Wisconsin Trip Photo Recap

I'm short on time and I have lots of pictures. Here are just a few of my favorites. I may try to post a few more if I have time in the coming week or so.

Alex went kayaking pretty much every day we were there. I found it interesting that he always wore his goggles. He wouldn't let me take many photos, but he didn't have much choice when he was on that kayak.

Anthony is trying on Grandpa's life preserver belt, or whatever it's called. The other lifejacket was wet and he wanted to use this, but obviously it's a little big. I don't see him without a shirt very much, but I'm still amazed at how skinny he is. It'll be interesting to see how and when he "fills out" in the coming years.

Anthony was just "innocently" texting on the sofa when Natalie and Eric decided to jump on top of him. Luckily, he's pretty tolerant of his younger siblings. Alex would have been yelling and trying to throw his sister off, especially since she was probably laughing very loudly in Anthony's ear. Eric was trying to balance without using his feet. He's going to grow up to be a daredevil, I know it!

When his siblings were playing with each other on the covered porch, Alex stayed inside to watch TV. Patrick surprised him by getting on top of him and trying to hold him so I could get a picture. I loved being able to get a photo of the two of them goofing off and smiling since these two probably butt heads more often than anyone else in the family.

Natalie fished for the first time on this trip and she loved it. Of course, she wasn't the one who put the worm on the hook or removed the fish from the hook (catch and release). Papa had to do that for her. She caught the biggest fish, probably almost a foot long. Both Alex and Natalie caught quite a few fish. Eric wanted to fish also, but he couldn't hold the pole by himself. I might try to post a picture of that another time.

I really love this picture of Eric in his goggles! He wore those goggles even when he was just standing next to the pier shoveling rocks. We're hoping that having these goggles will allow Patrick to teach him how to swim since he hasn't been willing to get his face or head wet yet this summer.

I went kayaking too, and Patrick got this picture of me going by the dock. It's proof that I actually went out on the lake.

Patrick's maternal aunt, who he calls "Tia" lives in an assisted living place and his mom brought her for a couple of hours yesterday so she could see the kids and they could see her. It was a short visit but we're glad we could see each other.

Eric really enjoyed this rocking horse. Natalie was too big to get on it this year. Eric even pretended that his friend "Jacob" was riding on the horse and he was helping him. We're not sure if there was a kid with that name in his daycare class or if this was a made-up friend. It's interesting that he likes to pretend now.

This was a picture we took this morning before leaving for the airport. I think it turned out great! Look--everyone is looking at the camera AND smiling! Thanks for having us this week, Mom and Dad!

Beautiful Final Day

Whereas yesterday was rainy and gloomy, today was bright and sunny. We spent most of today playing outside. We all took turns going kayaking, even Natalie went on a kayak all by herself. I can post a picture later when we get home, but for now this iPhone picture of Anthony will suffice. The paddle was way too long for her, and she seemed a little tentative, but she did a great job. Eric spent most of the time picking up rocks from the lake with his little plastic shovel, putting it in his little plastic pail, and then dumping it all on the dock when the pail was full. He also went out for a "boat" ride in Patrick's kayak. Alex and Anthony swam, went kayaking, and shot each other with water guns. The temps went up to the mid-80s but the breeze kept it cool. Patrick's mom even picked up here sister for a short visit with us.

Tonight, Mom and Dad are planning an early "birthday" dinner for Alex including grilled steaks. We'll be home by around this time tomorrow.

Starbucks

We paid a visit to Starbucks this morning so that Patrick could help his mom configure here laptop to get on the Wi-Fi there. Apparently the Wi-Fi is free but you need an AT&T account or a Starbucks gift card to access it. What a hassle! Well, I got Patrick to buy me a gift card out of the deal. *wink*

Natalie came with us, probably so she could get out of the house. She gets much more stir crazy inside the house than her brothers do. They are happy just playing video/computer games or watching TV. She got a glazed donut and chocolate milk out of the deal anyway. Notice how she is dressed. She first changed into that this morning so she could take a walk with her grandparents. I guess she's not such a "boy" after all if she sometimes prefers to dress in a skirt just to go for a walk.

