1st Quarter Report

Although my amount of sleep and the number of outings took at hit at the beginning, our house has seen increases in smiles, hugs, kisses, sweet sounds and love in general over the last three months. We all agree that Oliver being "borneded" was the right strategy.

Oliver at

1 month

2 months
3 months

A glimpse into the life of the mom of a future entomologist

If you were to hop in my car, you might see this cup...and you might assume it is a drink.

but you would be wrong.

It is an 'expired' butterfly with a wingspan of at least 4 inches.

Actually in this case, you just got a glimpse into the life of the mom of a future lepidopterist. However, I promise that we always have dozens of containers with real insects (alive and dead) around the house, too.

Back to School

The kindergarten girl (who has been marking off days leading up to today on the calendar for two weeks)


and the 2nd grader (who set his own alarm for an extra early wake up, cooked himself a waffle, and was dressed complete with belt and shoes before my alarm even went off).

Joyland

We had an "end of summer" night out at our local amusement park, "Joyland" last week. 3 hours on a Tuesday night is definitely the way to go. It was not crowded at all, and the weather was very nice.

2 excited girls waiting for us to pay at the front gate

Oliver from 35 feet (Brad is pushing him in the green stroller in the middle)

Oliver from 3 feet, after Kilian, Lucy and I got off the Sky Ride.
Camille's first and last ride

She preferred this "ride" (notice it is bolted to the ground)

and this ride the most.

Lucy on the merry-go-round

She can also handle something a little speedier

Kilian is on this one, but you'll have to take my word for it

Kilian's face after learning he was tall enough to drive his own bumper car

first time driver

fun. fun. fun.

The Finished Product

We have picked 3 of the watermelons from our flower bed now. Around July 20th Kilian couldn't stand it anymore, so he picked the largest one. It was not ripe - completely white in the center. So we waited about 2 more weeks and picked the second one (seen in pictures above). Perfect. We just enjoyed the third about an hour ago and still have at least four more to look forward to. Now I am going to go wash pink stains out of some clothes, and wipe off a sticky table.

Hoops with Dad

These are pictures from several weeks ago. We were all outside enjoying some nice, light rain when Camille decided to show her dad what 'mad' defensive skills she's got.

If I remember correctly, she stole the ball and then 'took it to the hole' with her superior ball handling.

Then she saw that Kilian was kick-splashing in the puddles,

so she dropped the ball and went to join him.

Lucy just stood around and pondered how it could be sunny and raining at the same time...and exactly what determines whether it is sprinkling or raining.


According to our 10 day forecast...looking at these pictures is the only rain we'll be seeing for a while around here!

The Puzzlers

Camille (3) and her cute cousin Max (also 3) decided to take over a puzzle that someone else had started one evening. I love how they are sharing a chair. I think they had differing opinions about what the best approach would be.

Fizzy Mess

Kilian has been wanting to show us this little experiment for months. I gave in while we were waiting for cousins to join us on vacation...

You drop 3 Mentos into 2 liters of Coke (we used generic)

and voila - you get an eruption...

and some minty coke.

Then we did it again after the cousins arrived!

Vacation 2009

We had a nice week-long get away in the hill country last week with Brad's family. There were 7 kids, 8 and under in attendance and they did have fun (I promise!) even though this picture may not prove it. They just wanted to get in the pool!! It was the first time any of these guys had played "marco polo" and they loved it.

The last two years we all went to Surf Side, TX and rented a beach house, but this year we rented what we called a 'creek house' just outside Lampasas, TX instead. It was a large house with lots of bunk beds for kids that had a pool just outside the back door and nice creek just a short walk away. We were secluded and the kids could be as loud as they wanted outside!

Oliver was PERFECT for the 6 hours trip both to and from Lampasas. He enjoyed hanging out by the pool for a little while on one of the cloudy days. He didn't care for the cool water much.

Camille was good about reminding us that we needed to "put on our sun-scream so that we don't get any bosquito scratches". She especially enjoyed the water with a "puddle jumper" life jacket that her Grammy bought for her.



Lucy was a little fish. She has made HUGE progress with her swimming. In early May she would not even put her face in the water to blow bubbles. After swim lessons, then practice in a little inflatable back yard pool, and now a week of vacation - she is doing great!


Kilian also loved the pool, but of course he spent a fair amount of time looking for and catching bugs. He remembered to pack his net and butterfly house and they were certainly used on dragonflies, butterflies, grasshoppers and minnows.

Just the Six of Us

We're back from our first vacation as a family of 6. I have several other pictures and stories to share after I unpack, pick up the dog, and go through mail, but this will do for now...