Back to School... already??

Its hard to believe that summer is over and the kids are back in school already. Our summer was wonderful and it flew by!!

This year Abram is in second grade at West Riverside. He is continuing in the dual language program, which we love. He spends half his day speaking English and the other half speaking Spanish. His teachers are Ms. Rodriguez and Ms. Saxton. 

Luke and Jack are in the VPK (pre-k) program at Ortega Playschool. They attend three days a week. Jack's teacher is Ms. Casey and Luke has Ms. Robin. They love school but they don't like being separated so our mornings are a struggle. 

Our prayer is that all three boys would have an amazing school year. That they would grow and thrive and be a light for Jesus at their school and classroom!

The Rest of our Fantastic Summer (part 2)

Once we got home from Louisiana, our summer was in full swing and a lot of "firsts" happened for our family... here's just a few of them:

Jack and Luke attended their first VBS. They loved it!! They would come home every day reciting they truths they learned and I loved it!

Chris completed his first triathlon and did great! We were there to watch him transition from the swim to bike and it was pretty fun. The boys were so excited to cheer on their papa!

One weekend, I went to Tampa to visit a friend and Chris took the boys (and a sweet friend) to the Alligator Farm in St. Augustine. It has been on our list forever to do, but I really didn't want to go, so it was a perfect boys trip while I was gone!

Abram has a big surgery coming up this fall so in preparation for it, he had to get his five front teeth pulled. Another first. He did great! The dentist couldn't get over how cooperative Abram was. Abram was just thrilled it was done and that he received two plastic necklaces to hold his teeth in.

Of course we had to see the conclusion of the Toy Story movies. The boys loved it. I thought it was creepy at times and of course sad at the end. There were some funny parts mixed in. 

Also, another first was doing Mom Swap Mondays. Every Monday the boys would play with their friends from two other families. We would take turns watching all of them so that the other two moms could have the mornings off. It was so great and the boys absolutely loved playing with each other each week. 

And our last first was rock climbing. This was on Abram's bucket list for this summer and one Saturday he and Chris were able to go. Abram absolutely loves to watch Ninja Warrior and climb to the highest point possible wherever he is, so needless to say he just loved this and did so well!!

Jack and Luke have a new interest in animals right now, so we decided to join the zoo. They love it and they could spend all day there. I thought it would be a fun place to take them on Mondays and Fridays when Abram has school and they don't. 

Of course, we always have to ride the train!

Of course, Abram was on the swim team again this year and he did so well. We can tell he is growing up because he loved going to practice this summer so much more than last year and he is swimming so well. This summer he competed in both the freestyle and breast stroke. 

We always have fun celebrating the Fourth of July. Abram had an ear infection so we couldn't go swimming, but we did go eat lunch at a Fish Camp restaurant and we did fire works at a friends house. 

Sparklers!!

After lunch at the Fish Camp

We joined the "Kids Bowl Free" summer bowling program... which means we could go as much as we wanted! Such a nice change to the outside heat and the boys loved it. 

And of course, we had to have ice cream for dinner one night. Its a yummy summer tradition!

All three boys participated in VBS at First Baptist Jacksonville and they loved it! It was an amazing program and they had so much fun! These are the pictures that their teachers took of them during the week.

We took a small weekend trip to Jekyll Island, Georgia. It was only an hour and a half away and we loved it! This summer we purchased a small pop up camper and this was the perfect time to try it out. This was such a fun island, with a great campground, beautiful beaches and even a water park. We had a blast!

At the water park

With Poppy, our pop up camper

I love the moss in the trees!

Chris, photo bombing this cute picture of the boys!

All my boys!

On July 22, we celebrated Abram's 6th Gotcha Day!! We can't believe we have had our sweet boy for six years. This day is always so special to our family and Abram loves to hear about the day we met him and look at all his pictures.

Well, that sums up our busy, fun, exciting and wet summer!! We are looking forward to a wonderful school year in VPK and 2nd grade!

Our Fantastic Summer... Part 1 (yes, there are parts)

We truly did have a fantastic summer! We tried to do something fun everyday, even if it just meant blowing up our inflatable pool and spending the day in our yard swimming and splashing. I think it was because finally, no one is in diapers, all three boys can swim and no one takes naps. It just made our days flow so much better! The first month of our summer was spent in Louisiana with my parents and sister's family. My nephew graduated from high school on May 17 so we packed up and made the drive and just decided to stay awhile. 

Our summer in Louisiana can be summed up in two words... family and water. We were always with my parents, the boys' cousins and somehow there was water involved. My sister's family put in a pool this spring and my cousin lives on the lake. It was wonderful! 

So many fun swim days!!

Where's Luke??

We always have a blast with our cousins!

Swimming at Gram's house. 

All the cousins at Julie's! I love it!

Chris on the jet ski with the boys! They loved this!

Tubing!

Abram missed his last day of school... He was fine with leaving early (of course) but he was sad about missing his last day of school party. So, on the last day of school, even though he wasn't there, we had a moving up to second grade party in the back yard. Complete with water toys and make your own sundaes!

Another fun thing that happened was one night we all went to Jason's Deli for dinner and about 5 firemen walked in. My boys were mesmerized.  The firemen walked up to say "hi" (since everyone was starring), and they invited the boys to come see their truck. They were in heaven!!

And, since we've last been home, Shreveport got a new aquarium. My mom and I took the boys for a visit one day. It was great and they had a blast!!

Also, my parents are so great with the boys, they make it easy for me to get away and take some trips.  Julie and I had our annual sisters weekend in Austin and Chris and I went to Cancun for a few days to celebrate my 40th birthday. Both trips were wonderful and the boys had a fun time with my parents while we were gone.

My nephew starts college this fall. He is going to LSU. Abram was totally confused by the whole college process. He thought since Cade was 18 and will be living in his dorm that we won't see him again. Poor boy. So, we all decided to go down there for a quick trip and show Abram around the campus. He had a great time seeing where Cade will be and we were also able to see Mike the Tiger!

Mike the Tiger!

Sweet Cousins. 

I am so very proud of him!!

But, of course when we got back to my parents, Abram told Jack and Luke all about Mike. They weren't too happy that they didn't see him. So, on our drive back to Jacksonville, we stopped over in Baton Rouge so they could see him, too!

We had an absolutely amazing time with my family. They love us so well and my boys have a blast with them!! It was so hard to leave but everyone is already looking forward to the next time we will see each other.