Thursday, June 27, 2013

Vacation Bible School

Last week Reggie and Ainsley had VBS (K missed the age cut-off by 1 month) and they had so much fun!  In the past the kids have whined every morning about going, but Cedar Grove Church does an amazing job and it was a cowboy theme.  By the end of the week, the kids had their cowboy hats out and were speaking with a southern drawl at home :o).  They learned a lot of memory verses and songs that we'll be playing over and over on our drive to Washington!  K has his VBS this week at his preschool and is enjoying it a lot.  The theme is kings and knights and he gets to wear a cape everyday.


We managed to squeeze in the Wimpy Kid movie at the theater and went to the fair yesterday, which was tons of fun!  We were there from 1:30-7:30 and Reggie just kept telling me it was the best day ever.  We went on a few rides, visited the animal petting zoo, watched a motorcycle show, saw the pig races and topped it off with the Virginia Batestelli concert.  We did a lot of walking and we were there for a long time, but the kids didn't even complain.  It really was a great time and I love it when the kids are appreciative when we do something fun.  They really are good kids and love them so much!
Reggie walking through a spinning wheel.  This was his favorite "ride".
 The kids wouldn't go on the water ride, but it was hot and they discovered if they stood by the water ride, they could get wet!
 You would have thought these animals never ate!

 Do you think they were a little excited about cotton candy?
Pig races:
Reggie trying to figure out how to feed the goat......

Last Saturday I had a garage sale with some friends and it was really fun.  I decided to clean out my closet last minute and I'm glad I did because most of my clothes sold!  Usually I just donate them, but since we were doing a garage sale, I thought, "What the heck, I'll try to sell a few."  When it was over, I took what was left and donated it and it feels so good to get that stuff out of the garage!  Later that night Ryan and I went to Superman....two thumbs down.  I couldn't wait until it was over.  We saw Iron Man 3 and Star Trek 2 and loved them, so we thought this would be similar, but I can't tell you how boring and horrible it was.  Our usual respite babysitter is not going to continue (they have to sign up for a year), so we have had a back-up come a few times and it looks like we'll be calling her a lot more in the near future!  It is so fun to hang out with Ryan...we love our date nights :o).
We are busy packing for our trip...I say we, but I mean I.  Stuff gets crossed off my list and then more stuff gets added!  It is very busy right now and I'm trying not to forget anything!  We are also trying to make a decision on our new renter.  Our current tenant is moving, so we have been busy posting and e-mailing prospective families.  We had an open house last weekend and about 30 people showed up and we've narrowed it down to 2 families, but are having a hard time deciding, hopefully today.
We are going to the market tonight, swimming at the gym tomorrow and then Ryan and I are going out for Brian's birthday dinner and Bocce and those are our only activities left!  It will be nice to relax at the lake and enjoy some good family time!!!

Monday, June 17, 2013

Last week of school!

We finished the year last Thursday!!!  Both Reggie and Ainsley had an awesome year.  Their reports cards were identical and we are very happy that they exactly where they should be :o).  Reggie actually asked if he could participate in the summer reading program (our librarian did such a good job of getting the kids excited about it-too bad she's retiring.  The kids (and me) will miss Mrs. Goods).  If they read a certain number of pages, they are entered to win a custom bike.  He's already read 200 pages so far, so it should be a piece of cake for him.
It was a busy last few days.... Reggie had a bowling field trip and then lunch at the park on Tuesday and that was great.  I actually got to visit with a lot of mom's I hadn't seen in awhile :o).
 Look at that form....he's a natural!

Wed. was park day for both the kids.  Their classes were buddy classes for reading, so the 3rd graders pair up with 1st graders and help them read.  It worked out great for me because I killed 2 birds with one stone!!!  Ainsley seems to gravitate toward the older kids, so she played with Reggie and his buddies.  She loves the older kids at gymnastics too, so

The weather has been just lovely...you never know here because it can be so hot, but it was good it has been low 80's since the last day of school was Olympic day and it is a bunch of outside activities.  After school, we went and swam at the Williams' pool and it was perfect.  I wish I had taken a picture because there were so many kids, it was nuts!  The moms ended up in some pretty fun conversation and it was 7 o'clock before we knew it :o).

