John's Fun Weekend

For my birthday GG and the kids took me to the zoo. We had nice fall weather and no crowds. When we first got there, the woman at the front desk told us to make sure to go see the baby kangaroo in the children's zoo. We headed there first thing, and looked all around and didn't see the baby kangaroo. Then we realized it was some kind of tree kangaroo, and the baby was in the mother's pouch. I was a little disappointed. I was imagining a cute little kangaroo jumping all around. Oh well. We also got a great look at the hippos swimming. Usually when we go it is so crowded that we can't get up to the glass to see them, but this day we were basically the only ones at the hippo exhibit. The kids all stood by the glass and the hippos swam laps back and forth in front of them. The girls would laugh every time they came by.John on a frog in the Children's Zoo

Natalie on her frog saying "CHEESE!"

Rebecca riding her frog.

The girls were not very happy about sitting in the hippos mouth with John


Friday, Chelsey and I took John to his first Parkway West football game. We had talked all day about the football game and what to expect when we got there. As we were pulling out of the driveway John asked if he needed his helmet. Confused, I said no. Then he told me that he would get some popcorn after he kicked the football. I realized then that he thought he was going to play in the football game. Luckily, he was fine with learning that we would just be watching. He liked the watch the field goals since that was pretty much the only time he could spot the ball. He also really liked his popcorn and getting his very own bottle of lemonade. He said the instruments (the band's halftime show) were his favorite part.

John, not looking very impressed with the cheerleaders.

John and Aunt Chelsey. Go Longhorns!

Just take the picture!

Saturday, John had another fun day. Julie and I took John and her son Jack to see the Backyardigans at the Fox. We had awesome 5th row seats! The boys were so good. They actually sat through the whole thing. Well, actually, John did get up to dance at one point, but that was fine. After the show we took the boys to the Cupcakery. Mmmm. That was my favorite part of the day.

John and Jack heading to the Fox.

standing outside the Fox

posing with Mommy

waiting for the show to start

The Backyardigans Live!

What a good show.

Oh, and some of you have heard about Mike's strange sleeping habits, and how he can fall asleep anywhere...here's proof. I found him asleep on the hood of his car after coming home from dinner with friends.

A few moments with John

John's version of "This Little Piggy"
This little piggy goes market
This little piggy goes home
This little piggy goes in the car
This little piggy goes in the TV
This little piggy has a hat
Wee wee wee wee wee

Today at Office Max John learned magic. Well, not really, but he thought he did. I was checking out and John was standing near the doors. He held his hand out and said "Open!" Well, his arm must have been at just the right distance that it activated the sensor and the door opened. Then he pulled his arm back and said "Closed" and the door closed. He must have done this 10 times and every time it worked. The cashier was cracking up. Then when we were out at the car he saw a man coming out and just as John yelled, "Open!" the doors opened for the man to walk through. John looked at me as serious as could be and said, "I make the doors open for that boy." He was so proud of himself.

Yesterday John was driving me bananas banging on his tool bench with his hammer. I asked him to stop and he said, "Oh absolutely. No problem." and went on to play with something else. I wish it was always that easy. :)

Slide Shows

John's Slide Show

Natalie's Slide Show

Rebecca's Slide Show

Weekend Fun With the Kids

Friday, the kids and I hit the Science Center. They had a great time in the Discovery Room. It is geared to kids ages 3 and up, but they had plenty for Natalie & Rebecca to do too. Rebecca liked the bells and rang them constantly for 15 minutes or so. Natalie liked the building area and the book corner. John loved everything. He played drums in a teepee, watched fish in the aquarium, played at the water table, worked on "his" computer and even got to pet a big cockroach. Ugh! After the Discovery Room we checked out the dinosaurs, which John actually wasn't scared of this time. We had some lunch and then walked over the bridge that goes over the highway. The bridge has big glass tiles in the floor that you can look through, straight down to the highway. Rebecca did not want to walk on them.

John using the computer

Natalie wants to build a marble track

Rebecca playing bells

John at the water table

petting a cockroach

and playing trains

Rebecca and Natalie are a little confused as to what to do with these balls at the train table

Natalie watching the cars on the highway

Saturday my mom and I took the kids to the Greentree Festival. We spent a little time shopping all the booths, but most of the day was spent on the playground.

John didn't want his picture taken

John on stilts (Maw Maw is actually holding onto them from the top)

Under Water

We experienced the Great Flood of 2008 this morning, otherwise known as the remnants of Hurricane Ike. Luckily the house didn't flood, but the yard was a mess. Cars couldn't pass in the street and we even got a huge piece of our neighbors wood fence in our yard. Here are a few pics of our side and back yard.

the river, coming from the street, between our house and the neighbors

wanna swing?

luckily we have a boat ready?

water rushing through the fence

First Day of School

John has started a new year of preschool. This year he is in the Juniors class. He has a lot of kids in his class from last year, plus some new faces. The first day was just an hour and the parents and siblings got to stay and play to get to know the teachers, kids, and other parents. John played with his friend Nicholas (Neck-a-liss as he says it) most of the time. They put together an elaborate rail system and built trains to run on the tracks. It was a little embarrassing that Nicholas' mom and I couldn't figure out how to put the train pieces together and our 3 year olds had to show us how! The girls had a great time with a huge assortment of baby dolls and a play kitchen. They even drew pictures with Mrs. John, one of the teachers.

This picture was actually taken his 2nd day of school. A rainstorm prevented us from getting one the 1st day.

Must have been a busy day at school for John, and a busy day at the office for Rebecca. Natalie was sleeping too, but since her seat is behind me I couldn't get a picture.

The kids came with me on Sunday to check out the progress on the Extreme Makeover Home Edition house being built here. John got to wear Maw Maw's hard hat.

Fun with hats. John put his baseball cap on Rebecca...

and then wore her sunhat. He kept calling it his Jungle Hat for some unknown reason.

Natalie working on the tool bench...

and saying "CHEESE!"