Blast from the Past - 2002/2003

In my BC days (Before Children) I enjoyed scrapbooking. When I had Tyler, I bought a nice baby scrapbook to start for him. It is now nearly 10 years later and it's still sitting in the original bag in a storage container in a closet in the extra bedroom. I'm pretty sure it's been 10 years since I've scrapbooked anything, baby book included, and I don't see that changing anytime soon. So, I finally gave up the idea that I would get to it eventually and decided to make photo books online since all of our photos are digital anyway. I am making one book for every year. That adds up to a lot of books, especially since I'm getting such a late start. I'm just doing them a little at a time, though, and am buying them when there's a good sale or coupon. So how many do I have? Just one per kid so far. They are a hit, though. The kids enjoy them and I feel better about having actual photos in print of my children's first year of life.

This week I have been working on pictures from Tyler's 1st - 2nd birthday. He was soooo sweet! Here are some pictures I wanted to share.

New Bikes

One of our kids' favorite pasttimes is riding their bikes. They haven't ridden much lately, though, because they've outgrown their bikes. Danielle's was especially bad. Although her seat was up as high as it would go, her knees were practically bumping her arms every time she pedaled. So we suprised the kids by taking them bicycle shopping today.

I say shopping, but we didn't look around too much. Ron and I did a little reseach online, found that Walmart was by far the least expensive, and narrowed down their options to only a couple choices. I can't believe some people spend $200 on a bike for a kid! Thankfully our kids don't care about that and were super excited over their choices. They both needed new bike helmets, so we got those, too. (Danielle's was held together with duct tape!)

They spent the evening happily riding around the neighborhood with their friends.

Butterfly Visitor

A question mark butterfly visited my lantana plant tonight. It was quite a treat since I've never seen one in my yard before. Here are some pictures. If you click on the first one and look at its hind wing (you may have to enlarge it), you can see how these butterflies get their name.

Spray Park Fun

Danielle has been talking about getting her hair cut for a few weeks. I told her she had to wait until baton and softball were over so it would still be long enough for ponytails with cute ribbons. :) Everything finished up this past weekend, so I took her to get it cut yesterday. Although it needs washed and brushed, it looks really cute.

She is a little more sunkissed now. Thankfully she doesn't seem to mind. Personally, I think she's beautiful and the freckles just complete the look.

Can't believe how much older the kids are looking. :(

Our Misadventure

Have you ever had one of those days that just doesn't go at all the way you had planned? Today was my day. Ugh.

I had plans to take the kids to a new park downtown (like downtown in the "big" town, not here). Last week a super huge spray park opened in the park, and the pictures on the news made it look wonderful. I packed a picnic lunch, grabbed a BOGO coupon for ice cream afterward, and headed out for a fun new adventure. Well... it was an adventure.

When we got there, all the parking garages were full. There wasn't any metered parking or any other type of parking available. Traffic was bumper to bumper and at a stand still most of the time. It was miserable. We drove around looking for a parking spot for about an hour. At one point we passed the water park and were amazed at how many people were there. Bodies were shoulder to shoulder. It was crazy! I finally found a $5 lot that still had an opening, although it was several blocks from where we wanted to go. At that point the kids decided it was way too crowded to be fun anyway. So, we found our way back to the interstate and didn't look back. It was so frustrating. At one point both kids were in tears. (Danielle was disappointed. I hurt Tyler's feelings.) I was so disappointed.

We found a place to eat our picnic lunch and decided to visit the local spray park instead. We managed to fit ice cream in, too. But, when we got to the spray park, we discovered they changed their hours this season. They were closed from 1-3pm. Sigh.

The kids wanted to wait, so we waited. Finally, at 3pm, nearly 4 hours after starting out, the kids got to play in the water. They had a nice time, but it took awhile to get to that point!

I saw on the news tonight that there was a march by some children's group at the statehouse regarding the budget today. I am sure that's why things were so crowded everywhere. I just picked the wrong day for our adventure.

Later Tyler said, "Mom, I could tell you were really upset because you said a word you never say!" I cringed and tried to think what I might have said. Almost afraid to ask, I said, "What did I say, Tyler?" "You said, 'GOODNIGHT!' when that car wouldn't turn and people started honking at you. You never say that!" Phew. Thankfully that is about as bad as it gets here.

