Hello from the lost island of our home

I can't believe that things got so crazy for so long and here I am so far away from the first post. Where to start! Our english bulldog, Winston, decided he wanted to eat a couple of foreign objects so his care has taken up tons of time. One thing we did find out, he's worse than a 1 year old. Everything goes into his mouth!
Well the kids have had a great summer. We've been swimming, walking, riding new bikes and the best thing so far is that Samantha can now ride her bike! Her brother, Kyle, helped teach her and now she is a little dare devil. She wants to try all sorts of new things and her Dad and I couldn't be more happy for her. It's always a great personal growth when a fear is conquered and your wings spread. She wants to get involved in as many things as you could imagine but she knows time is limited and so is she, physically speaking. I can't wait to see what she decides on and see what direction that decision takes her life in. Now (at 10 yrs old) is the best time to start them in the direction of making informed decisions, in my humble opinion of course. When the tweens and hormones kick in, the brain cells usually check out, so now is a good time to get them well versed in making good decisions for thier lives. She knows Dad and I won't let her make a huge decision mistake, but she also knows that we support her efforts in learning how to make them if that makes sense.

Kyle has had a great summer too. He had not gotten to see his Grandpa C. in Florida in about 7 years. This past week he got the chance to go spend a week in St. Augustine with them. He fell in love with the city and enjoyed his time with his Grandpa and Grandma C so much that he teared up when he left because he didn't want to go yet. He really loves his Grandparents. At 14, he's very well behaved, well mannered, with a huge heart. He's got a good head on his shoulders, even though he does make questionable choices sometimes (as we all do.) I am very proud of the man he is becoming and the person he's turned out to be so far. He's also working on decision making skills but he is in the fine tuning stage. Dad and I have worked with him as we will with Samantha and we have no doubt that he'll be a fine adult in this crazy world.
As for Alan and I, well we are just tired, lol.