Anna's Turn!

We sent the boys off last week, and now it is Anna's turn to go to preschool. She is going to the same preschool that she went to last year and she LOVES it! She only goes on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, but she would go everyday if she could. I'm glad I have one more year with this beautiful, headstrong, sassy, loving little girl.

 

Of course, Adeline wanted to go as well. She insisted on wearing a backpack, which she didn't take off all day. We had to pry it off of her at bed time.

 

I love this picture because Adeline is looking adoringly at her big sister. She was so sad when she figured out she couldn't stay at preschool. It broke my heart!

 

In other news...

BOTH of my girls got their first haircut today! Anna is 4, and since she had the most gorgeous ringlets, I never cut her hair. We have been talking about getting it cut for a while, and everytime she reminds me that it's not a cut, it's a TRIM. This princess likes her long hair!

 

She got 3 inches off, but you can't really tell!


Adeline enjoyed the airplane chair.


The lady made three snips, and said that she couldn't do a bob because she is too young to sit still. That was quite a waste of $11.00 (plus tip). She made three snips and Adeline's hair looks exactly the same! I was pretty disappointed, but she's so stinkin' cute, it's ok!

Etch-a-Sketch Brain

As we have been gearing up for school to start, I made my boys do a few math sheets. (At the beginning of summer I swore they would practice math every day...somehow that didn't happen?) Aiden did pretty well, but I discovered that Abbott has forgotten quite a bit!

On Saturday we went to Silver Dollar City in Branson to have a little fun before going back to school. Here is the whole crew (plus cousin Lexi) with the rocks they just panned for.


I am NOT a roller coaster gal. Usually, I stay with the girls while Aaron rides crazy things that spin and go way too fast with the boys. This time they talked mom into riding. It was fun, but I felt like my brain was shaking around in my head. I was a little concerned about my kids' brains, so I asked them if they felt like their brains shake on the rides.

Abbott said "Yeah! Maybe that's what happened to all of my math facts! They all got shaken out of my brain!"

Apparently Abbott's brain works like an etch-a-sketch...when you shake it up, everything disappears! I'm thinking no more roller coasters.

So it's a really good thing that they went back to school yesterday. They were both really excited. We switched elementary schools this year so they were a little nervous too, but mostly excited.

 

I thought the girls would be sad to see them go...but I actually think they're happy to have the house to themselves again! We watched Dora the Explorer for the first time in months!

 

We walked in the school and decided to go to Abbott's class first...and Aiden tried to dart up the stairs! Can you believe it?!?! Go to class on the first day of school without mom? No way. So we drug him to Abbott's class.

Abbott knows a couple of kids in his class and he was excited to break open that brand new box of crayons.

 

Then we walked upstairs to Aiden's class. There were no parents in the room and the kids were already busily working (at 7:50...sheesh...overachievers). I decided not to go in the room and embarrass him. I promised him that if he let me take his picture outside the class, I would leave the camera at home next year when he starts middle school. The picture is blurry because I was trying to snap it fast!

 

When they got home they both had lots of fun stories to tell. We had such a great summer, but I think everybody is happy to be back to school.

I wish I may, I wish I might

August 12 was the peak of the Perseides meteor shower. I put Adeiline to bed, Aaron left to play basketball, and I surprised my three older kids with a late night trip to the trampoline!

We hauled out pillows and blankets and stared at the sky for an hour and 20 minutes. The shower peaks between midnight and 4:00am...but I'm not that crazy. We were out there from 10:00 pm to 11:20 pm (we were supposed to go in at 11:00...but we were having so much fun!)

In that amount of time we saw 32 shooting stars!!!! Some were pretty faint, but some were really huge and bright.

Here's my crew of stargazers


We had the trampoline net obstructing some of our view, but we didn't really care.


We had so much fun giggling and making wishes! And the boys loved making fun of me for getting so excited every time I saw one. I can't help it!

I think we have a new end of summer tradition.

The Beach!

Last week we drove to Gulf Shores, Alabama and spent five perfect days on the beautiful white sandy beaches.

This is the balcony of our condo. What a view!


The boys LOVED the beach! They immediately jumped in the waves and never looked back. Not an ounce of fear.




Aiden




Abbott





We brought our little kickboards with us, but quickly discovered that these beach bums needed bigger boards! (Including dad!)


Anna did great. She insisted on wearing her life jacket the first day

but she got much braver




She had fun playing in the waves with mom



Adeline HATED the beach. She hated everything about the beach...the sand, the water (salty water!), the waves, the unending sun, did I mention the sand?

She kept trying to run up to the condo and we had to run after her and drag her back. She tried everything to stay off the beach.


The little diva wanted to stay on the lounge chair...but at $25 at day to rent...I don't think so.


Dad tried to get her to warm up to the waves...no way!


Someone lent us a little baby pool that we filled up and sat her in. That made her pretty happy...well, I won't go as far as happy, but at least she wasn't crying.


Our sandcastle had a moat that went all the way to the water


We also spent plenty of time at the pool. There was a kiddie pool (think big bathtub) that was perfect for Adeline. She had so much fun...she couldn't figure out why we kept wanting to go down to the stinkin' beach!






We went on a dolphin cruise which was a blast. Adeline was especially thrilled with the dolphins!


We saw three dolphins swimming together. My pictures are horrible because they were back under by the time the picture snapped!


Adeline did not approve of wearing a life jacket, and the little stinker got it off without unbuckling it! Here she is triumphantly giving it back to mom.


And here she is in the new one mom strapped her into...mom wins! In case you can't tell, she is throwing that little fit on the floor of the boat.


I had to include this picture...It is out of focus, but I am trying to take a cute picture of Anna in her Hannah Montana life jacket. It's fuzzy because I shifted the camera when I noticed my boys strangling each other in the background! Sheesh!


I knew we would be spending our downtime together in the condo and I wanted it to be special. I ordered a million legos off ebay and wouldn't let anyone touch them until the trip. This is REALLY special because I have banished legos from our home. Baby Adeline put everything in her mouth and they didn't keep them picked up, so in the trash they went! Now that Adeline is 2 and has outgrown the whole mouth thing (and there aren't anymore little Pattersons coming along!) I decided to give legos another chance. Anyway...this was a huge hit. Everyone (including mom and dad) made spaceships and I think they had as much fun with the legos as they did on the beach.


I tried to do a photo shoot on the beach. I really need to stress the TRIED part. It was a fiasco. I should have taken into account the fact that one of my four children HATES the beach. The other three weren't much better. I was so bummed because they looked so cute! This picture sums it up:


This is the best one I got:


Anna wouldn't stop picking up the shells...but she looked really pretty doing it!



Handsome dudes


Man...I miss these sunsets. I want to go back to the beach!


Here is the really cool souvenir shop where we bought our hermit crabs.


Yes...we really came home with hermit crabs and that is a whole seperate post!