back to school!

Sydney was off to 1st grade today...she was pretty excited this morning! Hopped right out of bed and was ready to roll...we'll see how long that lasts, ha ha!!



Carter took this one ;)






I parked and got out to give her a hug goodbye and she was off!!


Carter and I had a busy day...Allie had a doctor's appt. The little chunker weighs 15 lbs 6 oz (90%) and is 25 3/4" long (95%)



While we were waiting for the nurse, Carter was telling Allie that her shots would not hurt and she would be ok.


He held her hand during the shots but she still screamed bloody murder. After it was over, I picked her up and she immediately stopped crying and gave the nurse a big ol' grin...that was so funny!! Allie was probably thinking, ha ha, Mama's got me...try to hurt me now, lady!!

After a few other stops, we came home to make cookies before Sydney got home. After checking the bus route last week, we learned it had changed and she would get home just after 3:30. So she is riding the bus home in the afternoons...I hope this works out!

Welcome wagon...


She made it!


She was pretty excited...she likes the bus but then every so often says she wants to be a car rider. Guess we'll see how it goes!!

She talked about school all afternoon...the first thing she said was they had to write the numbers 1-20 and it was hard! PE was hula hoops and a few bean bag games. She sat by her friend Caty at lunch. Ms. Sennett read a book to them this morning. They got on the computer a little bit. They did calendar time on the computer/projector screen. After PE they went outside to play on the playground. She sat with Caty while they waited for their bus to come.

She seemed very happy about her day! So we're off to another school year...

kings dominion!!

On the last week of summer vacation, we planned a trip to Kings Dominion. It has been sooo long since I've been there and Sydney and Carter are at a great age for it! Julie told me about the new Planet Snoopy they have and we were hooked ;)

It took 3 hours to get there which wasn't bad...Sydney sat in the back row and was in charge of the dvd player :) Carter sat beside Julie and kept her entertained!

We took a quick picture when we got there...so glad we did because by the end of the day we looked rough!!


Then they saw Linus and ran over to hug him!


Then we ran into Sally :)


OK, then we were off to find something to ride. It seemed crowded at the gate coming in, but once we got going, it wasn't many people there at all!



First up was Snoopy's Flying Ace...cars that go way up in the air and spin around. Carter was 2 inches too short to ride...bummer. Sydney loved it! After that, Sydney spotted some swings and wanted to get on those...poor Carter was to short for that to. So he and Kevin rode bumper cars while we did some more swinging!

While we were waiting for Kevin and Carter, Julie and I saw the Drop Tower. Woah. There was no wait for it so I hopped on and then wondered what in the world I was doing! We rode straight up ~300 feet and stopped...as you're sitting there, just kinda looking around all of a sudden you drop all the way down going about 75 mph. My hands were shaking when I got off that thing!! Kevin was back by then and there was no wait so Julie and I went and rode it again ;)

Then it was back to kiddie rides!!

Some of the other things they rode:
Ricochet: so funny, Sydney's first real roller coaster. She was scared and laughing all at the same time!
Blue Ridge Tollway: Sydney drove Kevin and Carter around!
Flying Eagles: another swing ride...
Boo Blasters on Boo Hill: Carter loved shooting the ghosts...Sydney was a bit freaked by the skeletons!
Ghoster Coaster: aka, the old Scooby Doo...Carter had the biggest grin on his face! It was pretty fast!
Log Ride: Kevin and Carter tackled this one by themselves...he loved it!
Taxi Jam: fast!


It was pretty hot that day and the Snoopy's Splash Dance was looking pretty good at that point. Sydney and Carter got on their bathing suits and ran through that for awhile!


We also saw a Peanuts show...Sydney volunteered to go up on stage! She played the pot...such a talented child! ha ha!! ;)

We found some more of the Peanuts gang too!





Julie and I also had to ride the new Intimidator. It goes over 90 mph and has a couple of G force turns...we rode in the 2nd row. Looking up...


SOOOO FUUUN! After that first drop we were rolling around the track and my vision starting blacking out...I wasn't passing out but I just couldn't see for a second. A very intense ride!!! So we rode it again ;) ha ha!!

Sydney, Carter and Kevin were having fun at the water park! There were all kinds of things to do there...they rode a big raft called the Zoom Flume last. There they go!


It was such an awesome day and we have pretty much decided to do this every year from now on...but I am ready to go back now!! ;)

6 years old!

