First Day

Jake had a great first day of 3-year-old preschool this Tuesday.  We started a tradition last year where we go shopping the day before school and Jake picks out something to wear for the first day and something special to go in his lunch.  This year, he picked out these awesome shorts.  He loved them so much that the very first thing he wanted to do when he woke up was get dressed which is very unusual.  Usually Jake will stay in his pjs for a while, but not this day!

My favorite pic...cutie!

Of course, first day pics aren't complete without pics in front of the school...


and with his teacher, Ms. Dana...

As soon as I picked him up and asked him about his day, he began telling me about a new friend.  He couldn't remember his name, but we figured out it was Nicholas.  During the car ride home, he told me he and Nicholas played on the scooters and were policemen.  He also said they "talked a lot."  When I asked about what, he replied, "about our boo-boos."  He then continued to tell me how Nicholas got a boo-boo riding his bike, then how he shared with him how he got his boo-boo on his knee.  I'll admit, I was completely shocked and impressed.  This was much more of a conversation than I ever imagined him having with another 3-year-old little boy, and what a manly conversation it was.  Way to go, Jake!

One last first day story: Jake picked out football shaped Oreos as his treat for his lunch.  I asked him how lunch was and how he liked his cookie.  His reply was, "It feel on the floor, but it was still yummy!"  Glad it liked it, dirt and all!

One more thing....Jake specifically requested "spikey hair," so his first day look was all his from head to toe.

Those last summer days

It's officially September which marks the end of summer and the beginning of school.  If you look at the thermostat, though, there's no sign of fall temperatures yet, so we're still enjoying some fun summer activities.  The other afternoon it was sandbox time.  This next pic of him looking away is my absolute favorite.  What a cutie!

Got to have a close-up...

After you play in the sand, it's always necessary to wash the sand off before coming inside.  The fun of having a fenced back yard, with our beautiful newly planted grass is that Jake could strip down to nothing and rinse off in the sprinklers.  I didn't get any pictures of his water fun, but I'll just say Jake LOVED his short-lived chance running around naked in the sprinklers.  Kevin came home from work just as we had turned on the sprinklers and he was definitely surprised!  Mommy can still throw in a surprise every now and then!

Go Rangers!

We got to enjoy an extra special treat in honor of Cohen's 5th birthday---a Rangers game!  Jake was soooo excited to spend time with Cohen and see the Rangers.  It very easily could have been his birthday he was so happy.  Despite a 1 1/2 hour rain delay, we enjoyed a great ball game together.  Here are the boys before we left the house:

Jake and Cohen's silly faces

The cutest Rangers fans ever!

 Here they are walking up to the Ballpark...

A salute to Nolan Ryan...

Then the rain began...

We sought shelter and helped the time pass with some yummy ice cream cones!

Here are the boys just after the rain delay.  They are almost ready to start play again, but you can tell the boys are a little less than happy to have been waiting.  They are ready to play ball!!

All that waiting and those forlorn faces didn't last, though.  The Rangers soon hit a home run!  Wait, not just one, but two!  Here are the boys shouting with delight...

Here's a cute posed pic...

The 9th inning came and the Rangers were still behind, so it was time to rally them to victory.  We turned our hats inside out and cheered them on!

Look at these awesome fans and their rally hats!  It wasn't quite enough to pull them to victory, but it was a great game win or lose!  Thanks Chad, Cassy, and Cohen for a wonderful day at the Ballpark!

Hamilton Pool

Our final fun day of family summer was a visit to Hamilton Pool.  We had never been, and I'm so glad we did.  It was awesome and beautiful!  There is a 1/4 mile hike to the pool that makes the experience even greater.  Jake was really excited on the way there and definitely had a good time.  Here's some memories from our day...

Jake on the hike down to the pool

Jake and Daddy pose on the scenic hike

Swimming fun begins!

A wider view from the rocky shore

A wide view from the trail going around the pool



Our summer cutie

One attraction of the pool are the waterfalls.  I was pretty certain we wouldn't get to see any falls due to the lack of rain, but we were lucky and there was still a little flow.  Next time, I'd like to come back earlier in the summer before things dry out. 

Look closely to see the falls

 We even were able to get some cute family pics...


 And lastly, our water boy enjoying every minute...

The Beginning of the End of...

 summer.  This last week was Kevin's last week of summer, so we wanted to do some special things together.  We started off on Tuesday at Round Rock's Rock'n River Aquatic Center.  I had good intentions of taking lots of pictures of our fun swimming day, but realized I had my camera with no memory card---whoops!  We'll just have to save those pictures in our memory bank.  Wednesday, we beat the heat for a fun indoor activity, bowling.  Jake's been just once, at a birthday party, so it was a lot of fun to bowl as a family.  Here's our little bowler...

Here he is waiting the outcome...

 Everyday I look at Jake and am in awe of how big he is.  Bowling day was no different.  He bowled all on his own, and had quite the technique.  He would pick up his ball and hoist it up on his left shoulder, then once he got closer to the lane, bring it down with both hands along his right side and let it rip!

 Family picture after our two rounds...

Bowling is hard work and left us with quite the appetite, so it was only appropriate to head to Chick-fil-a for a yummy lunch and ice cream!

Sports, Sports, Sports!

I think it's safe to say Jake loves sports.  We've known this for some time now, but it's fun to see Jake get even more involved and interested as he gets older.  For Jake, sports isn't always about the game, it's also about the uniform.  Here's Jake before playing soccer in our front yard...

Regardless if it's playing, watching live, or watching on TV, Jake usually wants to gear up like the players.  He's always a cutie either way.  Here he is at our most recent Express game...

Spikey Hair

One unexpected result of our Houston visit was bringing home a little boy who was suddenly interested in wearing his hair spikey.  The day after we came home, we were getting ready in the morning and Jake came to me and said, "Mommy, can I have spikey hair?"  Even though Jake won't directly say this, we're pretty sure this comes from the influence of our super cool friend, Mr. Wade.  Jake really liked Wade's hair when we were in Houston, so now I think he wants to be just as cool.  Here's Jake's latest spikey do: