First Day of School!

This is a first for all of us! This year, the kids will be going to the public schools in our neighborhood for the first time ever! I'm a little leery of public schools, probably since I was raised in private schools, but with Riley wanting to go to the Naval Academy, he is really going to need all the options that a big, public school can provide.

So, here they are, off to their first day of 4th and 8th grade. Regan is riding her bike with friends, they were going to meet up at the corner (and they were all supposed to wear ALL purple!), so she was anxious to get the photos over and meet up. We met her teacher yesterday, she seems really nice, and one of her best friends from the neighborhood, Piper, is in her class, she was very happy about that! She is going from a class of 12 to a class of 22! Big change for her, but I know since she made all A's and B's last year, she will do great this year.

Riley will be riding the bus to school, and the bus stops right in front of our house, so that's nice! His bag was so heavy with all his books and supplies, we had to leave the supplies at home to bring tomorrow, and he still had to carry one of the books. I really hope they don't have to carry those around every day. He's not as excited about heading back to school as Regan is, but I know he's looking forward to getting involved in some of the school's activities.

Navy Sea Cadets

Riley had Sea Cadets this weekend, they have drills once a month, and we had to finish getting all his gear. David took off early and we got his bags packed (what an ordeal!) and they headed up to Ft. Hood early to meet with one of his Commanding Officers to get what he needed, belt, socks, all the little things that have to match everyone else just so. David met up with an old friend who is on base and got a good deal on some Army cots, and then he dropped him off for the weekend.

Riley was so tired and sweaty when we picked him up, and you can tell by the pictures, he wasn't in the mood for a photo shoot! But he looks so stinking cute in his uniform, or BDU's, that I couldn't resist! The drills this month included (I don't have all the technical military terms for this stuff) breach and they had to clear the room, and sleep with their guns (fake guns) and they had people come in the middle of the night to try to steal their guns, and Riley's got stolen, he was asleep hard he said! But he really enjoyed it, and he was exhausted!

We had a parent's meeting on Sunday to go over next month's drill, which sounds like it is going to be awesome! There will be a camp out at a lake, and they have a helicopter coming, and Vietnam reenactors, and they will be ambushing the cadets! They will have target practice with at least 5 different weapons, they will get to eat an MRE, learn basic survival skills, and learn how to make a tent out of their pancho, and a floatation device out of their "blouse". Sounds like it's going to be a blast. David is going, Regan and I have a Girl Scout campout the weekend before, so I'm not sure if we will go or not, but it is a family thing and it sounds like fun! Also, I know if I don't go, there will be no pictures!

So here's just a few pictures from the day, Riley in formation with his group, a couple of new people came to check it out too, that's why they aren't in uniform.

New Hair and Skinny Jeans!

Regan and I went to get hair cuts, and of course, since it was with our friend Sonia, she fixed us up! I got a pink hair extension with purple glitter, and Regan got pink, purple and blue, with glitter! Here's a picture of Regan looking way too grown up with super cute hair!

And Riley wanted some bright blue skinny jeans for school, and we got them on the way to the skating rink to meet up with our girl scout friends, but he wanted to wear them immediately! He's getting so tall, I know he's on skates, but he's taller than me now! (I know that's not very tall either, but he is getting tall, just trust me!)

Cousin Camp!

Some of my favorite memories as a kid were times spent with my cousins! We would go to our Nanny and Paw Paw's and play in the mud and fish in the pond and swing on the porch swings. I sure miss those days, but I'm so glad that my cousin and I do what we can to keep our kids close! We try to get together as often as possible, and I know that's not that often with them in Houston and us here, but the kids have so much fun when we do!

This time, we met them in San Antonio and surprised the kids with a day at Six Flags! They had no idea we were going to Six Flags or that we were meeting the cousins. We got there, and they were all so surprised! We spent the morning in the water park, the boys off on their own, the girls with their daddy's, and me and Tina relaxing in the lazy river!

Then we rode some rides, the kids are so adventurous, they rode almost everything, and then Tina and Bennie headed home to work, and we brought all the kids home with us for the week! I kept them busy :)

On Tuesday, we went to Austin's Park and Pizza, we were there from open to close! On Tuesday, Gattiland, where the boys spent most of their extra money, and got a ton of tickets, and then bought the girls prizes with all their tickets, how sweet! On Thursday we went to Rockin' River water park and then to Kawaii Ice for snow cones. On Friday, we packed for the trip to Houston, and Regan packed her own suitcase (full of stuffed animals, I had to repack!)

Saturday, we left one set of cousins for another set! We headed up to Tomball for David's side of the family's reunion. Uncle James and Tia Lola were in from Brazil, so we all got together at David's cousin Jimmy's house and had a great time! The kids swam, played pool, and got to know another side of the family. It was a good time with family we don't get to see nearly often enough!

Cousin Camp