Vive La Paz!

I always have such a hard time with vacation recaps. It's hard to know whether to talk about it or just do an overload of pictures! Just like last year, we had a wonderful time in La Paz. It is truly a magical place that I fear is about to be taken over by American tourism! There are so many new condo developments being built, but for now it virtually untouched. In fact, one day we were at the beach and Emmaline said, "This place is too crowded." I looked around and the only other family there was about a half mile away! You do get spoiled with so many beaches that are completely private.
Tucker did really great on the plane ride. He loves to share Tyler's ipod.

He thinks these rides in front of the ice cream shop are so fun.

Izzy was so sweet with him and often let him ride along when it was her turn.
Oliver is always looking for some type of exploring. He found this big stick to drag around for a while.

Then Tyler used it and some other driftwood to make a boat.

Here's a sand castle, Emmaline style! =)

You might notice that she is holding her finger in the air. The day before we left, she got frustrated and slammed her hand on the table, hitting one of her stud earrings. For some strange reason it got huge and infected. It took us a while, but we were finally able to find some good old penicillin to give her and it healed up nicely.
This year Tyler took Savannah fishing with him. I wasn't there, so there aren't any pictures, but they caught lots of Mahi Mahi and tuna. Savannah also had her 14th birthday while we were there.

14, can you believe it?!! She is such an amazing little girl and I am enjoying our growing relationship as she matures... although I miss my baby. When Tyler gave her a father's blessing before school, he mentioned our family that "she helped to build." I really loved that because it speaks to the important role she plays in our family. We had to do the usual pinata.

Brad is keeping a safe distance! =)

One day Oliver and Izzy built an animal "school" with all the creatures they found.

Another day Tyler found a ray for the kids to play with.

After we visited the sea lions, we went to a beach where Oliver got stung by jellyfish. Mustard seemed to help.

I really think I enjoyed the trip more this year. Although we did a little bit of exploring, I loved being familiar with most of the beaches and knowing which ones were good for shells, snorkeling, or just relaxing and where to shop. But most of all, this trip was better because I can swim! I didn't realize how much that kept me from really enjoying boat rides and snorkeling, but it made all the difference. We had great time together as a family and with Brad, Kendall and Izzy and we can't wait to go back!!

Back to school

I've been so excited about this year's theme. I've been mulling over it for about the past 3 months, and couldn't wait to unveil it on Sunday. It is, drumroll please....

"Ride for the brand."

In old cowboy folklore, ride for the brand meant loyalty and pride. It meant that when you agreed to work for someone you would wear his brand as your own. It meant you no longer made decisions for yourself, but for the good of the ranch. You’ve heard of parents telling their kids, “Remember who you are.” This is kind of my own version of that. I love it because it kind of references back to our forefathers and the ranching tradition in our family as well as reminding the kids about the importance of our family name and being an example of what we stand for.
We had a cowboy dinner with chicken and dumplings.

The girls couldn't agree on a dessert, so we had cheesecake AND homemade custard ice cream. As a little reminder to take to school with them, the girls made charm bracelets with horses, cowboy hats, horseshoes, and a boot.

The boys got silly bands with a cowboy theme. I didn't get a picture of Oliver with his, but Tucker LOVES those things.

He can put them on by himself and has worn them every day! On Tuesday, I got everyone up and moving early so we could get a good start. I texted my neighbor to see if her High School daughter was ready to go and she wrote back, "They don't start until tomorrow." Gotta love "Lucy" moments. So Emmaline was off to school.

It was pretty uneventful for her since she is still at Arts Academy, but I think she is enjoying it so far. She did mention that it is lonely without Savannah.
So on Wednesday, Savannah had her real first day of school.

She actually didn't seem too nervous and wasn't very talkative when she got home. Later she talked a little more and told me that she sat by herself at lunch (she forgot her lunch in the car, of course) until she started talking to a girl that was in her math class. The girl's first question was, "So, have you seen any cute boys." To which Savannah answered, "I've been too nervous about finding my classes to look at the boys." Wow, I couldn't have scripted that answer better myself! =) She said there are 37 kids in her math class and the teacher gave a quiz to figure out if any of the kids knew enough to move up to the next level. She said it was stuff that she learned two years ago, and thinks she will probably move up. She felt so bad for another girl in her class who couldn't do the work and started crying.

Brought back good old memories of High School for me. I always felt like I was either on the verge of crying or crying about my work. Thankfully I didn't pass that along to her. As I dropped the girls off, I asked if they wanted to be dropped off at the front door. They seemed puzzled that I would ask so I explained that on my first day of High School, Jeffie dropped me off at the front door and told me to ask someone in the office where I should go. Since I didn't know where the office was and I didn't have any friends there, I was so relieved when I found Shawne. She said, "First of all, don't ever come in the front door- only the nerds do that." Brothers!! I think Savannah's off to a good start.

When I went to drop off Oliver, he jumped out of the car before I could get Tucker unbuckled. I tried to hurry after him, but couldn't find him anywhere! Finally, as I started walking towards his classroom, I found he and his teacher coming up the hallway. He had asked someone where his new class was and met his teacher on his own. Guess he'll do just fine!
Tucker and I are adjusting to being alone during the day.

(He wanted to stay at school with Oliver SO badly!)

I feel like I am really being able to get things done. He is climbing the walls. Guess it's time to get some playmates.

Just an ordinary boy

I opened up the blog to post about our trip to La Paz, then realized I had to post about the haircut to prepare you for the shock of poor shorn Tucker. A couple of days before our trip, I decided to take both boys to Great Clips. Tyler had recently taken them on a "Father & son" camp-out, and people kept asking who brought their daughter and saying how beautiful "she" was. Ugh! A haircut was clearly in order.
So I began by carefully instructing the lady cutting Tucker's hair about what I expected. I just wanted some taken off the bottom so it looked more like a haircut and less like an unkempt mass. After some trimming around the edges, he was disgusted by the whole process. He kept trying to wipe the hair off of his face only to get more on! I could have sworn that I took a picture of that, but can't seem to find it. Ah, dementia. Anyway, I turned for just a second, I PROMISE, to make sure that the guy cutting Oliver's hair didn't cut off his front curls and when I turned back... Tucker had no hair.
Oliver looked over and said, "Aww, Tucker. Now you look like an ordinary boy." Then he asked, "Mama, will it grow back?" I guess the lady doing the cutting could see the dismay on my face as she answered, "Your mom sure hopes so." Every time I look at him, the 'Boundin' short comes to mind. Just like in the movie, it certainly makes his eyes look even more amazing, but we miss the curls!
Here is a picture from the Sunday before we left. Georgia threw an August birthday party and J.J. and Emily and the clan were in town to celebrate! So fun to see them... it's been WAY too long. The food was fabulous, and of course the kids spent most of the time in the sandbox at Laird Park.