BG 2

We made it back to Busch Gardens in mid-May.  It was another cool morning and hardly any lines - perfect!  We got there early and the kids did their first roller coaster - Grover's Alpine Express!  (just my speed!)  They loved it so we rode it a couple more times before moving on to the next thing.  Now that they've done that, they are getting braver and wanting to try more things.  We ended the day with the big swings.  It was a near-meltdown because I didn't think Fielder was big enough, but when I realized I was wrong he was so happy to go on it.  It was a little scary for their wimpy mommy, but they were excited.

We also took our first trip to Water Country in June.  No pictures because I didn't want to carry a phone or camera around.  We met up with the Mason Jr's and Claire loved having Samara to play with!  Unfortunately we didn't really know it, but Fielder had a little virus and really wasn't in the mood for doing anything.  We spent a lot of time on the lounge chairs and after lunch he got a little energy for the wave pool and Hubba Hubba Highway.  Once we were home, we realized he did have a fever so we ended our day with a trip to Kid Med.  I thought for sure it was strep, but i was wrong.  (hope he enjoyed that $50 popsicle)  After a recovery day at home, his teachers told me he talked about WC like it was better than Christmas so I guess he managed to have fun even when he didn't feel so good!  We'll try for a re-do later this month.

Mother's Day

As a combo Mother's Day/birthday gift, I bought tickets to take Mom to see The Lion King.  We saw the final performance and it was on Mother's Day so it was a special day for all of us to spend some "girl time" together.  It was also Claire's first broadway show and she really seemed to enjoy it.

 Claire also took me to a Mother's Day dinner at the Y.  We had a fun night together!  (need to work on our selfie skills)

Claire pics

And here's a few recent pics of the girl!  She decided to do swim team again this summer.  We're already about half way through the season now, but this picture was taken at the "meet-the-coaches" sign up party.  She was slightly on the fence about swim team, but when she heard there was a party with ice cream, she was ready to sign up.  (Of course there was a more serious discussion about committing to the team, etc.!)

She is modeling her new sweatshirt that she loves....this was right after a weekend at Mimi and Papa's house.  Turns out I'm a terrible packer and forgot to pack Fielder ANY PANTS at all besides pajama pants.  I sent him in a bathing suit and that was all he had.  Also I didn't check the weather and I only sent short sleeves (it was cold!)  So Mimi to the rescue - she took the kids on a shopping spree at Target.  I felt terrible!  (I also once forgot to pack any shoes for Fielder on a previous trip.)  I better get my act together if I ever want another kid-free weekend!  It was the first time for Fielder to spend the night in a VERY long time and the first time not in a crib.  He was so excited I think he woke Mom up at 4am.

Claire and Daddy at the annual Father/Daughter dance at the Y

 Our little reader has started the Harry Potter books!  (She recently finished a 700+ page one!  No idea on the comprehension part of it, but she has loved them)

3rd grade, here she comes!!  Hard to believe 2nd is done. She had a great year with an awesome teacher, but I think this girl is ready for a break!  She has lots of fun things planned for the summer - beach trips, Mimi weeks, summer camp, and even a couple weeks at Fielder's school!  We are so proud of her accomplishments (straight A's all year!!) and can't wait to see what the next school year brings.

We celebrated the last day of school at a pool party with this awesome foam pit!  (and ice cream!)

Fielder pics

Just a few pictures of our crazy boy lately.  I have enjoyed watching him use his imagination more to play - he especially likes it when Claire will play with him, but only by his rules of course.  He loves to build weird things in the playroom - it looks like just a big mess, but things are exactly as he wants them.  He also loves dressing up.  He looked so cute in this outfit, I had to get a couple pictures.  :-)

Fielder surprised me one day with this drawing.  I had never seen him draw anything but scribbles before!  He said it was a picture of me.  I had to hang it on the fridge and he was so proud.

 We signed him up for the Fast Track classes at Aqua Tots to get ready for the summer.  He loved the lessons (except the first one) and would get so excited each morning, but by the end of the 2 weeks I think he was pretty tired!  He could use more lessons, but for now we're taking a break and seeing what he can accomplish on his own over the summer.  The lessons helped him a great deal, but he still likes to do things his way!  He's pretty good on his back and can now swim decent on his belly when he wears his goggles.  This boy LOVES the water!

This is just a cute picture that Fielder's teacher texted me one day while I was at work.  I love when she does that, always puts a smile on my face.  As you can see, everyone knows that chocolate - or any type of sweets -  is the way to Fielder's heart.  And if you look close, I love how the other little girl is giving him the stink eye!

He might look sweet, but he sure can be a difficult child!  Saw this on facebook one day and immediately had to send it to Rob!  We may have joked on occasion about dropping him off at the fire station!!

Busch Gardens!

Rob and I had a big surprise this year for the kids....season passes to Busch Gardens (and Water Country, but they don't know about that yet!)  We were so excited to take them - they weren't sure what it was when we told them so I showed a few pictures online.

We had a great day.  It was nice weather with a cool breeze and the lines were not bad at all.  The kids had a blast and they can't wait to go back again!  They loved the rides and the skyline was a nice little break and chance to see the park from up high.  Daddy even got to ride a roller coaster while I took the kids on the Catapult.  We had packed lunch which requires a tram ride back to the parking lot, walk over to the picnic tables, and tram ride back into the park.  We learned that everything just takes a little longer than anticipated so we spent a longer day there than expected.  I'm not sure if I can convince Rob next time to pack lunches, but I"m sure we saved some $$, and you know  I love to save $$!

It really was a fun family day and great to see such smiles on the kids faces.  They said it was the best day ever and have been asking when we can go back.  

Fielder's 1st Movie!

We took the kids to see Zootopia - Fielder's first movie at the movie theater!  I was nervous Fielder wouldn't make it that long for an entire movie, but he did pretty good.  (Only messing with the seat in front of him a couple times.)  Such a cute movie, we all loved it!

Soccer

The kids are trying out soccer for the first time this season!  So far, it's been hit or miss with Fielder, but Claire loves it.  She gives great effort and her coach even said she got the "gutsy player" award for one of her games.  

When Fielder actually plays he looks like he's having a blast.  But we've also had entire games that he refuses to set foot on the field.  4 year olds playing soccer is pretty hilarious - I give such credit to the parents that volunteer to coach this chaotic mess!

Here we are during one of his games and it was actually snowing a little!!  This was a game he decided to help keep me warm instead of playing.  To his credit, at half time he decided to play, but set one foot on the field, slipped and banged his head so hard he never went back out.  Oh well!

And finally last weekend we actually had nice weather!!  It was the first weekend that it wasn't freezing cold or raining!  Fielder played the whole time - even got a bloody lip and kept on going.

We have another 4 weeks to go - need to get some pics of Claire playing!

Claire and her team, minus Jack: