Little things

We have had lots of little things keeping us busy.
A playdate during naptime, so a good quiet indoor activity

 Lito and Lita sent their traditional popcorn, and apparently Cecilia needed a refill and so helped herself.

 And Gloria has spent the last 6 months earning a puppy (an agreement Austin made with her...without my consent!). We put a reservation on one that will be picked up in a few weeks, so the preparation and excitement have begun. I don't consider myself a "dog person." But I must admit even I am getting a little excited. Gloria and I cleaned out a spot for her together (under Cecilia's changing table in the laudry room).

And some friends of ours had a Narnia dress up birthday party. Here is the "Queen of Narnia" and her wolves.

Swim meet and unpacking

The swimmers had their first USA/Gulf meet this weekend. We got lots of videos but no photos! They swam very well, and the rest of us enjoyed watching them together since Austin usually takes them to these meets on his own.

Then we were able to see Lito and Lita's new house as they continue to move and unpack. They will be only an hour away instead of 4.5 hours like before. The 3 oldest girls stayed for a couple of days to help out and had a grand time, as you can see!

Fall weather and the Pumpkin Patch!

First we played at the park during Mariana's voice lesson...
Anastasia has incredible upper body strength!

 

 

 And Gloria has amazing core strength!

 

 

And of course in honor of the first weather that actually feels fall-ish, we went to the pumpkin patch for pumpkins and pictures.

 

So eager to be big

Cecilia is always trying to imitate the older kids and already insisting on being very independent though she lacks a few months until she actually turns 2. Anytime she finds big kid stuff laying around, she tries to use it. She found Gloria's special prized sequin backpack and promptly put it on and paraded around the house. So cute!

Trip to Spoons for tooth pulling!

Anastasia bravely pulled out her loose tooth all by herself Saturday afternoon. So Sunday evening after dinner we took her to spoons. It sort of doubled as some family time/celebration for Austin completing his most recent rental rehab. So we all partook a little but Anastasia got the most!

Cecilia hasn't been since she was too little to remember, and she thoroughly enjoyed it, as did we watching her!

 

 

First Swim Meet!

Our 4 swimmers had their first swim meet of the season yesterday, and it was in town so we were able to go together. It was so nice for us all to watch them swim. They all did an amazing job, and everyone dropped time in their events. Gloria and Stephen were even chosen to be on relay teams!
We mostly took videos, but I got a few still shots...

 

 

We are excited to see how they do at the first Gulf meet next Saturday!

National Night Out

As if one festival in a week isn't enough, two days after Aquinasfest we had our neighborhood National Night Out party. I was thrilled to be off dinner and driving duty for the evening! And as always, the kids were thrilled with the activities and free sno cones.

 

The big girls generously offered to take Cecilia on the train ride. They may have even enjoyed it a little. ;)

Still climbing...

So glad Stephen has a boy buddy! These two are great friends.

Aquinasfest!

Aquinasfest this year fell on a crazy weekend. Austin left town Thursday afternoon after his birthday lunch with Pawpaw. I was hoping the girls would forget about Friday night Bingo. They didn't, but fortunately Pawpaw was happy to take them, and of course they had friends to hang out with once they were there.

We have a rental listen on airbnb right now, and separate people booked it for Friday night, Saturday night and Sunday night! This meant it had to be completely cleaned and beds changed both on Saturday and Sunday, and our cleaning service doesn't work weekends. So guess who?! I did it on my own Saturday with Pawpaw and Manah helping manage the kids, but I had the kids pitch in Sunday so we could make it to Aquinasfest before it ended. They were a HUGE help! And we made it in time to have some good fun.
Stephen actually dunked Mr. Phillips, and it was this throw...the photo was just a split second before it happened!

 

 

It was a lot for a day but worth it to see the kids enjoying themselves so much on church grounds! And Austin made it home in time for dinner so we could wrap up the weekend together.