Rec Center Classes

Every summer, I put the boys in classes at the rec center to keep them busy. This year we went a little light on the class load due to my work schedule, but they are having a blast regardless.

First session Luke had basketball and Will had tumbling.

Luke was so excited on his first day of basketball. He watched a lot of the basketball playoffs with us and roots for Dirk. Here he is with our tiny basketball at home before going to his first class. 

On the last day, they let the parents into class to show off their skills.

Luke is in the red shirt and white shorts. The greatest part about this is that he actually PARTICIPATED in every class! And did everything his teacher asked him to. This is a huge milestone for Luke and we were so proud. He has a history of being really excited to do things but then chickening out at the last minute and refusing to participate.

He was worried about dribbling. He couldn't do it (probably because he only has that tiny, mostly flat basketball at home and can't practice). We really encouraged him to try and talked about how important it is to practice something if you want to get better. Finally in show off day, he dribbled the ball three bounces in a row! He shot us a thumbs-up afterwards.

Our friend Ryan was in his class. Here are the two boys plotting something. . .

Will LOVED tumbling. He loved all the running and climbing. He did everything everyday and loved the big red mats.

I had to do it with him. He's not quite old enough for the beginner class so we did Mommy and Me. This picture describes exactly how I felt most of the class--BLURRY. Will is so dang fast!

(If you can't tell, he's doing a roll. His head is down and feet are up)

Next comes swimming! We just finished up swimming lessons this Friday and both the boys had a blast! Will literally could not wait to go in the gate everyday and threw these gigantic temper tantrums every morning when we would wait for his class to be called to come in. 

He loves everything about swimming except for the fact that you can't quite let go of him in the deep water. He has even started "swimming" at bath time.

Luke has progressed so much from last year!

Here's a refresher from last year. . .

Refusing to put his face in the water. . .

This is supposed to be "snorkeling" but he wasn't buying it.

Clutching to the instructor. . .

And crying on the side. Poor thing. His mom must be real mean to put him through all that.

And now for this year. . .

Happy in the pool.  Ready to snorkel. . .

His face was all the way in!

Swimming with his instructor.

Even jumping in!

Way to go Luke! We are so proud of you!

My Special Date with Luke

Today was my special date with my Luke. We started off with lunch at BJ's. We brought along the Pigeon game to play while we waited for our food. The waitress gave me the stink eye a few times for having the game spread out all over the table, but, seriously? It was barely eleven and we were the only people in the restaurant for at least the first thirty minutes we were there. We weren't taking up a table for waiting customers. 

AND we ordered desert. 

AND we were super cute and had impeccable manners. 

Luke had macaroni and cheese, homemade root beer, and one of those cookies with ice cream on top. He gave it two thumbs up and a fist pump. (I swear I don't let him watch Jersy Shore. I don't know where the fist pump came from??!?) 

Then we headed on to our movie. Luke is the Cars franchise's number one fan. He has been wanting to see Cars 2 since we first heard it was in the making. Today was our big day that we've been counting down to. I had heard some not-so-good reviews that it had a lot of violence and wasn't a great story line, but I couldn't go back on my promise. How on earth was I going to convince him to go see Mr. Popper's Penguins when there was a Cars movie available? Have you seen how many cars he has? Did you know he wants to be a race car driver when he grows up? We talk on a daily basis about being 16 to go to driving school.

He doesn't get to go to the movies that often. (He can thank his little brother for that one. . .) Of course I had to be super mom and get him the kids combo (popcorn, soda, AND candy!) at the theater even though I just let him eat a chocolate cookie sundae. He's just so sweet--how could I say no?

 Sheesh! He looks like he's seven or something in that picture!

Okay, there he is, back to my four-year-old. Whew.

Anyway, he enjoyed the movie. He loved all the fast driving and didn't seem too confused by the story line. He got real annoyed when I had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the movie. The violence didn't seem to bother him, but, tonight at dinner he started asking what a bomb was and what it could do to you. Then he wanted to know why they put the bomb on Mater. Tough questions to answer.

Happy July 4th! By the way. . . Whoever feeds the baby blue icing, gets diaper duty for the next 48 hours. Just saying.

