D'oh

I didn't remember that it was picture day at school until dinnertime when I asked Tyler to tell us about his day and he said, "They took pictures of me and Daphne." And of course Tyler was wearing a free t-shirt from a baseball game several years ago that is no longer mostly white and Daphne was wearing a hand-me-down Dora the Explorer shirt. The kids get so grubby at school that we don't usually dress up much. It's a good thing we don't have to buy pictures until after we see them and we can choose not to buy any!

Our Escape Artist

We knew it was inevitable that our little gymnast and daredevil would climb out of her crib. We think Tyler was physically capable of climbing out of the crib at her age but he was pretty well behaved and also a big scaredy cat. On Friday Daphne climbed out of her crib when she was supposed to be napping and quietly went off to Tyler's room and played until she was discovered. She climbed out again on Saturday at nap time. So Saturday night Michael converted the crib. It converts all the way down to a toddler bed but Michael just took off the front rail for now to get Daphne used to it. We thought she would be super excited but I'm not sure she knows what to think. Daphne has been so worn out from her cold that she has gone down for bed and naps without getting out of bed so we are off to a good start.

All tucked in and still not sure what to think... Daphne was
pretty tired at bedtime though because she had skipped her
nap when she climbed out of the crib earlier in the day.

T-Ball

T-ball practices started about a month ago and games began 2 weeks ago. Tyler is loving it, especially since he is in a pretty competitive league. I was a little worried he would get frustrated by the complexity of the rules compared to soccer and basketball but his coaches have been doing a great job keeping it fun while also teaching the kids the rules. Since this t-ball league is for ages 4 - 6 a bunch of the kids played last spring or fall. To keep the games moving there is a 5-run cap per each half inning. The first game ended in a 15-15 tie and so Tyler's team won because they got 4 outs during the game whereas the other team got 2 outs. It's a little like watching the Bad News Bears because most of the kids are still learning how to catch and there are lots of wild throws. In the second game Tyler played pitcher one inning and made an out by throwing a runner out at first. I was so proud of him! His team actually got 3 outs in 2 of the innings and won the game 15-10. It will be fun to see the kids progress as the season goes on.

Ready for his first game

Tyler loves running the bases.

Tyler scoring at home

Unofficial team photo before opening ceremonies
(Tyler is second from left on bottom row)

Video clip of Tyler's team running out onto the field. The t-ball teams got to go first.

All the leagues (t-ball through Pony) lined up on the infield

Lance Berkman (retired Astro) was on hand for the opening
ceremonies and threw the first strike out (aka first three pitches)
alongside the Round Rock Express general manager and a
DJ from sports station 104.9 The Horn

Under the Weather

I thought we were going to escape cold and flu season with minimal illness but Daphne has been sick for over a week now and has given it to the rest of us! Poor Daphne had a fever for 3 days starting the week before last Friday along with nasty congestion (coughing and runny nose). We went to the doctor on Monday and she tested negative for the flu. Daphne did get antibiotics for an ear infection as well as eye drops for her infected eyes. Tyler has had the nasty cough too and it finally caught up to Michael and me. Hopefully we have now met our sickness quota for the year.

Basketball

Basketball season has already come and gone and I still haven't posted any photos! Tyler played a 7-week season prior to spring break that was very geared for learning. There were flat rubber spots on the floor where the players had to stand on defense to get the kids in the habit of figuring out how to spread out. Many of the kids ran with the ball and forgot to dribble. Instead of calling a penalty the ref just blew the whistle and reminded the kids to dribble. And the coaches were out on the court to help guide the kids.

I was out of town on picture day or I would
have removed Tyler's temporary tattoo.
Michael's mom says it just makes him look
more like an actual NBA player.

Tyler on defense with his arms up ready to block.

Tyler dribbling. Most of the kids had trouble keeping the ball
going while dribbling and the ball got lower and lower to the ground.

Team huddle

Tyler (#4) is pretty fast and liked the quick sprints up the court.

Click on the video to see Tyler score a basket. On average Tyler scored about 2 baskets per game. During the last game of the season he scored 5 baskets!

Sharing?

