal prepared by the guys.  

Since Mother’s Day we’ve been busy with the ending of the school year and activities for the girls.  Nina’s best friend has Type 1 diabetes, and each year for the past 3 years, Nina has been a part of the JDRF Walk for diabetes with her friend, Grace.  It’s a great event to raise funds and awareness for Juvenile Diabetes with the added bonus of face painting, bounce houses, and other fun activies after the walk is completed.  This time we picked up another puppy to take home from the walk!  :)

  

During 5th grade in Loudoun County Public Schools, the students get D.A.R.E throughout the year.  I’ve been impressed with how the program was run at our school, and it seemed like the deputies did a great job educating the kids about the dangers of drugs, alcohol, and peer pressure.  After a year’s worth of D.A.R.E, the 5th graders had their graduation from the program this week.  It was nice to hear from the deputies that worked with the students as well as some of the students themselves about how the program has impacted them.  We are defintiely going to miss having Nina at Legacy.  It’s been an awesome school with great teachers, administrators, and kids.  She’ll be going from being a Legacy Labrador to a Brambleton Bear (middle school), and we can only hope her next school is as good of an experience as Legacy has been.

  

For all those wondering what Cayenne has been up to, she’s still busy stalking squirrels, getting plenty of baby dog time, and she even has her own Instagram page.  Feel free to follow her at @cayennethevizsla 

  

Sports Weekend

This past weekend was a pretty busy one for the girls’ sports.  Nina’s cheer season came to a close with their last competition which was held at 6 Flags in Maryland.  The event was supposed to be on Saturday, but it was the only outdoor competition of the year, and of course rain was heavily in the forecast for Saturday.  The organizers of the event opted to move it to Sunday, and it was a sunny and dry day for their last competition.  Lyla and Mark both had games on Saturday, then on Sunday, Mark and I had to split duties since Lyla had a soccer game and a birthday party to attend on Sunday. Since Mark was excited at the prospect of riding rollercoasters, he took Nina to her competition and I stayed back with Lyla.  The girls did a great job and finished their season with their best performance yet.  They won first place in their group and Grand Champion of all the Level 2 teams in their bracket.  

 

Mark took a video of their performance.  If you’d like, you can watch it via the link below:

https://youtu.be/17TDtgNTdFw

 

So, while Nina and Mark were in MD, Lyla and I were here for her game.  Earlier in the season we weren’t sure if she still had her desire for soccer or if she was ready to try something else, but we asked her to consider what she wanted to do, and she came to the conclusion that she really wants to continue playing soccer with her team.  Her renewed commitment has shown in her play recently.

  

This was a great shot on goal which the keeper stopped, surprisingly, but her next shot went in...

…and she was very happy about it!

 

As part of the birthday party Lyla attended later that afternoon, she received a $5 gift card to a very cool/unique candy shop that was next door to the trampoline park where the party was held.  After much deliberation, she settled on a large swirly lollipop to spend her $5 on.  She couldn’t believe that there was a lollipop bigger than her head, and of course that was the one she really wanted, but that’s a $25 lollipop!  Needless to say, we went with the smaller version.

   

Special Day

Last Thursday we had the awesome experience of meeting Simone Biles!!!!  She was on Capitol Hill to speak to a group of kids about staying away from drugs and alcohol for Take Your Son or Daughter to Work Day. Our good friend, who had a connection to attend the event, invited us along as well. Even better, it had been arranged ahead of time for us to be part of a small group that got to meet Simone before she gave her talk.  The girls were SO excited!!!!!  She was very nice to them and even signed her book that they brought along. It was definitely a day for them to remember!

 

And then because they both did great on their 3rd quarter report cards, we took an afteroon walk up to Sweet Frog.  I can’t believe we’re already closing in on the end of the school year.  It has literally flown by!