First Day of School

First grade

New preschool class

Tyler got to meet his teacher on Friday afternoon at Meet the Teacher. She had cupcakes on everyone's desk that said, "First grade is a piece of cake." Based on that, Tyler said, "I think I'm going to like first grade." Today he found out how much work first grade is going to be: reading, math, science, and social studies. But his favorite class hasn't changed: PE!

Daphne gets to "sign in" every day in her new preschool class. This morning she traced her name on her sign-in page. Daphne already knows her teacher (she's still at the same preschool but she moved up a class) and loves exploring her new classroom.

Mini Golf

Six Flags Fiesta Texas

To cap off the end of summer vacation before school starts tomorrow we headed down to San Antonio for a day at Six Flags Fiesta Texas. We lucked out with an overcast day, which kept the heat down. They did have to close the rides for about half an hour because of rain so we watched a show and Daphne caught a mini nap. Daphne got to ride her first kiddie roller coaster and liked the train the best. She is still too short for the bigger rides. Tyler loved getting wet. His favorite ride was the Power Surge (log plume steep drop), followed by the Gully Washer (rafts), and then the bumper cars. Tyler probably would have really liked Bugs Bunny's White Water Rapids (longer log plume ride), but it was closed. Michael, Tio Eddie, and I took Tyler on Pandemonium, a "family roller coaster" where a car of 4 spins around while it does the roller coaster. Tyler was not a fan! Michael and I really liked the Gully Washer because we all got to ride together in one raft. I especially liked it because Michael got soaked when Michael and Daphne's side of the raft went under the waterfall at the end!

Tyler helps Abuelito navigate the bumper cars.
Goal: bump into Daddy!



Our green dragons riding in the spinning 8 balls

Zombie children! We thought we were done
getting wet when Abuelita got the kids' faces
painted. We later discovered the Power Surge
(where both kids liked standing on the bridge
where you get really wet) and both kids
had paint running down their face.

Buckerooz

Snack time with Abuelita and Abuelito

Preview of bus rides during the school year?

Ferris wheel (Abuelita's favorite)

Tio Eddie and Michael on the left side of the photo

We arrived at the park with normal children and
took home Wonder Woman and Green Lantern.

Growing

As Daphne held on to her pinky toe:
Daphne: My toe is growing.
Me: Yes. All your toes are growing because you are growing.
Daphne: No! Only my toe is growing...And my finger.

Picky Eater

To say that Daphne is a picky eater is an understatement. (And of course I was exactly the same way most of my childhood.) We constantly have a battle of wills about trying new foods, particularly at dinner time. I thought it was quite appropriate that this was one of the books Daphne picked out at the library this afternoon.

Walking Contradiction

A few days ago I took Tyler clothes shopping for back to school. He picked out a shirt he liked and I told him he would need to try it on. Tyler started to take his shirt off right there in the boys section. I stopped him and said we would do all the trying on in the fitting room.


Fast forward to a little while later after we have picked out more clothes to try on: Tyler and I go into a fitting room and close the door. I ask Tyler to take his shirt off, which he does. Then he exclaims, "Oh my gosh! I feel so exposed!" and he crosses his arms over his chest. I know he was mostly hamming it up but it still cracked me up.

Cousins visit us in Austin

Noah, Damon, and Micah paid us a visit this past weekend. We had some non-stop fun!

The arctic spy adventures continue with new spy Noah.

Damon in action

Micah turning the steering wheel

Locked and loaded for water gun action

The water pressure wasn't the greatest
but the kids still enjoyed sliding

Micah and Damon must have gone up and down
the stairs a million times to drop the parachute men

 

Dance party!

Time to tackle Daddy/Uncle Michael

Even Micah gets in on the action

Punch Down

A few days ago Tyler helped me make homemade pizza dough. His favorite part of the whole process was when he got to punch down the dough after it had been rising for the first hour. He went to town with his boxing punches.

Roller Skating

One of Tyler's friends had a roller skating birthday party last weekend. Luckily Tyler wasn't the only one at the party who had not roller skated before so there were a few of them learning in the beginner area. Tyler was a good sport and tried really hard to get the hang of it and he did spend a lot of time picking himself off the ground after falling.

The roller rink had these crazy "walkers"
on wheels to help beginners. Tyler gave
it a try but he didn't think it helped much.
Can you tell he wasn't thrilled I took this photo?

Tyler eventually made it out of the beginner
practice area onto the main rink.

Swim Lessons

The kids just wrapped up two weeks of swim lessons. Daphne's class was very introductory and mostly worked on getting the kids used to the water. Tyler's class was a lot more intense and he had to work on floating on his back, gliding off the wall, swimming freestyle, swimming back stroke, and treading water. Tyler had been dreading lessons but after the first one he got really into it. Every night he wanted to practice his skills while Daphne was in her class, which was right before Tyler's class. Tyler still has a long way to go but he improved greatly between the first lesson and the last lesson. He is really comfortable keeping his face in the water now and is good at kicking. He mostly needs to work on his floating skills.

Tyler on the far left

Practicing arm strokes during the first lesson

Daphne had a ball with her classmates! 

Tyler working on gliding while we wait for Daphne's class to wrap up.

While Tyler was in class Daphne would
either play in the kiddie pool or jump
repeatedly to either Michael or me from the
side of the pool with no fear whatsoever.

Jokes

Tyler has a core set of jokes that he has gotten pretty good at telling. The only problem is that Daphne has heard them so many times she knows all the punch lines. Tyler gets frustrated when she delivers the punch line before he has a chance to tell her or other friends. Daphne's current favorite joke:

Knock knock
Who's there?
Jamaican
Jamaican who?
Jamaican me crazy!

Faux Hawk

Tyler loves the fun hairstyles the hairdresser
usually gives him after they cut his hair.

Indoor Fun

Daphne is the popcorn and Tyler is the popper

 

The neon ninja