A local gymnastics gym has open gym two times a week for younger kids so Kiley and I went yesterday and she loved it. Everything is up in the gym and you can do whatever you want. She had a lot of fun!

Eli's first day of school went well and he talked for at least 20 minutes straight after I picked him up (hopefully that will continue but we will see). His teacher also called last night just to let us know how he did the first day which I thought was very nice.

G - this picture is for you and for anyone else who noticed my poor daughters fingernails in the previous post but restrained from commenting :). It is a good thing that I took the picture right after they were done b/c they are already starting to look like they need redone.


As I was getting lunch Kiley was playing and discovered her bug box. So she immediately went outside sat down on the step, set the box beside her, and started calling, "Frog, Mr. Frog where are you? Come in here please." Needless to say the frog did not come, but I thought it was kind of cute.

Today was Eli's first day of kindergarten. Hard to believe that he is that big already but excited to start a new chapter and praying that he will stay healthy.

Kiley was the unhappy one this morning with Eli leaving this morning, but she has done relatively well this morning. My favorite was when she comes to me upset b/c she wants to listen to music - A little confused I say that is fine you can listen to music and she says, "No, Eli always turns it on right for me, I not do it." They really have been playing really good together lately and I know they will miss all the time especially Kiley. We went on a bike ride and then played outside for a little bit this morning and Kiley found a little frog. He quickly became her 'pet' and I want to thank the little frog for his sacrifice in making a little girl happy (she loves animals and bugs?!)

It will be interesting to see what Eli has to say about his day and Kiley I am sure will be more than ready to pick him up at 2:40

Yesterday the kids decorated T-shirts w/fabric crayons and paint. They had so much fun and today they got to put them on b/c they were dry. They were very excited - it is the simple things!

As the summer is winding down (only in terms of school starting not the heat :) I asked Eli if there was anything that he would like to do before school. He of course had to think about it (as always:) but the next day he asked if we could find a children's museum to go to. When we were in Lincoln we spent a lot of time at the children's museum and he has defiantly missed it. Anyway, we found one about 45 min. away and the kids and I headed out. The museum was on a university campus and was a combination of a hands on part and your regular look don't touch museum. The kids had fun and I am glad I could find one close.

A couple of weeks ago I discovered that we live only a couple hours from San Antonio and that Sea World is there... So yesterday we took a day trip and headed to Sea World. It was a long, fun, hot day. We started the day off with breakfast with Sesame Street. Both the kids enjoyed interacting with the character and I loved the fact that we were in the park before everyone else and did not have to wait in line!

After breakfast we got to feed the dolphins - I did not get any wonderful pictures probably b/c I was too interested in what I was doing :) Kiley and I both got to touch one but neither of the boys were quick enough - we did all feed them some fish though.

We spent the rest of the day walking around the park, taking in the shows, and cooling off in the pools.

The kids favorite show was Azul - a combination of dolphins, beluga whales, birds, synchronized swimmers, acrobats, and divers. It was pretty impressive. The kids have talked about it non stop and have discussed what parts they will play someday :)

Overall it was a fun day and I am glad that we got to do something speacial before Eli stats school.

The kids have had a lot of fun at the library this summer. They had one big activity each week and several small ones. This week was the last big activity and the end of the summer reading program and the kids had a lot of fun. The police, firefighter, and city workers had all of their big equipment there and the kids got to climb all over it honking the horns, moving lever, and really whatever they wanted. They even turned some of the tractors on so they could move the equipment up and down. The horns of course were the big hit and I am sure that anyone living within a mile of the library wondered what in the world was going on. They also had games, crafts, and face painting.

Last night Eli was in the tub and I told him that it was time to get out. A couple of minutes later he was still not out so I went and asked him why he was still in the tub b/c he had been asked to get out and he says, "Mom, I could not get out yet because I was in the middle of a demonstration." So I asked him what it was that he was demonstrating and his reply was, "That is an excellent question why don't you sit down on the toilet and I will show you."

Both the kids and I enjoy being outside and we have missed it some w/the heat. Last Saturday was a work day at the church we have been going to and Brian was helping out, the kids and I stopped by in the afternoon to see him and check on the progress. They were installing a playground and I was chatting with the preacher and he says, "Playgrounds are not really very practical in the summer but in the winter they are great!" I almost laughed but then realized he was completely serious - I am defiantly looking forward to this winter in TX.

Anyway, this morning both the kids were up early so we headed out to lake to ride bikes and hike around before it got to hot. We had a lot of fun. Brian recently got Kiley a new bike which she loves and Eli finally has the confidence to ride w/out his training wheels. We had been out to this lake several times and it is the one that we saw all the vultures at the first time. When my parents were here we went out too but no birds, however they were back today and I had my camera - so here is the proof that there really are a ton of them.(and yes I made a mental note to NEVER picnic off the tables here!) The kids also had fun chasing bubbles. We were home by 9:30 and the temp was 101.

To say that my kids love books is a bit of an understatement. I think that if I would allow them they would sit and read books all day. Anyway, if you know the book The Napping House you will appreciate the picture. I was cleaning up from dinner and Brian and the kids were playing in the living room. Eli asked if I could come in and check out their napping house...
Kiley had climbed on Brian first and then Eli of course thought that it was a good idea too!

We just had a lot of fun with some 'old' friends. Valerie one of my best fiends from TN came to visit and brought her two kids. Eli and Conner are about 8 1/2 moths apart and Kiley and Savannah are 3 months apart. The boys knew each other in TN and played together all the time I had not gotten to meet Savannah yet. It was a lot of fun to catch up and let the kids play. Thank you so much for coming up Val.