Bye Buddy

When we all finally left him alone, he was intensely putting a puzzle back together at the table.  We are so proud of this big little guy!

His Peers

To say Jack is big is an understatement. 

He totally towers over all his classmates both at church and school.  He is wearing a size 8/10 shirt and shorts and a size 2 shoe.  He weighs more than Ava by almost 10 pounds and is nearly the height of her. 

His a gentle giant thru and thru and couldn't be more handsome-we love you buddy!

Little Harts

Last year Jack attended this school twice a week for a three hour a day preschool that he loved.  We were so pleased with this place that we eagerly jumped on the chance to enroll him in a half day of kindergarten here instead of sending him all day with Ava.

He goes everyday from 9-12:30 and then comes home for lunch.  We might have him go all day on Fridays, since that's when all the special activities take place, but for the rest of the week we will cherish this half day with Jack being the biggest kid at home!

Excited Boy!

Because he was excited about going, we were all excited about taking him, he was nearly running to the school, leaving us all in the dust.  I finally had to reign him in for his own safety!

1st Day of Kindergarten

Have you ever seen such a handsome boy!  He was so pumped about school, and of course ready to go at 5:15AM!  He whizzed through breakfast and even seemed excited to leave the gym for once to go to his school for the first time as a kindergartener.

Best Buddies

Ben is totally into balls lately.  From the minute he wakes up to the minute he goes to bed he is looking for, throwing, rolling, screaming about and chasing down gaaaals (balls).  In fact, the only reason this picture is not a blur from all his action is because he is taking a water break for 2 seconds!

He even remembers the exact place he left it before going to bed or leaving the house and immediately begins looking for it upon he wake up or arrival home!  It's pretty awesome!

Leaving

Then I bravely kissed her goodbye and left her in the hands of her new teacher.

This experience was so profoundly foreign/scary for me I'm surprised I didn't have a break down right in front of the class.

Luckily for me Kyle had come into the school with the other kids so Norah would avoid having an accident in the car.  I was distracted from the reality that was surrounding me and that was fine with me.

For now we are watching from the sidelines as our little Ava does BIG things.

Favorite Pastime

Once unpacked she settled into something she is completely comfortable/familiar with-reading.

I watched as she laughed loudly at the words and seemed to want me to leave.

Unpacking

When we got inside her room, that happens to be the best of all the 2nd grade rooms in (in my opinion) and proceeded to unpack her bag and put away her lunchie for the 1st time.

1st Day of 2nd Grade

Ava seemed quite calm throughout breakfast despite getting up nearly an hour earlier than she's used to and after a night of excitement that probably left her with some trouble getting to sleep.

She was subdued as her and I made the first and last walk to her class from the parking lot.

I snapped pictures nervously as I watched from behind as our oldest child headed head first into the new adventure without hesitation.

Lunchie

2 weeks ago, Ava picked out her first lunchbox.  She chose the cutest little bumble bee lunch tote that holds all of her food quite nicely and even made for a fun playmate the week before we went to the beach.

First Born

Ava opened her schuletute on Sunday night while everyone else was asleep to keep the surprise from Jack until Tuesday night.  She was as quiet as possible, but still so excited about this horn filled with goodies.

Shuletute

While at the beach Kyle and I stayed up late one night planning some back to school traditions to get the kids excited about the new year.  After google-ing something Kyle remembered from his mission we decided to start making these school horns for each kid to open the night before school starts after their father's blessing.

We stuffed this homemade horn with all sorts of activities and a surprise new outfit to wear on the first day (if they want to).  Neither Ava on Sunday night nor Jack on Tuesday night had any idea what they were in for and even watched a youtube video to get the kids up to speed with what they were about to get.  As you can see from their faces, though, they were excited nonetheless!

Day of Firsts

Thankfully last week our ward time changed allowing us some extra time to do our new family traditions preceding the 1st day of school.  We made a new batch of mint cookie ice cream as well as some chocolate chip/coconut cookies and had a raclette dinner that is always a favorite of the kids (and very German).

 

Everything was super delish!

Mmmmmm

When I walked out of a store I found Kyle in this position, so awesome.

Chick Fil A For Case

Little Case was having a fundraiser at a nearby chick fil a that we made our way over to for some dinner.

We bought everything we have ever wanted/considered ordering and then some. It was a smorgasbord for a great cause.

Bigger

These guys are both in for some new adventuress, ones that will shape them and hopefully help them discover their own greatness.

We love you guys!!

Volcano!!!!

In reality, the only reason we went to Rainforest at all was for their volcano brownie. It is so amazing and lovely to watch sparkle, especially when the waiter lights up another because I couldn't take a picture fast enough.

Scared

After hiding didn't work out too well, Ben just started to cry. He was scared every time the sounds started throughout our 60 minute visit.

Hiding

We took the family to Rainforest Cafe today for lunch and to celebrate a great new adventure, public school for Ava and half day kindergarten 5 days a week for Jack.

Ben was happy at first to be out with everybody, but he soon retreated I to his "shell" when the lights dimmed and the animals sounds started playing.
 

Dentist

Jack, Ava and I went to the dentist for our cleaning/x-rays today.  Jack was super brave considering the last time he went to the dentist I carried him out because he thought his tongue was gone.

Ava got another A in the oral hygiene department as well as some sealants for her new molars.

And I got high scores for the amount plaque in my mouth and a referral for some mouth hardware called the Inman Aligner that will straighten my front teeth out immensely in about 4 months.