The kids will get to see their second cousins this afternoon. Patrick's cousins and their families are really great people and we're all looking forward to their visit.

Back In A Lifevest

At first, Eric kept saying that he wanted to go out in the boat but he did not want to wear the lifevest. Of course we were adamant about not letting him out without one. He finally relented and here he is with Patrick in the "boat". It's pretty windy out today and even when Eric was standing by the dock playing with toys he found it difficult to steady himself with the strong waves pushing against him. Patrick and Alex both took the kayaks out for a short period of time, and all the kids swam for a bit. Now we're warming up inside while we watch Italy vs. Paraguay.

Lake Activities

We're planning a relaxing day today. Here Natalie and Eric are watching a streaming video of Madeline from Netflix. I love it when the kids get along. Of course, just before this, they were arguing because Eric wanted to watch a Thomas video and Natalie didn't. Just after this, Alex came in and wanted to use the iPad too.

We're currently watching the Japan vs. Cameroon World Cup game. We've been trying to catch as many games as possible-- the advantage of being on vacation. Patrick is planning on doing some fishing later with the kids. Yesterday, Grandpa took Patrick and Natalie out on a boat ride. Eric wasn't keen on going out again after the "incident".

All the kids had been out playing in the lake with their life jackets on. Anthony and Alex had gone out in the kayaks. Anthony had given Natalie a ride in his kayak and they both enjoyed it despite the kayak turning over when Anthony tried to make a turn and Natalie leaned the wrong way. Because the lake water was about 70 degrees, Natalie seemed to feel like she should scream every few seconds just because she was cold. Eric and Natalie then stood in the shallow part and played but Natalie went to go sit down and Eric was left by himself. I had been taking lots of pictures and I was trying to get a photo of Eric in his goggles and Thomas swimming trunks when suddenly I noticed that he was face down in the water. He looked like he was swimming with his arms moving at his sides. I realized, of course, that he can't swim and that he was crying when he was able to turn his face to the side. I ran out to the dock to get to him, because of course I was carrying my big camera and I didn't have a swimsuit on. I managed to grab his arm and lift him out just as Anthony had run through the water to get to him. Patrick had been out kayaking and he got back by this time. He had seen it from afar but of course he couldn't do anything about it. We took Eric inside and he forgot about the whole "incident" after we gave him a snack. One of the kids mentioned his lifejacket so Eric got it in his head that it was the lifejacket that tipped him over.

Hopefully this "incident" won't stop him from going out in the lake with his lifejacket for the rest of our vacation. Patrick's first cousins will be visiting tomorrow with their boys and they are all around our kids' ages. We always have a great time with them.

Milwaukee Visit

We had a pretty good trip here today. Our first flight left late and so we had a tight connection (30 minutes) in Memphis. Luckily the second flight boarded late. I was just happy that both flights were fairly smooth despite the pilot saying that he expected some turbulence. It was supposed to be in the mid-60s here, but it felt closer to the mid-70s and overcast. We're planning on relaxing this week and seeing some of Patrick's cousins.

Two summers ago, when we were last here, we thought that would be the last time that Natalie would be able to get on their old rocking horse. That didn't stop her from trying, but that horse was sinking a little too much. Eric, however, was easily able to ride and he enjoyed it a lot despite needing some help getting down. This photo was taken with my phone. I'm sure I'll have plenty of opportunities to get better photos this week.

Family Portraits 2010

We went to the Picture People at North Star Mall this morning. As you can see from this picture, they weren't completely open yet when we got there for our 10AM appointment. Eric found this harmonica in the van on the way there and he was continuously playing it as we walked through the mall towards the store. We had a family portrait taken this morning as well as individual photos of the kids. I'll try to scan some of them tonight or tomorrow morning so I can post them here, if I have time.

We'll be leaving tomorrow to visit Patrick's parents in Wisconsin and we'll be returning before Alex's birthday next week. Hopefully I'll be able to post on this blog even while we're gone, with pictures.

