Old San Juan

Old San Juan, Puerto Rico is a magical little old world city that reminds me of some of my favorite places including Charleston, SC and El Puerto de Santa Maria in southern Spain. IT is filled with beautiful, colorful buildings and vibrant activity. Howie and I enjoyed walking the streets of Old San Juan as well as one of the old Spanish Forts. We dined in two local restaurants for lunch at St. Germain, and dinner at Marmalade. Both were amazing! Puerto Rico has such a wonderful selection of places to visit. Old San Juan is one of the island's finest treasures!

An Evening Out in Paradise

On our first night in Puerto Rico, Howie and I celebrated our anniversary (5 months later) at Fern restaurant in the plantation home on the resort property. I was instantly wooed by the torch lit coy pond that flanked either side of the entrance way to the plantation home.

 I of course brought my camera to document every. single. moment. of our trip. I began taking photos of our appetizers . . .

 Howie's octopus (he said it was very tasty!) . . .

 My butternut squash soup . . . Then Howie reminded me, "We're on vacation, do you really want to take photos of our entire meal?" And really I didn't. So I put my camera away and enjoyed the rest of the meal and conversation with Howie. We did ask the waiter to snap a photo of us together, which is actually the ONLY photo of the two of us on the entire trip.

It's a little blurred, as our waiter didn't have my mad camera skills, but at least we have one of the two of us. Don't you love how we are all color coordinated!?. On our way back to our "apartment" after dinner we were serenaded by the coqui frogs which you will hear (not see) in the clip below.

We really loved the sound of the coqui frogs every evening. It was amazing!

Arriving in Paradise!

On Thursday morning, October 13th, Howie and I awoke before any rooster would ever dare crow, and prepared ourselves for our journey to the island of Puerto Rico. We arrived shortly after noon, ready for rest and relaxation. The concierge at the St. Regis resort had recommended to Howie a local beach side dive to stop at for lunch as we made our way from the airport to our island home away from home.

 Upon arriving at Soleil restaurant, I felt an instant sense of calm that only the coastal life can provide.

 How could you not feel peacefulness and relaxation with views like these?

 And these!

 Howie was also relaxed and ready for this vacation!

 While we dined on island cuisine, we were joined by one of the local dogs who actually had nice manners.

I named him Mojito per the sign he chose to escape under for a nice little siesta. After lunch we wound our way along the shore to our beach resort. I was instantly in love with Puerto Rico and would go back for a visit today. If you are thinking of a vacation in the near future, Puerto Rico is a wonderful place to visit!

Laundry List

It's amazing how many things can occur in one week's time! The absolute best thing about blogging this 365 Project, besides the obvious of learning my camera, is the chronicling of our life day-by-day. In the past week, we have had many wonderful and exciting things happening as well as normal ordinary things taking place. One of the not-so-ordinary things was a trip to Puerto Rico, just Howie and I. We had a wonderful and relaxed time and I can't wait to share all of the photos. I am going to back post soon, chronologically the events of the past week. But until then, here's my laundry list of what's been happening around the Avery house since last Thursday.
1. Emma-Caroline lost her first front tooth!
2. Emma-Caroline had a Character Counts Program and Fall Party at her school!
3. Howie and I left for Puerto Rico (LOTS to come about our trip!)
4. Emma-Caroline and Sophie had a fabulous time with their babysitter, Miss Ali (although a mouse was found scurrying in the kitchen.)
5. And much much more!

Fun Times With Sister!

Howie and I are blessed that our girls love each other as much as they do and get along so well. I think that hey will always be best friends! They can set each other into giggling spurts that is quite contagious! I am thankful that these too have so much fun together!

Sweet Friends!

We feel very blessed that Emma- Caroline has made some really close friends while at school. One of these little girls has been in Emma-Caroline's class since they were both one year old! The other little girl is a new sweet friend that Emma-Caroline has enjoyed getting to know this year in first grade. Friends make everything more fun, so we are certainly glad Emma-Caroline has great friends at school!

Fall Festivities

Emma-Caroline's school had a Fall break last Thursday and Friday, however, before school let out, the first grade class celebrated fall with a fun party! There was a lot of fun to be had with crafts, food, games and stories. I thought it was genius of the first grade teachers to go ahead and have their fall fun before Halloween. Just a little preview before the actual Halloween fun begins!

Check out Ms. Ellison's shoes! UT orange and "super comfy" according to her! Gotta love those!

 Making spooky bookmarks!

 Jack-o-lantern bowling!

 Ghost darts!

 Pumpkin decor!

Special treats from John!

Character Counts!