We all had flouride treatments, Ava didn't hesitate, Jack straight up said, "I don't want to do this."  And I gagged the whole 90 seconds and was surprised when my trays weren't filled with the least bit of vomit at the end.

Just Beachy

An entire day spent at the beach, taking breaks only to eat meals and reapply sunscreen. Now that's a day at the beach!!

Of Course

Ava was by far the most interested in the turtles and was the only one who managed to sit still while we listened to the day's turtle talk with one of the volunteers for 30 minutes.

Turtle Stuff

The kids couldn't get enough if the numerous tanks of water holding a single swimming turtle, most of whom were missing various limbs. They ran around calling out to come look!

We made a stop in the ICU of the hospital where the most recent rescue patients were housed and ran into a slew of turtle souvenirs that also counted as donations to the hospital.

Ava wound up with a set of 8 sea turtle species figurines and a bookmark, while Norah scored a stuffed sea turtle and a sticker book and Jack got a sea turtle egg that actually hatched out a toy turtle when placed in warm water for a few days (we'll be doing that experiment when we get home).

Sea Turtle

The last time I saw a sea turtle of any size outside of an aquarium was on our honeymoon in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Kyle and I had just finished a late dinner and started to walk towards the beach when a huge old turtle began slithering its way back into the ocean from the shore!

It was startling then and seeing this huge guy right when you walk in the door had the very same effect! Andy audible "whoah" escaped me!

Thanks For The Tip

Our neighbor alerted us to the fact that the house across from ours used to be occupied by the famous Sea Turtle Lady of South Padre Island and that her non-profit sea turtle rescue/rehabilitation hospital is a great place for kids and is just down the street!

After lunch we dropped Kyle, to work, and Ben, to sleep, off at the house and headed over.

My Favorite Food

I love fried seafood, but a tasty batter is hard to come by. Today, though, I was reminded that it does exist and that I can get enough of it!

Restaurant Tour

We might have been the only family walking around taking pictures of everything, but the kids were lapping up all the kitschy pirate stuff, making it totally worth the weird looks!

Hats Are Fun

Kids are given hats with the usual entourage of coloring sundry at Pirate's Landing-the kids loved them!

Aargh!!! It's Raining

After all the excitement that the rainy day was under our belt, we were dumbfounded when two hours after our day at the beach started, it started storming. It was so windy our umbrella on the second floor patio blew away and landed in our neighbor's driveway!

After getting some rainy day recommendations from our native neighbor, we headed to a pirate restaurant for lunch.

The kids were laughable.

On The Right

Last year we rented the condo all the way on the left, this year we are in the right and couldn't be happier.

The last night of our stay last summer a cockroach crawled up my leg while sitting at the dining room table. We found a receipt for Terminix today and it concurred, "no signs of activity" in the American cockroach department!

Perfect

This place is so beautiful and held such fond memories for us from last year, but this year has threatened our trip with some storms.

Luckily for us though, today was supposed to be the worst and it was sunny and warm as could be!

Sandy

The sand at South Padre Island starts out super soft and clean, but the closer you get to huge beach the less sand there is.

The unique part about this place, though, is the amazingly clear and warm water, easily making up for the sand.

The water was so inviting, I think we all wished it was earlier so we could have jumped in right away.

So Excited

Ben doesn't remember that we stayed two doors down in a house with the exact same floor plan last year around this same time, but the other kids do and they were so excited to be here, it was so cute!

We Made It

Another leg of a road trip has been completed. We are officially one 8.5 hour leg away from being done with traveling for the rest of the year!!

All this traveling has given us many opportunities for discovery and excitement, but all the car rides are waring on Benny. He was pretty good (not screaming) for the first four hours, but when I jumped in the front seat to drive, he seemed to be crying until we drove up the driveway of our beachfront rental.

We immediately got out and walked the beach upon arrival, making our way inside for the first time to wash our sand off in the tub and figure out sleeping arrangements!

This is the view from the pool on the lower balcony of the rental.

Stay Thirsty...

In the background of this photo there is a painting of "The Most Interesting Man in The World," a personal favorite of Kyle and I.  This is a recent development to the decor of our family's favorite restaurant.  Good choice Chuy's!

SO CUTE!!

This little face is adorable, I can't get enough of it and often smother it with kisses!

Teething

This poor little guy has been struggling with some molars and eye teeth for the last little while.  He has been pretty irritable and not sleeping great at all!  We miss our mellow man.

Chuy's

The kids all love this place, and the adults think it's pretty good too, so whenever we can we go here and hang out eating food we like!

Dunk

Kyle has been dunking at church on Wednesday nights, something he didn't discover until recently.  Today we took all the kids to the gym and when we picked them up Kyle decided Ben needed to catch some air!

Way Out

The water at the beach park is surrounded by a floating buoy that is far enough out to allow swimming in deeper waters while keeping everyone safe from motor-craft.  You have to be able to swim to get to the buoy and all of our kids with the exception of Ben, swam all the way out on their own!  Norah is getting to be such a great swimmer!

Beach Park

Our friends have been frequenting a nearby lake and today was the day we were able to tag along!  The drive wasn't bad, and it wasn't too hot, the friends were great, the water was cool and the sand was soft and clean.

We were only at the beach for about 2 hours, but we all had a good time.

Registered

For the third time in our lives Kyle and I have a child registered for public school. Maybe this time she'll stay registered!

Keeping It Real

Nothing like a trip to retrieve medical records to remind me that kids really do know how keep things light!  I love that they are able to find amusement whatever the circumstances.