Play Park

Patrick and I have had the hardest time getting the boys out of the house since school ended. They want to stay at home and read or play video games. Today, we insisted that they go to our neighborhood park with us when Natalie went to swim team practice (at 10am). I thought I would first post thia picture of Eric playing on the playscape. Last week when we went to the playground, he tried climbing up without using those yellow "stairs". Needless to say, he found it very difficult to get up there. This is his favorite part of the playscape because there is a big slide at the top.

Patrick and the boys played around with the soccer ball. When they "play ball" it has pretty much been with a soccer ball. They didn't make it easy for me to get a good picture, but at least I've documented this shared activity. Alex started out with reading a book but was convinced to get a little exercise instead.

Eric has been a bit bossy lately. This morning he was in the gameroom when Alex came in. He told Alex to get out of "his gameroom". Here he is telling Alex not to sit next to him and trying to push him off the bench. We've been letting all the kids stay up pretty late just because we want them to be more relaxed this summer and also on the hopes that they start sleeping in. Eric has been taking three hour naps too. Do you think that he is a little tired?

I'm on call tonight, so I'll be home tomorrow. We're scheduled to have pictures taken at the Picture People so hopefully I'll have some good pictures to post tomorrow.

3D Art Project

I didn't have much to take a picture of today, so I decided to share this picture of Anthony's art project. His assignment was to produce a piece of three-dimensional art. It's a wooden box that is painted green on the outside and black on the inside. Inside on two facing sides are whole rectangular mirrors. Broken pieces of mirror line the bottom along with an arrangement of wooden blocks. On the wooden blocks, Anthony placed a simple line drawing of his hand. I don't think this picture adequately shows the wire/cord combo that extends from one side of the box to the opposite corner.

I asked Anthony if he had named this piece or if the piece had some special meaning. He said he "just thought of this idea" and that the piece had no particularly special meaning. Despite that, I think this looks rather cool, even though it's a bit more modern art than is my usual taste. Anthony is pretty creative, isn't he?

Ice Cream Lovers

I haven't posted any new photos of Eric in a while, so I thought I would take a few photos tonight. He had fallen asleep on the way back from the pool, shortly before I got home and he stayed asleep for over three hours. When he awakened, he ate some hotdogs and cheese, and then he was ready for $1 Scoop Tuesday at Baskin-Robbins. Anthony is sleeping over at a friend's house tonight, and Alex was playing the PS3 Call of Duty online game, so it was just Eric, Natalie, and me again.

He's now starting to call his favorite ice cream "Rainbow Sherbet", although he started calling it "pink and owange and white ice keem" and I had to remind him of the correct name. Natalie finished her ice cream quickly and started trying to ask him if he wanted help with his. That was met with a resounding, "No!" They gave us a sample of their Mango Fruit Blast Smoothie which was rather tasty. My mango-loving girl surprisingly wasn't interested, although my mango-loving boy ate his sample after finishing off his ice cream.

I don't post many photos of Patrick, but I had to take this photo tonight. He's been playing a lot more video games lately, specifically the online PS3 Call of Duty--Modern Warfare. With school out, Alex and Anthony have been playing quite a bit and Patrick's been playing with them. Notice how the Patrick and Alex look like they're in a trance. If Anthony were home, he would have the same look on his face.

Dinosaurs Unearthed

Today, Patrick took the kids to see the dinosaur exhibit currently at The Witte Museum. I was working late today, so all I have are these pictures and snippets of information from Patrick. There were a few interactive exhibits and apparently, Eric and Natalie loved the one where they could dig for "fossils". Interestingly, one of the pictures that Patrick took shows Eric just digging, but not necessarily for fossils--he was just digging just to be digging.

Many of the dinosaurs were not only animatronic but the kids could control their movements by pressing buttons. I love this photo of Anthony holding Eric and helping him push buttons. The older boys were more interested in reading all of the information on the accompanying panels.

