June Roundup

June was a fun month! We made a couple weekend trips to Dallas, but for the rest of the time we were here in Amarillo since Dave is teaching a summer course. Our big trip to Seattle, North Carolina and Dallas (for the third time) will happen later in July and August. Summer will be over when we return, so to make the most of our time here, I created a big calendar of all the activities happening in Amarillo at the library, museum, etc... and then we filled in all the blank spaces with trips to the pool or fun at home, which is what this post covers. We were never bored! 

Building a little golf putting hole at the kids Home Depot workshop.

Charlie making mischief with a smile

The boys helped me clean out the pantry. It looked like so much stuff spread out on the floor, but it all went back on the shelves nicely. If only it would stay this way now... 

 I heard a weird sound while working in the yard and it turned out to be a baby bird that had fallen from it's nest. Sophie had found it and had it cupped in her hands. After sending her inside to wash immediately, we unsuccessfully tried to find his home. Dave ended up taking it to the wildlife refuge so it could grow up somewhere safe. They had received lots of birds recently with all the storms. Good luck little guy - we hope you made it!

Charlie was happy to be reunited with Blue after the laundry was done (his tantrum while Blue was in the dryer is in the video below). 

We had dinner at the elementary school park one night. While I played with the big kids on the playground, Charlie enjoyed a pickle in the swing. 

They just repainted the horse outside Sophie's school. The old one was blue and faded, and this new design was so fun and colorful!

Sophie wanted her picture upside down. I told her that she needed to frown since she was upside down so it would be a smile. This was the best she could do :)

Having a picnic at the splash pad

A table for two at Chick fil A! Sophie was so excited that Emery's family was eating dinner there the same night as us. These girls are the cutest best friends. 

I took my scooter/stroller gang for a morning walk through the neighborhood. It's nice that Davey can now make it the whole way on his scooter instead of having to jump in the stroller. 

We lost Sophie for a minute, but it turns out she was just swallowed by a large bush 

We added a little picnic table to our patio so the kids can eat snack and lunch outside

The hammock can almost always fix a grump Charlie

We found these mini Drumstick ice cream cones at Sams and they have been a fun treat. My grandma used to always have these in her freezer when we would visit - they were my favorite!

Sophie lost her first top tooth! It was a little wiggly when we put her to bed, but then she came out of her room 30 minutes later, tooth in hand. She pulled it out herself!

The kids reminded me that the water table was still in storage so I brought it back down from the attic. It's come in handy several afternoons when a trip to the pool just doesn't work for our schedule. 

Charlie has especially loved it

Emjoying a popsicle break. Then just a few minutes later Charlie dumped his out all over the garage mat. 

I had a coupon for a dozen donuts so we invited some friends to help us eat them!

June Video Clips - not pictured above, but included in the video, Sophie did Vacation Bible School at the Baptist church near our house. She attended with a friend and had a great time making crafts, playing games, learning Bible stories and singing songs about Jesus. She loved it and can't wait to go back next year!

Charlie Graduates Feeding Therapy!

Charlie is officially an eater! Well, kind of. He still has room for improvement, but lots of progress has been made since February when he was exclusively nursing. We're still working on variety and consistency (he often only eats one tiny meal a day), but now he happily takes a bottle and will eat at least one thing from all food groups. It's enough to sustain life, and help him grow and hopefully he will continue to improve as he gets older. 

We were meeting with his therapist once a week at the beginning and then every other week towards the end. I'm really not sure how essential the visits were to his progress, but he did eat better for her then for me, and she did have lots of ideas about different foods to try and how we could alter presentation to entice him to eat. His last visit was at the end of June, and now the rest is up to him.

Favorites: milk, all condiments, guacamole, peanut butter, pouch purees, pizza, ham, noodles, & fruit snacks

Dislikes: all fruit/veggies in their natural form, things that are cold, things that are plain

I stopped nursing at the beginning of June and I think taking away that food source has helped him eat better. He loves his bottle now and takes one 3-4 times a day. 

One night Charlie was upset at dinner. We kept giving him different things to try, and then finally realized he was asking for corn on the cob. We gave him Davey's that had already been partially eaten, and he cleaned up the rest. 

For Charlie it's all about the dipping sauces. He likes to have options and will eat the sauce without food, but not food without sauce. His favorites are ketchup, ranch, honey mustard, and the Polynesian sauce from Chick fil A. 

He also loves to eat food off toothpicks. It's the only way I can get him to eat meat or cheese, but sadly even that method doesn't work for fruit. 

Coors Cowboy Club Rodeo

Rodeos come through Amarillo a few times a year. For the Coors rodeo there is a downtown cattle drive to kick off the event, and then two nights of rodeo follow. I wasn't planning on getting tickets because they're a little pricey and it's a late night, but when I read that age 6 and under were free, I decided this was the year to go because we wouldn't have to pay for any of our kids! On Friday night we put on our western shirts and cowboy hats and went out for a great time. We had a yummy dinner beforehand, front row seats, and the kids absolutely loved it! (And for being sponsored by Coors, we didn't have any problems with drunk people, despite the open bar at dinner).

Checking out the longhorns

Cute cowboys riding double in a single stroller

Our tickets came with a chuck wagon dinner buffet. We forced the kids to eat a little food before they went crazy on the unlimited supply of cookies. 

Sophie rode the mechanical bull!

Davey talked a big game, but when he sat on the bull decided it was not for him and wanted off. 

The rodeo was held at the fairgrounds expo center which meant real seats in an air conditioned building

The kids loved this stock yard playset. Too bad it cost $200 - yikes!

Ready for the show to start! Friday night has much lighter crowds than Saturday so we were able to get front row seats. 

Two tough guys

And one cute cowgirl

Rodeo clips, including Sophie riding the bull and a bucking bronco gender reveal!!

Potter County 4-H Pet Expo - Diamond wins a ribbon!

On the first Saturday in June the Potter County 4-H Club held a Pet Expo at the fairgrounds for elementary age kids. Sophie had brought home a flyer for the event a few weeks ago when she was still in school, and asked if we could go with her Betta fish. I told her we could bring Diamond, but didn't mention thing about judges or ribbons, because Diamond is not the most exciting of pets and I didn't want her to have lofty expectations...

The Expo was fun, but not well attended. I felt a little bad because they were prepared for a big crowd and ended up with only about 20 participants. I think holding it a week after school was out didn't help attendance. It worked well for us though, because Diamond was the only fish entered that day, which meant we got the blue ribbon! Sophie was so proud!!

It was so fun to meet all the other pets and their proud owners. Davey's favorite was this little turtle and he talked to it's owner for a loooong time. 

Charlie loved the dogs and followed this Great Dane all over the place

Of course Sophie loved the reptiles 

Talking to the judges about how she cares for Diamond

So proud of her ribbons!