Ballard Bunch

It's Summer!!!!! We are so excited for summer! With the kids getting older and understanding more, it was fun to tell them that school was going to end, and all about summer. Last year, I was really anxious about being bored and the kids driving me crazy at home, so I made a folder of different (and cheap) summer activities. It was helpful, but summer went by so fast we didn't do even half of it!! Our summer plans: - 2 weeks of swimming lessons - weekly movie day (it was $5 for 10 kids movies- all summer!!) - lots of swimming! - surprise trip to Great Wolf Lodge (kids don't know about that yet- Shhhh!) All that plus -fun crafts, seeing friends, girls weekend for mama :), and practicing everything we learned this year in school so we don't forget!! Yesterday was the last day of preschool for the kiddos and it turned out to be a really fun day! Jason was off, and I am already done so we went to have lunch and then we picked up the kiddos and said bye to all our great frie...

We had so much fun this holiday/birthday weekend. As May comes to a close, we are glad to see it go. No school! The craziest month of the year for our family is over!! No school!!! Oh- wait... I think I said that already. :) On Memorial Day, we went to swim at my mom's. The kids know that "after Mommy's birthday, we can swim." My birthday is the 23rd, and we always go to Gran's to swim on Memorial Day. They LOVE the water so much- it is a blast to be in the pool with them. We got them awesome swim vests this year, and those make it alot easier to move their arms and practice swimming motions. We are taking swim lessons the first of June, and I can't wait to see how that goes. They truly have a love for the water, so I am hoping they will be confident to swim "on their own". We shall see... First we had to let Poppa open his presents. Happy Birthday, Poppa!!! Going down the slide- with their vests and an inner tube for fun!! The love to JUMP in!! And...

Walker's class had their end-of-year program/Pre-K graduation today. They sang alot of songs showing how much they learned this year, and wore precious cap and gowns! It was neat and I was so proud of Walker!! I have been so impressed with how much he has learned and matured this year. He is a young one, though, so we are not ready for kindergarten yet. August birthdays- ugh!!! This year flew by! We are looking forward to summer- I already have some things planned for us. I always get anxious before summer that we are just going to be sitting at home driving each other crazy. My kids are great- but if they are stuck at home for too long, they will go crazy!!

Me: (Walking out of the living room) Well, I've got to go do some laundry. Walker: But, I wanna do some laundry!! Me: Alright, get your basket and you can sort your stuff. Walker: YES!!!!!! Lucy: Me, too!!!! Sorting Washing

This week was Baseball Week at the kids' preschool. They dressed up, ate popcorn and hot dogs, and played baseball all week. We don't have a lot of baseball "stuff", we are more of a football family, but it was fun! I really want to go to a Rangers game with the fam, too. I think they would love it. Plus, the first-place Rangers are actually good this year!!! Who knew??! Last night, they decided to dress fancy because they were going to "be married together". They always want to be married, and talk about in the future when they are big like "a mom and a dad" that they will be married together. Jason and I keep telling them that there is someone else out there that they will marry. It's still pretty cute, though. Lucy helping Walker with his buttons It's raining today, so I pulled out a craft Lucy has been wanting to do for a while. Walker made a shaker thing out of a paper plate at school, and Lucy just LOVED it so I bought some beans las...

Oh, man!! I always love reading the funny stories that moms share on their blogs, and I actually wrote this down so I wouldn't forget it. Up in God in what the kids say when they talk about heaven. I guess it's a combo of "up in heaven" and "with God", but that is what they say. When someone dies, they go "up in God". Before Walker was born and in my tummy, he says he was "up in God". Today, we were at the grocery store and they always ask for a sticker. Walker put his sticker on his chin, and said he was an old man. While I was buckling Lucy in, she said, "The old man is dead." Me- "Oh, no!" Walker- "I'm in heaven" Me- "Well, that's good, at least." Walker- "Yeah, so I can play dominoes and eat Sno-Balls!!" Enjoying their treat!! They had gotten Sno-Balls at the grocery store today

What we are loving right now: Dressing like cowboys and cowgirls. This has been a favorite for a while, and who knows how long it will continue. Walker's Wranglers are now too short, so he has to wear other pants, and they were so hot by the end of the day, they couldn't wait to get home and change into shorts. Swimming last week on our vacation really got us in the mood for summer. They know after my birthday (the 23rd), Gran's pool will be ready and it is officially swim time!! They can't wait! I read the Harry Potter series, and after each book we would watch the movie. We had a watched parts of some of the movies before, so the kids were familiar- but we all love it!! The books are amazing, but the movies are really enjoyable! Fun family time!!! After Lucy's hair has been in braids all day, we take it down and she says she has "Hermione hair". Jason and I are trying to talk them into being Harry and Hermione for Halloween. With Walker's longer hair...

Port Aransas Souvenir Shop On Day 3, we went to the Aquarium in Corpus Christi. It was a short drive, and a great idea to add an outside activity to the "beach trip". We LOVE animals, and the kids were just as excited about the aquarium day as the beach experience. It was a neat aquarium!! Pointing out Nemo and Dory Dolphin show Watching the otters Day 4- back to the beach!! Lucy loved looking for shells on this day. We found a wide variety and she was so proud!! I LOVE this picture Again, all Walker wanted to do was "fight the waves" As much as they loved the ocean, and seeing it for the first time- the kiddos really loved their pool!! It is the biggest in Texas, and we went to swim everyday that we were there. They had a waterfall thing, and Walker decided he wanted to slide over it. Nobody else was in the pool with us, and it was a soft padding over the waterfall, so Peepaw allowed it. Daddy wasn't sure about all that, but he still took pictures of it!! OF c...