Bo's first day of school

This week it was Bo's turn to have his first day of school. He was very excited to be a Newporter (4 year old room).

Of course Emmy wanted to be in the picture too. She was still having a hard time at her new school but having Bo go back and her knowing he isn't staying home should help. She is tells us that she isn't going to cry and going to be brave. Apparently when Mommy drops her off, she talks to her self saying "I'm not going to cry even though I miss Mommy". She still crys when we drop her off but she seems to do better each day so we are told.

Bo was ready to go to the bus stop with his new book bag. He didn't quite get that Daddy is his bus driver. Definitely boring compared to the real school bus.

This is a big difference from last year when he didn't want to go. This time he knew what he was in for and very excited. Also, the first week is a half day which means Mama picks him up after lunch and recess so he doesn't have to take a nap there. Nap is a bad word to Bo and he fights to not have to take one.

When we walked into the class, he was a little hesitant and wanted Daddy to go with him. Since it was the first day, there were a lot of parents and kids in there. We took a look around and found some blocks. He started to make a tower and looked at me and said "Bye Daddy". In other words, I'm good and you can leave now.

Ram Fest

Last weekend, Daddy took the kids to the Dome for Rams Fest. Papa couldn't go so he gave us his tickets that he got for being a season ticket holder. We were allowed to go down on the field and they had some games set up. Here is a video of Bo kicking a field goal http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_xpfSSUpgU

When we were down on the field, the kids wanted to feel it so they laid down and rolled around on it.

There was a huge line like two football fields worth to go underneath to see the locker rooms. While we were waiting we did get to meet some cheerleaders.



While we were waiting around, they started blaring some music. As soon as Bo heard that, he immediately ran to center circle to dance on the Rams head. Emmy of course followed him. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxeyZOCpbR0

After dancing around on the field for awhile, we went up to Papa's club seats for snacks. They had sody and popcord so we made ourselves at home. Bo of course pick the seats in the private box next door with the TVs right in front of the leather seats. No one seemed to mind while we sat there for awhile.



The next weekend, Papa took the boys to the preseason game.


Will and Bo cheering and eating snackes

Emmy's first day of pre-school

Today was Emmy's first day of pre-school. This year she is going for a full day which means eating lunch and taking a nap there. This is all because Daddy is mean and is making Mommy go back to work full-time. Here she is all ready and eating her breakfast which was donuts of course.
We took our normal picture out in front of the tree.



Emmy did very well. Mommy and Daddy were very nervous for her nap because they don't allow binkies there. The teachers however said she took a great nap without problems. Emmy was also excited because Grammie picker her up today since Mommy had to work late and so she didn't have to stay late on her first day. All in all it sounds like it went very well and she will be ready to go again tomorrow. Bo doesn't start until next week so it is a little confusing to her on why Bo isn't going to school yet. Luckily, Emily likes school and wants to go so it isn't a problem.

Forest Park bike ride

A couple of Sundays ago, Papa wanted to go on a bike ride. All the kids were invited. We attempted to let Bo ride his bike around Forest Park by himself but he got tired real fast. He wouldn't have been able to keep up with all the people on the big bikes anyways.
Lucky for us, we found a place in the park that was renting bikes. Along with bikes they had a child trailor that we could put Emmy and Georgie in. Emmy was very excited to go for a ride with everyone.


The bike guy there saw Bo on his strider and said he should try out this companion bike that you connect to the back of a real bike. You can pedal or just sit there but he said it does really help with your balancing. He said once kids ride on this like 5 times, they have no time riding on their own. I felt like it was a good idea because balancing he does well on the Strider bike but this will help with the pedaling and balancing at the same time. Here is a picture of Bo riding behind Papa.

We rode through Forest Park to the Central West End and stopped for lunch at a Mexican restaurant. It was fun and the kids thought it was really fun.
By the time we made it back to the bike guy at Forest Park, Emily and Georgie fell asleep.

Bo's new basketball hoop

A couple weeks ago Gandpa came over on Saturday morning to help us put up our basketball hoop. We started from the very beginning with digging the hole, going to Home Depot to get cement, setting the pole, and putting the backboard together.

It was a long process and the kids were a little distracted at some points so they took a swim in the pool. They also were babysitting Georgie Porgie. Emmy actually helped just as much as Bo did. She helped dig and made the trip to Home Depot with us. Bo helped with the pieces but really just wanted to put the net up.

After about 4 hours of putting the backboard together, we finally did it. Gandma was nice to bring over lunch for us in the middle. We let Bo do the honors of the net at the end. He also did a slam dunk and hung on the rim.

Six Flags and the Zoo

This summer Mommy and the kids did a lot of fun things. Here a few pictures of when they went to Six Flags. Emmy was so excited to be able to ride the rides finally since last year she was too little. Bo was big enough to do some of the adult rides but was nervous and really didn't try many of them. He did do the log ride and thunder river. He wouldn't do any roller coasters but Mommy did trick him into riding the Mine Train because it had train in the name. He was not pleased when he realized it was just a roller coaster that goes through a mine.

They also went to the zoo so here is a good picture of them riding the train at the zoo.

Riding our bikes

We have been doing a lot of bike riding this summer. Both kids are still using the strider bikes (bikes without pedals but forces them to practice balancing because they don't have training wheels either). Emmy is still trying but is very cautious and moves slow. Bo is going really fast now and she sees that so tries to keep up.

