Theo turned 6! And who would want to miss a minute of that day?
Grandma Debbie & Grandpa Steve called all the way from Egypt before
the kids got off to school with birthday wishes.
It was also International Day of Peace - and Wakeland Elementary celebrated with a program where the kids got to donate pennies to “Pennies for Peace”, sing a Peace song and have the schoolwide picture taken on the grass. They lined the kids up in the shape of a dove and the photographer stood on a ladder on the top of the school to get the shot. Should be fun to see the results.
After school was filled with birthday calls from family and friends, lots of birthday cards and fun. We ended the night with cake and ice cream with some new friends down the street.
Because it was a school night we put off miniature golf for a night (Wednesday is early out day here). The mini-golf facility is decked out as a pirates cove - complete with live allegators!
Wednesday we met some of our new neighborhood friends at the park to discuss a possible camping trip for the weekend. (Camping!!)
At first we couldn’t figure out where one would camp in this area - but we were soon educated.
You camp at the beach!
While we were at the park figuring out menus and such the kids ran and played with a big group of kids from the area. They ran and played and suddenly out of the corner of my eye I saw this:
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| Check out that smile! And he is giving his friend Emma a ride as well! |
BEN RODE A BIKE!!! Why we didn’t think to put him on an old man’s bike I don’t know!! He rode and he rode and he rode - he pumped kids around and around! Needless to say - we are on a search for a 3 wheeled bike for him!
Thursday, Theo got to go have lunch at the Pittsburg Pirates training facility across the street from their school because he had been chosen as the kindergarten Student of the Month!
Spencer spent the week trying out for yearbook comittee at the middle school - going an hour early each day to design a cover that would be judged at the end of two weeks deciding who would get to stay on the comittee.
Unfortunately, the teacher didn’t feel he had all the skills necessary but encouraged him to try out next year after he had a chance to take a graphic art class. He was a little disappointed but thought the class was a good idea.
We found a good swim team, but it is a bit of a drive. We are still trying to work out how to get him there. But we are still trying to work out a bunch of things so we will add that to the list.
It was so different from the camping we have done up north!
First of all you bring a fan, and extension cords because the campsites have power! (keep in mind it doesn’t get much below 75 degrees here at night - nothing like the near freezing temps we were used to in the dead of summer in the mountains)
The campsites were full of Christmas lights at night -
strung up between palm trees on the beach campsites. Totally magical!
Since we arrived after dark on Friday night, Saturday morning brought such a surprise - we were camping in a jungle!
Theo learned to swing on the palm fronds like Tarzan and September
spent the morning swimming with a few Manatees!
Unfortunately, our camera ran out of battery - the heat zapped it in the car the night before and
we didn't have the charger, but we have been promised pics from our fellow campers and when we get them I will post all I can.
Tom took Spencer and Theo to meet a group from church to go fishing on the south fishing pier before he went into work for a few hours.
Ben spent most of his time fishing with the boys and doing everything he could to get ahold of the 3-wheeled bike that belongs to one of the older boys. We had to RUN after him several times to bring him back when the owner of the bike decided he wanted to ride it!
Monday Ben and mom spent the day at All Children's Hospital in St Pete. Unfortunately, Ben's heart function has dropped and he is being referred to the cardio myopathy clinic in November. We have several more appointments ahead of us in the coming weeks. For news on Ben's health we update
www.caringbridge.org/benjaminswapp - please feel free to check that out any time if you are interested.
Tonight we are hoping to get to the beach (tropical storm in the gulf = good waves) and make a decision on moving. We have a townhouse we are scheduled to move into next Wednesday - it is nice, and big and new with a pool out back and within walking distance to the Spencer's school. But there are very few kids in this community, it is gated and it includes some very exclusive million dollar homes. The townhouse has a private elevator (the only way we would do it with Ben) and a good sized garage for storage. It even has an office. But we are concerned about the lack of children in the community and hopeful that they will be tolerant of the noise and activity that comes with our family.
Out of the blue, this weekend, a family in the neighborhood across the river from us found out the house they have been trying to buy for years now has come down to their price. It is in their same neighborhood and they have offered us their current home for rent for as long as we need it.
It is small - 1600-1700 sq feet. 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and a backyard full of toys. It is a neighborhood full of kids - including their 5. The price is right, they are willing to move out next week and are also willing to enclose the garage so Tom can have an office.
We have to make a decision tonight -
As a side note, I got a call from a woman whose husband is being transferred here from Birmingham, AL. They are also Mormon's (we have a mutual friend) They have 3 kids and have been looking for a 4 bedroom home for weeks now and are so frustrated - we talked for almost an hour about this crazy market and all the messes that are out here. It was so nice to hear someone else going through the same thing - although we are sorry someone else is feeling our pain. I was able to give her some leads and hopefully they will be here soon so we can get to know each other.
Wish us luck - better yet, offer a prayer. We are a bit tender in light of the new information on Ben's condition and we need to get out of this house next week.
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