Family Fun

The kids love to go to the outdoor pool, so I thought we'd take the opportunity to go before it closes.  Michael was out of town, so I took everyone by myself.  They were really good, and we had a great time.  We have a tendency to show up right at "adult swim" time, so I lined them up for this picture while we waited for the signal to be able to jump into the pool.  I got this idea from my friend Micki Sellers.  She does this with her kids every year so she can see how they've grown.  Mine didn't really get the concept of sitting up straight, but you get the idea.  Jonathan isn't taller than Daniel, but he does weigh more.

 



 

 

This is Andrew's first project this year.  I helped him write facts about himself, and he did all of the coloring (with Emily's help).  He is doing so well this year and his reading has improved so much.



Fun at the park--Daniel and Jonathan

Aargh, matey!
Krispy Kreme doughnuts was offering a free box of glazed doughnuts if you came in dressed as a pirate.  We had a pirate costume, and it fit Andrew the best so he got to wear it.  The doughnuts were especially delicious--probably because they were free. :-)

Jonathan wanted to watch Blue's Clues, and Nathaniel wanted to watch Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide.  Nathaniel bribed him with his Nook, and they were both happy. :-)

Blue Mountain Mystery--Solved!

Way back at the beginning of the summer, Daniel saw an advertisement on the Thomas and Friends website for a new movie--Blue Mountain Mystery.  He was so excited.  He had birthday money to spend, and he wanted the movie and the new train, Luke, that is featured in it.  The website had games and songs and many wonderful things to get him all excited about it.  The problem?  It wasn't due to come out until September 18!  Aaah!  That meant almost four months of torture for this poor child (and his Mommy!) while we waited.  He didn't understand how long four months was, and he begged me for it daily.  I was able to tide him over with a storybook, but he really wanted that movie.

Well, it is here, at long last!  Woo hoo!  Look at that joy!

It was pretty cute, because he already knew all of the songs from listening to them on the website.
Hooray for Thomas!

Labor Day Weekend

We had so much fun yesterday!  My dad came for a visit; he was only here Friday night and Saturday, but we packed a lot of fun in that short amount of time!  On Saturday morning, Papa took the kids to Krispy Kreme for doughnuts (like he always does :-)).

Here are Andrew and Papa playing with Andrew's new electricity kit; Papa taught the kids what a circuit is and Andrew loved it!

The first thing we did was go to Home Depot for the kids' workshop.

After Home Depot and lunch, we all went to the zoo.  The Sky Lift ride was wonderful! 

Daniel and Papa are in front, then Nathaniel and Emily, me and Jonny, and Michael and Andrew were behind us.

 

At the end of the Sky Lift, we saw a school with a playground.  When Daniel saw it, he told Papa, "A playground!  We hit the jackpot!"  He was a little bummed that he didn't get to play on it. 

Jonny sat still the whole time.  He was especially excited about passing over the giraffes. 



Here we are at Parakeet cove.

They had these sticks with food on the end that you could buy to feed the birds.

I had to get this picture of Jonny and this little girl.  She was sure that Jonny had made her bird fly away and she was scolding him.  He just stood there and stared at her.  It was pretty cute.

After the zoo, we ran some errands and Papa fixed one of our swings that had broken and then we all got cleaned up and went to dinner.  When we got home we watched The Lorax.  The kids really liked it.
Thank you for everything, Papa!  And thanks for letting him come and visit us, Nana!

First Day of School!

I can't believe that I have four kids in school this year! 

Jonathan goes to Mom's Morning Out once a week again this year.  This is a picture of him on his first day.  He walked right over to the puzzle table and barely bothered to tell me goodbye.  He loves it there!

Nathaniel, 1st day of 7th grade

Emily, 1st day of 4th grade

Daniel, 1st day of kindergarten!

Andrew, 1st day of 1st grade

Andrew and Daniel go to the same school, and they took the bus the first day.  I usually take them in the mornings, but I wanted Daniel to meet his bus driver because they ride the bus home.  Once we saw the bus coming, Daniel immediately grabbed Andrew's hand and waited excitedly.

Once they got on the bus, I drove over to the school to make sure they made it to class okay.  All of the kindergarteners looked terrified.  It was so pitiful and adorable at the same time.  Daniel was so brave, though, and he had a great first day. 

Emily has started dance at a new studio this year, where she is taking only ballet.  She loves it!

Summer Fun

We had a great summer this year.  The highlight was our trip to Washington, D.C., but we did many other fun things as well.

Once we got back from DC, we started swimming lessons.  The kids loved it!  Jonny doesn't like the pool, so we took him to Child Watch (babysitting at the YMCA) and the kids all went to their classes.  Daniel was in the preschool class, and the other three got to go to the outdoor pool for their lessons. 

This is a spur-of-the-moment trip to Sonic (half price happy hour, of course) after getting our free JCPenney haircuts.

Andrew jumping into the deep end
He loved his swimming lessons!

Here is Emily jumping in; this was a big deal for her because she was really scared.  She has come so far with her swimming this year.  Once she figured out that she could swim well enough to jump in and swim to the ladder by herself, she felt much better about it and now she loves it. 

Nathaniel jumping in
He's a pro by now. :-)

Daniel was so brave and tried really hard in his swimming class.  He can almost swim by himself.

Daniel going down the slide

We had a fun time at the Blue Bell ice cream factory.  After the tour, we all got to have some ice cream to sample.  Yum!

Doesn't this make you think, "Willy Wonka, Willy Wonka, the amazing chocolatier!"

New glasses!  Andrew already got his in the spring.

Sprinkler time!