There was also an exhibit about the San Antonio River and the bugs and other things that can be found in the water. Natalie was able to see larvae under the microscope and these bugs that were preserved in blocks. I was a bit surprised by this because she usually says, "Ew!" when she sees bugs. I know I can't help but say "Ew!" In fact, this afternoon, Natalie was talking about looking at the larvae, to which I said "Ew!" and Eric heard me and repeated "Ew!"

Natalie missed swim team practice today because they treat the pool on Mondays and she is very sensitive to the chemicals. Tomorrow she wants to go to the morning practice AND the evening practice. Patrick is planning to the take all of the kids to the pool tomorrow. Hopefully Eric will get tired out playing in the pool tomorrow like he did today walking around the museum.

Entertaining 7-Year Olds

We had a pretty relaxed day today. After church this morning, Natalie and I went shopping for clothing and shoes (for her). She really reminds me of me when she shops. She has an idea of what she wants and doesn't want, and I can't convince her to like something I like. She's different from me, however, in that she makes quick decisions about whether or not she wants to get something. We bought her two dresses, two shirts, and a pair of swimming goggles at Kohl's. She got some lip balm at Target (and I bought a few other things there also, of course). At Payless she got two pairs of shoes. She had quite the haul in about two hours with driving time and Target time included (because I can never leave Target in less than an hour and spend less than $100).

In the afternoon, she invited a couple of her friends over to play. They decided to play "Spy". Patrick and Alex had gone to a meeting with their new soccer team members. Since Anthony and Eric were the only other people at home, and Eric was already following them around, that meant that they were going to "spy" on Anthony, who was playing games on the computer in the office. Watching them was entertainment for me (and I think for Eric too).

Can you see them underneath the desk behind where Anthony is sitting? They would "sneak" into the office and hide there. I use the term "sneak" very loosely since you could hear their bare feet walking across the wood floor and they couldn't help but giggle every so often.

Here they are behind/under the desk. They would talk there, "pretending" to be upstairs when they were talking. Did they really think Anthony wouldn't be able to hear them back there and think they were actually upstairs? At one point they wanted me to distract him and put a blanket up so he wouldn't see them sneaking into the office. I pretended to distract him, but I refused to put the blanket up. That would have been WAY too obvious. ;)

Here they are plotting. They also pretended to be planning something for Eric to try to fool Anthony. At this point Eric was happily eating raisins in the breakfast room.

Here is Anthony holding up a sign while they are behind him. What was even funnier was that it took them a while to see the sign and read it. I was in the other room at the time and I heard one of them reading the sign out loud! Too funny!

RR Swim Meet

Once again, no rest for the weary. Patrick and I stayed up late last night at that graduation banquet and we had to get up at 6:30pm again this morning for Natalie's swim meet. Luckily, it was cloudy for most of the meet and the temperatures were actually in the upper 70s, so the weather cooperated. It did get warmer near the end, but at least this one only lasted until around noon.

Natalie swam in four events this time, the same ones as last time except she did not swim backstroke this time. Patrick and I aren't really sure why her coaches didn't sign her up for swimming the backstroke when that is probably her best event right now (and one that she has always placed in). She's been working hard on her breaststroke after getting disqualified last week, and she was one of only four swimmers in that event, so hopefully she'll keep her fourth place finish and not be disqualified this time. Her relay teams (freestyle and medley) both finished in second place and she also finished in third place in her heat in the freestyle.

Natalie has expressed some interest in swimming in a club (like the boys are in club soccer). We've heard that club swimming usually has practices 4-5 times per week for two hours each night. Even when I told her this, Natalie still seemed very interested. Yes, the girl that doesn't like to practice (piano) doesn't mind practicing (swimming) for hours every night. Patrick and I will have to see what's available and look into the benefits versus the time commitment. Today, Natalie didn't complain at all about being at the swim meet for almost four hours.

Last Day of School 2010

I already wrote all about Alex's last day of school. Patrick and I went out for brunch after Alex's ceremony and then I went back to school at 1:30pm for Natalie's party. They had an ice cream party where they could make their own sundaes. Natalie chose her favorite flavor, chocolate, with chocolate syrup, and added gummi bears. Interesting combination, don't you think? :) They also had a couple of other crafty activities, like putting together your own summer-themed picture frame and making your own scratch art bookmark.

