First Day of School!

This year two of my babies went off to school! Nathan has been so excited but also a little nervous of the unknown (as you can tell by the pictures).

He had no problem wearing his “handsome” clothes the first day of school, but has since asked if he could wear something else from now on.

Hannah had not been quite as excited about school until she found out she got the teacher she had been wanting all summer. She’s young, trendy and Hannah says “she really has it together!” Perfect for my child who loves order and structure.

Gig ‘em

Hannah kept giving Nathan advice and information she thought he might need. She’s a pro now. She still won’t admit he’s actually in “a grade” yet. She refers to his class as Kindergarten and the rest of the school is in “a grade…like an actual class.” She likes to stay one step ahead.

I held Nathan’s hand down the hall toward his room but right as we turned toward the Kindergarten hallway he looked up and let my hand go. Pretty tough, but I resisted the urge to hold on to him.

Both kids have done a great job this week. Nathan is trying really hard to wake up and get out the door on time and he is filled to the brim with things to tell me when I pick him up. We’ve definately had the expected meltdowns, but he’s tired and trying to adjust to the long days.

Hannah has already recieved a Gold Star for her behavior in class and for her reward she picked Teacher’s Assistant for the Day. I should note that she passed on the No Homework and Extra Recess Rewards.

Henry misses them a lot. The first day he cried and kept saying, “Sissy. Home. Bubba. Home.” I told him that they were at school and his response was, “No school. Home!” He’ll adjust quickly I’m sure.

Summer Happenings

We had another good summer.  School starts tomorrow.  Here are some of our highlights

We had a good garden this year again

We did lots of cooking on the egg

and inside

We washed the car

Went to the gym and the kids did yoga

Went to Kids Kamp at church

Did lots of swimming

Went to the club with Mama Jo

Went to the zoo (and splashpad)

Spent a few days at the library for special events. Gymnastics…

And Fossil Rim

Flew a kite

Worked a puzzle

Went to the movies with friends

And Henry worked on his potty training (instigated after a streak of playing in his diaper in his crib)

It was another great summer.  We are ready for school, football season, and cooler weather!!

Angel Fire Vacation 2016

We spent the second week of August in Angel Fire for our annual retreat to the mountains.  We drove up to Canyon Thursday afternoon, spent the night at Nana and Pappy’s (they were in Alaska), and then drove up to Angel Fire on Friday.

Hannah had her necessities packed

The kids loved their goodie bags that Nana and Pappy left for them in Canyon.

Hannah was cold when we first got there so she bundled up

Saturday we put together our basketball toy

and hiked from the house down to the playground

That evening we had dinner on the deck

On Sunday we went to the farmers market. The kids got their face painted

We also bought this yummy orange watermelon and some other fresh food for the week

We had lunch at the playground and then played golf that afternoon.

On Monday we went to Taos.  We played at Twirl and did some shopping

Then we had pizza for lunch

Then we stopped at a resale shop and bought some used hiking boots for Hannah.

That evening we had a movie night

On Tuesday we had tennis lessons, did some fishing, and played golf in the afternoon

Wednesday was probably our biggest day. We hiked middle fork lake trail in Red River. This was the biggest hike the kids have ever done. 4 miles round trip with 1200 ft elevation gain.  Hannah complained almost the whole time even though I think she actually had fun.

The kids were cold starting out.

Henry loved the pack-pack.

It wasn’t long before we hit our first waterfall.  Henry kept saying “hear fall-fall”

Here is a picture of her attitude

Halfway up the trail, we crossed the big waterfall and stopped for a snack.

Nathan thought this was pretty cool

Hannah went right across.  I guess all those gymnastics lessons are working.

Snack time

We finally made it to the top

It was cold up there so everyone put on jackets. We forgot to bring Henry a jacket, so he got Nathan’s, Nathan got Hannah’s, Hannah got Jennifer’s, and Jennifer got mine.  It worked.

We had another snack. The chipmunks were not shy

Henry walked a little on the way down

The rest of the way down was pretty easy, until Hannah fell and scraped her knees when we were almost to the parking lot. It took us about 3.5 hours total.

After we got back to Red River, we had pizza for lunch and then got some ice cream

Then we rode the go-karts

Nathan thought this was pretty cool since he had been playing Mario Kart all week.

That evening the boys played swords on the deck

and took a potty break

On Thursday we hiked Lady Slipper in the morning.

We made it to the big tree

Then we did some fishing and played at the playground

On Friday, we cleaned the house, took some pictures and drove back to Amarillo.

We had dinner at Rebecca and JM’s, then stayed the night in Canyon and drove home on Saturday.  It was 106 in Fort Worth all week while we were gone, and then we got home and it rained for a week and kept the temperatures in the 80s.  We timed it perfect.

As always, it was a great week and the highlight of our summer.