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A Fun Family Day and Another Party for the Books

Weekly Happenings: This past week was another one of those “bookend weeks” as I sometimes call them. We did fun stuff at the beginning and the end, but the middle was pretty average. Since Paul had Monday off, we got up, got ready, and headed downtown to hit up the Kiddie Park and the zoo. Well, we were supposed to go to the zoo after the Kiddie Park, but after the train ride to the Kiddie Park (the train depot is in the same parking lot as where we park for the zoo, so we planned to ride the train to the Park, ride it back, go to the zoo, and then head home after that) and tiring himself out on all the rides, Joseph said he didn’t really feel like going to the zoo (I think his legs were tired, haha). We opted for stopping at the mall on the way home to get lunch and visit the LEGO store, which he liked a lot (especially since we decided to get him a small LEGO kit as a special treat for his birthday, which was the day before). Yesterday we had the actual party for his birthday. It was as we always plan them: laid back and easy. The kids played video games, played outside, had cake and ice cream…that was it. They loved it, and I loved it because it was the most stress-less party ever.

The Weekly Weather: It has been gorgeous! It’s still been warm, but not nearly as hot as it normally is this time of year. The mornings and evenings have actually cooled down, and the afternoons have been mild. I love it!

What Paul’s Been Up To: Mainly enjoying his last little bit of freedom before another semester starts up tomorrow. Other than that, he’s been pretty busy with work and other things.

What Sarah’s Been Up To: Not too much for me, either. I attended the orientation for Joseph’s kindergarten class. I found out that other than reading and practicing letters and sight words, Joseph won’t have any homework being sent home. I am so excited about that! I feel like there is plenty of time to be teaching him what he needs to know while he’s at school…he doesn’t need more to do once he gets home. He can relax and get rested for the next day. It’s so nice!

What Joseph’s Been Up To: He’s been having a good time at school and loved his fun days on Monday as well as yesterday. It’s so hard to believe he’s six now! Oh, and at his annual check-up he weighed 44 pounds and is now 45.5 inches tall.

What Abigail’s Been Up To: Rolling, shrieking, and just being pleasant overall. The other day, I thought I heard her grinding her teeth, which confused me since, to my knowledge, she only has her bottom two center ones. I decided to investigate (which she found mildly irritating, haha) and found that she’s got her top two teeth coming in at the exact same time! She’s getting so big!

This Week in Pictures:

[1]
This is after church last week. Sunday 1:00 church is rough for a little girl who is used to getting a monster nap from about 11:30 to 2:00 every day.
[2]
On the train going to the Kiddie Park. She wasn’t too sure of the whistle or the conductor’s voice over the speakers (or the tunnel…I think this was actually right after we got out of the tunnel).
[3]
Luckily, there was a LOT to look at. She liked that part.
[4]
Riding the boats at the Kiddie Park. We did have to tell him not to put his hands in the water, though…while it looks cleaner than that of other water rides I’ve seen, still…
[5]
Getting ready to ride the airplanes.
[6]
Riding the school bus ride…
[7]
…and the spaceships…
[8]
I think this might be his favorite one.
[9]
He does like the carousel, though.
[10]
This is the play area at one of our favorite BBQ places (B-Daddy’s in Old Town Helotes). They have a giant Jenga set that Joseph and Paul (and some other kids there) had a good time playing with.
[11]
The banner for Joseph’s party. Thank you, Amazon (and Paul for getting the letters on the string and getting the whole thing centered)!
[12]
My first attempt at a layered cake. I think it turned out pretty great! Originally it was just going to be Minecraft-themed, but someone (*cough, cough* me *cough, cough*) didn’t think about cake plates and napkins until the day of and my knight in shining armor tried to find Minecraft ones but couldn’t (they have them online, just not in the stores). Luckily, there were Pokémon ones, so we just added Pokémon to the mix in the form of some characters on the cake and some yo-yos tossed into the guest goody bags (they already had some Minecraft sunglasses and bracelets in there).
[13]
The kids playing video games.
[14]
Opening presents. He was super excited about getting this Nerf gun (I didn’t even realize he knew about them).
[15]
A new Pokémon shirt…
[16]
A Roblox character (don’t ask…I have no idea…one of those games he likes to play, haha).
[17]
A “Where’s Waldo” book.
[18]
A “How to Draw Pokémon” book
[19]
One more view of the cake.
[20]
Singing “Happy Birthday”.
[21]
Blowing out the candle.
[22]
Doing part of his “homework” (aka story time).
[23]
Someone found the edge of the rug!
[24]
Playing with the Little People pirate ship. We had gotten this for Joseph when he was about this same size (maybe a little older, actually). I’m so glad it’s well enough built to still be in good condition for round two, haha.