Monday, July 25, 2011

A big first grader...

Well, it is official....our girl is growing up! She is now a first grader! She was so excited to start school today and see her friends again. She got a little bit nervous walking onto the school campus, but was then good once she saw some of her friends. I told her that I needed to take a picture of her, but it was up to her if we took other pictures. She made me happy by taking pictures with all of us! Last year, we started the picture process later and got to school right in time for her to go to her class. This year, she knew she wanted to play with friends on the playground...so we were a little earlier!

Getting to be so grown up...
He is so proud of her....even if he has bed head! :)



I will always take it when she will take a picture with me! I do not get many of them anymore!

On our way....she was super excited to get a new backpack this year. Daddy even went to work late this morning so he could walk her to school and see her go to class. She was super happy!

Getting ready to go into class...


This year was much better than last! I still can not believe she is growing up so fast. However, I will be a wreck in September when Critter starts preschool!


Hope this is a great school year!

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Gymnastics Class...

It has taken us years since our favorite kid gym/play place closed to find a gym where we felt comfortable. We finally found this place and signed Critter up for a class back in February. He LOVES this place. He loves his class and he loves going to open gym. He has learned so much and I am amazed at how strong he is!


The kids were super excited to show off to my cousin when he was here. I had been meaning to take my camera with me to Critter's class and my cousin was a good reminder to do that!

He can hold himself in the pull up position by himself! I know I can not do that :)
They were helping him do flips on the bars this day. Since he can hold himself up, they don't want him getting bored.



I always knew he had a hard head....since bonks it so much! He loves to get himself into the headstand position, by himself! He is in the back of the picture with his feet up on the red mat. This class has been so great for him. It is great practice for preschool, since I get to sit inside and watch him do class by himself. He just loves it!

So, we decided to do the "mean parent" thing and force Pumpkin to take gymnastics. She needed to get into something physical and this seemed like a great place for her. She LOVES doing all the fun stuff at open gym, but was intimidated by class. We told her she would do a minimum of 8 weeks and if she left her first class happy then she could get a gymnastics outfit. She of course left happy :) She is in the pink top and purple shorts!




She has always loved bouncing! I can tell you she is much more flexible than her momma! :)

I could not BELIEVE how high she climbed on that rope! This was only her 3rd class and she was doing great. She is probably over 6 1/2 feet high at her feet there! CRAZY!



This has been such a great experience for me and the kids. I love seeing them active and having fun. It is so important to us that they have a few fun activities to do while being healthy. I can tell you the kids sleep good at night after class....just another bonus for me! Plus, Pumpkin has not asked yet when her 8 weeks is up....so she will keep doing it awhile longer. She is catching on really quick. The test will be next week after the 2nd day of school. We will get home from school, change, get a quick snack and rush off to class....wish me luck on that one! :)

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

An awesome visit...

We had a super-fun visitor come to see us....my cousin came down from Oregon to hang out from the 3rd-7th. I don't know if we could have fit more activities into his trip if he tried! It was a nice little break for the kids too. Since we did not travel this summer, I was starting to run out of ideas! This was a little vacation, but at home :)

We started his trip at my parents house. The kids and I were already there, plus we got to go swimming on the 4th! What better to do in the heat of the summer but to make smores though ;)
Pumpkin had to get in on the "throwing the kid" game. She is not as big a fan as her brother though. She would much rather jump into the pool herself than be thrown like this!



The new throw for Critter was the "Super.man"! I was amazed that this kid could keep his body straight while being thrown. I will tell you after 2 weekends of swimming and playing at Nanny's pool, he is much closer to actual swimming than ever before! He kept telling us to let go so he could swim himself. I love his confidence, even though it makes me nervous! And yes, he is about 18+ inches above the water! My dad and cousin sure got their upper body workouts in while throwing this kid :)


Since we got to see fireworks on the 2nd, we went bowling on the 4th! My cousin was not used to the heat, so there was no way I was going to take him out to see the fireworks! The kids had a BLAST! They both love playing W.ii bowling, but this was even more fun. It was especially cute when Critter decided he needed to bowl like us...meaning with his one hand and not between the legs! We were not sure if the ball would get down the lane sometimes, but it did!


