Back to School

This fall has been a whirlwind of change, with Rylan moving up to preschool and Ava starting Kindergarten at our neighborhood elementary school. (And the fact that I am so behind at blogging right now is directly attributable to this adjustment.)

Rylan started first, and he looked like such a big boy on his first day!

Before Ava's first day, we got a chance to meet her teacher and classmates at a fun "Meet the Teacher" night complete with sno cones. I think this really helped with the transition. 

On the first day of kindergarten, Ava was so ready to go! I wasn't nearly as emotional as I thought I would be (her last official day of preschool a couple weeks prior was much tougher on me for some reason), and the only rough part was the earlier wake-up call.

Our sweet kindergartener...

Ava was all-smiles when I picked her up that day, and she has continued to have such a wonderful first few months of kindergarten. We couldn't be happier with the school, and she has made so many wonderful new friends (the parents are so fun as well). It is a truly special community. 

Summer Staycation 2017

Every August, the kids' school is closed for a week between the summer and fall school sessions. One of the things that fills me with the most working-mom guilt is the fact that my kids don't get to enjoy "normal" summers. So whenever they do have the chance, I pack in as much summer fun as possible.

And this year with Ava starting kindergarten and DISD moving their start date back a week, she actually had TWO weeks off. I had only planned to use five vacation days, so I called in grandparent reinforcements in order to stretch those over two weeks.

The weekend before their first week off, my Mom came up to the get the kids so Josh and I could enjoy a little staycation, which included a fun Restaurant Week dinner out with friends.



The kids enjoyed a wonderful few days with my family, basically swimming non-stop. Then I headed down to Austin to work from there for a couple days before taking off Thursday and Friday to join in on the kids' fun summer break.

The first day we opted for a splash park visit followed by sno cones, which was just what the doctor ordered on that 100-degree day. I especially loved taking the kids to a park that generations of my family have enjoyed as kids.

On Friday, we met up with some friends to explore The Thinkery.

Gigi loved her first visit!

The two soon-to-be-kindergarteners wanted no part of the photo posing. #FiveGoingOnThirteen

Once we were back in Dallas and Rylan was back in school, Ava got to enjoy another fun-filled week off. To say that she was excited is a huge understatement!

Grammie and Papa came up to watch her the first two days, and they started off with a day dedicated to the solar eclipse. Not pictured is the amazing "solar scope" that they built to view the sun.

On Tuesday, they enjoyed lunch at Shake Shack followed by an afternoon exploring the Perot Museum.

Wednesday through Friday, I had Ava all to myself for three staycation days of no work for me and no school for her. So amazing! (I felt a tiny bit guilty about not keeping Rylan home too, but it was his first week in a new class, and I really wanted some good one-on-one time with Ava.)

We started with a trip to Legoland for my Lego-loving girl. 

After a pit-stop for lunch (and cookies, of course) at Celebrity, we enjoyed a relaxing afternoon of mani-pedis.

Day two of our staycation included a pool playdate followed by a lazy movie afternoon at home.

And for our final day, we met up with another friend for a day at the Fort Worth Zoo.

Her favorite exhibit was definitely the bird house.

But the highlight of the trip was clearly Safari Splash. The kids spent several hours there, and even the moms enjoyed the water slides :). Coolest splash park ever!

It was so wonderful to have three whole days with my girl, and I hope we get to do it again next year.