First day of school, magic, and a meet…

"Maybe that's why I like gymnastics - because I like to fly."
-Nadia Comaneci

You know it’s time to donate some stuffed animals when they can fill the floor of an entire room when spread out.  The kids were given the choice of each filling a bag full of stuffed animals and the rest were donated.  Our floors and shelves are happy with the results.

School started back up this week.  Ashlyn began 3rd grade and James took his first steps into Kindergarten.  Both kids did really well, James was excited the entire time and seemed to enjoy the first week when it was over.  His only complaint was with the amount of coloring they did.  James was never very interested in coloring, in part because he would usually play older kid games with Ashlyn.

One night this week the kids decided to put on a magic show.  We’re not sure what prompted this but it was fun to watch them come up with various magic tricks.  No hamsters were harmed during the show.

Ashlyn’s first official USAG meet was this weekend.  She was pretty nervous, to the point of asking that we not tell any of the grandparents, but despite her nerves she did really well.  She got over 9 points on beam, floor, and vault and an 8.4 on bar, which was really good considering she is still learning one of the skills.  In total she scored 36 points, which means she averaged a 9.0 per event.  Now that she has one under her belt, we’re hoping she’ll be less nervous for the next one.

A belt, fun activities, and dolphins…

"Of course we've never been to this restaurant, we've never even been to this state!"
-James

The belt ceremony for James was held this week.  James was excited to pick up his yellow belt and he ran to the front when his name was called.  We celebrated afterwards with Frosty’s and he is already starting to practice for his next belt.

Mommy wanted to make the weeks leading up to the start of school fun.  The kids have gone more places than any kids have rights to; this week included a trip to a new play park complete with climbing walls and ball pits.  The staff was lenient at first and let the kids play on things they weren’t big enough for, but they had to stop once the Manager came out.  The kids still had enough fun that they extended their stay another hour.

They also went to the aquarium in Fair Park to see fish and pet manta rays.  Ashlyn felt that being able to touch the animals was the highlight of the trip.  Isla liked running away from them.

What would a final week in summer be without putt-putt, games, and bowling?  The kids may never know, since they did all three of those things.

We now have two kids going to Meadowcreek Elementary, whose mascot is the dolphin.  Because we have multiple dolphins we thought it would be a good idea to go see some real dolphins.  So we packed a few things Friday night, hopped on a plane Saturday morning, and were seeing dolphins in the afternoon.  Despite storms in Dallas keeping our plane on the ground for a few hours, the kids had a memorable experience that made the long day worth it.

A yellow belt and the last weeks of summer…

"Martial arts is not about fighting; it's about building character."
-Bo Bennett

James tested this weekend for his first solid color belt.  He practiced a lot leading up to the event and he did great despite some initial nervousness.  He won’t get the belt until later this week, but we got confirmation on Sunday that he passed his tests and will be an official yellow belt.  Way to go James!

Summer is nearing it’s end and both Ashlyn and James are gearing up for school.  Ashlyn will be starting 3rd grade and James will be going into Kindergarten.  Mommy has kept the kids busy, doing all sorts of things over the past week including a 3rd movie, a bounce house, a tour of Daddy’s work, an indoor play place, bowling, a trampoline park, and a play.  Needless to say it was a busy week!