Avery's Gymnastics

Avery's gymnastics recital was so much fun!   This was her first year doing any classes and she did amazing.  She never hesitated about going in, as soon as I would drive up she was out of the car and into her class.  She loved every minute of socializing and of course, dancing!

 

 They started class with a great stretching exercise that was fun to watch.  She has really improved her coordination and balance through this class.  

 

 

Next came the balance beam and once again she did great! She was very focused and best of all super smiley...that how we know she just loves this stuff!

 

 even somersaults on the beam....

 Next we had trampoline....

                                          Salute                                               Pike Jump

 

 Forward roll

 Cartwheels

Back handsprings

 

 Then came the big finale, the Rainbow Rap.  The best part was that the girls had to wear sunglasses and keep a straight face...Ms. Kim said rappers have straight faces-so no smiling! It was hilarious to watch their faces as they turned around!

 Avery completed her first year of gymnastics and has moved to the next level!!

 Half of her class...

                       Avery and her best friend Laney!           Avery and her friend McKenzie

 

The Great Egg Drop

 Avery's preschool had the Great Egg Drop today.  Each child had to bring a raw egg in a plastic bag surrounded with something to protect the egg when they dropped it from the playhouse.  Avery was really excited about this science project and when I asked Kevin what we should do for the project he just smiled and said, "it's her project, let's let her decide."  So instead of us thinking of some good ideas and then presenting them to her, she did it all on her own.   She wanted to put macaroni and cheese in her bag, and she was pretty sure since it was soft it would keep her egg from cracking. 

 All the kids stood on the playhouse and one at a time the kids dropped each of their eggs.  Some kids had their wrapped in papertowels, cotton candy, potting soil, one kid even had hers in a diaper!!

Avery getting her egg after the Great Drop

 Checking the eggs to see if they survived.....

Avery's egg survived!!!! Way to go Mac n Cheese!!!!

Camping at Copper Breaks

The weekend over Spring Break our weather was fabulous so we were able to go camping at Copper Breaks State Park.  Kevin's parents came as well as the Sullivan family who have 4 boys and all of our kids just about match up perfectly! 

For Kevin's birthday I bought him a new tent for all our camping adventures.  It was actually bigger than I thought it would be but it was perfect.  We had enough room for the pack n play, three kids and our full size mattress with lots of room to spare! Happy Birthday, Kevin!

 It wasn't long before the girls found their camp chairs and started their relaxing with juice and crackers!

 We decided to enjoy the good weather on our bike ride with the Sullivan family.  It was pretty funny to see 4 adults ( 2 with bike trailers) and 4 kids on bikes and 4 more in the trailers!  We rode a short way and found a 1/2 mile hike to do with the kids.   They mostly just loved running around and exploring everywhere.  Then on our ride home we stopped at a little lake and although we were just going to look.--the kids couldn't resist and before we could say anything they were already getting wet!

Mom and Jace riding bikes

They were so cute playing in all the water.  

 Jace, Avery, Conner, and Evan

 

Gentry in the bike trailer

 

 The six older kids being goof balls

 

 Papa fishing on his "water wagon" with Conner and Gentry

Then it wasn't too much longer until we built the fire to get ready to roast our hot dogs for dinner.  And, yes by boys are definitely little pyros!! They never left the fire--they were busy burning sticks, making smoke, and just being boys!

 Hello, Aves we see you!

 These two little munchkins are the same age and were hilarious!! I think they were examining a mud puddle. 

And then just to prove I was there

 

That night we enjoyed lots of room in our big tent and I realized I only wished for an air mattress that didn't have a slow leak, so I wouldn't be sleeping on the ground when I woke up.

 

Kevin took the three older kids fishing at one of the bigger ponds and Mikasa and I stayed with the little ones.  She and I had lots of fun putting the babies in the trailer and then going on our own bike ride. 

 

Here are some of the highlights before we left to go home....

 

 

 

Gentry and her cousin Damon were too cute in the bike trailer

 

Houston day #2

Day #2  was just as packed as day #1.  Anyone who knows Houston knows that the month of March means one thing......RODEO!!!!! And rodeo we did!! Kevin left for his conference early so after breakfast and baths the kids and I put on our walking shoes and we headed two blocks to the metro rail to ride a few more blocks to the rodeo grounds.  It was so fun, the kids loved riding the rail and then once we got there the boys remembered a couple things about the rodeo which made it fun to check everything out and see what they remembered as a highlight.  

We saw baby animals, got to pet rabbits (which A & G loved!), watched chicks hatch, saw turkeys, saw roosters and hens laying eggs, climbed a tractor, planted sunflower seeds,   got a little overwhelmed in the petting zoo with llamas, goats, pigs, sheep, and whatever elese!!

baby chicks hatching

Gentry loved being up close and personal

 

The petting zoo was hilarious...We bought a cup of food and so when I walked in with the kids the animals were immediately swarming us and both my little girls just started freaking out.  They didn't NOT like the animals being so close to them and looking for food.  Finally, with no other way out I gave the boys the cup of food and told them to take it away from me so I could hold the girls.  The boys gladly accepted and the girls finally started to calm down.  Hence, not a whole lot of pictures with only one mom and two crying girls!  

 

Next, we headed to the Kids Farm and all the kids got to pretend to be farmers.

First we planted seeds and harvested our vegetables.

 Then posed for a picture

 then climbed in our tractor to drive the fields

 

can you tell she loves driving?

 

 We fed the chickens and collected the eggs

 

 

Milked the cows (I love Avery's face in the background)

 It was some hard work

 oh, and don't forget about cutting the wool from the sheep

                            Jace and all his harvest                                  Gentry

 

 Gentry worked hard to get everything organized and put away right

 and then they collected their money after a hard days work to buy a treat!!

 

Then we found a fun show where the kids in the audience get to dress up and participate, I know Avery would LOVE it and it turned out the boys did too!

 

 

They did some really cute dancing and Jace even came up with his own dance move that she loved!

 Here's what Baby G did all during the show.....

 Then on to my FAVORITE part of the day......Mutton Bustin'

 Since our first time going to the rodeo when the boys were 1 Kevin and I have been talking about letting the boys do it!  We tried to sneak them in before we moved because I didn't know if they would have another opportunity but they just weren't old enough.  This year they were old enough and they were excited.  Maybe not as excited as myself but excited none the less!! I had to pay $15 each but I figured it was worth it. 

Jace & Conner so cute getting ready

 

Conner rode past the buzzer and was in first place until another kid rode and they gave him extra points for losing a shoe--ridiculous!!

Conner's ride

 

 

 Jace rode well too but fell off before the buzzer, but he got a nice souvenir scrape on his arm from the fall--I guess cowboys don't usually wear short sleeves.

Jace's ride