Weekly Happenings: This past week, we did all the fun stuff at the beginning of the week. Paul had the day off on Monday, so we decided to do a couple of fun things. We visited the Japanese Tea Gardens, went to the zoo, and then out for lunch. Tuesday was Fourth of July, so we spent the day as a family (including attending a ward breakfast) and then popped off fireworks with friends in the evening. The rest of the week was pretty average. We did visit Bass Pro’s Shop earlier in the week…oh, and yesterday, Paul took Joseph to go see the new Spiderman movie. They both had a really great time.
The Weekly Weather: Pretty much a repeat of before: warm, humid (though not too bad), and dry.
What Paul’s Been Up To: Mostly just work, school, and the like.
What Sarah’s Been Up To: Another week of keeping the littles happy is in the books. Other than that…not much.
What Joseph’s Been Up To: He had a great time going to the movies with Paul. One-on-one time with Daddy is always one of his favorite things. He also had a great time going to the zoo and the Japanese Tea Gardens. Oh, and popping off fireworks was, of course, another highlight. Other than that, he continues to enjoy summer vacation.
What Abigail’s Been Up To: The major breakthrough this past week was that she finally had a tooth poke through! She learned rather quickly that biting her thumb with that tooth hurts a lot and has learned to be careful while sucking on her thumb.
This Week in Pictures:
Japanese Tea Gardens.It was built inside an old cement quarry (which was the quarry they got cement from to use in the building of the state capitol, interestingly enough). The grounds are beautiful!All the little ponds and vegetation are really nice.This was over by the giant furnace/kiln on the property…goofball!A more normal pose.One of the outbuildings. There were several on the property and we noticed chimneys on them, so we’re guessing they may have been little houses for workers to stay in when it was still a working quarry, but we don’t know for sure.The giant bugs were still at the zoo, so another picture on the huge caterpillar was a must.Hanging out on the bronze Komodo dragon.The lions are always a favorite.Abigail knows how to cruise the zoo in style.Getting ready to head out to the ward breakfast.Brother had to get in on the act.Testing out their new hearing protection before going out for fireworks (the neighborhood gets pretty loud). Joseph still loves showing off his “goofy eyes”.Sparklers are a Fourth of July tradition. I like the idea of using the cup to keep the sparks from getting on his hand.Watching the “big booms”. I had the phone on “selfie” mode, so she could see herself. It was the best reaction.Fireworks for the win!Little Miss Sunshine.Getting some pointers from Daddy.Trying it on his own.Hanging out at the movies. Joseph said his favorite part of the movie was “all of the awesome parts”.
Weekly Happenings: This past week, we were pretty much just going day-by-day. We didn’t do too much out of the ordinary for the first part of the week (there was a park play date tossed in). On Thursday, I swallowed almost all trepidation and took both kids to the zoo. The thought itself of taking them both wasn’t what made me a bit apprehensive (I obviously take both of them to a lot of places)…it was more the fact that I knew I would need to feed Abigail while there (if I wanted to be at the zoo during the coolest part of the day). When she was just drinking bottles, that was one thing. Now that she’s eating solid foods, it’s quite another. It ended up fine, though. I have this thing that kind of reminds me of the bulb of a turkey baster attached to a spoon. You put the baby food into the bulb, screw the spoon end on, and then squeeze the bulb. The food comes out from a small hole and onto the spoon. Other than her being a little weirded out by the differently-shaped spoon than what she’s used to and eating while in her stroller as opposed to her high chair, she did great! The other fun thing we did this was to have a fun family day yesterday. We went out for lunch (a great BBQ place called B-Daddy’s), walked around the booths at the Market Day at Old Town Helotes, went home for a bit, and then ended the day with going to La Cantera so that Joseph could play at the playground (with ice cream for dessert).
The Weekly Weather: Typical end-of-June weather: hot and humid. The mornings haven’t been too bad, but I still kind of struggle with the fact that it doesn’t seem to cool down much as the sun goes down. It will often still be in the 80s at 9:00/10:00 at night.
What Paul’s Been Up To: Work, school…typical stuff.
What Sarah’s Been Up To: As mentioned above, there was the zoo trip. Other than that, not too much for me, either.
What Joseph’s Been Up To: Wiggling his second loose tooth like crazy (especially since we discovered the adult tooth coming in behind the baby one), keeping baby sister entertained (even if it entails a shrieking contest between the two of them), and enjoying his summer break before school starts back up at the end of August.
What Abigail’s Been Up To: Loving the entertainment she gets from Joseph (and the rest of us, but him especially), shoving anything and everything into her mouth (where are those teeth?!), testing the acoustics of the different parts of the house (at least I know she’s got a healthy set of lungs…those happy shrieks can be quite loud), and just being an all-around joy.
Church in the middle of nap time can be rough…thank goodness for comfy couches!Enjoying her first time in the swings at the park.Enjoying her umpteenth time in her swing at home.Blowing bubbles in the back yard after dinner.The swing set gets quite a bit more use now that he can get himself going and maintain it.Sitting up in her play pen. If you’re wondering about the lack of bow…well, she’s learned how to hook one finger around her headband and then pulls it down so that she can suck on it. When we’re just hanging at home, I often don’t put one on her.Playing piano with Momma.Joseph’s LEGO creations (as well as a few other treasures).The zoo has “Bug-Mania” going on right now. There are a bunch of larger-than-life bugs scattered around the zoo with information plaques about each bug. Most of them are in spots where you just look at them, but this guy was down low enough to climb on (there was even a sign saying it was okay…I love it when they do that, thereby removing all doubt).Sitting on the hippo statues before they got too hot from the sun.Checking the bald eagle.We ended the zoo trip with a ride on the train that goes all around the huge park/natural area which is right next to the zoo.
Weekly Happenings: This past week was pretty much just as the title says: another one for the books. We really didn’t do anything out of the ordinary and just sort of plugged along.
The Weekly Weather: It’s been rather warm (high 90s into low 100s) and muggy. Typical June-almost July weather for us, really.
What Paul’s Been Up To: Not too much out of the ordinary…mainly just keeping busy with work, school, and home life. 🙂
What Sarah’s Been Up To: Not too much out of the ordinary for me, either…mainly just keeping the kiddos healthy and happy. 🙂
What Joseph’s Been Up To: I’ve been working with him to be a little more independent with some things. This past week, he learned to buckle his own seat belt and how to open and close the van door. It’s amazing how much faster getting into the car has gotten now that I only have to load Abigail into her car seat as opposed to both of them. 🙂 Another big thing that happened was that he got the correct rhythm while on the swings in order to pump his legs so that he doesn’t need pushing. He’s had the concept in his brain for a while, but hasn’t gotten the rhythm correct before. He was pretty excited. 🙂
What Abigail’s Been Up To: She hit her six month mark this past week. She also is starting to sit up on her own (if I place her in a sitting position, that is). She’s been really drooly and wanting to shove anything and everything into her mouth to chew on, too. I think we’re getting closer to some teeth making their appearance…I can hardly believe how much time has passed and how big she’s getting!
This Week in Pictures:
Showing off her new sun hat. I was mainly letting her get used to the idea of a hat.Starting to be able to support herself a bit. She still needs me close by since she tends to lean or tip as her muscles tire out.Such a happy six-month-old!
Bonus Video: Joseph loves to make Abigail laugh by making funny sounds. 🙂