Bo basically is ready for a real bike. He goes up around our court all by himself several times. On the way back to the house, it is slightly down hill so he can coasts down pretty fast. He is balancing really well. We have one of Kinley's old bikes which is the only real bike we have so we had Bo attempt it. He was a little nervous about falling and didn't really get how to pedal quite yet. However, he was balancing really well. I think the fact he wasn't moving or pedaling made it harder to balance then if he was just going on his own. Here is a video of me trying to hold the back of his seat and making him try to pedal on the Barbie bike. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpckit2i0Vg

Emmy keeps falling

Emmy had a good fall again a couple weekends ago. Chesterfield had a concert late night and she fell walking into it. We think that she was skipping along and cut in front of Mama who stepped on the back of her foot. Mama was carrying drinks and snacks so she didn't keep her balance either and ended up landing on top of Emmy. Emmy had a lot of blood on her face and wouldn't let anyone touch it. I'm sure the blood scared her. She had marks & cuts on her forehead, cheek, upper lip, arm, knee and even foot. Here are some photos of what it looked like the next day.

She wouldn't let me really look at it or put anything on it so we had to wait until she fell asleep. Then Daddy would sneak some medicine on it. As you can see she had some donut on her face still too where we attempted to bribe her to clean it up. We did have a "ginormous" bubble bath which force her to have soap/bubbles and water all over her to clean it up without putting attention on it.

On Monday that week, she went to get her haircut and you can see what her face looked like a couple days later. She really didn't complain about it at all after that. However, she didn't like looking in the mirror either.

A few days later, she was playing in the living room and tripped over something. She caught herself so didn't have a big spill or anything. But she did make a funny comment. "Silly Emmy! Why do I keep falling so much. I'm so silly" and then she kept going about her business playing like it was nothing. We found that very funny and that is probably because it is very true.

Bo's first basketball camp

This summer Bo had his first basketball camp. it was in the morning for two hours for a week. He was very excited for the first day.

The first thing they had him do was stand on the baseline and dribble to half line. Bo's first dribble bounced off his foot and rolled away. Everyone else (they were older kids there at the camp) made it to half line. Bo was very discouraged and wanted to go home. Mommy told him that he needed to keep trying and she would stay to watch if he didn't cry and kept practicing. I know my heart was crushed when I heard the story. We felt so sorry for him because we all know what it is like to not be good at something right away. Here is a picture of him dribbling.

He did stay that day and came back the rest of the week even though he wasn't quite as excited about it as he was that first day. We did practice his dribbling with him that night and a few times since then. He can dribble somewhat now and is getting better. The counselor's were really good with him and encouraged him to keep trying. The one lifted him up to make a basket since he wasn't quite tall or strong enough to make it by himself. He was very proud of himself for making it.

When I asked him what his favorite part of the camp was, he said playing the relay race where he ran to the half line and back. My guess is because that one didn't involve dribbling the ball with him.

Lake of the Ozards

In July, we made our annual trip to the Lake of the Ozarks at the "hotel" (condo) and ride on Papa's boat. The kids get really excited for this trip. I think they like staying in the condo as much as going on the boat & lake because of the packing of their clothes, bringing their toys, watching movies, and hanging with their cousins. They usually are real fired up that first night at the condo so it is always hard at bed time. They brought their sleeping bags so Emmy was pretending to be a princess. She took it to the extreme by falling asleep with her "blindfold" on.

While they waited for Papa to get there, they took a trip to the pool at the condo. Emmy was all decked out with her Princess life jacket and pink shades.

Saturday night we took the kids to the Pirate putt-putt place. They were very excited and played 18 holes. We did a little better than last time we played but we are getting better. The rules were almost followed the most time.

Then we had to pose as pirates at the end.

After putt-putt, we went for ice cream. Bo had a few licks and he was done but Emmy took her time and ate the whole ice cream. She probably needed to be hosed down afterwards but she enjoyed every minute of it and took her sweet time to eat it also.

On Sunday, we went out on the boat again but this time we got the raft out. Since our kids were really the only ones who wouldn't get in the water, we thought this would help encourage them to have fun in the water. Bo was afraid of fishes eating him.

They also got on the blow-up rafts so this was better too because they didn't just sit on the boat. Bo and Emily were excited because the rafts had a place for their drinks so Bo had a "root" beer and Emmy had her "sody" which is just sprite. They felt like a king and queen.

On our final trip back to the condo, the kids took turn driving or being captain.

Bo foot infection

Last month, the kids were playing over the weekend inside and outside. Bo was building his own crown with his Zoobs. He decided it could replace his bike helmet so went outside to ride his bike with it on. While going outside, he tripped and scratched up his foot pretty good. One lesson he learned was to wear shoes when he goes outside to ride his bike. We really didn't think too much of his cuts on his foot after that.

That Monday, Mommy took the kids to Sky Zone to do some jumping. Obviously they had a lot of fun with that.

As they were leaving Sky Zone, Bo started to put his shoe back on and it wouldn't fit. As it turns out, his foot was swollen. Mommy's initial thought was he twisted it while jumping. However, he showed no signs of not jumping or slowing down there. She ended up taking him to see Aunt Kimmie's doctor to check it out. They took x-rays which Bo did real well during it. Nothing showed up on them so they ruled it an infection. He was given a antibiotic to help. It took a few days but his foot went back to normal.