Natalie's teacher (Miss E) taught for the first time this year. She gave each child in her class a decorated water bottle for Field Day last week and yesterday she also gave each child a thank-you note. She thanked Natalie for helping her remember stuff. To me that meant that Natalie was being a little bossy, but she really did mean that she was grateful for Natalie's reminders.

Patrick had gone to pick up Anthony from school and they both arrived before the party (and school) ended. They took the opportunity to visit one of Anthony's old teachers, Mrs. A, who still remembers him from when he was there for second grade! She is the school's teacher for their "Gifted and Talented" program and Alex and Natalie love her class. Alex will certainly miss her next year when he goes to his new school.

Interestingly, both Natalie and Alex decided that they wanted to ride the school bus home on the last day. They love their bus driver, and for good reason. He genuinely seems to care for them, as well as keeping them safe. He also knows all of their names and even their birthdates. He gives them presents for their birthdays and on the last day he gave gifts to those with summer birthdays. Amazing, huh?

I know this picture doesn't really belong in this topic, but I had to include this bad photo that I took at the Graduation Banquet that Patrick and I went to tonight, just because it's the only photo I took today. This morning was the graduation ceremony of some of the residents that I work with. These four are the chief residents for this past year and there are also twelve others that are finishing up their residency. They will all be leaving for different parts of the country by the end of this month, and it's always a bittersweet time. The new ones will join us early next month, and we'll be starting all over again.

Fifth Grade Graduation and Parade

Alex's school had a special ceremony for the graduating fifth graders this morning. The woman that is standing is the current school principal, who is retiring after this year. Alex's two homeroom teachers are sitting just to her left.

All of the fifth graders then walked across the stage individually. Alex got awards for citizenship, academic excellence, and all A's. The medal is for getting all A's. I think the only reason why he is standing there on the step and actually looking at me while I take the picture is that they were told to stop there for photo ops. Still, I was surprised that he actually did it. If you look closely, you can see a slight smile on his face.

Then he received the President's Award for Educational Excellence, which is for getting all "E's" in conduct and getting an average of 90 and above for all his classes. As you can see, he didn't bother stopping on the step this time. Patrick had arrived by this time. He was late because he had to drop off Anthony at school. He left early, but the streetlights were all still flashing red from last night's thunderstorm and it took a good hour or so for the round trip. In any case, we hopefully at least have this one on video. ;)

I really had to laugh when he accepted the Superintendent's Award for getting a 96 and above in all his classes and getting "commended" ratings on the TAKS test, so I was inspired to scrap this series of photos today just so I could post it right away on this blog. As you can see, he gets the award from one teacher but by the time the other teacher has a chance to try to shake his hand, he is already looking towards the stage steps so he can leave immediately.

After the awards part, I snuck over to where he was sitting to get a picture of him sitting with his classmates. This was before he noticed that I was there. When he saw me, at first he wanted me to take his awards so I could hold them, but then he decided to hold them himself. I've always thought that Alex wore his heart on his sleeve. You can always tell how he's feeling by the way he's acting. This shows, however, how subtle that emotion can be. He was proud of himself so he kept wearing his medal and carrying his own awards.

He didn't want a picture with Patrick, however, but we weren't sure we'd have another chance. All of the fifth graders were about to take off for a nearby pool to have their celebratory pool party for the rest of the school day. Patrick will probably already miss Natalie's party at 1:30pm because Anthony gets out of school at that time today. This was right before the "parade" where all the other kids in the school lined the hallways to congratulate the "new 6th graders".

As you can see, Natalie was one of the onlookers during the parade. I missed the moment when Alex actually gave her a "high five" but I still like this picture because it shows slightly embarrassed but still adoring look and it shows Alex walking away and trying to ignore his sister as per his usual. It also shows how the other kids were all lined up and trying to get a "high five" from the fifth graders. What a cool tradition.