Catching up: Party at the Park (Luke's birthday, part two)

 Luke's party was at our favorite local park.  He is so easy to please! All he wanted for a party was the park, cupcakes, and balloons. Easy enough for me. Somehow, we have lucked out on his birthday weather every year and ended up with a beautiful day for a party. Last year on his birthday morning when he woke up he said, "Mommy, tell me all the people who are coming to my party." So I listed all the family and close friends we had invited. And his response was, pitifully, "I don't want those people. I only want George*." Of course George wasn't invited because we hadn't invited ANY of his school friends. So this year, you can bet I invited every school friend, church friend, family friend, minor acquaintance, neighbor, and all their siblings and cousins as well. Since it was at a park, the guest list was virtually unlimited. And all the right people showed up!

(*Name changed to protect the innocent)

Luke picked Handy Manny for the theme and all the kids got plastic tools on top of their cupcakes.

Count the four candles for Luke!!  It was really windy that day and we barely got the candles lit, but really all Luke cared about was licking the icing off the top.

And here is the evidence that they were there. . .

Family. . .

Neighbors and friends. . .

When it was time for presents, I felt a little like I was in the middle of this pint-sized mosh pit.

It was so much fun, and Luke enjoyed it. The wonderful thing about having it at the park was that I didn't have to plan any activities or games. The kids entertained themselves the entire time.

A big {LATE} thank you to everyone who came and made this day so special for Luke!

Luke's not the only one who grew in the last year. . .

Will's (now traditional) picture with Aunt Kim--

Hasn't Kim grown up so much??!? And Will, too. We even let him have his own cupcake this year!

Catching up: And then he was four. . . (otherwise known as Luke's Birthday, Part One)

My sweet baby Luke turned four years old in March. OMG! I can't believe how fast it has all gone.

The day before his birthday, Thomas the Train came to Grapevine. We decided to take Luke for his birthday. Luke enjoys the Thomas shows and has a train table that he plays with, but, Will LOVES Thomas! Before he could talk, we taught him some baby sign language. He created his own sign for Thomas and still uses it! We knew both boys would have a good time.

It was hot on the train, but we had good window seats, and once we were moving, things cooled off a bit.

After the ride, we walked around the station a bit. They had some fun things--bounce houses, puppet shows, petting zoo. Will just wanted to run free, but we would lose him in about 2 seconds if we did that. Poor thing got strapped into the stroller against his wishes and protested most of the afternoon. Gene and I took turns distracting him before we headed home.

And the next day was the big day!! Luke woke up as a big four year-old!!

He really really really really really wanted a crane-that-works-and-dings-like-the-one-we-saw-at-the-museum. You know, the industrial, mile tall crane rebuilding the museum district? We can get one of those, right? And the dinging he heard wasn't coming from the crane, but he would not accept that explanation. Anyway, Handy Manny's construction job crane has been an excellent fill in.

Sweet brother enjoying the birthday morning festivities!

Next post: Kids out of their PJ's and onto the par-tay!!

Catching-up: Easter

We hosted my family at our house for Easter this year. It was a lot of fun for the kids. My adorable angels sat for pictures for about 30 seconds--but that was all I needed because, as I said, they are adorable.

Easter egg hunting commenced while Will napped. It was probably better that way because we hid the eggs in the front yard and when we go out there Will only wants to run in the street anyway. Prior to Easter, Luke asked me who hides the Easter eggs. I told them that the Easter bunny hides the Easter eggs. He laughed at me and said, "No mommy, tell me who really does it." So we decided not to work hard to keep up that facade. It took no fun out of it for him. Luke and his cousins lined up for one last shot before chaos ensued.

On your mark. . .

get set. . .

GO!!!

Sweet Luke was very concerned that Wibby didn't get to participate in the egg hunt. We had some eggs set aside for Will and later that week Luke made sure he got a hunt. I gave Luke the set aside basket of eggs and sent him out in the back yard to hide them. I told him not to hide them in places that would be too hard for Will to find. Luke is pretty good at following directions.

We set Will free to hunt. He wasn't interested in more than one egg and didn't quite get the concept to put the egg in the basket. Big bro Luke decided to help out.

Helping out meant that he got to help eat the treats inside, too!

Our family pic with no one screaming and everyone looking in the general direction of the camera. AMAZING!