Our Bike Rider

A couple of days ago Shawn took the training wheels and pedals off of Jase's bike. {A friend told him about the balanced bike technique to help kids learn to ride, where they use their feet to push themselves and balance without worrying about pedaling.} Well, two days later and he can ride his bike!! This is close to a miracle, as we did not think he would ever learn to ride his bike! It is so awesome to see how confident he is now that he can ride like a big boy. Proud of you JJ!!

Moody Gardens

Since Daddy has been traveling so much this year and we have been super busy with baseball since February, we haven't taken much of a breather at all.  We planned a short get away over this past Memorial Day Weekend to Moody Gardens in Galveston.

We visited Palm Beach all three days and had a blast each time.  There was plenty to do there to keep us entertained: lazy river, slides, beach, splash pad and a wave pool.  Nanny and Aunt Alisha surprised us Sunday afternoon and we got to spend some time with them at Palm Beach!

The Aquarium Pyramid was pretty neat and we loved seeing all of the underwater creatures in there!

Below are the only 2 family photos we got all weekend long...I'll take what I can get!  :-)

We saw 2 movies on Sunday: sharks and butterflies.  Shawn and I had seen the sharks one before and it is ok, but the butterfly movie was actually pretty good.  

Next we ventured in the Rainforest Pyramid.  I think this was my favorite! I loved looking at all of the flowers and plants and trying to spot the different creatures!

And right before we left the enclosed butterfly area, I had a friend come and visit me! This kids thought this was super cool!

And here is Miss Hollywood looking at her map and navigating us on where to go...even though she was way behind us!!

We ended up buying a season pass and look forward to returning over the summer for some more family fun!

Boot Camp Survival

Well I did it, I made it through my first session of boot camp! While it challenges me each time I go, I am really enjoying it. And for the record, I'm glad I stuck with the 5 lb weights! But watch out, I might be moving up to some 6 or 7 pounders soon! ;)  Next session starts this Saturday morning!

Finishing up Kindergarten

It is hard to believe that it is nearly June and Jase is finishing up Kindergarten! He has done such a great job this year and it has been such a blessing to watch his progression over the year.  He is reading so well and enjoys math too.  I am going to go out on a limb and say that his favorite subject is geography.  He is definitely his father's son...he loves maps! The last couple of weeks we have been studying the continents and last week we saw the shape of one of them without a name attached to it.  I said it was South America and he corrected me and said no that it was Africa.  I said no, I think it is South America.  Yep, I was wrong...it was Africa! I am learning right along with him!

Since are not having an official Kindergarten graduation ceremony, we thought we would celebrate in a different way: we surprised him with a trip to the Children's Museum of Houston.  At first I think that Allyson was more excited than he was, but he was pumped as well.  We do not go very often, but always enjoy it when we do.  And I bought our tickets on Groupon for 50% off (YAY for Groupon!!). 

Daddy took the older two to Kidtropolis, USA which is a really neat environment where kids act as grown ups and participate in the economy.  They work jobs to earn money on their Kid Card debit card and then they can turn around and spend it at the market.  Allyson and Jase both enjoyed this.

While Daddy and the older two were busy earning money, I took Finn to the Tot Spot.  He absolutely LOVED it!! So many new things to see and cram in his mouth! We stayed there for an hour before we met back up with Daddy.

Here is a short clip of Finn playing at the cars table.

Then it was snack time for Finn and puppet show time for the older two!  If you watch the movie clip then you will see that the kids cannot get enough of Disney's Robin Hood. Allyson is singing the first song from the movie in the puppet show!

After the puppet show the kids head over to the face painting area and give themselves a make over!

Sister and I made some cool looking shades while Daddy and Jase went to another exhibit.

We had a great time and are so proud of Jase as he is finishing up Kindergarten!  Oh and we were so happy to have Daddy home!!  He had just arrived back home from Africa earlier that morning and we missed him so much.  You never get used to having him gone.

That's a wrap

Well, it wasn't a W tonight. The boys played really well in the first two innings and then we couldn't hold them or make any plays offensively. We fell short in the 5th inning with a final score of 15-9. Oh well! So proud of them for advancing this far and getting 2nd place!! Go Blue Jays!

And Jase, Mommy and Daddy are so proud of you and how well you have progressed over the season. You made so many outs at 2nd base and your knowledge of the game continues to grow! I love all of our talks about situational plays at the table or in your bed right before bedtime. :) You're a great ball player with a wonderful attitude and you will always be our All-Star!

Another W

"I said a boom chicka boom. I said a boom boom chicka boom. I said a boom chicka rocka chicka rocka chicka boom!!"

So tonight we played a team that has beat us all 3 times this season. And we had a chance to beat them at least 2 out of the 3 times, but couldn't pull it off. Tonight was the night we did it!! So proud of Jase and the boys on his team. And even after devotions, Jase was still saying "man I still can't believe we beat the Giants!!" So cool!

This means we move onto the final game tomorrow night...the championship game!! Bad News Bears here we come! Lol! We are playing a team tomorrow night that also beat us all 3 times during the season; they have a great team, but so do we. {For the record, we got 3rd in league play behind these two teams...so we didn't lose to everyone!} But tomorrow would be a great time to break that losing streak against them!

Super game boys!!! "We are proud of you say we are proud of you"!! Do you have these chants in your head now?? Me too!

Coach talking to the boys and congratulating them on a great game!

So last night I helped out on the field, and I look up and I see my sister out there tonight! Haha!! I had to snap a pic real quick! She was catching balls for the coach.  Not sure if she volunteered or he asked! Too funny!  It wasn't 5 seconds later and I was out there as well, helping them get warmed up.  Come game time we were off the field this time though. Which was completely fine because I was a nervous wreck at the beginning of this one!! So neat that we pulled it off!  Final score was 22-16.

Game Ball

Last night playoffs started for the Blue Jays.  We were playing a team that we have beaten 3 times before, but hey you never know.

The first inning our boys held them to 1 run, but then they held us to 2 runs...YIKES!! Shortly after that we started hitting the ball and making outs and we never looked back!!  We ended up winning 17-10!!  Go Blue Jays!!  Jase made some great stops at second base and caught at least 4 balls from the short stop for force outs at 2nd! He hit the ball well this game too.  I was super proud of him!! At the end of the game, the coach awarded him with the game ball...Jase was so happy!!  We were all so happy for him as well!!

Oh and one other thing...I helped coach this game!!!  They needed one more coach tonight, so I stepped up to the plate and helped out!  I actually loved it!  I enjoy the sport and love this age of kids, so it was a win-win!  All of the boys are great kids and it was so funny to hear each of them tell me these lengthy stories in 5 seconds until the next ball was hit. You better watch out, I might be getting my own team together this fall!  Kidding!!

Only thing that would have made this night better is if Daddy was here to see it.  I know he is working hard to provide for us though.  Love and miss you, Dad!