Evie's 2nd Birthday!

Evie is TWO!! Her birthday was on a Saturday, so we got to have a low-key, relaxing day to celebrate our sweet girl. We decided to just keep it our family this year. Evie is a very typical toddler in that she LOVES dips and sauces, so we decided to use a free meal coupon at Abuelo's for her birthday meal. She got to have so many dips at her disposal! She got tomatillo salsa, queso, guacamole and as many chips as she needed for licking the sauce off. Very few chips actually get eaten. 

After our late Abuelo's lunch, we came home to have cupcakes. Wesley and Curtis had picked out the cupcakes that look like little sundaes because they felt so "party-ish."

Curtis helping Evie know how to blow out candles.
He, of course, blew out the candles during the training.

YUM!

Oh, how we love our Evie girl. She has emotions that run the spectrum daily and sometimes minutely. She loves shoes (the bigger, the better), the "dawgie," her "brah-ers," and coloring/drawing.

We love you, Evie! You bring us much joy.

Wesley's 10th Birthday!

Wesley basically wanted a redo of his 9th birthday party this year. His guest list was slightly modified, but we had the party at the same pool and had the same cake. This year's theme was Lego Batman. His friend Sydney said, "Wesley likes to have his birthday at a pool and have a red velvet bundt cake. He's predictable. I like that." :) He got to choose 5 guests: Grant, Sydney, Bryan, Zach, and Gage. And siblings! We had pizza again, too. Lazy, but so easy.

His party was the Saturday before his actual birthday. The morning was very rainy, so there was a wee bit of anxiety about having to reschedule. There was never any lightening. We had one good burst of rain while the kids swam, but otherwise is was good weather.

Curtis got a little cold during his pizza break.

Evie found a chair just her size!

The wind was blowing a lot, so we had to do the candles and singing inside.

Happy birthday boy!

Cute bros

We thought it might be too cold for Evie, but she swam for a bit.

Gathered for presents

Gage showed up at the very end. They had the time
wrong on the calendar!

All guests got a mystery Lego Batman mini figure. Every kid was so excited
to see who he/she got.

On his actual birthday, we ate at our favorite Italian place and had fro yo!

Wesley impressed us with his genuine appreciation of all of his guests at his party. He is a very kind and compassionate fella.

We love you, Wesley! 

First Day of 2nd and 5th Grade

Second Grade

Fifth Grade

Curtis is starting a 2nd/3rd loop with this wonderful
lady. She is as cheerful as they come!

Wesley's last year of elementary will be with our
friend from church. He was hoping he would get her!

The first day of school was also solar eclipse day! We saw a partial eclipse here. I went up to the school to watch it with the boys.

Second graders are really cute when they watch something amazing :)

Curtis' class had gone out a little too early, so I went to get him around
1:00 when I came back to watch with Wesley.

Curtis will have another two years with his good
buddy, Noah. And they unknowingly wore the same
shirt for Meet the Teacher!

We are almost a week into the school year now, and it looks like it's going to be a great one!

Squeezing the Last Drops Out of Summer

Before starting back to school, we tried to pack in some fun times. One Tuesday, we went bowling at Strikz and to Amazing Jake's (both POGO passes). Amazing Jake's is an arcade with other things like bumper cars and a little bitty go kart track. They also have a large buffet of cheap kid food which we ate while watching Minions on a huge screen...the boys were in heaven.

Wesley

Curtis always followed through with hands above
his head after sending his ball down the ramp. 

Bumper cars at Amazing Jake's

Some crazy sounds came out of Curtis on the bumper
cars! He got some kind of power rush that was hilarious!

Home

Snuggle time with big brother at home. I love this.

We got the playhouse out. Evie loved it, especially after
Curtis had made a palette for everyone to sleep and
added pets and such.

Swimming

Looking so big. 

One more trip to Six Flags the Friday before school!

Waiting on the bros

Drenched from the Roaring Rapids. There was NO line
so the boys probably did this one 6 or 7 times!

Wesley amazingly talked Curtis into riding Cat Woman
with him! This was pre-ride, and Curtis wasn't sure
about his decision. He didn't hate it!

My boys and I on the swings. I love their faces.

John Mark and the boys also went to Hawaiian Falls with the Cub Scouts the last Saturday before school started. Evie and I stayed home for her to nap and relax out of the heat.

What a wonderful summer!!

Texas Discovery Gardens and Children's Aquarium at Fair Park

Another fun POGO pass day! This time we went to Dallas to check out Texas Discovery Gardens and Children's Aquarium at Fair Park. At the Discovery Gardens, there is a huge butterfly observatory. It is HUMID, but so beautiful. There were butterflies everywhere, but they were hard to capture well in pictures. We got there around noon for their daily butterfly release and got to hear a presentation about them. Wesley sat and listened to every word. Curtis and Evie got up about half way through to explore and check out the beehive. After the butterfly presentation, we spent awhile exploring the gardens. There was also a snake house that the boys enjoyed.

Curtis getting to feel a dead butterfly

The amazing chrysalis collection

Butterfly release!

Curtis loved the big beautiful blue butterflies. I actually got one in the picture
over the sidewalk.

Beehive. They could get in and out through a tube
to the outside

Just a short walk away from the Gardens is the Aquarium. We got there in time to watch lots of the fish being fed. The hit of the day was definitely petting and feeding the stingrays. Curtis got drenched from getting so involved in the petting. It was hard to pull him away when it was time to get home.

Piranhas!!

This sea turtle was rescued from a plastic net. One of its fins is deformed
because of the trauma. He seemed to enjoy our company.

Watching the spitting fish get fed. They shoot water at the bugs and eat them!

Touching a starfish

This fish seemed to pose with the boys

Touching a crab's back

Stingrays!!

Wesley rated this day 4.5 out of 5 stars :)