Emma-Caroline's school had a lovely Character Counts program put on by the first and second grades. We enjoyed listening to some pretty peppy little songs as well as a funny little play about what it means to have good character. I actually remembered that I have the ability to record video with my camera, so I will share a little from the program. Emma-Caroline is on the top row with a big red and white polka dot bow (are you surprised!). Enjoy!

 Emma-Carolie and her classmates before the Character Counts program.

 Emma-Caroline was listed as "Emma" in the program! Sacrilege! (Just kidding)

The next are clips from the songs. They are really sweet!

Snaggle Tooth!

Just before leaving for Puerto Rico, Emma-Caroline lost her first top front tooth. For months, Emma-Caroline has been working on that tooth. Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle . . . She even had a weekly visit to Mrs. Hughes' classroom (she is an expert tooth puller) to see if that stubborn little tooth could be yanked free. We had night after night of "trying" to pull it out, but it was not willing to leave it's home of the past 6 years. Finally, on the night before we left for Puerto Rico, the tooth finally came out! Funny thing about Emma-Caroline's teeth, they never bleed after being pulled. I always had gushes of blood and had to keep tissue in my mouth for hours. Emma-Caroline's teeth have come out clean every time. Maybe it's all the pre wiggling she does that guarantees a clean tooth when pulled. She's already working on the next loose tooth. Got to keep those tooth fairy payments coming!

A Good Bed Time Story

A couple of nights ago, Howie peeked in on Emma-Caroline in her room after she had gone to bed. "Amy," he called, "you have got to take a picture of this!" Grabbing my camera, I tiptoed down the hall at Howie's cue, finger to lips, opened the door to Emma-Caroline's room and found this.

 This sweet little girl had fallen asleep, arm propped on book while reading the latest of Cam Jansen.

 Emma-Caroline has been working hard on reading and really enjoys all of the books she brings home from school. We allow her to read for about 30 minutes after she goes to bed and then Howie lets her know it is time for lights out.

 This time, lights out came after the Emma-Caroline fell asleep. After snapping a few photos, we gently lifted her book away and got her in a more comfortable position to sleep.

They always say a good bed time story will put you right to sleep!

Personal Time

Sometimes I think it is very hard to take personal time. From the moment your feet hit the floor it seems that all of your time is spent doing for others, not really yourself. Take a quick shower so you don't use all the hot water up for the next person in, hurry and get dressed so you have enough time to help little ones get their clothes on, inhale a cup of coffee and a bite of toast so you can make sure that others have enough to eat and are fueled for the day. And the list goes on, until it is the end of the day again, you are exhausted, and you think, I never took any time just for me. It's not that it's bad to use your time to help and take care of others, it's just that you aren't the "Energizer Bunny." You don't just keep going and going. You need to take time for just you, to rest, relax, enjoy, energize . . . by doing something just for you! Whether that something is sitting for 30 minutes and enjoying music while sipping a cup of coffee, or reading an interesting book or magazine, or walking the neighborhood and taking in the colors of the fall, it's important to do it, just for you, no one else. I think I always have the best of intentions of doing something just for me, but my mind always wanders over to what I need to be doing next . . . folding the next load of laundry, mopping the floors, stopping by the store for bananas. We all do that. But it's OK to break that habit of always thinking about what we need to do next, and focusing on the here and now. I'm gonna give it my best effort to try and sit and take that personal time, to enjoy just being and to find a way of re-energizing while enjoying the moment. I hope you find that time too!

First Grade!

This fall has been absolutely amazing for Emma-Caroline in first grade. She has learned so much already and loves school! I will sing Ms. Ellison's praises over and over. She is an AWESOME teacher. One of the things that I love about her (and there are 1000's) is that she is a technology guru and keeps her web page on the school site updated almost daily with classroom happenings and photos. Ms. Ellison recently reminded me that I could have any of the photos she posts of Emma-Caroline, so I saved a few and will share them now with you here. We couldn't be any happier with Emma-Caroline's first grade year. We will just keep our fingers crossed that our Sophie will have Ms. Ellison too.

 The IPAD center. Emma-Caroline looks so intent on what she is listening to.

 The writing center. Look at that organization of crayons and supplies! Be still my heart!

 Reading center. Emma-Caroline is quite the book worm!

 These little ladies are working on their mosaics of themselves. They turned out very nice and hang in the hallway.

 Meeting Lilly the dog. Emma-Caroline's class has a HABIT dog that comes to their room once a week to read with the students. She is from UT Vet school and is specially trained to work in schools.

 Emma-Caroline is reading to Lilly and her owner. Lilly must think she is hearing a bed time story!

A close-up of Miss Lilly. Emma-Caroline LOVES her!