Zoo, Buddy & Kim's & Just hanging out

I can't believe that I haven't taken very many pictures since we've been here! We've had a few get togethers with family and I didn't take any pictures at those. And the few other excursions we've been on, I only have a few pictures from. I need to do a better job with that.

Last Friday we picked up GG and went to the Columbian Park zoo & McDonalds.

an emu

On Saturday we went to Bryan and Kim's to meet baby Hannah (and see them too!) We had a cookout (sooo yummy) and went to their pool.

He got tuckered out really fast

That morning we went to the Children's Tumor Foundation fundraiser that my cousin's famiy was putting on......

Today we went to the library and the girls played in the sprinkler.

Avery and her backwards swimsuit

a few more random ones from my mom's camera

 

Meeting Baby Hannah

On Saturday we got to meet the newest cousin/niece, Miss Hannah Layne. What a cutie!

Grandparents and all of their Grandkids

"My Aunt is the Best" :)

Our old stomping grounds

We love the Dayton, OH area so much. We stopped in Dayton on the way to Indiana because Derek has a 3 week Cyber class going on there. He was able to get a rental car......the kids and I could have went on but decided to stay an extra day and a half to go back to some of our favorite spots.

BOONSHOFT MUSEUM
Allie loved this place when we lived here. She didn't remember too much of it except for the few things she's seen of in pictures. They have changed a lot of it too, mostly for the better. We even got in free with our Witte Museum pass that we have for in San Antonio....bonus!!

The pizza making station and Animal Hospital were their favorites

WEGERZYN GARDENS
this was a huge hit with all 3 kids

YOUNGS JERSEY DAIRY
*** of course we split the Cow's Trough!***

You better believe that we also ate at City BBQ and the Submarine House!

Travel

I think it's safe to say that our kids are experienced travelers. We're on a road trip right now......we drove from San Antonio to Memphis to Dayton, OH to Lafayette, IN. We had a great set up in the car, with Allie in the middle (she can buckle herself and take care of Blake if needed). We stocked up on DVD's, kids music, search and find books, Leap Pads and a few other easy travel toys. We also had lots of snacks and water bottles. A new thing I added on our trip this year was a car that goes across the ceiling. The car can be moved closer to the FINISH line each hour (I also had special stars for our other stops). I think it helped Allie with understanding when we would get to where we were going. Avery started asking "How much longer?" 20 minutes into the trip though......and never stopped. It's SO much easier traveling with kids at night and that is what we have always done until this trip. It was just not going to work because Derek and I had not been getting a lot of sleep leading up to the trip. We needed to make sure we got at least 5-6 hours of sleep before making the 12 hour drive to Memphis.

Some funny things we heard on the car ride:

• Avery: "Are we in Marketsaw?" (Arkansas)
• on our way to Dayton I was dying to stop by the Gap Clearance Center. Their little car on the ceiling was at the 1 hour to go mark when we pulled up to the store. Allie just figured we forgot to tell her she could move it and started shouting for joy and saying "we're here" over and over, which got Avery to join in on the chanting. Derek told them we weren't there and that we were at the store for Mommy to shop. I have to say I was extremely giddy and smiling from ear to ear. Allie's response: "What's so exciting about shopping?!?" That made us laugh. Derek felt the same way. (by the way, it was a huge disappointment.......not many good deals at all)

Blake Emerson ~ 9 months

This past month has been huge in the things Blake has started doing. He crawls like a champ now. He can finally roll over with ease. He's saying "mama" and "dada" and other little sounds. He is such an observer and picks up on things quickly. For example, we played with this stacking toy for the first time the other day. I showed him once what he was supposed to do and he started doing it right away. He is an extremely happy boy and has the most infectious smile. Yesterday, at his 9 month well baby visit, he weighed in at 19 lbs and 28 inches in height. That's 25th percentile for both. So he's lost weight in the last month but that's probably due to him being so much more mobile and active.
He had his 6 month shots yesterday. We're behind because of our previous concerns about his development and shudders. He's been pretty fussy since then and had a slight temp but doing good for the most part.

I don't have any new pictures right now. I do have some really cute ones of him on my phone but I'm not sure how to get those off yet. Once I do I'll get them loaded on here.

Last Day of School ~ 2012

I officially have a first grader! Why does time have to go by so fast?!? Allie has learned so much this past year. She is currently reading at a 1st grade level! It's amazing how much a little mind can soak up.

Her last week of Kindergarten was fun filled. They got to bring in beach balls and autograph everyone's ball, they got to blow bubbles, and bring in board games. Allie said her 'Duck, Duck 1, 2, 3' game was a hit.

We decided we should do something for her bus driver. He was always looking out for Allie. There were a couple times I would find myself running to the bus stop to try and get there before the bus came only to find that the bus was already there. He would always watch to make sure I was there. One day I heard him yell out the window to Allie, "Allison, get back in and I'll drive you to your house." (he didn't see me rounding the corner waving at Allie). Allie just pointed at me to let him know I was there. There were other little things too and knowing that she was being watched after was appreciated. So we made him something simple that I think turned out pretty cute. {Derek laughed out loud at the cheeziness}

Did YOU lol?!

For her end of year party we decided on a Summer Fun theme. The kids got to decorate a sand bucket and then we filled them with summer fun things. Here's what I made to put in the bucket:

It's not the best picture but it's a water bottle with this cool krazy straw that goes all around the outside of the bottle. I got them in all different colors and then attached the tag that said, "have a krazy kool summer!" along with a packet of kool aid.

I also brought all of the sweet treats and drinks for the party.......

Here's a peek of what my refrigerator looked like this morning....

The flip flop cookies were a huge hit.

decorating her bucket

we also celebrated summer birthdays

She was excited to have some sort of birthday celebration with her class. She's been asking to bring in cupcakes for her birthday for a while now. Pretty much everyone else has a birthday during the school year so she's felt a little left out.....especially since her teacher loves birthdays and made the day really special for the birthday kids.

Now for a comparison picture from the first day of school to the last day.

First Day

Last Day