Luke's first day

Even though he missed his brother, I think Luke might have enjoyed Jake's first day of school.  He got special time with Mommy and got to nap in a nice, quiet house.  He sent his brother off in style and support of the Puma class.  Check out our little Puma... 

Hanging Out

Our household has been adjusting to the school year, getting used to a routine on some of our days, and the freedom to do whatever we want on others.  Through it all we're enjoying and loving each other, especially Jake and Luke.  Here are some random shots from the last couple weeks...

Jake wanted to take our picture, so Mommy got in on the action

 Jake continues to have a unique sense of style.  I love that he dresses himself, and I love how his personality shines through...

 Did I mention his clothing choices make me smile...

 I'm definitely outnumbered...

 Not only does Jake make me smile, but he also makes me laugh with his silly sense of humor...

Things aren't getting dull in this household!

The Last First Day

Last Tuesday was Jake's last first day of preschool!  I can't believe we just have one year before kindergarten!  Jake was super excited about school, as he's always been since he's gone.  He picked out a new outfit for the first day, and he insisted on me fixing his hair "spiky."  I have to say, he does look super cute...

 He said he had to do a silly pose...

 Our traditional front of the school  bench pics...

 Here's Jake with his teacher, Mrs. Peterson.  We happen to have a personal connection with his teacher.  She also has a 4-year-old son who was in Jake's 2 1/2 year-old class, and was his best friend during that year.  I knew from knowing her then that she taught elementary school for 6 years and has her masters in school counseling, but has taken time off to stay at home with her two sons.  Now, she's back in the classroom teaching pre-k.  I'm excited she has experience, plus I know she's super organized and communicative, and she already knows Jake.  We're off to a great start so far!

Last week: Rock 'n River

We also headed to Round Rock's Rock 'N River pool.  Jake LOVED it.  It's a perfect way to have a water parkish experience for a young child for a fraction of the water park price.  Jake's favorite thing was floating in the lazy river.  Even Luke hot in on the fun in the shaded baby pool...

I will warn you, though, that the bottom of the baby pool might ruin your bathing suit or also stain your feet.  Look at these little baby toes...

Lastly, silly Jake...

Last Week: Express

We also headed to a Round Rock Express game during Kevin's last week of summer.  Go Express!



Last week--Zoo

Kevin's last week of summer was a couple weeks ago, and we always try to fill his last week with super fun things so we can enjoy Daddy as much as we can before he's back to work full-time.  This year's last week proved fun as even, and this time we had Luke to enjoy it with us.  On Monday, we headed to Austin Zoo.  It was pretty toasty, but fortunately, the zoo has lots of trees so we stayed comfortable in the shade.  Luke had lots of fun.  He started off like this...

But then we switched him to the stroller.  This was the first time he sat in his stroller like a big boy without the infant carrier.  It worked out much better than trying to keep him looking backward in the carrier.  He was very happy to be facing forward.  He really enjoys seeing everything, plus I know this was cooler for him. I had to take several pictures of this big boy...

We looked at all the animals, but I think the highlight for Jake was getting to feed the sheep and goats...

He said this guy was his special friend.  He named him Tokey...

We ate our lunch on the picnic tables and this peacock came to join us...

There was a little too much fun for Luke, so he ended our visit like this...

First Musical

We're very fortunate to live in the Austin area where there are so many affordable activities for kids.  I discovered Austin Summer Musical for Children, which provides FREE theater performances for kids.  This summer, they were showing  Peter Pan and his Lost Shadow.  Jake and I went on a date together to check it out.  Here's Jake in his seat with his own "playbill."

 Here he is after the performance with a special Peter Pan hat...

 The show was really cute, and Jake enjoyed it.  He really likes singing and music, and he already likes Peter Pan, so I think it was easy for him to engage. We'll definitely have to make it a summer tradition.  Afterwards, the entire cast sits in a line outside the theater for pictures and autographs.  Jake wouldn't sit with any of them, but I did get a picture of Peter Pan and Tinkerbell...