Future Cyclists

Since Dalton recently mastered riding his bike without training wheels, Addie has decided she wants to give it a try.  We pulled down Dalton’s old bike without training wheels, strapped on the helmet, knee pads, elbow pads and gloves and gave it a try.

She is pretty brave and gave it her best…

...but after about ten minutes of trying, she was ready to do some real riding back on her princess bike with the training wheels.

I think if we make enough time to work with her over the next few weeks, she could have it down by the end of summer.

Then there is Mr. Cool, ready to go terrorize the neighborhood!

Splash Pad Bash

The Splash Pad is just one of the many reasons we love our YMCA.  The kids can safely play in the water and cool off from the summer heat all while I prop my feet up and drive into a good book.  Here are my silly kids being silly at one of our favorite summer hangouts.

End of the Year Baking Fun

Dalton’s school hosted a book fair a few weeks before school was out.  I made the mistake of taking Addie one afternoon after we had eaten lunch with Dalton.  She, of course, fell in love with a princess cookbook.  After glancing through it and seeing the “Abu Monkey Cupcakes”, I figured they would make cute end of the year snacks for my Monkey Preschool Class so we bought it.  Addie loves to help me in the kitchen, so the last week of school, we baked up a ton of end of the year goodies.

Preparing the cupcake liners…

Measuring and pouring in the ingredients…

Time to stir….

Mixing up the perfect icing colors for the faces…

Time to decorate…

And the finished product!

We were able to modify the monkey to make a bear face since Addie was in the Bear Class this year.  As you can also tell from the messy face, some taste-testing went on while we were baking.

Broadway Family Fun Day

Each spring, Blake’s bank hosts a family fun day/picnic at one of the many local attractions.  This year, we headed to Fiesta Texas to enjoy the festivities.  We’ve only been a handful of times since moving to San Antonio, but it is by far Dalton’s favorite amusement park in the area.  He loves the speed and thrills of all the rides.  He is tall enough now to ride about half of the bigger rollercoasters and begs to ride them again and again.  Blake and I draw straws to see who gets the “privilege” of riding with him.  Let’s just say, neither of us are as young as we once were!  Addie hasn’t quite warmed up to the bigger rides like Dalton.  Amazingly our little giant is tall enough to ride several though.  We’ve taken her on few but she usually has a look of terror on her face for the first half of the ride.  Most often, I use her as my scapegoat of why I need to stay behind while the boys head off to ride the Rattler again and again.

Flying the planes….this ride I can handle.

Addie is having the time of her life….Dalton, not so much!

Getting ready to ride the Kiddie Koaster with Daddy.  This one she LOVES!

The Carousel is probably Addie’s favorite ride at the entire park.  Dalton, being the good big brother he is, took time to ride the “baby” rides with his adoring sister.

Riding Pandimonium…..note to self:  DO NOT ride this ride when you think you might have a sinus infection.  The spinning motions make you wish your head would just explode.  Luckily the picture was taken before the ride started and I was still smiling.

Addie and Daddy at the end of Pandimonium.  Addie enjoyed it but as you can tell had a death grip on the lap bar the entire time.

Driving the cars….before we know it, she’ll turn 16 and do this for real!  Hopefully her driving skills improve a little before then.

Dalton driving me around….I could get used to this!

Daddy and Addie getting ready to start the log ride.  She was a little worried about the first hill, so she climbed over in Blake’s lap.

Dalton and I getting ready to start the log ride.  Somehow I always managed to get soaked on these rides.  This time was no exception!

We had a great day spending time with the family and eating dinner with people from the bank.  We are planning many more outings to Fiesta Texas this year as we decided to upgrade our one day tickets from the bank to season passes.  Dalton is beyond excited!

Mother’s Day 2012

Blake did a great job of spoiling me rotten this Mother’s Day.  He surprised me first thing that morning with a gift certificate to one of my favorite stores.  While a gift certificate may not seem like a wonderful gift to some, it’s perfect for me.  I hardly spare any expense when it comes to the kids but have a very hard time spending money on myself.  So he gave me a gift certificate I was sure to use on only myself.  He also made me this cute video card of the kids. 

After that, we headed over to Shipleys for a quick, easy and no mess Mother’s Day breakfast then headed to church. 