Sydney had her 6 year checkup last week! She grew 3 inches and now weighs 48.7 lbs (+6 from last year)! She was sooo happy not to get any shots...no more until she's 10!!

We went to meet her 1st grade teacher yesterday. Apparently, Sydney already knew her because she was standing at her door and Sydney ran up and gave her a hug! Sydney put all her school supplies in her desk while we talked. Then we walked around the class to check everything out! A few girls from last year are in her class...she is ready to go back to school now! 3 more days!!

We went out for a haircut after that...got 4 inches chopped with some layers in the back! Soooo much easier ;) She loves it too!

bursting with happiness!

This is one smiley chick these days!



Sydney went over to a friends house for awhile this afternoon, so Carter and Allie hung out together for awhile. Usually Sydney is the mama hen and doesn't let Carter get as much time in with her, but today he laid in the floor with her and showed her some of her little singing toys. She was just all smiles and he was a happy dude too! He wanted me to keep taking pictures of them together :)



He is really good with her...he likes to give her kisses and talk to her (and I have to talk back for her) Guess I didn't know what to expect with Carter and a baby and am pleasantly surprised how interested he is in her! Might be a different story once she starts drooling on his tractors though ;)

the boys have a new toy...

Well, it's official...I may never see Kevin or Carter again when they are home.



Kevin went to pick up his tractor today. He tried to be cool but I know he was pretty excited about it ;) I don't know who likes it more, him or Carter!

It came with all kind of attachments so he can plow, scrape, mow, fertilize, till, who knows what else! For now they are just joy riding...wonder what their first project will be??

the whole crew...

We got together tonight to eat and celebrate all the August birthdays in our family. It was the only night this month that everyone could be there! Might call that a miracle!

TORNADO ALERT....

Sound the alarms...a tornado has just touched down in Carter's room!!



Um, ok, so the tornado is Carter. Every day his room looks something like this. The boy changes his clothes over and over and over again. And daggone, I go in there and pick up only to find more clothes on the floor the next time I walk by.
I asked him not to change so many times and that didn't work.
I tried making him pick things up but then clean clothes ended up balled up in the hamper and stuff went missing too!
I threatened to take his clothes away and that didn't work.

After a few weeks of this, one day I finally gave up and took everything out of his closet and drawers. I am probably scarring him for life but it was getting out of control! I washed 9 dirty shirts from like 2 or 3 days...crazy! So now he picks out what he wants to wear but I have to get it for him.

Haven't decided when to put everything back but it sure is nice this way ;)

movie day!

All this summer on Tuesday's and Wednesday's the theater at the mall shows 2 free kids movies at 10am. We finally made it to one last week, Wallace and Grommit and the Curse of the Wererabbit, and it was so cute! Sydney and Carter love movies so this is perfect for them! That was Allie's 2nd movie (she "saw" Toy Story 3 last month)! After the movie we walked down to Chick-fil-a for lunch...mmmmmm!

We did it again this week and Grandma came along too! This week was Alvin and the Chipmunks, The Squeakqual. When we got in the theater each seat had a coupon for a free kids meal from Chick-fil-a w/a combo meal! Doesn't get much better then that! And now 3 month old Allie has been to 3 movies...she is on a roll ;)

happy girl!

I squeezed Allie into my baby dress one more time...she wore it for her newborn picture in the hospital but I wanted one more picture before she started busting the seams ;)

Her hair was freshly washed this morning, hence the wild look...it will.not.lay.down!!

She rolled over for the first time on July 19th...now every time I lay her down she flips right over and starts looking around :) She holds her head up good...I can see a big difference in those couple of weeks!

She also likes to grab her feet now too...it's so funny! And if I hold her facing out she will stick her leg out straight and look at her foot, turning it from side to side. She cracks us up!

catching up...

whew...I've got a bit of catching up to do! I need about 4 more hours to my day to get it all done!

It's hard to blog at night because Allie goes to bed at around 8pm and her crib is in our room with the computer. So I'm typing right now in the dark and adding pictures makes it that much more challenging! A laptop would be nice...

It's been a busy week or so and now it's August!!!! What!!!!??? School starts in 3 weeks...that seems unbelievable. Sydney squawks when I tell her that but she is excited that one of her good friends from last year is in her class this year. I dread the early morning routine...not that I don't get up early now but I dread the getting everyone dressed and out the door at 8 routine. Blech...gonna enjoy these last few weeks!