Camp --> July 4th

Here is a summary of the last few weeks.

The kids had summer camp at 6 Points Sports Academy from June 20 - July 2.  We drove them to Greensboro, NC.

Our road trip started on June 16.  We spent one night in Auburn at a hotel.  Then, we stayed with Lissa's family in Atlanta for 2 nights.  Next, Greensboro for one night and then we dropped the kids off at camp.  Then, Morry and I stayed at Jamie's family's house for one night in Atlanta. After that we went to Rosemary Beach, FL for 2 nights.  Finally, drove back home to Austin.

Fran and Scott drove to Greensboro from Richmond, VA to pick up the kids. Then, Fran flew them back to Austin.

Fran is still here visiting but will go home tomorrow.

The kids had a great time at camp.  In Noah's letter, he asked if he could stay longer.

On July 3, we had a neighborhood block party on our street.  We were able to watch the fireworks from the nearby golf course.   It was a fun night.

On July 4, we had a small party at our house.  Grandma, Papa, Aaron's family, Mandy's parents, and Deborah came over.

Today, we took Lizzy to the dog park at the lake and then had lunch at Terry Black's Barbecue.

For dinner, we ate at home, but then went to watch the bats come out from the Congress bridge.

After that, we went to Sno Monster for dessert.

Here are some pictures from the last few weeks.

July 4 and July 3

Yesterday Evan and I rode our bikes with Papa.  We rode about 10 miles.  We rode to the Velloway, around it, and back.  It was a good workout.  Evan really had a good time.

Last night we had our July 3 street party.  We joined our neighbors in the cul-de-sac for a potluck and to watch the fireworks at the nearby golf course.

Today we went for a hike and a new-to-us trail, Slaughter Creek Trail.  At the start of the trail we saw a turkey and two deer.

After walking about 2-3 miles of the trail we went to Sweet Carolines for shaved ice.

Tonight, we went to Aunt Sandy and Uncle Marvin's house for dinner and hung out there for a while. The boys liked playing in their huge yard.

The boys are in bed now.  There are still fireworks going off in our neighborhood, which is illegal.  We are hoping they end soon.

Here are some pictures from yesterday and today.

3rd of July

This morning we hung out at home and then went to Wholy Bagel for lunch.

Around 1:00 Uncle Marvin, Leah, and John came over.  Leah and John are in town for a few days. They all hung out at our house for a little while.

We ate dinner at home and then went to the potluck block party in our cul-de-sac.  We brought an American flag cookie cake that I made along with some other cookies and drinks.  We had a nice time hanging out with neighbors.  At 9:30 we were able to see the fireworks from the nearby golf course.   We stayed out until about 10:30.

The boys are in their rooms now ready for bed.

Block Party

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

Today was a busy day.  Both Rachel and I had things to do.  Rachel had a massage appointment and I had two meetings back-to-back.  Since I wasn't going to be home in the later morning, Rachel took the boys with her to the massage.  Rachel brought our old iPhones for the boys to play with.

When Rachel got back she had to tutor so Gabby came over and watched the boys.

Rachel got home just before me.  We immediately had an appointment with an AC guy.  Our upstairs unit has a big leak and because of it's age and being in Austin, we're going to need an entirely new unit.  He was giving us an estimate.

We had dinner and then we went out to our block party on the street.  It was really nice and nice to be with our neighbors.  Jack and his family were there as well as Evan's friend Nathan who is at the end of our street.  Evan, Jack, Noah and Nathan had a good time playing together.

The golf course near our house had their fireworks show and you can see it from our street which is why the block party was scheduled for tonight.  We were able to watch the fireworks display.

It is late and we just got in.  The boys are just getting into bed now.

Until next time...

Strep Throat

The boys slept in this morning and I had a doctor's appointment at 10:30pm.

The nurse came in first to take my vitals and immediately did a strep test. A few minutes later the doctor came in and had the results. I have strep. He checked my throat, ears, etc. He prescribed some antibiotics and something else to help my sore throat.

I stopped at HEB on the way home hoping my medicine would be ready, but it wasn't.

When I got home Morry and the boys were upstairs watching tv. Morry had to wake Noah up around 10:30.

A little while later we went back to HEB to get my medicine and then to Scooters (a coffee shop). Morry was hoping to get a Red Bull smoothie there, but they were out of Red Bull. Morry and boys got smoothies and I got a coffee. We sat at a table for a little while. The coffee shop has toys and games for kids. Evan and Noah had a good time playing with this all-in-one wooden board game table. It had lots of different games and pieces.

For lunch we had leftovers.

Evan and Noah didn't nap and both were getting pretty cranky by the end of the afternoon. For dinner the boys had leftover pizza. Morry ran out to get a burger from P Terry's and Subway for me.

