Summer So Far

Max and I are enjoying our time off. We've been staying pretty busy but enjoying the freedom of not having to be too many places at set times. Max started the summer with swimming lessons every day for 2 weeks. We decided to continue with that once a week since he really likes it. We've also been doing a series of classes together that includes 2 art classes, 2 cooking classes and 2 music classes, and Max also just started Soccer Tots. We spent some time in Bay City - Aunt Ellen made a quick visit so it was fun to see her, and then my aunt and uncle and cousin also came through the same week so we stayed to see them too. We've had outings to the "bouncy place" and swimming pool and spent a Saturday morning at the zoo. We've gone to 2 Skeeters games, the new Sugar Land minor league baseball team. We also went to the beach with Aunt Ninny and the cousins and Mawmaw and Aunt Tooty (Delila, Matt's aunt, visiting from Georgia). Yep, I think that about covers it. Our other days have been filled with much playing with cars, trains and Legos, not as much playing outside, refereeing between Max and Lizzie, cooking myself delicious lunches that no one else likes, cleaning out and organizing room by room (which I need to do more of), library time...

Some things I'd like to do before the summer is over - go to a movie, finger paint, get the house painted,  reorganize some things in the kitchen, rearrange the living room, possibly some planning for the school year, make homemade play dough, catch bugs, go to Splashway, go to the Noah's Ark pool, go to...I just lost my train of thought because Max is sitting beside me on the couch putting little pieces of paper in his nose but I think he just learned his lesson because that last one didn't come out so easily...

So on to some pictures...

The Skeeter mascot

Waiting for the train after the zoo

Floating by himself at swimming lessons

Memorial Day=Busy Weekend

I don't think we could've crammed anything else into this weekend if we wanted to! Friday night we went to Conner's baseball game. It was a last minute thing because his team was playing for 1st place in his league! Unfortunately they lost but they still got 2nd. Saturday was Conner's birthday party so we headed back over there. But before that we went to a local fire station open house. Max had fun climbing in all the trucks and he got to use a real fire hose too - I'm pretty sure that was his favorite part! I thought it was cool to see the inside of the station - the kitchen, game room and bedrooms. Conner's party was fun too. It's hard to believe he's 8! After the party he went to swim at the neighborhood pool with his friends so Caitlyn and Max went to play at the splash pad. They had a great time. I guess that was Max's first splash pad trip of the summer. We went straight from there to church and then Max got to go play at a playground with his good friend Kherington. Sunday was cleaning and grocery shopping and I had to volunteer at church. Then we went over to our friends' house for supper. Max was excited to play with more friends - Miles and Gisele - and they set up their little pool in the backyard. The kids played really well together! We had a great supper, ending with the best strawberry pie. And then today we went to the beach!

Last week of school

This past week was Max's last of his first year of school. So hard to believe another school year is over! I think he had a really good year at school. He had a couple weeks in the middle of the year where he was having a hard time being too much of a follower to another boy who wasn't being a very good friend but I think we worked through that. I know he had a lot of fun, made some good friends, and loved his teachers. He'll be going back in the fall. I think he might miss it over the summer and wonder about seeing his friends. I'm glad we decided to put him in school this year. And now a couple comparison pictures...

First day

Last day

Summer!

It's not quite summer, I realize, but since it's been hot since January it might as well be. So to celebrate the heat...Max's first sprinkler playing of the season

and my first tomato!

Happy summer!

Easter

We had a fun Easter weekend! We were all off on Friday so we went to the zoo. It was super-crowded but we still had fun. Max said his favorite animal was the giraffe. He also said that was the only animal he saw. After the zoo and our picnic lunch, we took the train around the park. I don't think we'll ever be able to go to the zoo without a train ride too! Saturday our neighbors hosted their annual Easter egg hunt. Max painted an Easter egg sun catcher, played with bubbles, got a tattoo and ate a humongous Easter egg cookie. They had a ton of eggs all over their yard. There were probably about 20 kids there, and they let the youngest go first before the bigger ones ran in and got everything. Max went in and picked up about 8-10 eggs and then, surrounded by more eggs, he said he was done and wanted to play on their swing set. Ahh well, less candy to bring home! And progress was made on the Easter bunny front - he agreed to go stand with the bunny if Matt went too.

We went to church first thing Sunday morning.  It was a great service.  I kind of forgot to get out his Easter basket for when he got up in the morning, so I set it out before we left for church, and he was excited to see it when we got home. Both sets of grandparents, and Great, came for lunch, and we also had our friends Jamie and Trish over with their kids Gisele and Miles. I think it's more fun for Max to be able to hunt eggs with friends. They did that after we ate and then we also had some confetti eggs. We had them last year,  and Max remembered them so I had to be sure to find them again this year!

See this post for previous pictures with the big bunny
 

We didn't have school Monday either so Max and I had a nice day. We met Matt for lunch and then went to Pump It Up, an inflatable place, with Lindsay and Kherington. Max and K had a blast playing. It made me ready for summer...only 8 weeks to go!

Where did March go?

And for that matter...a week of April is already gone?! March was busy...I guess that's why I didn't manage to write a single blog. So here's a review of the month.