Alex refused a picture with his homeroom teachers who were back in his classroom at the end of this parade, but his fourth grade teacher from last year grabbed him and said that he had to get a picture with his "favorite teacher". He has said that she was his favorite teacher. She really made him love this "new" school that he started going to only last year. Patrick and I can't say enough good things about her. This happy picture just exemplifies his two years at this school and is also a great ending to this graduation post. :)

Adventures in the Dark

We had a big thunderstorm blow through at around 8:30pm last night. The younger kids had all just gone to bed. We were left without power for over five hours. There were so many things I needed to do, but what can you do when it's pitch black inside the house? Play with your wireless electronics, that's what. I played on my iPhone for a bit and I took this picture of Anthony playing on the iPad. We were all in bed by 10pm.

The worst part of the power outage was that neither Patrick nor I had eaten dinner yet. He had a frozen pizza cooking in the oven and I hadn't yet heated up my leftovers from a previous night. Patrick ate a cheese sandwich. I was about to just go without, because I really wanted something warm and I figured skipping one meal wouldn't hurt me. Patrick realized later that the pizza had continued cooking in the oven, so I had a couple of pieces. I was good with that.

This was going to originally be my picture for today. Patrick was at the soccer fields again for tryouts with the older boys. He took Eric with him this time. I went with Natalie to swim practice again. Her coach worked with her individually on the breaststroke, just like last night. Since Eric wasn't here to take a bath with Natalie, I took a shower with her instead. After dessert she began reading. She's become an avid reader this year, with her recent favorites being the Bailey School Kids and Goosebumps series that her brothers used to be interested in too. I think that's great because I can tell that her vocabulary is growing and because we have plenty of books at home in those two series. You can see on her face how much she's enjoying this book. Notice how she's sitting in the same spot on the sofa that Anthony is sitting in the top picture. They have the same expression on their faces. :)

Photo of the Day Again

I've missed taking a photo per day. That project took so much time last year, but I've always been happy with the results. I got so used to taking at least one photo each day last year that this year, I would often lay in bed and think about what photo or photos I should have taken but didn't.

This is my photo for today. I like how I can see the contents of this corner of my bathroom in this one photo. The extra bath toys are on the shelf and around the bathtub. Natalie's swim team swimsuit is draped over the faucet because we were just at her practice. The bottle of foam soap is there, and it reminds me that for some reason, Eric hates playing with that but Natalie loves it. There's a washcloth next to that because Eric, who has not minded water being poured over his head since he was a baby, now can't stand to have water on his face or eyes and has to have a cloth to wipe with. I can see just the back of Eric's head because he is concentrating so much on his Thomas boat that is in the tub, and having so much fun that he is still in the tub while Natalie is already dressed with her hair done, and sitting outside of the tub. She is sitting there playing a game on my iPad because I needed to go downstairs and make her Easy Mac that she wanted for dinner. I didn't want to leave Eric by himself, and I knew that if she was in my bedroom and not in the bathroom, she would ignore her little brother. Her hair is done in pigtails, her current hairdo of choice, and if I do the pigtails while her hair is still wet, it will stay in pigtails for school the next day. Notice also the swimsuit tan lines. We don't bother with sunscreen when she goes to swim team practice at 5:45-6:30PM but she still tans very well at that time of day. She is wearing her so-called "monkey dress" because it has gotten short on her that she now wears it to bed. There are lots of things to look at in this picture!

I had to throw in an extra picture because I noticed the interesting pattern the noodles made after much of the water had boiled off and before I added the sauce mix. I made Natalie one package of Easy Mac thinking that she could eat one package when she was two years old. Sure enough, she asked for another package after she finished the first one and finished that one too. Eric asked for some Easy Mac after he'd heard that I was making Natalie some. We've nicknamed those two our "Anti-Atkins" kids after the diet plan that famously omits all starches.

Patrick and the boys were at soccer tryouts, scheduled today through Thursday. I'm sure that I'm more stressed over this than anyone else in the family, including the boys, which is better than the boys stressing over these tryouts--I guess.