Thanksgiving 2014

Happy Thanksgiving from Rob, Shannon, Jack and Lauren!

Halloween

Jack Gordon Fredericks

1st Grade school photo

Pumpkin Patch 2014

1st Day of 1st Grade

Our little man began his first day if school today as a 1st Grader:

One more picture from the Magic Kingdon

Orlando and Tampa

Here we are headed out on our first day at Disney World. It was 85 degrees and about the same humidity. But, yes, Jack has on a windbreaker. Sigh. 

Did I mention it was hot there?  Here was Lauren while we waited for the Frozen Parade with Anna and Elsa, her two favorite princesses. 

Lunch at The Brown Derby inside Hollywood Studios. The kids got glowing ice cubes in their soda!  Cool!  Mommy and Daddy got perfect Cobb salads and ice cold beer. 

On the carousel at Magic Kingdom during one of our daily thunderstorms. 

We kept them up late having so much fun every night. Here they are asleep on the bus heading back to the hotel. 

Family photo on the teacups :-)

This was the view from our hotel balcony. We stayed at the Animal Kingdom Lodge and had a view of the savannah with zebras, giraffes, antelope, water buffalo and many birds. Also a great way to watch the lightning storms every afternoon. 

Another day headed into the parks for fun. 

Rob and I loved Epcot!  We had beer in Canada, wine in Italy, champagne in France and sake in Japan. Here we are ducking under cover during a huge thunderstorm. 

The kids preferred jumping in the puddles and goofing around while the rain poured onto them. 

Princess lunch in Norway for Lauren. Her with Belle from Besity and the Beast. 

And Aurora from Sleeping Beauty. 

Ariel from The Little Mermaid. Great big hug :-)

Snow White even got a smile out of Jack. 

Selfie at Epcot. 

This was at the Children's Museum in Tampa. One of the best we've ever visited. 

Jack piloted a flight simulator. Mostly he crashed. Glad it was only a simulator. 

And our final day at Tampa Aquarium. 

Such a great trip!  But glad to be home. 

Back from Florida

Back from vacation. My week looked like this--

Lauren caught stomach flu on our last night there. Thankfully not during our fun time. As soon as she started feeling better, Jack got taken down. Rob has been my link to the outside world as I remain inside bleaching every surface and praying the plague passes Rob and me. 

All that time in the house helped me accomplish my big goal for the week-- I made nearly 100 cookies for Andria's baby shower. 

Jack lost a top, front tooth. The Tooth Fairy brought him 2 gold coins and a pack of gum. The one beside it is VERY loose and will probably fall out in a few days. His first grade photo will be adorable in September!!

I'll post a few vacation photos in a separate post. 

Jack - last day of Kinder

Great time at the Skirball cultural center

My Other Brown Eyed Girl

Lauren

Art Show

Jack showing off his work of art at his school art show this evening.

Slumber party

Cousins' slumber party happening now. They are all tucked in, bedtime stories told. I wonder how long it will take them to fall asleep. 

Harry Potter!

Our girl on Christmas Day

Criss Cross Applesauce

We asked Lauren to sit cross-legged on the rug. Here is her version. 

Jog-a-thon

Jack the jogger ran 10 laps in 5 minutes!  He had such a great time!  He also raised over $300 for his school thanks to all our generous friends and family!  Anyone still interested in donating, I don't turn in our donations until next week, so there's still time. These photos show his reaction to getting his participation certificate at the end of the race. Ribbon, cool. Certificate for a yogurt parfait at McDonalds, AWESOME!  Doesn't get much cuter than that. 

Are you ready for some college football?

Jack and Lauren are ready!

First Day of Kindergarten

Today was Jack's first day of kindergarten.  He loved it.  His teacher, Mrs. Kubota, is wonderful.  He already told us that he will miss her when he has to go to a new class one day.  In his class this year, he has one friend from tae kwon do and another friend from preschool.  He is also thrilled that the school's mascot is a lion, just like Harry Potter's school, Gryffindor.  We all walked to school together as a family this morning to drop him off.  Rob and I both held it together, but some parents had a pretty rough time at drop off--one especially burly fellow was furiously wiping away the tears as they flowed like a river.  We returned at pick up and Jack was all smiles.  We surprised him with a Happy Meal lunch (his favorite, NOT ours) and a trip to Target for a new backpack. It was the best day ever.