Aspen Field Day

So London and Aspen got to participate in Field Day but I was only able to volunteer for Aspens part, so I only have pictures of her. So keep in mind, everything you see was for both London and Aspen, they both had a heck of a lot of fun, and came home exhausted.

"Hi Mom!"
"Hi Aspen" My job, thank goodness, was to sit in the shade and put tattoos on all the Kindergartners and 1st grade kids.

And all the ones that wanted it on the cheeks got a cute squishy face. This is Aspen.

Peace, Love and Field Day. All the tattoos were peace signs, so fun.

Aspen, Reagan and Meagan. Bestest of buds!

You go girl.

These were my favorite things in Elementary School. I LOVED going under, it was so fun.

I don't know why this is so tiny, but sack races are the best.

And after all that sweating, let's do the Limbo. Only in Texas would they figure out a way to have water in this game.

Water Balloon T-Ball. I think she just missed, cause those things would explode on impact. That or bounce out into the crowd and hit someone else. Either way...someone gets wet. :)

Aspen definitely got some water on her.

Field Day Rocks!

San Jacinto Monument Field Trip

We have School Field Trips at the end of the school year every year. This year they bused the 4th graders out to San Jacinto Monument.
And we didn't have to wait till we got there to have something to look at. At many of the refineries they had these awesome paintings of the San Jacinto Battle. Pretty cool.

So here's the Monument. It stands 15 ft higher than Washington DC Memorial. Very impressive.

And VERY BIG!

Here are all the crazy 4th graders. I can't believe they got them all to stay put for this shot.

This picture's for Uncle Ryan. There was quite a cool museum inside, with originals of everything. So here's your original Confederate Flag. Not quite as bright as the ones you see today, but still impressive.

Swords, guns, knifes...they had about 50 of everything, so all the boys were in Heaven. Just the kind of stuff a 9 year old wants to look at at the museum.

And yes, it was hot outside, this is TX after all. We discovered the AC vent was pretty good at cooling you off and buffing you up. This is Cody, our back fence neighbor.

London and a couple of friends. I'll catch their names later.

So you can ride the elevator up to the observation deck and look across that pond to this Battleship. Next time we come to the monument we're heading over here to have a walk around on this. Notice the tiny buses, that'll give you an idea of how big that ship is.

And then this is what else surrounds the monument. Swamps and water.

More artifacts in the Museum part. This is an actual letter signed by Santa Anna. I could sit here and tell you all about the San Jacinto Battle, but it'd take an awfully long time. I'll give you the basics that this is were Texas earned their Independence from Mexico. This battle happened after the battle of the Alamo. But for more details I'm gonna say Goggle it, then you'll know everything else. :)

And Santa Anna's glove. I thought it was pretty cool that they had something like this.

So then you have the actual battleground. Complete swampy area. I really don't know how they fought out there.

And the monument from the Battlefield perspective. The star on top weighs something like 20 tons.

How would you like to fight out here? It's too pretty to think of what really happened here.

So on the drive home I passed this church with the hugest cross I've ever seen. I thought it was a nice way to end this Post, seeing as how many men died during this Battle.

Space Derby

Cub Scouts is not just about the Pine Wood Derby, there's also the Space Derby. And that's what we did this week. Check out all these crazy boys! And they really do act like this all the time.

Time for the Wind Up. They got 1 min to wind it as many times as they could. They had to tape their fingers because frequently that blade flips back and it WILL cut you (got me 3 times last year).

But in the end the Dad's got to mount them on the track. Our little ship definitely looked the coolest, but we had issues with the rubber bands inside and unfortunately it never made it off the mounting block.
But as you can see we all still had a good time. Crazy Sicily, cheering on her London.

Pre-School Graduation

He did it!! He's done!!
These kids were the funnest group ever to teach. We had a blast every time they came to my house. And we covered just about every subject under the sun, loving every minute of it. Thank you all you Moms for teaching my Phoenix, and thank you for letting me teach your adorable children.

Now onto the Graduation Party.

A little sun, a little water, throw in some snow cones and you have to best Pre-School Graduation Party ever.

But everyone does need a little break every now and again.

