Briam's Family Blog

We finally got a chance to take a little break and drive out to Hilton Head for a few days of rest and relaxation.... Here we are at the beach right behind the hotel.  The weather was great.... maybe a little too hot for me (and my white skin).... but I lived.

 There was plenty of rest time, and sun time.  To be honest... I did come home looking like a lobster from all the sun... but I am all better now.

 The hotel we stayed at did have kid activities that helped distract them from time to time.  They had arts and crafts.... and some fun games and activities that the kids loved.  One of these such events was the world renown 2006 Turtle National speed master race.

 This was a very grueling and challenging competition.  Selecting the champions was just the first step.  Then there was some intense training sessions... but in the end there could only be one champion.

 If you look into these turtles eyes... you see nothing but desire for victory.  The races where on...  and in one of the elimination rounds Matthew and Megan's turtles ran head to head.

 In the end, Megan's turtle blew Matthew's turtle away..... it was sad really.  Matthew's turtle did not even move while Megan's ran for its life.  Above is Matthew on one of the stone animals around the pool.  Below we have a picture of some sand castles that we found on the beach.... as the tide came in... these fortresses fell.  Matthew did enjoy jumping on a couple of them.

One of the other activities that they had at the hotel was Battleship!!  But not the game that I remember and love.  These cool inflatable wave runners were batter powered..... they were driveable...(not very fast).... but they did come with a water gun in the front center.  And the wars began..... no one was safe.... even innocent passerbys where easy target for these sea pirates.

 Here is a picture of my girls... Fun in the sun and a little work on the tans...

We had a great time, but sometimes you need a vacation from your vacations..... Or maybe thats just the sun burn talking. 

After weeks of swim class... sometimes you just want to go home and get away from the pool.  Well at least the big pool.  Maybe start a hunt.... a scavenger hunt for rainbows?  They say there is gold at the end of the rainbow....

But some rainbows do have gold.... but not just any gold.  Golden pineapples from the sky.

So perfect and sweet....  So the moral of the day.... "seek and you will find"....  But we don't always know what we are seeking.... and we never know what we will find.

.....where to begin?  So a couple of days ago some friends gave Matthew a turtle.  Well sure before he got the turtle, there was some begging and promises about how well he would take care of the new family pet....

So, this is what our turtle looked like... except his eyes where green.  This picture is stolen from the Internet since we did not get a chance to take our own picture or our now former turtle.  So what happened to this turtle?  HE TRICKED ME!!

He looked at me with those sad turtle eyes.... all he wanted was a little fresh air... some dirt under his feet... was that so bad?  ....besides... he is a turtle... its not like he could out run me...

I put him outside in a boxed in area.... under the new playground I am building while I did a little work.  No way that turtle could have climb it..... so I thought.  I came back a few minutes later... and poof... gone.... I searched around and around the area, but to no avail.... that turtle had escaped!!

Oh if only that was the end of the story.  My son was so mad at me.  "Dad, you were supposed to keep an eye on him..."  "Dad, I can not believe how irresponsible you were..."  It almost broke my heart to see my son crying because I had let the turtle get away...

I guess I will have to be more careful with the next pet...

Sometimes I just have no idea whats going on in some of the pictures that get taken while I am at work slaving away for my loved ones...

Anyways.... check this picture out.

What started out as a nice gesture of assistance in the kitchen could blossom into a thriving career!  There has to be a big demand for singing chefs..... I think...

No more need for hand holding... and baby spoons.  Sophia has been hitting the big league for awhile.

So sure, there may be a little bit here and there that did not make it to the right place, but I think we can call it a victory when the bowl does not end up on the floor.

At some point.... Story time will not be fun.  It will be filled with homework and assignments... it will lose its appeal and become a chore.

But for now... it is still enjoyable.  Even I enjoy it.... thats right.  Story time before bed is one of my favorites.... well, at least when they are paying attention.... or don't ask for the same book for the 100th time.... Other than that, it is one of my cherished time with the kids.

So the other day I saw this picture that Paola took of one of Matthew's drawings.

At first glance, this appears to be a sweet picture of Matthew, family and friends.... but if you look closer....you will notice that the smiles on the faces are really an elaborate system of determining if they are in good favor with Matthew.  One has to ask, why would you need to keep track of how good/bad people are to you?  ...perhaps if things get rough and the smiles become frowns, then this happy little portrait becomes a hit list...   I knew he was up to something.... now I just have to figure out how to stay on his good side.

Its that time of year, and swimming is in the air..... ok, maybe not in the air, but you know what I mean.  I hope.

This year Matthew is not alone.  Megan is also taking swim classes.  We were very lucky that the class was not full, so the teacher for Matthews higher class said she could also make time for Megan (who should be in the beginner class).  I think it helps her out since she is more confident with her older brother around.  Matthew is back in rare form, and doing well in his class.

By the end of this swim session (two weeks) he will be able to swim across the whole pool.  He loves the water.  I wish I could go with them to swim class.  Last year the classes we took were later in the day, so on days that I got out of work earlier I was able to go swimming with them too....