A Weekend Away!

Ragnar and I decided it was time to take a trip with just our little family of 6! We were excited for some family time. We left on Thursday morning for a weekend in San Antonio, Texas! The kids did great on the drive over. We stopped at Buccees on the way down and the kids got a new beanie boo, which they love to collect, and as we were leaving they all exclaimed "This is the best trip EVER". Nice to have that out of the way with just a trip to Buccees and a beanie boo!
On the road we had to make it through some pretty strong thunderstorms, but we made it in and the weather was beautiful after the rain. We checked into the hotel and then went over to the Alamo and Riverwalk.

The ALAMO! It is interesting to walk around and learn about Texas history.

The weather was beautiful and we enjoyed our stroll.

The Riverwalk is pretty, but we didn't stay long.

We went to Red Robin and ate and then the kids wanted to get in the hotel pool!! 

 The next morning we got up and got ready for Seaworld!

 The kids were so excited about going together. The weather was nice because for the first few hours it was jacket weather and shady!

Here Channing is riding her first kiddie rollercoaster. It was called the Shamu express! She was excited to be brave and try it and loved it!

The older two kids were right in front of us! Luckily we had a good ride, and then the ride had mechanical problems after us and the next group got stuck for a little while.

Next the carousels!

A simple delight!

We went to the Sea Lion and Otter show and the kids thought that was great. As you can see from Deacon, he was pretty stoic about everything :)

 It was a silly but entertaining show!

Afterward Cavin decided he was going to be super courageous and try out his first "real" rollercoaster. It was called the "Steel Eel" Ragnar said he didn't say a word, just closed his eyes and afterward told Ella she was going to be really scared!

Ella and I had our turn next! I think I screamed more than she did! I'm getting too old for that ;)

Channing was making sure Deacon was ok all day. She was scared for them to go on the rollercoaster so she was holding his hand :)

Next was the "Great White" rollercoaster. Ragnar happily declined going on that one and so it was up to me!

Oh man, that one was rough, Cavin and I didn't enjoy it too much, but I was so glad we were brave enough to try it! Afterward we went to a Dolphin and Beluga Whale show which was interesting. We all love Dolphins.

Cute brothers stopped off to get some pizza and enjoy lunch!

The others rode a couple more rides and then we were gonna stay for more shows. It was 3:00 and the other shows didn't start for almost 2 hours and we were hot, so we headed back to the Hotel for a swim! We swam in what I swear was the coldest water ever and then we had dinner in the hotel and rented "A Good Dinosaur" to watch in bed! It was fun! Unfortunately, I got really sick that night and slept terrible. Halfway through the night Cavin wasn't feeling well either. So Ragnar gave me a priesthood blessing and the next morning we gave it a go at Six Flags Fiesta Texas. It was sprinkling and not great weather, so I was grateful we didn't have to pay for the tickets.

First we went as a family on the Rapid Ride which got Ella and Cavin soaked!

The kiddie cars are more our speed ;)

The kids did the rollercoaster behind in this picture. 

Cute boys and Deacon's cheesy face!

The girls rode in the other carrier.

Ella, Cavin, Channing, and Ragnar rode on the bummer cars. Cavin's wasn't working well so they let him do it twice. He wasn't a huge fan.

And the way back...Deacon was too cool for his chair! They all did well and we had a great trip. Like I said I hadn't been feeling well and neither had Cavin at the end, so we ended up going to a rediclinic the next morning and found out we both had strep throat, so that wasn't a great way to end it, but I am glad we got to be together as a family! I sure love our little crew of 6!

Channing's Pre-School Graduation!

Channing has loved every bit of pre-school this year. I am so grateful a friend recommended Miss Lindsay to us. She has had the best time and has improved so much. Last week was her "graduation" from pre-school to Kindergarten.

Here her class sang their last few songs for us and showed us what they learned.

Channing getting her certificate.

Miss Lindsay with 6 of the 7 kids. Katelyn was sick.

She is growing up so fast and made so much improvement in the past 9 months! She started the year only knowing 3 of the 26 letters and couldn't count well, and couldn't write her name, and now she knows all of that and can even read a few words. She was too shy to really talk to her teacher, and now she raises her hand and is happy to chat. I was worried as my other two were reading before Kindergarten and seemed more ready, but they all come at different levels and I feel like she is ready now. I am so proud of her!

I sure love my orange headed soon to be Kindergartner!

A trip to Galveston!

So many who know me, know I don't love the beach. I have too many issues with cleaning that the thought of all the sand and cleaning up afterward usually detracts me from going. I have been trying to get out of my comfort zone and do more things that I usually don't, so when my brother texted that the weather was perfect and they were going, we joined along. It was seriously a beautiful day!

Ragnar jumped right in and did his pose and the kids followed right in! I was surprised how brave Channing and Deacon were. Channing wanted to go out pretty far and Deacon would get out of the water and say "Watty" and want to go right back in!

Charlotte and Channing made castles together!

Ella and Coleton made theirs.

And, Caden and Cavin did their own creation.

Deacon was loving in there and I was so glad!

Such a perfect, sunny day!

Our cute little beach family!

Here was the gang! We have a lot of fun together and I was so grateful they invited us! Next time we will just have to put a little more sunscreen on the adults! The kids made out just fine, the rest of us were lobsters the next day! So fun!

Ella is double digits!

I really can't believe I have a daughter that is a decade old! Time has flown by since she started kindergarten.We had a pretty low key day as it was a school day, but I hope she still felt special!

Breakfast Birthday donuts are a must!

She went to school and her Grandma Speers went to lunch with her at school and then she came home and wanted me to make her a pasta dish, so we waited for dad and had dinner and then opened presents.

She got some rollerblades she's been wanting.

Her grandma and grandpa Speers bought her a Polaroid camera which she was very excited about.

Just like her mama, she requested a cookie cake for her birthday! YUM!

We played games and she got to stay up late. I am very lucky that she is so easy going. She is generally happy and doesn't need a whole lot of fuss to make things great. She is always reading. I swear she can read a 400 page book in a couple hours and want to read another and another right after. I am so grateful for her thirst for knowledge. She always gets straight A's and if she gets less than a 100, then she sees room for improvement. I am grateful that she loves school and that she always wants to be better. She does loves beanie boos still, and the Land of Stories books are her obsession right now. I can't even tell you how many times she has read that series, but she probably can't either. Her brother Cavin is officially taller than her and she is trying to accept the fact that she is the shortest in class, and may not be super tall. She keeps waiting for her growth spurt but in the mean time she is making a list of all the benefits of being shorter :) haha, that's my Ella. She is so kind and giving and always wanting to make others happy. She still loves to sleep and will take a good nap for me, even if she pretends to not like it, because it is no longer cool! The only thing I hope I can get her moving on in the next 10 years is cleaning her room! We sure are grateful for her lead in our family to her siblings, despite her often less than cleanly room ;)

Cavin's 2nd grade musical!

Cavin participated in his 2nd grade musical, Seussical the Musical. He was pretty excited about it. 

Each class was separated into songs, and his class sang "The Seussical MegaMix". It was the last song, and after having to sit on the cafeteria floor, because they had inadequate seating, we were delighted to see him perform! He got to wear the big hat!

He was pretty excited and thankfully it didn't fall off!

He is one of the tallest in his class, so he is always in the back, but we were able to see his dancing skills ;)

This is his friend Weston who he adores. They are in the same class, but their class was split into two songs, so they happen to be separated. They had fun though and they did a cute job!