Game-a-thon

Soon after Amy and Jason moved here, they suggested that our extended Texas family start having monthly "game-a-thons." We all agreed that it was a great idea! All subsequent game-a-thons have followed a similar pattern: eating snacks, opening ceremonies/"torch" lighting, playing kid games, putting kids to bed, playing adult games.

Amy and Jason hosted our first game-a-thon. Every family member had to briefly hold the light bulb "torch" before passing it along. Ian had the honor of actually lighting the torch. (And, yes, Ian and Ryan are both wearing ninja costumes to this event. And, yes, Ian's is backwards. Ha!)

Jason and Amy had thought through a lot of fun kid games -- including some relays including transferring water,

moving ice with a spoon,

finding hidden tennis balls,

throwing balls into targets,

and running from one side of the yard to the other while avoiding the "shark."

Everyone enjoyed Amy's homemade popsicles.

We adults enjoyed playing Stone Age after the kids (well, at least the older kids :)) had gone to bed.


Our family hosted the second monthly game-a-thon. After our torch lighting,

and some snacks and group hugs,

we played "Are You Sleeping, Mr. Bear?"

as well as some other games! What a fun tradition! :)

Gymnastics Class

I was excited to see a Groupon-type deal late last spring on gymnastics classes for the boys. The boys had talked for months about the fun they had after attending a birthday party for one of Ian's classmates at this kids' gym, named K2 Academy. So, I thought that both of the older boys would enjoy giving gymnastics a try. They did!

Ryan was a bit reluctant to participate during his first class. Ryan's coach,  Shenoah, allowed Ian to join in for the first few minutes until Ryan was comfortable. (Yes, Ian is dressed as a policeman! Ha!) Ryan warmed up quickly and then participated and followed directions well. Throughout his five lessons, I was impressed by the "stations" that Ryan's coach set up for the children to do, including things like forward rolls, balance beam, bars, trampoline, jumping, stretching, etc. Ryan seemed to especially like the hopscotch board and walking along the balance beams. He was VERY proud that he learned how to forward roll as well

Ian enjoyed the gymnastics classes from the beginning. His coach, Hayley, included a lot of calisthenic-type activities for the boys, including some running, jumping, stretching, squats, etc. They learned how to do a backward roll, some cartwheel and headstand basics, and experimented with seat-drops and other jumps on the trampoline. Ian was able to do all that Hayley asked him to do and was proud to show off his newly-learned backward roll to anyone who came over to our house.

Both boys enjoyed their gymnastics classes, but they also seemed ready to be done when the five classes were over. Maybe sometime we'll try gymnastics again, but for now we'll give another activity a try ... :)

Here are some videos of the boys in action ...

Family Fun in July

It's time to get back to doing some blogging ... :) While I'm tempted to just skip ahead seven months to the present, I want to keep things in order so that I can eventually turn these blog posts into a family photo album of sorts. (Speaking of which, has anyone had their blog printed and liked the company they went with? I want to look into that...)Plus, it's fun to reminisce!

Here are some fun things we did in July ...
We went to the Second Saturday in Tomball's Christmas in July celebration. These Texas kids loved the pretend (soap bubbles-type) snow. Afterward, we cleaned off in the splash pad at the depot.

We enjoyed a family movie night!

We went on multiple family bike rides, including some to visit and feed the turtles in the gulley in a nearby neighborhood. Yes, the older boys wanted to wear their dress-up costumes in the bike trailer. And Nathan overall really likes being in the bike seat. There's a lot to look at while we ride around.

We enjoyed a trip to the zoo with Aunt Chelsea and Isaiah. Now that it's been so long, I can't remember where Uncle Jon was (maybe taking his graduate classes in MN?). We enjoyed seeing the new gorilla exhibit. The older exhibits, including the reptile house, were still the favorites. There's something fun about trying to find the camoflauged animals within the displays, I think. We also got to ride the zoo carousel.

This makes me excited about summer again ... and maybe another trip to the zoo before that! :)