Walking to school

In some places I've lived, I walked out of my house or apartment in the morning to the smell of cows and farms.

The kids and I walked out of the house recently to go to school, and it smelled like SKITTLES!!

There are some advantages to living near the Mars manufacturing plant. Yummy mornings.

Elijah is 3!!

This little boy is three!!

Ellen and Jack insisted on only talking about his birthday when he wasn't around so it wouldn't ruin the surprise. Which is really funny, because he is so happy to do whatever his siblings are doing. And he still gets excited about things, even if I already told him about it.

Mom: We're going to eat dinner for your birthday!
Elijah: Jack Jack! We're going to eat dinner for my birthday! Daddy! We're going to eat dinner for my birthday! Ellen! Rose! We're going to eat dinner for my birthday!

We started the day with letter pancakes, lighted candles, and singing "Happy Birthday!" Elijah was excited about the candles until I told him to blow them out, and then he was scared and Rose took over. I took a video with my phone, and Elijah watched it about a dozen times throughout the day.

After naps, school and work, we went out to eat, and then to the Jumping Place for some inflatable fun. Elijah could climb up most of the inflatables and slide down by himself by the end of the night.

When we got home, we opened presents! The kids spent the afternoon after school making lego creations and wrapping up their own toys to give to Elijah. He was super excited to get Jack Jack's Lego Ideas Book and Rose's Hop on Pop puzzle. From Mom and Dad he got a puzzle and some fun Lego Duplos.

Crazy

Jack Jack asked me today why some kids we know (including some in our own family) do crazy things.

This led to a discussion about growth and development and the part of our brain that helps us make "safe" decisions.

I'm just glad that after Rose took my keys this afternoon and showed them to the assistant principal and he asked her, "Are you driving home?" . . .

she said, "No. I can't drive."

Corpus Christi

Funny how we take things for granted until they're gone.

Today my dad notified me that the walking trail and park at the Lake Waco Dam is closed because it's a National Park.


"Because of the federal government shutdown, all national parks are closed and National Park Service webpages are not operating. For more information, go to www.doi.gov."


Jack helped me move all my photos and videos from my phone to my computer, and I came across these pictures that Jack took from our trip to Corpus Christi in August.

We drove across the bridge to North Padre Island, which is a National Seashore, part of the National Park Service.

It was cool and cloudy. After the morning we spent at the beach (with sunscreen) we were all burned.

We saw crabs, fish, birds, shells, waves, seaweed and water to the horizon.

And sand. Sand in our toes, sand in our swimsuits, sand in our hair, sand in our car, sand in our shoes, toys, suitcase, bathtub, and lint trap of the dryer after I finished washing our clothes from the beach trip.

This beach is closed today. I'm glad we went in August.