Air Show September 2012

At the last minute we were invited to go to an Airshow with Zachery's best friend Will the first weekend in September. They were able to sit in some of the helicopters, pretend to drive them. It was fun to watch the boys run from helicopter to plane and army truck just wanting to explore. I think they even saw a machine gun. We also watched the helicopters take off, it was so cool!!! Then we had to go and see all the cool cars!! There was this one car that was orange that had a video console in the car with two remotes ... I think that was the boy's favorite!! It was such a hot day, as you might be able to tell from the photos, that we went and had ice cream after. As I was thinking of dinner and how much I didn't want to cook ... then thought about the coupons in the Coupon Book that haven't been used I thought why not go to Medieval Times. So we went to Medieval Times for dinner. The boys were super excited!!! We had the green night, I think (I will have to ask Zach). So Zachery was asking the majority of the time are there bad guys? And is that knight a good guy or a bad guy? And when are they going to start fighting?? Forgetting to inform Zach that this is "pretend" after the first battle Zach asks "Will he get buried or cremated?". It was all I could do not to laugh, but I was completely in au of this question. By the end as he has eventually moved from sitting in his own seat to sitting on my lap, his little heart is racing and he started crying not sure what is going to happen during the last battle. At this point I am asking him if he wants to leave and reassuring him that it is all a show, not real, and pretend. He said he was okay. So the last knight dies, but then the rest of them come out and we are applauding them. He asked how they came back to life, "Did God bring them back to life?". At this point I said Yes! If you are wondering what Zayne was doing he wasn't affected by all the fighting, he was talking about the Falcon show. He loved watching the falcon fly around the arena. It really was a GREAT day!!

Washington State Visit

We went to Washington State in the middle of August this year to visit my Nana! We left Texas early Saturday morning and arrived in Washington around lunch time. On one of our layovers the boys were invited to fly the plane, which was so neat! Zayne was not shy at all sitting in the cockpit seat and flying the plane and pressing buttons. It took Zach a little bit to even go into the cockpit. But they had fun! We went to this wonderful restaurant when we landed and met up with Nana, I have forgotten the name but the boys had fun playing on the moose. The 2.5 to 3 hour car ride went well, they both slept! Nana and I were able to visit and catch up and had one tourist detour, the Grand Coulee Dam. Which was so cool because we read about it in all my college books and I was actually able to see it! When we arrived in Brewster we were able to visit with her children and grandchildren, as they were celebrating Nana's great grand children's birthday! It was fun!! The boys were totally spoiled! Nana gave Zach a Lego set and color set and Zayne trucks and colors. We got to our hotel pretty late that first night (for us) and I was able to finally get the kids to bed. We went to Wenatchee, WA to visit a high school friend of mine on Sunday. They played in the water and had cool drinks (root beer float)! Every morning the boys and I would walk along the shoreline and throw rocks into the River, play on the playground that was near our hotel and when the local museum was open would explore the museum (which had a jail cell). One morning during one of our walks we discovered a dead snake, we had to stop and investigate! We made another trip to Wenatchee to visit my Aunt Brenda and her husband Dan and their grandchild. It was fun!! We played in the water and ate hot dogs. Then we played in the pool the rest of the time. As you can see from the photos and videos, Zachery became very brave and very confident in his swimming!! It was such a joy to watch!! The same with Zayne, he was so determined to learn how to swim (but didn't want any help from me, "myself Mommy myself") by the end of our trip he had taught himself how to swim!! I am just so proud of both of them!! On one of our last days, we were able to help Nana gather eggs from the chicken coup, the boys had fun with that!! As most of you know, I love museums and other type of site seeing adventures ... we found the War Memorial Berryman Park. Somehow I got the boys totally excited about it!! When we got there, the Memorial Park was closed off so we weren't able to explore the different machines but they had a GREAT park near by that we were able to play on!! We are already planning our next trip!

August Adventures

It is hard to remember back to what we did a few months ago ... I have been trying to be better about posting information on Facebook. Hopefully I will get the stories right :)

This first photograph is of Zachery's painting he made for me one day ... it is of me and him holding hands.  I am the one in the pony tail and I am not sure what Zach is doing :)  But of course there are explosions every where.  It is hanging in my office!  It makes me smile every time I see it, which is often.

I am sure many of you noticed the see saw that we built this summer.  It was very easy and I had two helpers that were excited to try it out once it was complete.  A friend of mine introduced me to Ana White's blog and this is where I found the design for the see saw.  The website is WONDERFUL!  It gives you a step by step process for the build, a cut list, and a materials list!  I was wanting to build a bench for them this summer (a a couple of chase lounges for myself) but I just didn't have time.  Since we live in Texas, I might be able to accomplish it this winter so they are ready for the summer.  Ahhh, so many projects and so little time! 

There are many nights the boys ask if they can sleep in my bed while I work at night.  This particular night they ended up snuggling with each other!  They can't say that they don't love each other :)  They have really started playing well together this summer, with their sword fighting and gun playing.  It truly been a joy to watch them become friends!  (I hope it lasts)

We had a few friends over one day ... and this is the creation that was made out of Trio's.  I have to say I love these blocks!  The kids can truly use their imaginations!! I think this was a ship that they built together.

So one day as we were driving home from somewhere Zachery and I were talking about having a water party, I can't be sure who thought of it first, but we ended up having a water balloon party!  It was soooo much fun!! I think almost everyone came, despite the weather.  Yes, if you can imagine during the summer here in Texas we do not get much rain.  But for some random reason, that morning we had a rain storm.  I frantically emailed all our friends to tell them that the party was still on ... I am so thankful everyone agreed that a little rain wouldn't hurt anyone!  We had a blast eating hot dogs playing the swimming pools and hanging out with friends.  We playing a freeze tag game where one person was allowed to have a squirt gun to shoot people and freeze them and then to be unfrozen someone had to run under your legs.  I think this was hit with almost everyone!  Then we got the parachute out and was throwing water balloons in the air with the parachute.  Then finally we had the water balloon fight.  I think between all the other mothers and I we filled 200 water balloons. It was so much fun!! I can't wait to have another party this summer!! Apparently everyone is very excited about coming back next year :)  We love it!! (more of the photos are below)

I finally had a chance to paint the ceiling blue in the boy's room in August.  We were even able to put up the glow in the dark planets and stars that I had ordered almost a year ago.  I am super excited because I was able to pick up the rock climbing holds for really cheap the other week.  So all I need to do now is make sure I fasten them correctly onto a piece of plywood and mount everything on the wall.  I am super excited that their room is slowing coming along! 

We visited the Dallas Zoo with a friend of mine this summer and they enjoyed the new exhibit, animals from Australia.  We also enjoyed the Children's Area of the Zoo, where the kids are able to get wet in the running river that they have ... as you can see Zayne was king of his domain.  Seriously, this kid will make you laugh!  He is so crazy and silly!

Finally, the video below is of Zachery swimming!  He DID IT this summer, he swam across the pool and was able to get a snorkel!  I am so proud of him.  With everything that we have had to over come with the fear of the water to the tubes in the ears ... he did it!  I was literally crying the whole time he was swimming across that pool just thinking about everything.  I can't wait until next summer.  He was really enjoying himself!!