Ryan wanted his birthday party at the "pisa place" so we had it at Petter Piper Pizza. His friend Landon who was born two days before him also had his party there at the same time. It was a special day with lots of friends. When we got in the car he asked if we could "do it again".
These two little cowboys were so cute on Halloween! This might be the last year that I get to help pick out their costumes. They had fun at a block party at our friend's house and then went trick or treating. I knew they were tired when Ryan wanted to get into any strangers wagon as they walked by.
Austin was so excited to start kindergarten! He couldn't wait to go to his new school and make new friends. He calls it the "beach school" because there is a tropical painting on the front of the school. First thing in the morning he had his waffles and told me what he wanted in his lunch. He had PB&J, Grapes, frosted cookies and a Capri Sun. Everything I put into his lunch box Ryan said "can I have that too?" He kept telling me all morning that he was big also and that he wanted to go to kindergarten too. Austin kept reminding him that he is little. After some video and pictures I had to leave for my own first day of school. Daddy drove Austin on the first day but normally he takes a bus. Once they got to school they took some more pictures and Austin said hello to his teacher Mrs. Defer. There are two Austin's in the class so he will have to be Austin S. this year. When she told him that he said "No I am Austin"...I think he gets it now. Everyday has been a different color day so he has worn a shirt that color. I didn't realize how important this was to him so we had to buy a Yellow shirt on Wednesday night. He also had a homework assignment this week that we had to send a cut out bear with pictures of things Austin loves. Some of his pictures included swimming, camping, movies, school and Hannah Montana. He really loved his first week of school but still talks about Ms. Katie his preschool teacher of two years.
I was lucky as a little girl to get to spend time at the beach on a regular basis every summer. Even though we live in Arizona I really want Austin and Ryan to get to enjoy some of the same things that I did as a child. Last week we packed up our car and headed on over. We spent a few nights with Gram and Grampa and enjoyed some great home cooking and company. The boys thought it would be fun to wear a hat like Grampa's.During the day we went down to see a couple of ships and spend time at the park with cousin Sarah and baby Jacob. The next day we headed to the zoo with Melissa, Charlotte, Mike and Aiden. The kids really enjoyed exploring the zoo. Later we headed up to Carlsbad to see our cousins again and Aunt Debbie. It was so fun watching them play in the ocean and they spent a couple of hours digging in the sand. The water temperature was colder than we expected but after awhile even Nelson enjoyed a swim. Someone let the kids borrow a couple of boogie boards and Ryan stood on his without moving but thought for sure he was doing something important with it! This is the first year of our family beach tradition and I am so glad that we got to see everyone! I can't wait until next year!
Nelson was very excited to take the kids fishing for the first time. He bought them both tackle boxes and filled them with fishing goodies. He found a perfect site at the "Islands". We went this morning and found a nice shady spot before it got to hot outside. We could see there were fish right away but it took some time for anyone to catch anything. Ryan was the first one to catch a fish and it was "a big one". I didn't get a picture of it because he went back into the water pretty quick but I did get a picture of Austin's "little fishy". Although I do not care for fishing myself it was fun watching them enjoying it.
