Food, towers, and the first day of school…

"He who opens a school door, closes a prison."
-Victor Hugo

James wanted to make some art with food, and since those are two of Ashlyn’s favorite things she was happy to join him.  James told Mommy that he made an apple duck, but when I got home it had turned into an apple sandwich.  I’m not sure which one it was, but he was proud of it.

First day of school was this week, and our new second grader was mostly looking forward to starting.  She did great at drop off was excited to see her friends again.  When we asked Ashlyn each not how school was, her response was always “good”, so that’s good.

Isla continues to be fascinated with towers.  Build, destroy, build destroy.  Tower after tower.  This week she made her tallest one yet, enlisting the help of the kitchen step stool when she could no longer reach on her own.  She enjoyed destroying that one.

Parks, mud, and roller coasters…

James:  "Nobody likes you Donald Trump!"
Mommy:  "Ha!"
Ashlyn:  "What?  It's true."

This was the last week before school started, and Mommy was determined to make the best of it.  It all started with a trip to a local park where the kids continued their search for rocks.  The search was interrupted by a discovery of an overflowing stream, which prompted the two older kids to get wet and muddy as they jumped around in it.  Isla had wanted to put on a dress for the adventure, and she didn’t want to get it dirty (at big sisters insistence).

The next day involved a trip to an indoor play place, where the kids burned up quite a bit of energy running up and down the playhouses, castles, slides, and other play areas.

To help Ashlyn practice her love of art, Mommy took her to a drop in art class where they painted unicorns.  The teacher said that Ashlyn is talented for her age, which is good since art is one of the things she enjoys most.  I suspect there will be more art classes in the future for Ashlyn.

Grandma came over this week to help the kids build a fairy garden on our back porch.  They put in the dirt, the plants, the fairy houses, and finally the fairies themselves.  The kids were excited to show off their creation, and so far they’ve managed to keep the plants alive.  We’ll see how long that lasts.

I have few words to describe this next set of pictures.  Let’s just say that rains made the sandbox a mud pit, and a giant bath was required to clean up the mess.

James started soccer practice with his new team this week and he was pretty excited about it.  Now that we’re seeing what they’re teaching him, we can begin working on it at home.

Six Flags (now technically one flag) Over Texas is about to shut down for the year so we took James and Ashlyn to enjoy one last day of rides while Isla stayed and played with Grandma.  James didn’t want his picture taken, but Ashlyn didn’t mind.

Our second grader starts school next week, can you believe it?

Rocks, theater camp, and a photobomb…

"If it weren't for the rocks in its bed, the stream would have no song."
-Carl Perkins

No kid will ever turn down a trip to a waterpark, at least not ours.  And you won’t hear us turn down a trip either, especially when the kids got free tickets from reading a lot of books over the summer.  They earned it, and they had a fun time.  James especially loved the wave pool, while Ashlyn and Isla enjoyed the lazy river.

This was a week for finding rocks.  It seems like the kids are really into hunting rocks, even more than they were when we discovered Geocaching.  I think combining art, hiding, discovery, and parks into one activity is appealing.  And if it gets them interested in exploring and being outside, you won’t hear any complaints from us!

Ashlyn spent the past week in theater camp, and Friday they held a small performance for the parents.  James picked out flowers, which was a sweet gesture on his part.  Ashlyn did well, she practiced her lines before the show and didn’t need any prompting from the teacher.  We’re proud of her, that’s not an easy thing for a kid and she did great.

And this is James photobombing Isla while she tried making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on her own.  Isla didn’t seem to mind.

Happy birthday Isla!!

"You are only young once, but you can stay immature indefinitely."
-Ogden Nash

Isla’s birthday began with a scavenger hunt for balloons that were hidden around the house the night before.  Isla had a fun time running through rooms looking for the balloons, and was pretty proud of herself when she found them all.

When it was time to open her presents, Isla enthusiastically dug in.  The only two things she wanted for her birthday were a fidget spinner (since James and Ashlyn had one) and a lollipop.  As you can tell from the pictures, she was very excited about her lollipop.  We put it up afterwards so the pets wouldn’t get it, and she’s already forgotten about it.  But she was excited to open it, and I guess that’s the most important thing.

When we asked Isla what she wanted to do for her birthday, she said she wanted to bounce.  So we packed up the kids and headed to a bounce house place in Grapevine.  The kids ran, slid, bounced, and played.  Needless to say, they were worn out at the end.  They weren’t too tired to stop for a snow cone and eat cake though.

We had a birthday party with the family on Sunday to celebrate, and everyone had a great time eating tacos and cupcakes while the kids ran amok all over the house.

Happy birthday Isla!!