The summer has been great so far.  We've learned that keeping Reggie busy makes everyone happy.  We've started to hear, "I'm bored a lot :o("  Ainsley's gymnastics had a summer kick-off with a live monkey show and it was really fun!  We also learned a lot about monkeys.

Reggie and Ainsley with Mickey the monkey:
The kids started Vacation Bible School this morning and then Reggie went to a friends house.  Ainsley is self entertaining and can play for hours in her room.  I decided to pull out the board games on Friday when Reggie and I had some one on one time and we've been playing ever since.  I think this is going to be the summer of games, which I love!!!

Sunday, June 16, 2013

Happy Father's Day!!!

Well, it was a happy father's day :o).  Ryan got a moon's over my hammy, along with some watermelon for breakfast and of course, Ainsley was ready to try a bite.  Seems like she is always all over our breakfasts in bed!
You know you are getting old when you get a nose hair trimmer for Father's day!  Ryan was telling Ainsley and I about a long hair sticking out of his nose a few weeks ago and the good wife that I am remembered and solved the problem.  The thought of how that works is a little creepy!

Then we face timed with my dad and that was fun to say hello and see the whole fam.  Looked like they were having a nice morning too!  After we got back from church, Ryan washed his car and then we headed to the gym to play some hoop.  It was a great game of bump and since we played later in the day (morning work-outs kill me), it was a lot more competitive and Ryan actually looked like he might die.  Thankfully, he didn't!  Our gym has an awesome pool, so we took the kids swimming and that was perfect.  We had to wait for a chlorine issue, so Ryan was relaxing while the kids gave him a foot massage!
 K had a break through today while swimming and finally let go and tried to swim.  Here he is swimming:
All the kids love their dad so much.  K was screaming, "dad, dad" trying to get Ryan's attention in the pool.  He has been calling him dad a bit more and it is nice he feels like part of our family.  They are very lucky to have a dad that is so involved and one that loves them so much!!!!  Happy Father's Day Ryan....we love you!

Sunday, June 9, 2013

Rodeo

It is that time of year already and we couldn't miss the rodeo!  Ryan was traveling most of the week last week, so he missed family night and it was the first time it was really enjoyable for me, so a real bummer he wasn't there.  Reggie was watching intently and laughing a lot.  Ainsley was occupied with a couple friends and Khalif was wiggling all over, but he's 3 1/2, so I can't expect too much.  The cow milking is the funniest thing ever and I still can't believe those guys get out there and try to take on a big mama cow!  We went to the market first and loaded up on fruit, kettle corn and shaved ice :o).  That entire flat of strawberries was $12!
I forgot to take a picture of the kids at the rodeo, but we took several at the rodeo parade.  It was a really strange day....almost 90 degrees at 10 in the morning and then as we were watching the parade, there was a fire that started a few miles away and it was controlled quickly, but the smoke blew in and we had some ash on us!  Then we got home and the power went out for a couple hours.  The house quickly heated up to 80 and thankfully the power came back on since the temperature topped out at 108!
 Sucker in one hand, icee in another....K was loving the parade!
We went to the rodeo today and it was 25 degrees cooler and so pleasant.  The bull riders struggled today...only 2 made it to the 8 seconds.  One bull was so angry that he was doing the stomping and getting ready to charge.  I don't know what possesses these men to take that on!  It was quite entertaining for us :o).
Backing up to last week, K had a visit with his family and this picture is just too cute not to post:
Ainsley had a field trip last week at the Lyndsay Wildlife Museum.  Having 4 first graders in my car for over a 1/2 hour was almost unbearable and I was very happy to arrive.  The museum is a small organization that rehabilitates injured animals, so they learned all about local animals (owls, birds, snakes, etc.) and then got to enjoy lunch at the park.  The ride back was much better and I know Ainsley was glad I was there.
Touching a snake....