Hazel and Daphne are at the age where they are starting to learn about sharing. Here Daphne is sharing goldfish with Hazel. Of course, this is after Daphne commandeered Hazel's entire snack cup of goldfish!

New Orleans City Park

Sliding cousins: Daphne and Hazel

Tyler pretended to sell snow cones and
ice cream cones from this tent

We couldn't get all three kids to look at the camera at once
amongst the cool old oak trees

Beignets at Morning Call

Ribbit! Ribbit!

Audubon Zoo in New Orleans

Ready for a fun-filled day

Snack time

Uncle Brad, Daddy, and Tyler

Tyler, Daphne, and Uncle Brad

Tyler navigating the spider web
at the bottom of Monkey Hill

Hazel, Daphne, and Tyler with the albino alligator

Tyler easily made his way through this netted tunnel and
Daphne surprised us by navigating her way through too

Uncle Brad and Daphne, who loves shoulder rides

Hazel (sacked out), Megan, and Brad

Hazel and Aunt Megan

Uncle Brad and Tyler

Daphne and Mommy

Having so much fun...
can't keep eyes open any longer...

Only in New Orleans does the zoo include a "Gumbo Trail" of local animals that includes a recipe card next to the name and description of each animal!

Atlanta

Tyler working one of the ball contraptions at
Imagine It! (Atlanta's Children's Museum)

Daphne and Wendy fishing

Olympic Ring fountain in Centennial Park; We didn't bring
swimsuits so we let the kids strip down and run wild. Poor Daphne's
diaper was so full of water by the time they stopped playing.

Daphne cuddling up to Wendy's dad

Wendell, Finny, Dolly, and Wendy

Daphne, Renee, and Finny;
Naturally Daphne had to climb up on my lap to
claim her territory while I was holding Finny

Glenn Lake Park in Decatur

Wendy, Brian, Daphne, and Griffin (aka Finny);
Have I mentioned that Daphne likes to give
hugs and is particularly sweet on men?

Finny's first swing ride

Tyler bouncing

Daphne has become quite the climber, but she
still requires lots of supervision on the playground.

Our little daredevil went down headfirst on the toddler slide.

No balancing problems here

Athens Cousins

My cousin Amy and her family live in the Athens area. We hadn't seen each other in 15 years and it was fun to catch up. Tyler definitely liked spending time with Thomas (age 9) and George (age 6).

(Daphne off to side), Michael, Renee, Amy, and CR

George and Tyler checking out the swing

Tyler enjoyed the swing but wanted to start off
at a much lower points than the other boys

Thomas, George, and Tyler;
Daphne refused to sit with the boys for a photo

Big Bed

Daphne really enjoyed sharing a big bed (with pillow and chair reinforcements on the side) with Tyler while in Atlanta. She'll probably be ready to transition out of her crib in a few months. Okay, Daphne's probably ready now but we are not in any hurry to give up the confining bars just yet!

Traveling

This was one of the easiest trips with the kids yet. It definitely helped that we had short one-way flights (Austin to Atlanta, Atlanta to New Orleans, and New Orleans to Austin), Daphne had her own seat on the airplane for the first time, and we didn't lug a stroller with us. Plus Tyler did a pretty good job pulling his suitcase. Now if we could just ditch the car seats! On the very last shuttle bus ride back to our car in Austin, Daphne started throwing a tantrum on the floor of the bus when I told her she needed to sit on my lap because there weren't enough seats. (It was definitely nap time when this occurred.) Tyler kindly sat on my lap and gave Daphne his seat. Half the bus riders chuckled when Daphne sweetly said, "Thank you Tyler!"

Holding hands in the check-in line

Tyler and Daphne loved watching all the action outside the gate.
Tyler especially liked watching the fuel trucks and baggage trucks.
Daphne loved just watching all the planes go by. On the trip home
Daphne repeatedly said, "I fly airplane."

Unprompted by us, Daphne wanted her oversized sunglasses before we went through security in Atlanta and New Orleans. What a crack-up!

The TSA agents in Atlanta laughed
and told Daphne she was a diva.

Daphne got smiles in the New Orleans security line too.

Thank goodness for their Nabi tablets to keep
them occupied on the plane! Michael liked
sitting in the aisle seat next to Daphne
because of all the extra elbow and leg room.