Bowling with the Boss: the finale

This is our last year to bowl with this boss. I don't know if the new OC President will continue on with this fun family tradition. I know Jackson will really like it next year. This year...just a smidge.

Katie...always has fun at this event.

Collin even managed to get a strike and didn't let sister beat him this year.

Here were our bowling buddies. Now the moms of these children totally won on their respective lanes. :) Did I mention I took bowling pass/fail in college? And I passed.

Jackson bowling for the first time!

Waiting....patiently....for that ball....to make it...to the pins.

All in all a super fun night. Kids got to bed late. Matt and I are super tired. But still, we couldn't miss the last time to bowl with this boss.

First Day of 3rd Grade and Kindergarten

And here they are!

My 3rd grader Collin.
And Katie is FINALLY going to Kindergarten. When we took Collin to Kindergarten 3 years ago, Katie would stomp her foot at me and say "Katie goes to Kindergarten! Katie goes to Kindergarten!!" Any time I would volunteer in the class or be up for a party, she would repeat the phrase with a stomp.

She is thrilled to FINALLY be going to Kindergarten. ACU Cat Pack in tow.

When we showed up for information day, Katie didn't have a teacher. Katie did have a room. A blank classroom. Maybe to eyes of every mom this was a shock. But to the eyes of the teacher mom it was an abomination. I shellacked my "it's totally OK" smile on and we met the school counselor (who was standing in for the unhired mystery teacher) and put her school supplies in the buckets and left.Katie couldn't have cared less. She didn't care or notice that she didn't have a teacher. She didn't care that she knew no one (although since we live near our church, it's quite likely you will know several kids in your class, but not our Kate). Our girl was excited to go to Kindergarten. And I guess it was THAT reason coupled with the fact that she did indeed have a teacher on Friday morning that I didn't cry! A teacher who had her room all sparkly decorated and super cute. A teacher who called her Katie instead of Alyssa. I love the teacher already! God knew who was going to be a perfect match for our Kate.

Collin found some classmates from last year very quickly on the playground.

And then we celebrated her 2 1/2 hours of Kindergarten with her lunch of choice: McDonald's with the dinosaur playground.

When Collin got home, he talked to me from 3:20-4 nonstop about his first day. It was great! He likes his teacher. He likes his class. He and the "Clue Crew" are thinking of starting back up. (The Clue Crew is a group of kid detectives that solve mysteries on the playground. They broke up at the end of last year and I guess decided that maybe there were still more mysteries to solve.) Whew! It was a great first day!

In other news: Jackson and I had time to fold some laundry AND put it away and play some cars before time to go get Katie. We had a great day too.

End of Summer

We took our kiddos back to the Science Museum. Even though we go so often, we have never attended the "Science Live" show. It was great! And Collin was called up on stage to assist with one of the experiments. He threw salt (I think) on a candle and it made fire. He was a ham and very excited and expressive on the stage. Wish I could have recorded it.

Little fun fact: Did you know that this is the WORLD'S tallest spiral slide? Yep. Right here in Oklahoma!

Katie loves the tree house playground. And now we transition our Science Museum fun to the State Capitol! Let me tell you, the kids were thrilled!

The winning entry in the state flag contest.

Matt and the kids on the never-used-anymore marble staircase.

Counting all the steps leading up to the front.

I think I'm starting to develop a love for this state.

Let's Explore Oklahoma Part 5: Capitol Tours, FREE, every hour on the hour from 9-3 Monday through Friday. An excellent way to wrap up our summer study of Oklahoma. 4 stars. Must see.

And we ended our day of fun with a trip to one of our favs...Pops! Love me some Nehi Grape. Look away from the onion rings on my plate - look away.

Katie with Kiddy Piddle from the "Sodadisgusting" selection and Collin with the Leninade.

Jackson enjoying some Pops Jackson friendly french fries. Yay!

Great way to end the summer!

Cage Camp

Here are our 2 basketball stars.

She shoots just like her Momma.

Apparently I took more photos of Katie playing. It was fun and funny to watch.

Katie is the blur to the far left.

Most days she had to play against her friend from church.

Here she is with 2 friends (3 out of the 4 girls in their age group). Lots of giggling going on here.

Collin gets a last minute play from the coach.

There he is #15. Collin is at age 8 where I was at age 12. I never really got the concept of switching baskets at halftime or guarding someone or plays down until MAYBE my freshman year of high school.

Now that I think about it, they are both LIGHT YEARS ahead of where I was at age 5 and 8. I guess they got their athleticism from their dad.

One last trip to Texas

Trip #3 to Texas this summer. While Matt was in Kentucky doing some research we decided to head home and let my mom and dad take care of us all. Here we are with my good friend Laura's kiddos. So glad that our kids got to play with each other and we got to visit.

Chubba at the pool - he prefers to stay dry rather than join in the pool fun.

Collin and Katie making up a new game to play.

My parents with the kiddos. Thank you for a fun trip and thank you for taking care of us all.

We then left Abilene and headed to my sister's house. Always fun to eat at the Purple Cow with the cousins.

Sister and nephew Grayson - he was really ready to leave. No more Texas pictures until October :(.

Theatre Escape Camp

Collin attended a drama camp earlier this summer. Here is he demonstrating juggling. Now he is not the best juggler but I love the fact that he can stand with confidence and attempt to juggle.

Collin and a friend from school are showing the moms and dads their talent for improv.

Another friend from school and Collin hamming it up. These 2 were the funniest.

Collin being a stuffed deer hanging on the wall of a living room. If you stood close to the deer then he would scratch your back. So clever....

And here is his group doing a portion of a play. He had a great time at camp. We are constantly amazed at his confidence, his quick wit and his comedic timing.