Zipline, Part III

And Sawyer's somewhat reluctant (at first) turn that quickly became a let's do it again and again turn ...

Zipline Fun, Part II

Connor's turn ...

Zipline Fun, Part I

Xander's turn ...

Not Well

It's that time of year again ... the dreaded ear infections. You know Xander doesn't feel well when he curls up in the chair, lets you put a blanket on him, and even tolerates the puppy laying at his feet (they're not usually the best of friends). You just don't recognize this kid without his usual energy and constant motion. It's always pretty easy to tell when he's not feeling well.

On the plus side, he used his words to request help for the very first time at school today. He was sitting in art class, with his head down on the table. He looked up, waited for his aide to look over at him, and simply said "Call Mom." We had talked about how if he didn't feel well after he got to school, his teachers would call me if he needed anything. And he used his words. As soon as I picked him up from school, he said "Doctor." So we made a call to the pediatrician, and a few hours later he was seen and diagnosed with an ear infection. Medicated with the compounded antibiotic and on the mend now ...

Spindletop Fall Festival

Every year, Grammy invites us out to the Spindletop Fall Festival (held at "Grammy's pool" as Xander has always called it). Aunt Kelly took Connor and Sawyer to the beginning. Xander and I joined them after soccer.









And, most important, the pools were still open since it's still incredibly warm in our part of the world right now ...









And the painted pumpkins we brought home ...

Balance Beam

Sawyer taking a little walk on the balance beam at the local wildlife center.

Rails to Trails

Today everyone was gone except Mommy and Xander. So we headed up the street to the local Rails to Trails path for a little adventure. Xander goes mostly to see the big trucks on the interstate bridge and the food exit signs (visible from one of the trails). I go because it's good for the boys to get some exercise and it's a beautiful trail this time of year ...

Just getting started at the park ...

Taking a bench break along the path ...

I promised him swing at the turn-around point, but someone / something had broken our usual swing and it hung more like a skateboard than an actual swing (Xander didn't seem to mind too much) ...

The beloved "STOP" signs along the way ...

And sitting down to wait for "15" trucks (each time Xander picks a random number of trucks he wants to see, and we wait until he's seen that many before we leave)!

And then his reward, Arby's, of course ...

A&W After Soccer

A little post-soccer snack for Xander and Connor ...

Fountain Pepsi for Xander ...



And fountain root beer for Connor ...

Geocaching

Trying to get kids off their screens and out into the world has gotten pretty challenging these days. I finally convinced the oldest and his buddy H who was over to spend the night that it was too nice of a day to sit inside playing Roblox or Clash of Clans or whatever the newest game is for almost teenagers ...

They opted for geocaching at one of the local city parks.

Okay, it still involved a screen. But the boys were outside, enjoying the beautiful weather, and getting their hands and shoes dirty, so we're calling it a win ...

Labor Day at the Lake

The weather doesn't always cooperate this time of year, but we still had a fun long weekend at Grandma and Grandpa's cabin on the lake for Labor Day weekend ...