Daddy's Boy

Ian LOVES his daddy. So, he was quite upset today when he wasn't allowed outside while Daddy was working in the yard. I just hate putting bug spray on him, so he watched from indoors:

When Ian got bored of watching, he tried to be like Daddy by trying on his soccer cleats:

Finally Daddy came inside and Ian was thrilled:

Who can blame him for loving his Daddy so much. Doesn't that look like fun???

Big Trouble

Today was the first time Ian got into some major mischief. He was being awfully quiet in his room. When he emerged this is what he looked like:

That's Aquaphor (really thick and pricey Vaseline) all over his clothes. Yeah, probably about half the tub. Let's just say that outfit was thrown away, no way was that greasy mess going to come out. Ian got to spend some time in time out contemplating his no-no:

Ian is definitely an explorer and so we're bound to have things like this happen. Luckily most of the time his exploring is harmless. This time it wasn't. He now knows that he cannot touch the Aquaphor tub. Hopefully his next adventure of exploring his world won't lead to such a mess... We'll blame this on it being Friday the 13th!

Daddy/Daughter Dates

The Saturday before school started was a busy day for Andy. He had two very important dates scheduled. Every once in awhile Andy tries to take the girls out on dates. He lets them choose where he'll take them. Audrey chose the Children's Museum and Rachel chose a Skeeters baseball game. Right after lunch Audrey and Andy headed out for the Children's Museum:

 

They ended up spending about 3 hours at the museum. Audrey loved it! She was so excited to go. We went ahead and got a membership, so we'll continue to go throughout the year. It was fun to have pictures sent to me throughout the afternoon as they enjoyed their date together:

 

 

Audrey and Andy got home around 4:30, which was just enough time for dinner before Rachel and Andy headed out to the baseball game:

The Skeeters have only been in Sugar Land for a few years now, but we really like the option of baseball games closer and a bit more reasonable in price. Before the game even started Rachel had a bunch of treasures from different sponsors (it worked out well to get 3 stuffed animals, so she could come home and share):

 

A picture with Swatson, the Skeeters mascot:

 

Throughout the game at the end of an inning one of the players would throw a ball out to the stands. After one of the innings Andy and Rachel got the attention of one of the players and he threw the ball right to them. What a happy girl! Even though there's no show 'n tell in 2nd grade, Rachel talked her teacher into letting her bring the ball to school the next week to share with her class... :)

 

One bonus of a Saturday game is fireworks afterwards. I was impressed that Rachel stayed up that late. I don't think she got to bed until about 11 pm that night. She was so excited and had so much to tell me when she finally got home.

These two girls are definitely blessed with an incredible dad. They cherish spending time with him. They are definitely learning how a good man treats a woman. I'm so grateful for him and the sweet relationships he has with his daughters. 

Summer Fun

We had lots of fun this summer. We visited family for most of the month of June. In July and August we stayed busy with various activities. When we wanted to go somewhere different than the pool we went to our local Sugar Land museum. We enjoyed going a few times this summer.

Dancing and watching their shadows:

Checking out the dinosaur:

 

Turn, turn, turn:

 

Are we dizzy yet?

 

We also went to our playscape once. It was crazy, busy. So the kids spent most of their time watching the fish:

The three kiddos enjoyed a birthday party at McDonald's one Saturday in July:

Every Saturday morning our local McDonald's has face painting (more like body painting) and balloons for free. Score for the mom who scheduled a birthday party on a Saturday! The girls were thrilled!

I wasn't very good about taking pictures at the pool this year. I guess we were just having too much fun. But most weeks we went to the pool 3-4 times. It keeps us busy and everyone has fun. A lot of times Ian just wanted to snack and didn't want to go in the pool. Although he definitely fell in love with the lazy river and the slides. We had lots of fun with friends and family at the pools this summer!

 

We also spent a fair amount of time at home. Here's some of the fun we had:

I think we baked cookies once. We don't bake very often in our house, because I'm the only one who really eats the baked goods. And let's be honest here, I'm the one who needs the baked goods the least. But we did bake cookies once and the kids had fun:

 

One of Ian's favorite spots to hang out in this summer:

 

Playing legos with Daddy:

 

Going on a boat ride in the living room:

 

Coloring:

 

Brushing hair:

 

Rachel having a go at body painting:

 

Cooking with Daddy:

 

Playing in Daddy's closet while Mommy gets ready:

 

Wrestling:

Ian worked on feeding himself yogurt (he's gotten better):

Here's Audrey cheering Ian on as he plays with his shape sorter. I don't think this little boy is going to lack in the self esteem department. He has two of the cutest cheerleaders I know for sisters. 

 

And just to be fair, we did have plenty of meltdowns this summer. Everyone had their fair share. Audrey was just lucky enough to have a picture taken:

We belong to the YMCA right around the corner from our house. The kids and I spent a fair amount of time there. They enjoyed the kidszone while I enjoyed some me time working out. Rachel loved going into the older section and playing the Wii. This summer I even went a few times in the evening (doesn't work during the school year) and Rachel discovered the rock wall. I was impressed at how quickly she mastered it:

We also discovered that once a month they have a Parent's Night Out program that's free for members. As long as your children are potty trained you can drop them off for 3 hours on a Friday night and go out. The YMCA feeds and entertains the kids. So, we did this in July and August. Both times of course Ian was still with us. The girls were thrilled to go to Parent's Night Out and Ian enjoyed some one on one time with us. He usually just accompanied us while we ran errands. The first time we went out Home Depot was one of our stops:

Making sound effects while driving the lawn mower (just like Papa Michaelson):

The next month we spent some time at the mall, so of course we had to let Ian play at the play place for a bit:

Mixed in with all our fun this summer there was also some work that was accomplished. It's so fun when they are willing to help out. Ian is definitely my most willing helper. He's my little shadow during the day and will help out with anything I will let him. The girls are also willing to help out. Here's a few snapshots of our little workers:

We also enjoyed a few beach days this summer. The one time we actually went with family and friends, I didn't take many pictures. But here's a cute one of Landon and Ian sharing a chair:

And then the whole group of kids:

We also enjoyed playing at friends' houses. I had to snap some pictures of my girls enjoying playing with a houseful of boys and their dress-ups:

The one thing I miss the most about summer is lazy mornings like the one pictured below. Sweet moments and memories that will never be forgotten. During the school year Saturdays are our only days to be lazy in the morning and it's not always taken advantage of...

I'm so glad we were able to have a fun, safe summer!