Once church was out, we had planned to go back home and make lunch.  However, Drew (our pastor) mentioned Freebirds in his sermon.  So, of course once we got in the car, Blake and I (almost simultaneously) recommended Freebirds as our choice for lunch.  It’s a automatic favorite being a family of Aggies and all and apparently not many people think of Freebirds for Mother’s Day so we were able to get in and out without a fuse.  We also ran into some good friends from church while we were there and had the privilege of sharing lunch with their family.

Since it was a beautiful day out, we decided to use a Groupon for Putt-Putt we had purchased a few months back.  It was the first time for both kids (I think).  It was a lot of fun and Blake only had to go fishing for balls 3-4 times.

 

 

Addie and Daddy taking a few practice swings on the putting green.

 

 

 

 

Hole number 1….

Photo Op at the Waterfall….

Who put stairs in the middle of the green?

Keeping Score….

Needless to say Blake put us all the shame.  Dalton and I stopped counting on each hole after 5 strokes.

It would have been a wonderful Mother’s Day if the fun stopped there, but alas it did not.  While we were playing Putt-Putt, we got a tip (thanks Poc) that there were some Blue Lacy puppies for sale in the area.  Being the NON-spontaneous family that we are….we decided to give them a call and head out to their farm.

On top of everything else, I got a new puppy for Mother’s Day.  Meet Rudder Lacy, the newest member of the family.

Belle loves her new friend…

as well as the kids….

and he seems pretty comfortable with us too!

We ended the evening at home enjoying some yummy grilled chicken kabobs with the family.  It was the best Mother’s Day I could have hoped for.

Cinderella

 

Addie’s top two favorite things to do:

1.  Play dress up

2.  Help me clean  (hopefully this one lasts well into the teen years)

One day she decided she should dress up as Cinderella while she helped me clean.  I usually try to keep her dress up clothes separate from anything messy (ie: eating, playing outside, art projects, cleaning) but couldn’t refuse when this cute face greeted me in her bathroom.

Bathrooms are her favorite room to help me clean….

closely followed by dusting.

A.W.A.N.A.

Both kids successfully completed their first year at AWANA’s.  They absolutely loved going each week to play games, recite memory verses and hang out with friends.  I love the fact that they are starting at such a young age to hide God’s word in their hearts.  Once upon a time I was more disciplined about having memory verses for myself and am amazed at how verses I memorized 10+ years ago will pop into my head periodically.  I am confident that the verses the kids learned in AWANA’s this year will do the same for them in the years to come.  Maybe, just maybe, some of the verses I help them memorize will stick with me too!

Addie with her Cubbies Class….

Addie with her Cubbies Award….

Dalton with the select few first graders who made it through the Sparks book…

The kids enjoying some ice cream after the ceremonies…

Very proud of my little AWANA Cubby and Spark!

Family Fun at the SA Botanical Gardens

One of the kids won a family four pack of tickets to the San Antonio Botanical Gardens last summer.  We were waiting to use them during a time we thought the gardens would be in full bloom.  Since San Antonio was the recipient of some much needed rain this spring, we took full advantage of the flowers being in bloom one weekend early in May.  This was Addie’s first visit to the gardens (Dalton’s second) and she was absolutely in love.  The kids had a great time and we all enjoyed spending some great time together as a family.

The fountains

Posing for pictures….not sure where they learned that!

Family picture by the lake…Addie apparently does not like to smile for strangers.

Feeding the ducks

My beautiful Princess

and her sweet big brother!

Our little man…

loves a little adventure in life,

is always up for a challenge,

finds joy in life even when just hanging around,

loves dinosaurs,

and spending time with his family,

takes good care of his little sister,

thinks being a pirate when he grows up would be so cool,

is doing amazing in karate,

has a sister that adores him,

mastered riding his bike this year AND won first place in his bike rodeo at school,

is a handsome little man (squinty eyes and all),

loves going to the zoo,

thinks he is cool,

has a soft spot for animals,

still thinks that $100 is A LOT of money,

celebrated his 7th birthday at Rainforest Café,

followed by a play at Magik Theatre,

and a party a few days later at Laser Legend with only the boys,

dreams big,

but isn’t too big to carry around a puppy dog Easter basket….yet,

has an unexplained love for Angry birds…even his Easter basket full of goodies didn’t pull him away from his game,

still enjoys a ride on the train at Landa Park every now and again,

adores his cousin Clayton,

but most importantly is LOVED by all!