This girl seems to be good at everything she does! She beat me when bowling! She almost beat my cousin too! She even knocked down a split...it was crazy cool!


With family visiting, that meant more sweets and special things than normal. After Critter's gymnastics class we went to get a treat before going to Pumpkin's gymnastics class. We went to one of my favorite places!


A pink coconut cupcake with glitter...she was in heaven! :)


I love this pic...I have almost the same picture of the three of them from exactly a year ago. The kids have grown up a little bit though...

On Wed. we drove south to see a beautiful Mission. In all my years here I have wanted to make the drive, but haven't. Since my cousin LOVES history we thought it would be a nice place to go. He had only been here once before for my wedding, we had to show him another area of the state. Plus, this was a shorter trip than up North. The kids did pretty good with the sightseeing too.


The got to climb a little bit after the drive. There is not much better than climbing over rocks to get the wiggles out!

I am so glad we finally made it down here. I was amazed at the beauty. I of course took a lot of pictures, but am only posting those two :)

After we stopped for lunch, Critter was asleep before we even hit the freeway! It was a nice day, especially since Hubby was able to take the day off and come with us!


To say the kids loved having my cousin visit would be an understatement! There many pillow fights, forts, and lots of fun! I am glad we had 2 birthday parties to go to last weekend so they did not miss him too much. It was so nice for me to hang out with him as well. We have never lived in the same state, but when we were little our families would go to my grandparents house at the same time. I have so many memories of vacations with his family. In the last 10 years, we have seen each other only 4 times (this visit included). It is great to spend time as adults together and reminiscing about our childhood!


Thanks cousin for visiting! It was a great time. Next time, we will try to come your way :)

Monday, July 11, 2011

A fabulous 4th weekend...

Once again this year, the kids and I went up to my parent's house for the 4th of July. Since Hubby always works the 4th, it is nice to get out of the house. Plus, it is fun since we can see the fireworks from my the front yard!

Watermelon always tastes better...outside! :)


This picture of Critter just cracks me up! He was in the middle of telling a story. I knew he took after me and talked with his hands...I just did not realize how much! I don't remember what the story was about, just that it was really important right at that moment :)


Did you know that the best way to wear a necklace is on your head? Pumpkin found this necklace and wore it on her head the rest of the weekend!


I forgot how much fun the glow bracelets can be! My mom gave the kids some so they could be entertained before the 9:30 fireworks. Of course since I had my camera that mean some fun pictures!


I never know how the kids will react to the fireworks. In all years past at least one of them have gotten scared of the noise. That is also part of the reason my parents house is good....we can just go inside if they freak out! But, this year they both seemed to enjoy it. My parent's community does a really awesome fireworks show. It lasts about 15-20 minutes and is quite impressive for a small community.


The best part was at the end though. We had been prepping the kids all day that the fireworks would make noise, but that the noise could not hurt them. Figured it was better to be prepared! At the end, Critter looks at my mom and says "Wow, I just thought there would be noise, not all that". The poor kid did not remember there were things to look at with fireworks, yet he was willing to sit there anyway!


I LOVE taking fireworks pictures! To me, it is a challenge and rewarding. There is something magical about watching this beautiful show. Plus, I love seeing the kids faces as they watch them and then see the pictures. It is almost like I can see the joy again and again in their faces!



Critter LOVES books! He will sit and look at books for a long time! If he is in a reading mood, we usually have to tell him we are done reading before he is! I love this about him since I am so happy when I have a book in my hand. One of his favorite spots is to grab a book and go to this corner and "read".


I got my love of reading from my parents...so I love that this picture captures both my dad and Critter reading before going swimming!



It was a really fun weekend. I am glad I got to relax a touch, since my cousin came to visit on the 3rd. The fireworks and activities were on the 2nd at my parents house. We pretty much did not stop when my cousin came. More pictures to come on that! It is so nice that the kids have both sets of grandparents so close so they can spend time with them. These are memories that will last a lifetime for them!