Fun on the beach in South Carolina

We took a family vacation with Scott's parents and one of Scott's brothers to Garden City, South Carolina during the third week of August. This was the third year that we have all met in South Carolina and once again a good time was had by all. We enjoyed good weather and lots of lazy days on the beach. The sound of crashing waves is one I will never get tired of hearing, and each year this trip gets easier as the children enjoy the waves and water more and more independently. As much as I enjoy building sand castles with the kids, I also enjoy relaxing on my beach chair while watching them play in the surf.

I am going to let the photos speak for themselves this time around. The joy on Amelia and John's face is palpable - no description needed.

Funny stories by John

John created some pretty funny stories at school last week. John's teacher writes the story as each child describes it and then the children illustrate their stories.

I have to say, John's stories are both disturbing and hilarious at the same time. The stories are disturbing because they are all about destruction but they are hilarious because the tales are so outlandish. I was a bit concerned about the amount of violence in John's stories, but John's teacher reassured me that all of the boys had similar tales. She said that they listened to each other tell their stories so many of the ideas came from other children and were concocted from silliness.

I had to take pictures of John's books to document their craziness. The plot doesn't always make sense, but it must in John's mind because he thinks these stories are the best ever. Here is story number one.

Amelia thinks the part above about how a folder game squishes everything is the funniest thing ever. She squealed (imagine the high-pitched seven year-old squeal here), "John, what were you thinking?!? How could a folder squish everything? And what exactly is a folder game anyway?" John: "I don't know, but it IS pretty funny, Amelia!" And now for story number two:

You have to imagine how John acts when I read his stories aloud. He laughs and slaps his hand against his thigh, giggling and acting so excited to be sharing his creation. It's awesome to watch him like this.

First day of second grade

Amelia's first day of second grade was today. She was super excited about starting school again. Beginning last Friday night Amelia told me that she wished time could zoom ahead to Monday already because she couldn't wait to see her friends at school.
I know that in the above photo the bookbag looks about as big as Amelia,but I think it is just the angle. She refused to take it off for the photo, as she is so proud to have picked out this lovely pink and purple bag on her own.

I hesitate to include this last one because Amelia refused to look at me for the in the classroom photo. She was fine with me taking the picture at the house and another in front of her locker, but for some reason in the classroom all of a sudden Amelia got embarrased and didn't want me to take this.

Of course, I did anyway, despite her silent protest. Love the dimple on her right cheek! :-)

According to Amelia, she had a great first day of school. Tonight she exclaimed "I am so happy to be in second grade, mom, because it is a lot of fun!"

Awesome pool

The record-breaking heat wave continues here in Dallas. I think today was our ninth day in a row of temperatures greater than 100 degrees, with the heat index reaching between 105 and 110 degrees at the height of the day. Fun stuff, I tell you. On Saturday of this past weekend I took the kids to the SMU pools to cool off. On Sunday I wanted something a bit more creative so we tried a public pool in a neighboring community that we had not been to before.

And boy am I glad that we did! I had heard about this public pool in Plano from a friend at church who spoke fondly of the numerous amenities for families at this complex. I was completely impressed by the facilities and the children and I had a good time splashing, swimming, and sliding, despite the hot, hot burning sun.

Below is a partial shot of the outdoor pool. The entire pool was less than four feet deep, which made it perfect for less confident swimmers (like Amelia) but still deep enough for adults to enjoy as well. There were numerous splash areas, as well as three gigantic water slides.
Awesome slides! Poor John didn't meet the height requirement (though he was eager to try these slides!) so Amelia enjoyed riding by herself. I even took a turn with her. I went on the green slide and Amelia rode the blue - we raced - and Amelia won.

I only took photos in the outdoor portion, but the interior was just as grand. There were two indoor pools, one similar to the outside in terms of depth and activities for younger children, plus a deeper lap pool with some diving boards and a steep water slide. The inside pool had a rapidly-moving lazy river that we all thought was grand fun! It was nice to be able to come indoors to swim when we wanted to take a break from the heat.

John entertained himself by running down the stairs (above) and then seeing how far he could run in the shallow water before falling down to swim. Below the kids were splashing in another area for kids. When they pulled on the rope, like Amelia is doing, water poured out of a spicket above so it resembled a shower. The kids played so well together that this was a relaxing day for me to just watch and enjoy being with them.

We capped off the fun afternoon with treats from the snack bar before heating home. Amelia and I had old-fashioned cheap ice cream bars (Orange Dreamsicle!) and John opted for Skittles.

And a close-up below of Amelia with a beautiful smile on her face.

As much as I am proud of our own community pool this Plano pool completely puts ours to shame. I spent $12 on admission for all three of us, $3 for treats, and the kids acted as overjoyed and excited as if I had taken them to a fancy $30 per person water park. It was a fun afternoon for sure! And as an added bonus, they were so tired from playing at the pool that they were well-behaved in the evening and didn't protest going to be just before 8:00. Awesome.

Random fun

Here are some photos that I have taken over the past few weeks.

This first one is John the policeman wearing his Batman underoos giving me his "fierce" face. When I took the kids to the dollar store to select Amelia's birthday party favors, John pestered me like crazy to buy him the policeman gun holster and assorted accessories. I know that he doesn't need any more toy guns with the ones he recently acquired in Jackson Hole, but getting John off my back for a buck was worth it. The hat is left over from a Halloween costume.

One day shortly after we returned from Jackson the kids were playing hide and seek nicely together one afternoon. At one point, Amelia left John this note while she went to hide. Mind you, John can't read so I had to help him understand it, but I loved how obvious Amelia was in revealing where she was hiding. She actually was hiding behind the bed.

Here are a few photos from our recent weekend visit to a spray playground. Our record-breaking heat wave has left us with limited options for fun on the weekends, but Amelia and John had a good time on this afternoon. While the kids ran around in the water I sat there sweating in the sun wondering how long I could take the heat (answer: one hour).
Scott took a different approach on another warm day when he took the kids to a local version of a Chuck-E-Cheese pizza and game parlor. I had a long to-do list that day and since I am not a big fan of those types of places, I was happy to let Scott and the kids enjoy the afternon without me. Amelia selected these enormous sunglasses with tickets she won from the games she played. And John selected these lovely items from the prize bin. Very nice (sarcasm implied).


Last but not least, we took the kids to the circus last weekend. The floor is opened an hour before the show begins, where various circus performers demonstrate their moves. We went early specifically to observe these demonstrations, which was nice because Amelia and John could see up close how the performers do what they do during the performance.

This is the same high-wire troupe as in the pre-show doing their act during the circus performance.

I tried my best to get good shots of the children but my photos reveal that the circus is not the best venue for this.

However, I like the shot of John below. Scott allowed the children to select one treat each from the over-priced and ridiculous circus vendors, and John selected this sword. John LOVES his sword, as evidenced by the look on his face here.