This & That

Danielle's final softball game didn't go well in that we didn't win. Danielle did a great job, though. Her highlight during this game was making an out at 2nd. She's disappointed the season is over, but I'm sure we'll find something else to fill our time.

Here is a recent picture of Clara. She's looking a little over-grown at the moment since the techinical school where we started having her groomed is closed for summer break. She's such a good dog.

Danielle's baton group had an end of season award/pool party on Saturday. It was very nicely done, and the coach had a lot of nice things to say about each girl. Siblings were allowed to come, so Tyler took full advantage of the cupcakes and pool. It was a very nice afternoon. I can't say enough good things about our coach and our overall experience with twirling this season!

In anticipation of our upcoming vacation, I was looking at pictures of the last time we vacationed in Gulf Shores. We went there several years in a row until Katrina hit. We were supposed to go last year but changed our plans when the tar balls started washing ashore. Anyway, the last time we were there was May 2005. Here is a picture of the kids enjoying the beach. I can't believe how little they were!!!!

Temporarily the Only Child

Tyler is enjoying his visit with Ron's parents. Ron's mom sent several pictures yesterday. This one was my favorite. I didn't hear from Tyler tonight, so I assume he's having too much fun to think of home. I'm glad.




While he's gone, Danielle has enjoyed being an only child. Yesterday she and I went ice skating. I have the blisters to prove I skated, too.
































Danielle had her first tournament game last night. It's a single elimination tournament. We were the 5th ranked team and played the 4th ranked. Suprisingly we ended up run ruling them and won the game with a decent lead. Danielle had her best game yet with several great hits. She is so fun to watch. Tomorrow night we play the #1 ranked team in the semi-finals.
































Finally, here are some pictures of Danielle in her baton uniform. I was hoping to get something to put with the rest of her sports photos. Maybe someday we will actually hang all those. Right now all those professional tball, soccer, football, basketball, & softball pictures are just sitting on a shelf in my closet. I suppose at the very least I can pull them out for the kids' graduation parties.

This & That

Earlier in the week we went to visit my mom and deliver some flowers to my grandparents' and great aunt's graves. It's important to me that my children remember my grandparents and aunt. Even if their own memories of them fade, I want them to hear the stories of our family and be reminded of exactly what their lives meant to all of us because of the legacy they left us. While we were at the cemetery we visited the WWII memorial and talked a little about the sacrifices so many people made for us. The kids found my grandpa's name, and then Danielle decided to count all the people who died (just in that county). They at least pretended to be interested. I'm sure it all meant more to me than it did to them, but I was glad we stopped.

We had a wonderful 4th of July. Danielle's baton group tossed candy in the local parade Monday afternoon. It was just too hot to march and twirl. (The girl holding her head said Danielle hit her with a piece of candy when she threw one to Ron. Danielle said she didn't.) Tyler opted not to ride with the Cub Scouts and watched the parade with us instead.

Does anyone else feel like lecturing the folks who don't bother to stand when the honor guard walks by with the American flag?!

Danielle's baton group performed around 8pm that evening. This was her last performance for the season. They will probably start back up in October and begin working on a routine for our town's Christmas celebration. Baton has been a great experience, but it will be nice to take a little break from everything for a few weeks. (This picture is from the video clip, so it's a little blurry.)

We spent our afternoon/evening hanging out with some of our neighbor friends. (Danielle and I snuck out for an hour for her baton performance.) It was a very nice evening. We all have children who are around the same ages. The people who hosted organized games for the 16 or so kids. We ended our evening by sharing sparklers and glow sticks while we waited for the fireworks to start. It was a very nice day - one that left you feeling all warm and fuzzy when it was over. I can see why the 4th of July is Tyler's favorite holiday.

Here is our summer harvest so far. Danielle planted some beans in a cup at school. At the end of the year she brought them home and we replanted them. All of the sprouts died off except one, which has provided us with a total of 4 green beans so far. Tyler won't eat them, but Danielle loves them - raw of course. (My children won't eat cooked veggies.)

This is Tyler's week to stay with Grandma & Grandpa. He couldn't wait for his much needed "break from the family".

Danielle and Clara caught lightening bugs together tonight. Clara can jump a lot higher than Danielle, so she catches more. The drawback is that most of the ones she catches don't survive. (It's kind of cool to see her teeth light up, though.)

Happy 4th of July!