Back to School

We survived the first week of school with only the usual moans and groans dragging kids out of bed in the morning. I still have a hard time believing the summer's gone -- it seemed to go by so fast this year.

The girls are all so excited about their teachers. We went in to the elementary school last week to drop off supplies and meet their teachers.

Hayley was thrilled to get the teacher that Courtney had last year in 1st grade:

Courtney was thrilled to get the teacher that Hannah had two years ago in 2nd grade:

And Hannah seemed excited about her teacher too, even though she didn't get the teacher McKay had two years ago (but we found out her teacher will be doing a lot of team teaching with McKay's old teacher).

The first day of school is almost like Christmas morning -- hard to get the kids to sleep the night before (although Courtney was asking me at 6:00pm if it was time for bed yet) but no problem getting them up the next morning. (By Friday morning, however, the get-out-of-bed excitement had definitely worn off already.)

A few pictures before we left for school.

It was McKay's idea to hold hands in this picture (surprisingly). I think he wanted everyone to lift their hands up, but the girls didn't want to do that part.

McKay is a big 7th grader this year. He was the least excited about going back to school, but seems to be liking it okay. He has a lot of honors classes and picked Band and Computer Graphics for his electives.

Brian and I drove the kids on the first morning. They have a pep rally for the elementary and middle schools (which are right next to each other) and then the parents can take the kids to their classrooms.

This year the kids will be riding the bus to and from school. I had to drive them in the morning last year because of Hayley being in Pre-K. It is a long bus ride for them (especially where they are the last ones off coming home), but it is just too far for me to drive to the school twice a day, every day. And they don't seem to mind the bus too much.

I'm sure I'll be in at the school volunteering frequently as usual -- something I enjoy!

If we can survive the early mornings, I think it will be a great year!

The Big 4-0

Well, my birthday has come and gone, a sure sign that summer is about over. This year was one of those "big" birthdays for me -- 40. Wow, how did I get to be 40? Time marches on, as always.

My birthday was on a Sunday this year and we invited all of the family in town over for dinner and birthday cake. My dad even happened to be in town for the weekend too. Most everyone was so supportive of the big day and dressed in black for the occasion.

Thankfully, no one felt the need to actually put 40 candles on the cake!

I'm looking forward to a great year, and a great decade. I feel good. I feel happy. I feel blessed!

Swimming Lessons, Take Two

A few pictures from our second session of swimming lessons this year.

Hannah:

Courtney:

Hayley:

And my niece's cute little boy Jack (doesn't he look so excited to be there?)

We might get a last trip or two in to the pool this week for fun before it's back to school!

Wonderland!

A couple of weeks ago we met up with some of Brian's family for an evening at Wonderland, the little amusement park here in Amarillo. They are only open in the evenings, but it's a small enough place that you can pretty much see what there is during those 3 hours. And it's usually not so crowded that there are a lot of lines, although I think it was more crowded this time than when we went last year.

Here are the girls excitedly waiting for the park to open:

The little "kiddie" rides are right at the entrance so that is where the girls went right off. First up was the carousel and the "frop hopper" ride (which Hannah wouldn't go on):

Then the girls wanted to do the little helicopter ride. They were the only kids on the entire ride since the park had just opened and yet they decided to all squish in the same helicopter!

The bumper cars were a big hit for everyone and earned a second ride for several of us:

Brian and some of the kids on the Wonderwheel:

Courtney and McKay are definitely the bravest when it comes to fast/whirling/spinning rides. Hannah flat-out refuses to go on them and Hayley tried a few but ended up screaming the whole time and hating them. I even went on the "Tilt-a-Whirl" with Courtney & Hayley but about got sick to my stomach (Hayley hated it too). I guess I'm getting too old. But Courtney would have riden about any ride in the park -- and more than once if she could. She was willing to go on a lot of the "thrill" rides all by herself too if no one would go with her.

Hayley decided she liked the slower-paced rides much better, like the tram and "people mover" ride (can't remember what they're officially called).

And of course, Hannah's absolute favorite ride is still the "Fiesta Swings". And Hayley was so upset that she was still too short to ride it again this year. (Actually, I realized that have never ridden it either since I would wait it out with Hayley.) I think Hannah managed to ride this one 4 or 5 times with different people. Good thing the lines aren't long!

And the whole family got to go on "Rattlesnake River" together. Hannah was a little nervous (she remembers the Disneyland ride with some drops), but this one was easy-going the whole way around.

Despite my Tilt-a-Whirl headache (which fortunately was at the very end of the evening), it was a fun night together!