Summer Gymnastics with Alcee

For the past four weeks, Riley has been taking gymnastics classes at Ivanov’s. Long story short, Diana invited him to take four classes with Alcee this summer, which we graciously accepted. The two friends had fun together, but I think it’s very safe to say that neither one of them will grow up to be a gymnast.

  

The teachers spent most of the sessions telling Riley and Alcee to come back and join their group. They kept running off to distant areas of the gym. Too funny. They were so excited to see each other that they just wanted to play!

  

 

Both of them missed the third week but were back together again for their last class. They goofed off a decent bit but did most of what their teacher asked of them. Riley did so well with his tumblesets and on the trampoline. Such a difference from last time!

  

As for me, I spent each 45-minute session dealing with a very squirmy, very restless one-year-old who desperately wanted to be out in the gym with the big kids. He completely wore me out.

After their last class was over and Riley and Alcee had gotten their coveted stamps, we packed up and headed out to get an early dinner at Atomic Burger.

Luckily, we were the only people in there for most of our meal because the two older ones were nuts. They were running around, yelling to hear their echoes, and loudly quoting songs from Robots. But they ate pretty good and had a fun time and that’s all that matters.

Thanks so much, Diana, for asking us to join y’all in this mini gymnastics adventure. It was great spending time with y’all!

Ten Things

1. Random Riley: trying on one of Daddy’s ties, being a boxhead with Daddy, and showing off his new TMNT sunglasses and shoes.

2. We have been buying lots of fruit from Sam’s lately since these two love some of the most expensive kinds. Here are the brothers riding next to each other on two recent trips to stock back up on blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries. (And lots of other stuff.)

 

3. A former boss of mine, Gaye, recently came back to New Orleans for a few days. I was lucky enough to see her for dinner one night. It was so great catching up over a great meal at Maximo’s.

4. Some of the girls got together and treated our preggers friend Amy to brunch a couple of Sundays ago before she got too close to her due date. We went to the Audubon Clubhouse: such a pretty spot in the city that I had actually never seen before! We also brought some of our favorite children’s books to add to her collection for her new little man, who actually made his debut a few days early. (Amy went into labor yesterday but still hadn’t had the baby by late last night. I will update with info when I have it!)

5. I had two fun nights out sans kiddos last weekend: a NORC dinner at Nola last Friday and a girls dinner at Amici on Saturday.

5. This is how Riley watches tv:

Or like this:

Or this:

Or this:

Wonk potatoes.

6. I wish his face in the first was the same in the second, but I love these pics of Riley. I took them outside of Target last week. In fact, I may just have to take more the next time we’re there.

7. Practicing writing his name. I need to have him do this more.

  

8. There have been oodles of dragonflies around here lately. I love seeing them. This guy actually hung out on my finger for awhile one afternoon at Nola and Nopsi’s.

9. Walking man. It’s all he wants to do lately.

  

10. Loving my new summer snoball door hanger. So cute!

Have a wonderful weekend, y’all!

Summer Days, Part One

I am proud to say that I have been continuing the “Wacky Wednesday” tradition quite well so far. However, our fun outings haven’t always been on Wednesdays. We have actually been doing things on Terrific Thursdays, with a Fun Friday and a Magnificent Monday thrown in for good measure as well.

As for what we’ve been doing, we’ve been getting together with Riley’s school friends Claire and Alcee almost every week since they finished PK3. Dana is off every Thursday, so that’s why we’ve been getting together on those days. Diana and Alcee were out of town, but Dana brought Claire and Colin over to play on the morning of May 29, which was our first summer playdate. They had a great time here, and then we all went to Chick-Fil-A for lunch, where we met up with Kelli, Julia, and Jack.

  

The next week I invited everyone over to Nola and Nopsi’s house to swim after Riley’s swimming lesson was over. Kelli wasn’t able to make it, but Dana brought Claire and Colin and Diana brought Alcee. We had lots of fun swimming and then feasting on a yummy lunch. (Thanks again, Nopsi, for grilling, and also thanks to Nola for making cookies for us!)

 

We also had a lagniappe outing the very next day when we went to bounce with Kelli, Julia, and Jack. That’s when Rory did all of that walking.

The week after that Diana invited Dana and I to her house. The kids played inside for a bit, went outside to jump on the big trampoline, and then convinced us to go for a swim. Another fun afternoon!

This week Kenny and I have been a little under the weather but I did still do something fun for Riley. I took him to see How to Train Your Dragon 2 on Monday afternoon. Kelli, Julia, and Jack came too.

I was hesitant to go back to the theater so soon after seeing Rio 2 (during which Riley’s behavior solely revolved around snacks and not the movie), but we had a talk beforehand and he ended up behaving quite well, even while sitting next to Jack. At one point, Riley looked over at me and had the biggest smile in his face, so I was really glad we went. Plus, the movie was really good.

I’m just crossing my fingers that I get better soon, and that the boys don’t pick up what Kenny and I have. We still have lots more to do this summer!