Lego Land and Sea Life Aquarium

After swimming all morning, we took a break from the water to head to Lego Land, which was only 5 minutes from the hotel.  It is really cool to see all the structures made completely out of Legos! Clayton's favorite part of Lego land was building his own race car and then racing it.  We had to pull him away from it several times to see the other exhibits! 

 Brinley and Meredith with a giraffe made completely out of Legos

 The crew at Lego Land (dry for the first time in days...lol)

 Brinley's favorite part of Lego Land was driving the Lego card around the track.  This ride had just opened the day before we went.  Clayton was not old enough to drive them, but being redirected to the car racing made him happy!

 Right across from Lego land was the Sea Life Aquarium. We spent an hour looking at all the different sea creatures. It was pretty much the same as any other aquarium we have visited, with the exception of seeing a real octopus.  I had never seen one in person and they are quite majestic creatures!!!
Clayton loved the sharks

 The only family picture we got from the trip

 Brinley really enjoyed being able to touch the star fish

 Kids laying down in the big glass tunnel where the fish and sharks  swam

Great Wolf Lodge

We left the day after school was out to Grapevine, Tx to stay at the Great Wolf Lodge.  My dear friend and sorority sister, Rachel and her family met us there for our annual summer meet up somewhere fun! Last year, we went to Sea World!

The hotel is like a resort with a HUGE indoor water park and decorated like rustic, wooded campground.  The kids really loved their bunk beds in the room!

 We spent most of our days at the water park, only taking a one hour break for lunch and dinner! The kids had an amazing time.  Water slides were the hit of the trip.  Both our kids are dare devils and were only restricted by height for some of the slides. This green and orange slides were by far the favorites.  Clayton rode them for at least an hour at a time.  The lifeguards were laughing at him and his persistence!

 This picture was the ONLY time I could get them to slow down long enough to take a picture together.

 Brinley and Meredith

Clayton and Russ

 Brinley really enjoyed riding the "big" slides with Jason (Clayton was too short). I even rode the slides with her one day...no pictures to prove it though :-( 

 The Smith and the Lipsey kids

 Brinley and Clayton outside the ice cream shoppe at the hotel

 Before we headed home, we treated Brinley to a pedicure at the kid's spa.  She was treated to a robe, tiara, and a scoop of ice cream.  She was so excited and loved every minute of it!

 The hotel also had an arcade, which we went to every night after dinner.  The kids favorite ride was this roller coaster simulator.  It moved, dropped and vibrated them all over the place.

Great Wolf Lodge was an amazing place to stay and play.  The kids are already asking when can we go back!

Kindergarten Graduation

Friday was Brinley's Kindergarten graduation.  It was Luau themed, so all the kids wore their best Hawaiian clothes.  The cafetorium was packed and the kids were more than excited to sing their songs they had learned for us.  After their performance, each child was presented with their certificate and a lei in honor of finishing their kindergarten year.  Grandma and Mamaw came out to watch (both grandpa's had to work).  After the program, we went back to her classroom for cookies and punch.  Since we were done by lunchtime, I check her out of school and we let her choose where we ate lunch...Chick fil a. School is not out until this coming friday, but we are very proud of our kindergarten graduate! Brinley, you are reading all by yourself(no more spelling things out we don't want her to know about), adding/subtracting, drawing/writing so great, and so independent! You love going to school and are a little sad you won't see all your friends everyday this summer.  When I ask you what your favorite part of your day was, you answer "going outside for recess" everyday!!!!

I went up to the school on Thursday to help decorate and get ready for the big ceremony

 Brinley was so excited when she finally spotted us in the crowd

 Getting her certificate from the principal, Mrs. King and her lei from Assistant Principal, Mrs. Torres-Sanchez

 Proud mom and dad with our lil graduate

 Brinley and her teacher, Mrs. Rauch

 first year of school is complete.....12 more to go......

Clayton's First Tball

Clayton played his first tball at the YMCA this past month.  It is a one day a week class where they learned the basics.  He really enjoyed playing and only wanted to listen to his coaches (not me or Jason) If one of us would tell him to go do something, he would ask "What did my coach say?" Such a funny little guy!!!

Last night was his last class, so they scrimmaged the class after us. Clayton had fun, but he was most excited about getting his trophy! I think after watching Brinley get a trophy for softball, he was ready to get his own!

Swing batter!!!

 He was so serious on the field

 Throwing the ball

 His favorite part was getting his trophy!



Dance Recital 2012

Brinley ended her 3rd year of dancing tonight with a recital down in Galveston at the Grand Opera house. And again, after watching her perform, I realize it will not be our last.  She LOVES dance! She is always excited about going to practice and smiles the entire time she is on stage. One of the mom's made the comment at rehearsal last night "Brinley just looks gloriously happy on stage" It is really neat to watch the high school seniors perform and be recognized for being at the dance school since they were 3 years old and imagine we could be in the same boat one day!

One thing different this year was that Brinley got to perform two dances.  The past two years have just been ballet, but this year they added a tap dance as well.  The theme of the recital was "Games we Play".  Her tap routine was to Simon Says and her ballet was to Skip to my Lou.  Both were really cute and crowd pleasers.

Brinley in her Simon Says tap costume before the show

 Tapping away

Ballet dance---Look at that form! 

 My family

 Reese came out to watch

 Cousins enjoying ice cream after the show

 My ballerina with all her flowers

I am glad dance is over for the summer and we are one step closer to our lazy summer! These last two months have been very busy! Next up on our agenda is Clayton's last tball scrimmage, Kindergarten field day, Kindergarten graduation, and softball all star state tournament.....and this is all next week!!!!!

Dynamo Soccer has begun

This past Saturday was the opening game for the Houston Dynamo at their brand new stadium.  I am very glad Brinley and I were able to attend.  We were supposed to be playing in an all star tournament, but thanks to 5 1/2 inches of rain Friday night, it was cancelled. 
Clayton looking very dapper on his way into the stadium with his scarf

The day could not have been better! We headed in early to take in all the opening day festivities.  The new stadium is gorgeous!! When the Dynamo came to Houston in 2006, they have been playing at the UH football stadium.  It was old and no air conditioning in the bathrooms (which is very noticeable in august!)
Our new season tickets (which Jason spent a lot of time selecting) were in the shade the whole time (again, very noticeable in August).  The game was great and we won 1-0. Clayton really enjoyed the game not wanting to leave his seat for anything and he sat the entire time saying "Go Dynamo Go!!!"  We are looking forward to the season in the new stadium.

Jason, Brinley and Clayton by our new seats

We are the Champions

Brinley's softball team (that I am coaching) ended up winning first place in our league with a 9-2 record.  We played the championship game last week and came from behind to win 13-12. I am so proud of the girls and how far they have come over the season.  They wanted first place and played hard to achieve it by never giving up. Way to go Pink Panthers!!!
Brinley getting a double

Brinley celebrating the fact she knocked in two runs with her hit!

The Pink Panthers celebrating after the game that we are number 1

After the game, I found out that the first place coach has to coach the Allstars (FUN, FUN, FUN!!!)  The past week has been busy selecting the team, ordering uniforms, and scheduling practices in order to get ready for our first tournament this weekend.  We shall see how everything goes.