Fun at the Lake

Today we went to the lake for a birthday party. The kids...and dads...had a great time in the water. If I can't see the bottom, I do NOT swim in it!

I think Kinsey thought Trace was going to tump the float. Impressive that she was even out there. Yesterday she informed me that she was NOT swimming in the lake. Abbie told her there were dolphins in the lake and Kins wanted no part of it!

From this...

...to this...Trace freaked when the pink dye lingered on his face after he washed. The kids told him that he would look like Hannah Montana at school on Monday with a pink face. He was NOT a bit happy. Thankfully, it did eventually come off. I really wasn't sure what we were going to do to get rid of it!

first dance class

Kinsey had her first dance class today. She did a great job and LOVED it!!! They started with clogging then moved on to ballet. They clogged to a Hannah Montana song...an instant hit!

Before class, I had to call a friend for some help with the ballet shoes. They have some really long elastic strings and would not stay tied. Turns out I have much to learn about the world of dance and all the things that go with it!!! When we were ending our call, she reminded me that Kinsey was born for dance. She is exactly right!

pig flu

Brook took the girls to school today only to find out that there is a confirmed case of H1N1 flu at the school. She didn't leave them at school, took them to the park and Target!!! She must have really wanted to go to Target to take all 3 kids! They are planning a picnic at Ella's house with their lunches for today. Too cute!

2nd grade

I cannot believe it...2nd grade!!! I guess Trace had a good day. I had to all but tie him down and drag information out of him...interrogation style! He didn't have too much to say about it, but this is not unusual. He got in the car and the first words out of his mouth were, "I ate all my lunch!" This really is a big deal as the kid can go a week without eating, it seems.

I took his picture before we left for school but my memory card has decided it will no longer be accepting or storing any pictures. So I took this picture when he got home from school. It's still his first day of school pic...it'll work!

Thinking back to this time last year, we were in the middle of a move here. We were staying at my mother-in-law's for two weeks waiting to close on our house. I was dreading the eternal pick-up line after school today, but last year I drove an hour to get him, sat in the line, then drove an hour back to Mimi's house. For two weeks!

One could definitely say we are settled at this point. It was nice to know people when we were walking into the school this morning. I feel like we are part of the community. Something I really longed for when we lived in Sugar Land.

We had a summer full of changes in 2008, but moving here has turned out to be a good gamble. Life is good!

gymnastics

Kinsey and Ella had their last gym class of the summer today. Here are a few pics and clips of them in action!

Here is Kinsey doing one of her favorite moves...a penny drop. The next 4 pictures show it step-by-step.

Here she is hanging like a monkey. That's the technical term in a 4 year old class.

Kinsey, Ms. Linsey, and Ella

Dance

Tomorrow is Kinsey's last gymnastics class. I was ready to sign her up for the fall session, but she said she didn't want to do it. Instead, she wanted me to find her a dance class. She asked for a dance class when we moved here last year but all of the classes were in the afternoon so I passed. After a year of asking, I finally decided it was time.

We got her ballet slippers and tap shoes at the studio. I hope I never forget the look on her face when she stepped from the carpet to the wood floor in those tap shoes! She didn't realize they would tap and when she hit that floor......it was like she heard angels sing! When Mrs. Susan finally convinced her to take the tap shoes off and try the ballet slippers on, I thought we would never get them off of her feet!!! She walked the entire length of the studio looking sideways at herself in the mirror watching those little ballet slippers carry her across the floor. P R E C I O U S!!!

Now I understand why my mom tried to get me to take dance as a kid.

To top it off, there is a public performance mid-September. Could life possibly get any better?!

4 year old school

Today was Kinsey's first day of 4K. She has been counting the days until she started her "4 year old school". She even played this evening pretending to be in Mrs. Tina's class.

After a week and a half of bootcamp, I could hardly keep my eyes open today. The kids were so good and let me take a nap. Katie, on the other hand......I went to put Kinsey in the shower this evening and found this in my closet. While I was asleep, she found and shredded 9 rolls of toilet paper. I don't know how she did it, but one was still in a roll shape, but the cardboard tube was gone!

A relaxing afternoon and evening at home turned out to be pretty eventful! Before I found the tp mess, Katie got loose in the neighborhood twice and we got locked out of the house. All in under one hour.

While we were outside talking to a neighbor, Katie got out in the front yard and ran around the neighborhood. After I chased her down and got her back in the house, she managed to lock the deadbolt on the front door. It was time to take the pizza out of the oven when I found that the garage and front doors were locked...even though we had come out the front door. Thankfully, the back door was unlocked. If not, I told Kinsey she was going to have to squeeze herself through the doggie door.

After I found the toilet paper mess, Katie spent some quality time with nature.

Incredible Pizza Company

After our visit to the Children's Museum, we had lunch at the Incredible Pizza Company. We went a few years ago and Trace has asked to go back on a very regular basis. We did have a very good time. It was a long day and the kids did very well.

Trace and I played Laser Tag in a group of about 10. It was really fun! And a lot harder than I thought it would be. It's hard to hide and shoot those sneaky kids at the same time!

We raced go-karts and Kinsey and I won!

Trace was tall enough to drive his own car this trip. He was thrilled when he found out!!!

I just put this one on here because of the bunny ears. I didn't notice when I took the picture. It made me smile when I saw it!

Children's Museum

Today we went to The Children's Museum in The Woodlands with some friends. The kids, and moms, had a great time. The museum was great.

Larger than life sized operation game. This was really neat. The organs were like stuffed animals. Was very cool for the kids to see.


Trace really enjoyed this microscope. His favorite specimen was the mosquito with those hairy little legs. Blech!

Kinsey and Jack spent a lot of time in the playhouse. Jack went and got a shopping cart FULL of groceries then declared it was time for a cookout! So they went 'home' to put the groceries away and get ready for the cookout. They play so well together, but can never be married. They both know the best way to do something...but it's usually not the same way!

Trace worked for a very long time on this Lego tower. He was very proud!!!

Playing restaurant...

Dinosaur Dig and Fossils:

misc

I know it's been a while...

Trace is still enjoying baseball and has improved so much in the last month!!! It is really fun to watch. He has been playing second base and doing really well. He caught a fly ball in practice the other day - it was very exciting! First game is this weekend...go Texas Heat!!!

Kinsey can hardly wait for her preschool to start. She is very excited to be going to her '4 year old school'. We are so glad she and Ella will be in the same class. She is still doing gymnastics and recently figured out how to do a cartwheel! She can also do a front flip on the trampoline...although she lands on her back.

I started boot camp today. It was an hour of pure hell. But I survived and I think I will go back for day two! My friends swear I will feel great...wonder when that will come......