My Princess Ballerina!

Lilly started a new "princess ballerina" class at the local Activity Center last week.  I didn't know how she was going to do, because a couple of days before, she started saying how she didn't want to dance, she only wanted to watch.  When we got there, the teacher told us the class was closed to parents, and we could watch from the window outside.  I thought it was all over, but I crept out and she did GREAT!!  No tears at all- she LOVED it!

In our awesome hand-me-down ballerina attire!

 Here she is right before the class.. I guess these are her warm up moves!?

I didn't get any pictures of her in action, but I will next time.  She did so great and followed the teacher's directions so well!  She's excited to go back this week!!

Ps.. Nate did really well watching her from the window with my mom and me.  It was very sweet!  And if you're asking yourself "what class is he taking?", let's just say I had him signed up for a soccer class, the first day was a big time FAIL, and we decided not to go back.  Maybe I'll tell that story later.. but probably not!

 This is just another random picture I took of her in my niece's old ballet recital dress.  She loves to play in it!

A Very Soggy Sea World San Antonio!

Just how sad was our trip to Sea World?  Oh, I'll let you be the judge after you take a look at the I-phone pictures I took.  I'm still going back and forth between "wow, that was a fun adventure we'll be able to laugh about later" and "Dang our stupid luck, we're never going on vacation again!!!!!!!".  I'll try to be as positive as I can for the purpose of this post :)

We planned this trip months before. We were aware of the rain chance, but how often are they really right (RIGHT?!?)?  Brian had Monday off of work as well, so we figured if we got rained out Sunday, we'd just go Monday.  Right?  WRONG SUCKA!  Little did we know they are closed on weekdays after summer is over.    So we found out Saturday night that we HAD to go Sunday.. No matter what. 

Here we are on Saturday after getting to the hotel around 4PM.  Nice weather, you say?  Yes, it was beautiful Saturday!  But originally the chance of rain was highest on Saturday, so we changed all our travel plans.  Oh side note- Lilly got strep throat on Thursday, so we probably couldn't have gone on Friday, to get to Sea World on Saturday like we originally planned anyway.  Double ugh.  I'm sorry, my positivity is drifting.. BUT the hotel was beautiful and had a really cool pool! 

So here we go- Sunday morning, trying to make the best out of our day at Sea World! I was actually so proud of the way the kids handled it.. No groaning or grumbling from them! 

Luckily they had a covered Sea Lion show, so we took cover and enjoyed the show.  The kids loved it!

 Then we went over to the killer whale show.. where we sat for an hour waiting for the whales to cooperate and do something.. (but where we were going in the pouring down rain anyway?).  At this point I really did not know whether to laugh or cry (I laughed).

 Normally it wouldn't have been a big deal, but Lilly's super slow-mo, lolly gagging was just not working in the rain, so eventually Brian had to carry her.  But at least he has an umbrella that way! :)

 These pics are out of order.. This is the one of us leaving the park early, because, OH YEA, we decided we are closing at 1:30 today instead of 5:00!  Ummm.. ok!

 We did manage to see this lady feeding fish.  It was pretty cool.  We also saw some cool sharks in the tank right next to this one.

 Sorry about the flash on my phone, yikes.  But I like this picture because you can see how wet their pants are.  You see the line from the water- almost up to their bottoms??  Poor things!

 So we went back to the hotel, took a dip in the hot tub to warm up, and waited for the rain to stop.

we waited

and waited

and then Nate started coughing and we thought maybe he was getting Lilly's strep..

so we decided to leave early rather than sitting in the hotel room in San Antonio, watching the rain.

Lilly said she wasn't tired, but slept almost the whole way home..

By the way, I took Nate to the doctor the next day and he was strep free, thank goodness!

So there we go!  Our first vacation, all on our own!  We were disappointed, but the kids had fun and I think they were happy we went, and I guess that's the whole point.  I GUESS!! 

See ya later Sea World.  Probably not for a long long  time, though...



Back to School!

Holy Moly, what a day!  After three very fun, but very LOOONG months of hanging with my kiddos, they started their Pre-K program (two days a week) today!!  We have been prepping them for a couple weeks, but I got a little nervous last week after our "meet the teacher" night, because although Nate was excited, Lilly seemed very hesitant and ready to go home.  She has definitely been a little more clingy to me this summer and that night she did NOT want me to leave her side!  But of course as soon as I think I know what to expect.. Lilly walks in to the class this morning and sits right down at her table, and Nate is the one who starts to hesitate, not wanting to sit down, asking Brian and I not to leave (in the sweetest saddest quietest voice you ever heard).  It broke my heart, and Brian doesn't read this blog so it's safe for me to tell all of you.. that I'm not the only one who got a little choked up this morning.  BUT we managed to get Nate distracted in just a few minutes and we were on our way! 

Of course when I came to get them this afternoon, they didn't want to leave!  They really like their new teacher and so do I! 

Some pics I tried to take in the middle of all the craziness before class started!

 big girl ready to get started at school!

 so sweet and sad because he didn't get to sit by Lilly :(

 As if we weren't feeling "big" enough, we tried out our new big kids booster seat car seats today!  The jury is still out on whether this is going to make my life easier or harder- I think it may be a little of both!

You know, I've watched all my friends kids start school the last couple of weeks, and I can't help but be thankful that my kids will always have each other to walk with, out into that unknown scary world of life's new experiences, adventures and challenges. I tell myself I'm glad because it's easier for them, but we all know who it's really easier for! I feel so much better seeing them together, knowing they have that security. For now, it's my security too!

Finally got around to our 4 YEAR CHECK-UP!

I'm working on a post with tons and tons and tons of fun pics from all of our summer adventures to cap off the summer, but for now I wanted to report the happenings of our 4 YEAR well check/vaccines last Friday!

Look how happy they were!  This was one PROUD MAMA, the kids were doing so good even after the doctor walked in and started talking to them and checking them out!  They were excited to get weighed and measured, and get their blood pressure taken with the teeny-tiny blood pressure machine! 
By the way, here are our stats this year:
Nate- 41.6 lbs, 42 in (75th percentile- up from 50th last year-he's GROWING!)
Lilly-34.6, 40.5 in (50th percentile- same as last year!)

The awful, sad part, is that even though they knew they were getting shots, they didn't know that there were FOUR SHOTS this time around or that they would hurt like the DEVIL. :(  Nate went first, he was so brave.  The look on his face was of pure shock, when the shots started going in.  He started screaming, and of course then Lilly was screaming too!  She was next and so upset, it broke my heart!  Thank God, the doctor said we don't have to put them through that again until they're 7.. or was it 9?  Anyway, not for a long time!

They cried the whole time we were checking out and getting back into the car, but they started feeling better on our way to the library and were excited to play games on the computer there and get some new books! 

Nate's had a bit of a fever and poor Lilly had a huge rash on her leg this morning from one of the shots. They've been a little fussy for the last couple days, but I'm so proud of them for being so brave at the doctor!!  YAY for being done with these awful vaccines for a while!