Build and Grow Workshop

08.25.12

Aunt Katherine is going back to Dallas today and we wanted to do one more fun thing so we took the kids to Lowe's Build and Grow workshop.  The kids had a balloon made by Happy before making the Onion Carriage from the movie Shrek.  I think Ava and Lola had the best looking balloon hat!

What's really funny is that the adults didn't follow directions and we had to bust open the extra kit we got for extra nails!  However, Jaici did follow directions and her onion carriage was built without extra nails.  Way to go Jaici!

It was so much fun spending time with Aunt Katherine, Ava, Lola and Otto!  We will do this again when they come back Yamboree weekend!

A Really Busy and Fun Friday!

08.24.12

Friday was a busy day for both of us...Katherine spent the morning with Jaimie and her kids; Beck spent the morning doing the picnic thing at school.  I knew spending all morning outside would wear him out so Beck took a nap while Kinsey napped and he slept for a LONG time!  Once I got both of them up, Katherine followed us to the new splash park in Longview and I picked up Neena since we drove right by her house.  Ava, Lola and Otto loved the park and it was nice to have Jaici there with us to help out.  (She's such a sweet young lady!)

At first, Kinsey tagged along with Ava but for some reason she got really upset that she got wet.  Kinsey sat on the towels and sulked for a little bit...

Then, I asked Neena to take a picture of us and that cheered her up a bit...

I'm not sure where this came from but Beck has decided that he doesn't want to wear a swim shirt anymore.  It's kind of sad for me because I want to protect his delicate skin and this means he's growing up!  He wants to be like the big boys.

This picture cracks me up because it looks like Beck is holding on so the water doesn't sweep him away!

Little Ava is such a brave little girl!  She stood under the big Dr. Pepper can that dumps all of the water.  And, little Otto sat under it too with Jaici and Ava.

I made the mistake of putting this swimsuit on Kinsey!  I knew the straps would not stay on her shoulders but I was hoping the water would make them stay on her...wrong!  It was aggravating for me and her.  Once I got her going on the slide, she was a happy little girl.  She went down that slide as many times as she could.  I think Otto went down it a couple of times.

After playing for almost 2 hours, the kids were ready to go!

We took Neena back home then headed to Pops and Kiki's house for dinner but to my surprise, the kids wanted to swim instead of eat.  Luckily, we had Jaici with us to help because we had a total of five little ones in the pool with one adult (Katherine).

We pretty much re-created everything we had done the day before to show Pops, Kiki and Daddy.  We made the slide using the big, thick float and Kinsey slid down it many times and Ava caught her many times.

Even Otto got in on the slide action!

Beck wanted to show us that he can stand in the water...

Beck was in the crab float for a little while then kindly gave it up so Otto could use it.

We finally ate dinner around 8ish and it was funny to watch the kids devour the food!  They were SO hungry!  I'm telling you this was a jam-packed, fun-filled day!!!  Good times and good memories! 

Fun in the Sun

08.23.12

Not only did Beck have 'bubble day' at school today but it's also the day that Aunt Katherine, Ava, Lola and Otto came in for a visit.  It's the last hooray before school starts and I am so excited she decided to spend it with us!  How do you spend your last free days of summer?  In the pool!

Ava and Lola showed off what they learned from swim lessons and they have some major swimming skills!!! Wow!  It was very impressive to see them swim under water almost the entire time we were in the pool!  Beck spent the entire time in the crab float and Kinsey did a little of this and a little of that...she was on the float, wore floaties and slid down the slide we created.  The slide was a big hit with Kinsey and sweet little Ava would catch her then take her to the steps to do it all over again.

Aunt Katherine used her underwater camera to capture some really cool pictures/videos of the girls swimming underwater.

Beck was fascinated with all of the diving toys...

After the kids wore themselves out, we went inside for some pizza then relaxed in front of the tv.

Pops showed up with a big bag of cotton candy and the kids attacked him trying to get some!  It was so funny to watch them!  They all LOVE cotton candy!!!

What a fun day/evening!!!  I can't wait to do it again tomorrow!

End of Summer

08.21-24.12

This is the last week for a few kids in Beck's class as they will be moving on to kindergarten next week which is why this week's theme is 'End of Summer'.  Mrs. Mason has many fun activities planned for the kids this week and of course I was the stalker mom trying to capture the fun our little boy was having...trying is the operative word.  We are forced to go with another cable company due to the one we had closed.  Urgh!  I really hate that this business closed due to financial reasons but this is also going to be a financial burden on us.  We had to sign a two year contract with this new cable company and we don't plan on being here for two years which means we will have to pay a hefty penalty when we cancel and move.  Plus, the monthly service costs more too!  Really not happy about this whole deal!  Anyway, I asked Neena to come over so that somebody would be here when I took Beck to school and when I picked him up.  I found out that we were the second resident on the list which meant the cable man would not be here until after 9:30 at the earliest.  Neena arrived at 10am and I took off to Beck's school to see him play in the sprinklers but I was too late.  Boo!  All of the kids were putting on their shoes and wrapping towels around them.  I noticed that Mrs. Mason had a jambox so I guess they had music while they played in the water and I also saw a large beach ball.  I know they all had a blast...just wish I could have seen a few minutes of them playing in the water.  (By the way, the pictures are bad because I was so far away...remember, I had to be incognito!)

This week turned out to be 'park week' for us.  We went to the city park one afternoon and there were almost 10 kids there!  Wow!  I've never seen that many kids play at this park.  I was super excited because I knew Beck would find a friend and have a good time which is exactly what happened...until, all of the parents decided to leave at the same time which was about 30 minutes after we arrived.  And, as I expected, Beck came up to me and said he was ready to go.  Kinsey was not ready to leave so I somehow managed to make him stay for another 30 minutes.  What shocked me on this trip to the park is that Beck never goes down the slide but today he did and he did it backwards!  I was shocked and impressed! 

A few days later, we took a road trip to Longview and I decided to go to a park that we haven't been to in a long time.  I'm glad we went there because it gave Beck extra time to nap but nobody was there!  What a bummer!

Beck really wanted to go to the Spring Hill park so we went there since this park was so dead and to my surprise...nobody was at this park!  What is going on?  Where is everybody?  This is the last week before school starts and you'd think that the kids would be taking advantage of playing as much as they possibly can.  Is the West Nile virus scaring everybody to stay inside?  Anyway, the kids played and had a really good time.

Kinsey was really tired by the time we left...

I love Beck's sunglasses but what I love the most is that he will wear them!  This is the first time in his life that he'll wear sunglasses.

On Thursday, Beck's school had 'bubble day'.  Beck took his bubble bucket and we provided a giant bottle of bubbles in case any of the kids needed extra bubble stuff.  Again, this is a bad picture because I was across the street and had to zoom in.  It looked like a lot of fun!

Friday was the biggest day of all...Mrs. Mason took the kids across the street and they had a bounce house, played lots of games then had a picnic under a big old tree.  I drove by two times but was afraid to stop and take a picture.  I didn't want Beck to see me and want to go home.  He enjoyed the picnic lunch that I packed for him which was a ham and cheese sandwich in the shape of a circle and Cheetos (his favorite meal!) plus, a bottle of strawberry juice. We are looking forward to meeting Beck's new classmates next week.