We put the boys to bed, but they are still awake and our neighbors are still shooting off fireworks.

Playdate

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

This morning, everyone slept in a bit. Both boys took a long time to go to sleep last night. In fact, Noah and I had it out. He was being really bad. He ended up falling asleep at his gate. When I went to move him to his bed, he had pulled the comforter and his top sheet off the bed. He had thrown toys out into the hallway. His room was a disaster. He just works himself up when he gets upset.

When we got up, we got breakfast for the boys. Then, Rachel took Evan and Noah to Evan's friend, Ben's, house. His mom had invited Evan over to play and said that Noah was welcome to join. I stayed home to go through papers and things. Ben has an 8 year old sister and apparently, she was leading the group of four with activities. They also had a trampoline in the backyard with netting around the sides. The boys just loved that.

Eventually, Rachel and Noah left to go to HEB to get some things for dinner and dessert. Evan stayed with Ben and had lunch over there. This was his first time basically being dropped off at a friend's house.

Rachel came home and got me and we all went over to pick Evan up. Evan didn't want to leave and was very angry when we got him.

We had to run a few errands - we picked up some movies from Red Box, got gas, and stopped for slushes at Sonic.

For dinner, we had homemade pizzas. I got dough and sauce ready for a pizza for Evan and Noah. Then they put the cheese on the pizza and put what they wanted on their own half of the pizza. Noah chose pepperoni and Evan chose black olives and pepperoni.

For dessert, Rachel got waffle bowls and ice cream and a bunch of different toppings - including sprinkles, marshmallows, gummy worms, Oreos, sour gummy Lifesavers, M&Ms (we had those already), and candy corn (again, we already had these). I scooped the ice cream and the boys were allowed to add stuff to their ice cream. They really enjoyed it. It was like those new frozen yogurt places that charge you by weight.

The kids just had baths and we are letting them lay down in our bed and watch a movie. We have hicks in our neighborhood who set off fireworks and we know that, not only because of the amount of sugar from dessert, but the fireworks will keep the kids up. So we're making it a special treat.

Until next time...

Park and Wii Baseball

This morning Evan was in a bad mood. He only wanted Daddy. Grandma, Papa, and I all tried to get him dressed. I was letting Morry sleep in, and finally I just went in and got Evan dressed whether he liked it or not. At that point he was crying for Daddy because Morry was in the shower. After I got Evan dressed I let him go in our room and see Morry.

Papa made us breakfast this morning and then he and Grandma drove back to Dallas.

We went to the Circle C Park for a little bit. It was hot out, but not too bad in the shade. When we pulled up there were only 2 other cars there. I guess most people wanted to be indoors today. Evan and Noah had fun at the park.

We came home and the boys took really good naps.

While we were getting the pasta ready for dinner, I helped Evan play baseball on the wii. He was really doing well. He was able to watch the screen and hit the baseball in the video game. I was pretty impressed that he had the eye-hand coordination for that. He wasn’t hitting all of them, but I’d say about 30% or so.

We had spaghetti for dinner and then went to Wendy’s for dessert. Morry, Evan, and I got Frosties. Noah ate about half of mine.

We just put the boys to bed. Last night Evan was up really late because people were shooting off fireworks in our neighborhood and he was scared. We just heard more fireworks going off. I went outside, but couldn’t tell who was doing it. It wasn’t anyone on our street. I hope it ends soon and I hope it doesn’t bother Evan again.

Full Day and Fireworks

This morning Evan woke up around 8:30 and came in my room. We got dressed, finished packing, ate breakfast. Then, Grandma, Papa, Evan, Noah, Lizzy, and I drove back a full car to Austin.

We only stopped once to get gas and lunch. Since Lizzy was with us and I didn’t want her sitting in a hot car, we ate lunch at a picnic table with Lizzy. It worked out well and gave the boys a break from sitting in the car. Traffic was sort of bad and it took us about 5 hours to get home. Normally it takes about 3 ½ hours.

Evan and Noah were very excited to see Morry and be home.

For dinner we went to California Pizza Kitchen and then heard Mr. Fabulous, a swing band play outside in the shopping center. It was very nice and the boys enjoyed running around and playing.

Every 3rd of July the golf course near us shoots off fireworks. We get a great view from our street. When we got home it was just getting dark outside. We grabbed folding chairs and set up on the driveway. We talked to some of the neighbors and then the fireworks started. Right away, Evan was scared and hung on to Morry, facing backwards, the whole time. Noah was a little scared, but watched most of the fireworks.

The boys are in bed now. It’s nice to be home. I hope they sleep well tonight.