Fun day on the links

While yesterday was Bryce's actual birthday...today was the official birthday party for both Bryce and Ivy. This year we celebrated with a golf party at LochNewman...or St. Brivy's Golf Links...or Newmanshire...well you get the idea. We're not Scottish but I think our backyard links could hang with the best of them. A nine hole masterpiece designed to test your mettle with sharp doglegs, treacherous greens, unconventional obstacles, and sweltering heat. No one broke the course record today (which is unofficially 37...set the night before the party), but everyone had a good time. The kids each got to take home a driver and a putter to practice with and most everyone made a very stylish visor to keep the sun out of their eyes.

Most importantly Bryce and Ivy had a great time (as measured in the amount of tea consumed, cake eaten, and snacks pocketed)!!! We can't thank all our friends enough for coming to celebrate with us.

Although Bryce informed me that when he's 5 he'd like a riding mower to cut the grass (which I'm all for)...I think perhaps I'll get him a trowel and a jar of spackle so he can do the repairs after next year's party (I'm not sure shopping carts are meant to go down stairs...at least the wall broke its fall).

Happy birthday kids...love Mom and Dad.

Bryce's Birthday at the Botanical Garden

There was a playhouse exhibit at the San Antonio Botanical Garden so that's what we did on Bryce's birthday. The kids had fun walking around the gardens and climbing in and out of the playhouses.

Some new landscaping

We spend a lot of time in our backyard playing. I think that's why we've spent the most time back there working on our landscape. The trees provide good shade and we've got plenty of little areas for the kids to get muddy, sandy, sweaty, wet, poopy (we do have a dog that plays too), and grassy. But since we moved in 3 years ago, we pretty much Popeil'd the front - set it and forgot it. So...it was time to give the house a little more curb appeal. The process went quite smoothly start to finish...and as far as the kids were concerned, having a giant hole (for our new tree) in the front yard was better than all the new dolls and trains they could have. Did I mention the hole? Right...we spent about an hour climbing in and out. I'm thinking of digging a well in the backyard...those are safe for kids...right?

Before:

After:

The Hole!

Back to reality...

After a fun holiday weekend, it's always hard to snap back to reality.  Here are a couple of pictures to just keep the feeling going a little bit longer.

Beach

We just got back from a trip to Port Aransas with my parents. We had a great time! Ivy didn't love the beach, she kept saying "no like beach" and then quickly followed up with "pool no dirty, pool clean". I took the hint and she spent most of the time at the pool. Either way, there was plenty of fun in the sun.

Trip to New York

We went to NY this weekend to meet Baby Ethan and attend his naming. The kids were excited and the weekend exceeded expectations. I was worried about Ivy on the plane because she has been screaming when she doesn't get her way lately. What do we do when 15 minutes into the flight she decides she wants to go home? Luckily, that issue didn't arise and both children were super fabulous travelers. I flew home with them by myself and it couldn't have been smoother.

It's hot outside but the kids are cool!

Show Day at Little Gym

Ivy has been taking classes at Little Gym for a year now and she loves swinging on the bars.

Peaches and Steam

As summer punches us in the face, it's hard to find outdoor activities that you can do after the sun comes up.  But some days...you have to stick one to the man and say..."HEY!  old man Summer...this one's for you...and the horse you rode in on!"  So...today we headed out to Fredericksburg to pick some peaches.

After last year's drought, we've had enough rain to tick above Sahara on the rainfall map and the peach growers (farmers? cultivators? makers?) are loving it.  So, why not venture out to pick a fruit off a tree that doesn't grow tall enough to provide any real shade?  Well...I guess short trees are good when you've got short kids.

After a short car ride filled with knock knock jokes..."knock knock...who's there?...Gorilla...Gorilla who?...Gorilla me a hamburger I'm hungry"...and some knock knock jokes(??)..."knock knock...who's there?...banana...banana who....banana are you in the house"...and a quick stop at the Dairy Queen (insert DQ ice cream picture to make Mom jealous)

we arrived to pick our peaches.  We bought a 1/4 bushel but I probably should have paid for twice that, because I'm sure Ivy ate no less than 30 peaches.  Well, come to think of it...I'm sure we'll all be paying for that later.  Here's a little of how our day went:




So...now the question of what to do with all of these peaches...well...in Texas...there's only one answer: Cobbler!

And as for Ol' Man Summer....Knock Knock...who's there?...Orange...Orange who?....Orange you glad we don't give a crap how hot it is outside!?

Happy Sunday

San Francisco

Russell was in SF for work and I've never been so I met him out there. We had fun doing all the touristy things. Shopping in Union Square(3 story Anthropologie!), biking across the Golden Gate bridge to Sausalito (harder than I thought but not as scary), Alcatraz. A BIG thank you to my parents who kept the kids so we could have a few days of fun.

Early birthday gift

Ivy received a package from Spencer and Julie and opened it up before I had a chance to hide it from her. She was so excited about her new summer look that she took off her clothes and put on her new stuff. It was pretty cute.

School's out for summer!

The last day of school was a splash and pizza party. Bryce and Ivy liked the pizza better than the water but overall had a great time. I got a few pictures from things he did during the school year. If I can scan them I'll update this post. There's a great one of Bryce riding a horse.

Mother's Day

My mom, the kids and I went to San Angelo to spend Mother's Day with my grandparents. We had so much fun but I really didn't take the camera around. The big excitement was the train museum. Aunt Judy and Uncle Mark suggested it and off we went. Dear old Mr. Mathis showed us around. He was an engineer on the trains for 30 years and now volunteers at the museum. He took Bryce by the hand and we saw room filled with model trains. The kids got to push buttons to make the trains go, make noise, etc. After the inside we went out to climb up on a real engine and caboose. Mr. Mathis shared tidbits about how the engineer and brakeman would sleep in the caboose and how bathrooms weren't on board in the beginning...we all learned a lot :) Sorry about the pictures...I really didn't know what we were going to be doing.

First strawberries...

The new garden has already yielded the first 2 strawberries of what I'm sure will be a bumper crop for 2010.

Passover

We had a very nice seder with my family on Saturday night. Uncle Arnold condensed his previously condensed seder to accommodate the kids' attention spans. Plenty of matzoh and charoset kept Bryce in his seat. Ivy was not so easily convinced...

Wildflowers

This post is supposed to be about how beautiful all the wildflowers are this year. Instead the pictures will show how difficult it is to get one good picture of two kids. Russell tried his best...please use your imagination to put these two pictures together into one good one.

***UPDATE - ask and you shall receive...a little photo magic:

Egg Hunt

Since eggs are Kosher for Passover, we thought it would be fun for Bryce to participate in his school's Easter egg hunt.  He also needed a little practice for the Afikomen hunt on Saturday when we will have TIVO Passover at the Jessel house with the Barbans (that's right TIVO Passover...we've taken to recording all 8 days of holidays and then watching them when convenient...we get to skip the boring parts of the service as wells as the commercials).

Houston

We went to Houston for the weekend to visit some friends. The highlight of the trip was a trip to the Houston Zoo. Besides the standard favorites of the animals and a train ride, the kids had their 1st carousel ride. I couldn't believe that Bryce wanted to ride and was even more surprised when he loved it and Ivy cried.

New Garden

My herb garden was in serious need of help and Russell (with a little help from Bryce) came to my rescue. We now have 4 raised garden beds and hopefully our herbs and veggies will appreciate the makeover and will not die on me...

All Dressed Up

Someone told Ivy that the rodeo was in town so she got all ready to go!