What happened to the "lazy days of summer"?

This summer has seriously been so crazy it's ridiculous. As I look at my calendar tonight when I should be sleeping I'm realizing how fast it's slipping away and how in less than 2 months my baby will be in kindergarten. I can honestly say I have not really thought of it much up until this point as I am quick to put it out of my mind and I tell myself that I will worry about it later. BUT, tonight it's beginning to sink in! :( I have not had a chance to really savor our summer and I'm hoping I will be able to soon...well, not really much until July 27th when things slow down some. We have ONLY had ONE day home this whole summer since May 26th when the kids were out of school. Every single day we have had at least 1 or up to 5 things going on. Swim lessons took up a lot of that as we had it for 4 straight weeks Monday-Thursday, reading class on Monday, and gymnastics on Tuesday. Throw in there play dates, doctor's appointments, errands, and coming up next week art camp at church for 1 week, and fun days at their preschool for 2 weeks. We also have 3 upcoming out of town trips planned too!

On Wednesday we met our friend Erin and her daughter Eden at our new neighborhood splash pad. They used to live across the street from us at our old house and moved out here 3 years ago. They live a few streets away in the section across from us so we are sort of neighbors again. They ultimately brought us out here as we always looked around and dreamed of a new house every time we visited them. Anyways, the kids had a blast at the new splash pad and they were highly entertained. I didn't think I'd ever get them to leave. But it was great, free entertainment. I didn't get many decent picture as Erin and I visited and the kids were in constant motion. Landon really enjoyed playing with the other kids there, especially the older boys. It amazes me how much he has come out of his shell as he is wild now,a little too wild. I kept looking at him and thinking whose kid is that. Emerson enjoyed playing with Eden who just turned 4 and is going to be a big sister in September. After leaving the splash pad we met Nana for lunch and play time in the arcade and then it was off to Target and next the ENT for a 3pm appointment (with a fun 45 min. wait). Oh yeah, and swim lessons at 5:30. Another crazy day, I tell ya! It was also our 9th anniversary that day too but we already celebrated on Saturday night so we just exchanged cards and had a yummy family pizza dinner. How romantic! :) Oh how things change once you have 2 kids!

Weekend

On Saturday the kids actually slept in until almost 9am because they did not get to bed until 10:30pm the night before as they were playing with Wyatt and Sean at their house. That's always a fun and wild time with those 4 kids together!! They each needed their own shower after playing outside in the mud in their underwear! You should of seen them....quite a site! Wish I would of had my camera to document their craziness every time we go over there. We lounged around the house on Saturday morning for the first time in months until lunch time and after lunch we took the kids to the splash pad. The brand new one was already not working so we had to go to the older one. After that we headed to my parents house to drop the kids off. They spent the night there as Jason and I were going out to dinner for our 9th wedding anniversary, which is actually this Wednesday. YUM!! I believe I'm still stuffed! The kids went out to eat with my parents and then made their sugar cookies as they do every time they spend the night. My dad said it gets messier each time as they no longer watch but want to actively participate and do it all themselves. Emerson puts the scraps in a pile to re-roll and loves to hoard the cookie cutters and sprinkles (and eat them all!) while Landon enjoys rolling out the dough and pressing in the cookie cutters. Once again we got to sleep in until 9am on Sunday morning and then got ready for church where my parents met us there with the kids. Then in the afternoon the kids played outside in the new pool I bought and at 2pm I took Emerson to a birthday party for a boy that was in her class at school. More pool time after that and then another outdoor picnic dinner as Jason grilled sausage. Yeah, for no messy kitchen!!

The pictures that my dad took are quite blurry as the kids are in constant motion.

Wonderwild

On Thursday we met up again with April and Alden for a play date at Wonderwild. We have been meaning to try this place for over a year and finally made the trek over there. It was very crowded when we first got there but emptied out by 11:45am. The kids had a lot of fun, but I'm not sure if it's worth the $10 a kid and the gas to drive there as it's off of Sheperd and I-10(not to mention another $5 because I totally forgot socks for the kids!). They are opening a 2nd location in the Woodlands in July. The kids absolutely loved the kid-powered train, but waiting in line every time wasn't always fun as there were only 2 trains and the track was smaller than I expected. They also liked the tall play gym and the giant jumping pillow and believe it or not the "baby/toddler" area. I found Emerson in there after she wandered off AGAIN playing with puzzles and baby toys quietly by herself. Then she enjoyed playing with some real babies too. Even the boys played in there, but that didn't last long as they were being too wild. It was rather cute though watching them put on their own puppet show before the rowdiness began. After playing we went to eat some bbq. That was an interesting experience with our 3 kiddos and a bunch of business men on their lunch breaks. :) Thank goodness we will never see them again! April and I finally just resorted to laughing instead of being stressed and embarrassed. The kids weren't bad, they were just acting like 3 & 5 year olds. The last thing men on their lunch breaks that don't have kids or grandkids want to deal with!

Drapes

We are in the process of having drapes made for our house by a family friend. We are doing a room or two at a time as the price of fabric and hardware is expensive. It's unbelievable how much fabric cost and I still used a 50% off coupon. Part of it is because we need so much material as the family room has 19 ft. 3 in. ceilings and the rest of the house also has high ceilings and wide windows. We finally got the drapes up last Monday in the family room and dining room. It took over 3 hours to hang them and more time throughout the week adjusting everything again. The family room was quite challenging with Jason doing it on a 20 ft. ladder by himself. I couldn't do much to help except hold the bottom of the ladder from slipping. I think it's safe to say that Jason conquered his fear of heights!! :) Next up is the master bedroom, kitchen, study, and game room. Not sure which one I want to conquer first as I'm so indecisive on picking out fabric and deciding what style to do.

Happy 4th Birthday Barrett!!

On Saturday we went to our nephew Barrett's 4th birthday party at the Fire Museum downtown. It was lots of fun and all the kids had a blast. They enjoyed playing in the house, fire truck, sliding down the pole, watching a 9-1-1 video, and listening to a fire safety presentation. Landon of course soaked up all of the information and has been telling us what to do in case of a fire all week. He remembered every detail. Emerson could care less! He's our serious book worm and Emerson is our mischievous class clown...wonder which parent they each took after? :) They did not want to play dress-up though. It was a great party for kids and we will definitely be going back sometime. The museum also had more exhibits down stairs and upstairs (the area we were in was the kids area in the back) including old fire engines and a piece of steel from the World Trade Center. The history of the museum which used to be a fire station was interesting too.








Chief Barrett












Uncle Kenny with cousins Brandon and Nicole. Kenny is a fire fighter with HFD and also volunteered with Jersey Village a long time ago and Cy-Fair before they moved.



Happy Birthday Barrett!!