1) Since it's Easter, I feel like I should update my last blog "40 Bags in 40 Days". Unfortunately, I didn't get rid of 40 bags. (Again, March was busy) But I did get rid of a lot in our office as well as a few things from Max's room, and I have a game plan to continue it, probably this summer.

2) We took a spring break trip....to England! Our great friends Lauran and Eric have been teaching over there for almost 2 years, and we've said since they went that we wanted to go see them while they were there. So we decided it was a good time and we should just go for it! It was a fun trip. We were only there for 4 full days but we got to do a lot. We arrived on a Friday, and Eric and Lauran had planned a trip for us all for the weekend. We got a quick tour of the school where they work. It was neat to see where they work and live. When they were done for the day, we drove to Dover and took the ferry across the English Channel to France. They had booked a bed and breakfast in a small coastal town called Wissant in the far northern corner of France, kind of close to Belgium. On Saturday we went to Lille, the biggest city in that area. There was a very interesting and pretty cathedral there. We ate Belgium food and crepes. On Sunday we walked along the beach, went to another city called Boulogne and then to a museum in what was a German WWII bunker, before catching the ferry back. I now have more stamps in my passport than I've ever had! (2, which is greater than 1!) On Monday Eric and Lauran had to work so they let us borrow their car to drive around the area. Matt was pretty good at driving on the wrong side and negotiating all of the roundabouts. He only got in the wrong lane once and only got honked at once and I didn't fear for my life at all. Matt wanted to try to go to the test track for the BBC show "Top Gear" so we found where it was but we couldn't go in. So we drove to another town, Guildford, and walked along the river, shopped a little and ate lunch. Then we went to an old Grand Prix race track where there's now a museum about racing, that also includes sections on motorcycles, bikes, airplanes, and buses. After we got back to Eric and Lauran's, they took us to their favorite pub and then we went to Windsor. We saw the castle and the Queen's swans and had dessert. We spend Tuesday in London and just tried to do as much as we could in a day. Matt had heard about the Imperial War Museum so we went there first. We liked seeing a different perspective about all of the different wars that both England and the US have fought in, especially World War II and especially having visited the museum in France already. After that we went by St. Paul's Cathedral, walked through Trafalgar Square and St. James Park to Buckingham Palace, went by Big Ben and Parliament and across the Thames, and went to Westminster, which had just closed when we got there so we didn't get to go in. We did go in the National Gallery for a few minutes. Eric and Lauran met us for dinner and then we went to a play, "One Man, Two Guvnors," which was very funny. It was such a fun trip, and we're very appreciative to Lauran and Eric for letting us stay with them and drive their car and for planning the weekend in France as well as giving us lots of info for things to do on the other days we were there. It was great to get to spend time with them, especially in their world. Both our flights there and back were not bad at all. Also, not only did we manage to go to 2 countries, we also used pretty much every form of transportation possible - airplane, car, ferry, train, bus, subway...
Here are just a few pictures:

Cathedral in Lille

Walking along the river in Guildford

Beach in Wissant

Matt driving a Formula 1 car at Brooklands

London, from St. James Park

In the square in Lille

Westminster

B&B in Wissant

3) We went to the rodeo - twice! Actually not the rodeo, just the carnival and livestock show. We had planned to go the last Saturday (at the end of spring break) with friends, and then Jennifer called Friday morning and said they were going. Max really wanted to go with Conner and Caitlyn so we went. Speaking of Max, he did great while we were gone. He got to stay with both sets of grandparents, and they, of course, treated him well! We actually got to talk to him via the wonders of technology so that was nice. Anyway, we had fun both Friday and Saturday. Max got to ride some carnival rides. I think his favorite was the bumper cars with Matt on Saturday. We were definitely worn out by the end of our second day there!

4) Oh yeah and we got a new dog! Her name is Lizzy. She's about a year and a half old and is still quite a puppy. She's part Australian cattle dog and loves balls. She needs a little training and always wants to play, but she's very sweet and Max really likes to play with her. He'll like her even more when she doesn't jump on him anymore! 

5) And I almost forgot - we went with Aunt Ninny, Conner and Caitlyn and Mawmaw to Blue Bell last Friday.  We did the tour and tasted some yummy ice cream. Max chose chocolate and I had peaches and cream. We stopped to take bluebonnet pictures and had a picnic in a little park in Hempstead.

So that was March in a nutshell! I guess I have to do an Easter post soon...

40 Bags in 40 Days

In my Internet travels this evening I came across this 

http://www.whitehouseblackshutters.com/2012/02/40-bags-in-40-days-game-plan-and-starting-out.html

The ideas of simplicity and clutter seem to keep popping up lately. When that happens I usually decide I should pay attention. First, a few weeks ago, I saw a free ebook called Organized Simplicity and started reading it. Then I read an article about urgency and importance and priorities, and it kind of went along with that. And then I found 40 Bags in 40 Days tonight. Since I actually already started on our office last week, I'm planning to take on the challenge. I doubt I'll actually do a bag each day but I'll definitely try to complete 40 bags by Easter. So I guess you could say I'm giving up something for Lent...hopefully a lot of things!