The first day of school…

"I don't want to wear pants."
-Isla

The kids helped setup the classrooms before school started and as a reward for their efforts they were treated to donuts.  Even Isla was able to contribute.

The first day of school has arrived and the kids pretended to be happy about it so we could get pictures.  Ashlyn is starting the 4th grade and James is beginning his journey in Spanish Immersion.  Isla has one more year to go.

The kids have been asking for s’mores for several weeks now, because what’s better than a fire and marshmallows on a hot Texas summer day?  I guess some things are just worth the heat.

Isla was selected to move to the advanced class and Saturday was her first time with the new group.  Ashlyn wanted to join and helped coach the class, unfortunately we weren’t able to get any pictures of Ashlyn helping Isla with her kicks.

Most of the time we work for the kids, sometimes we put the kids to work for us.  Sunday was one of those days.  After the rains on Saturday we had the kids help wash both cars.  They had fun, until they got disappointed that we weren’t going to spray water everywhere.

A final week of summer fun…

"I'm being good.  Kinda."
-Isla

The last week of summer before school starts saw another flurry of trips around town to do fun things with the kids.  The first stop was at a bounce activity place.  The kids ran, jumped, and did everything you would expect them to do in a place filled with things designed not to break.

The butterflies were active at a local exhibit and the kids wanted to see what it was all about.  It was butterflies, lots of butterflies.  The kids thought it was neat, and they may have even learned a thing or two about our fluttery little friends.

The science center was the next stop on the fun filled adventure around DFW.  This is always a fun place to visit because of all the interactive exhibits.  Being indoors on a 100+ degree day isn’t a bad thing either.

The last event of the summer was a visit to Hurricane Harbor.  Isla is tall enough to go on most of the rides now, so trips to Hurricane Harbor are a lot of fun for all the kids.  Trips down slides were broken up by circles along the lazy river.  And as an added bonus, the kids always go to sleep easily after all the running around.  This is a good thing, because tomorrow is the first day back to school.

Fun in the last few weeks of summer…

"All the ponies in this town are CRAZY!"
-Twilight Sparkle

The kids are running around town as the summer break goes into the final two weeks.  One stop was at Six Flags.  James is tall enough now to ride some of the larger roller coasters and he and Ashlyn decided to try the Judge Roy Scream.  They were a little nervous at first but ended up enjoying it enough to go on it a few more times.  Isla was content to ride some of the smaller rides and the carrousel.

The next adventure traded a hot day for a wet one.  At Hurricane Harbor Isla discovered that she was tall enough to go down some of the bigger slides (or the employees weren’t as picky as Six Flags) and so all three kids got to on most things together. 

In the more random trips category, we had a lot of change at the house and Mommy took the kids to the bank to give them a lesson on counting and wrapping coins.  They got some coin rollers from a bank teller and found a quiet spot outside the lobby to roll coins.  $31 later they also learned that counting coins ends with getting ice cream popsicles.  Wait, what was the lesson here?

Later in the week the kids went bowling.  Isla was very excited to get a spare, she even won the first game.  It should be pointed out that all the events this week were three kids with Mommy while Daddy was at work.  She’s a trooper.

This weekend James tested for his senior purple belt.  He did great, he passed his form on the first try and did well enough with his sparring that he will officially receive his new belt next week.  Ben and Sydney wanted to come watch and added to James’ support team.

And this is just Isla covering herself in My Little Pony gear.  That’s about all I need to say on that.

Isla turns 5!

"Tomorrow is my birthday so I have to wear pants."
-Isla

Isla decided, against our wishes, to turn five on Sunday.  Although we were having the family over in the afternoon Isla wanted to open her birthday presents early.  Her presents were almost entirely related to My Little Pony, which was all she asked for this year.

The family came over in the afternoon.  As always, Isla and Sydney immediately ran off to play together while the other kids found things to entertain themselves.  When it was time to decorate the cupcakes, all the kids summoned the strength to break away from their activities to cover the sugary treats with sugary icing and then wash it down with sugary juice.  Take that parents.

One of the favorite parts of a birthday is the piñata.  Since it was a My Little Pony party, the piñata was a pink pony.  All the kids got a chance to whack it with a small stick, then the big stick.  All the kids did some serious damage to it, but it was Isla who took the final swing that broke it in two.  Happy birthday Isla!

While the day was for Isla, the kids still wanted to celebrate Sadie turning one.  Nina and Papa brought a doggy treat bag and Sadie enjoyed it so much she even tolerated the birthday hat for a few minutes.