Awards Assembly

Awards Assembly was at school today. Aspen at 10:00, London at 1:30. Somehow I made it to both, with the help of a neighbor who came over during the little ones naps, thanks Sonja.

London got lots of awards this year, but the best was his Commended for the TAKS (Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills). He got 100% on Reading and Math, and only missed 1 on Writing. These tests are a big deal, kind of like ACT for 4th Grade. Way to go London!! We're so proud of you.

Here's his class with our teacher Mrs. Jacobs. They all did so good.
And 2 good friends from class, L-R, Star, London and Jacob. Gotta love cheesy boys.
Aspen's in 1st Grade, so her Awards Assembly was held in her class room with cookies at the end. Much to Phoenix and Sicily's pleasure. She was "last the best" with Walker for a last name, and knew it was her turn so she stood up before her name was even called.

Aspen was Awarded for EVERYTHING a 1st grader can be awarded for. Way to go Aspen!

This is Mrs. Hobbs our teacher. She just loves Aspen and gave her a special "Lifesaver" candy Award for always helping everyone in need, especially Mrs. Hobbs. Aspen frequently helped her fellow classmates with their work when she had finished her own, or read to the class while Mrs. Hobbs finished her work. Good Job Aspen!

Memorial Day

When you live rather close to the coast and it's been in the 90's all week, the best thing to do on Memorial Day is go to the Beach. Wooooo Hooooo! We were there from 8:00-3:00. We are all burnt, but not too bad, since this year we remembered to reapply the sunblock.

We brought Charlie along for the ride. We had to physically lift him into the truck, lazy bum. But he had the time of his life for his first water experience.
Phoenix with the wake board. He did good and even caught a few waves.

Phoenix and Addison's feet (our friend) on the blow up floaty mattress. They had a blast pushing each other over.

Jared/Sicily, with Aspen/Julie. Love the floaties.

For an example of the wonderfulness of things that float, enjoy the video.

So when things finally calmed down, we made some new friends and castles to go with 'em.

Those boys tried really hard to beat the girls, but they were just too slow. And built a bit to close to the water. Didn't you ever hear of the "wise man" and the "foolish man?" I mean, come on boys.

Time for some cool down, and what better place to eat some watermelon. Cause when you're all done you just jump back in the water and wash off. Gotta love the beach.

Back to Charlie. He loves the water.

But mostly I couldn't get him off my tail. He was about 2 ft behind me all day.

Shake, shake, shake! I think he shook on everyone at least once.

POOF!

Give you 2 guesses what she's doing.

Don't forget to wash your hands.

And let's not forget all the creatures we found on the beach. No we didn't catch these, but some nice people let us take pictures with their Sea Trout.

They also caught this Hammer Head.

And this Jelly Fish with their casting net. But we did catch this little guy.

And all his friends.

Hope you all enjoyed your Memorial Day, and didn't get as Sunburned as us. By the way Phoenix says his skin is red because he ate so many Hot Cheetos.

Calvin & Hobbs Dinner Time

I grew up in a family that was devoted to the Comics. That was the only thing I ever read out of the Newspaper. And one of my all time favorites was Calvin & Hobbs. This story may remind you of one of his.

Phoenix has taken to not wanting to eat ANYTHING ever placed in front of him. Unless, of course, it's Mac & Cheese and Hot Dogs. So we have a struggle every night to get him to stop whining and start eating. This was the latest conversation to convince him to eat:

Mom: Eat your soup!
Phoenix: What is it?
M: It's Sticky Green Soup (Cream of Broccoli for all you non-Walkers)
P: What's in it?
M: Cow Eye Balls.
P: What? ... Really?
M: Yes, but I had to chop them up because they gross me out when I see them. So they're the little white chunks in there. (onions)
P: Why's it green then?
M: Oh! That's the caterpillars (broccoli). When you cook them up they turn soupy.
So he finally tries it.
P: It's pretty good. (another spoonful) Those chunkeys are the eyeballs?
M: Yes!

He ate the whole bowl.

Mind this was a family dinner. Trying to convince Phoenix of all this while getting London and Aspen to keep quiet and get Jared to stop laughing was a major feat.