A Day at the Dallas Arboretum

It's hard to believe that 11 months ago I purchased tickets to the Dallas Arboretum and we are just now getting a chance to use them! Monday morning we dressed up the boys, packed picnic lunches and headed out to the Dallas Arboretum where I was hoping to capture a few cute pics of the boys. The lesson I learned is that getting 2 boys to smile is easy, it's getting the 3rd one to cooperate that was the hard part. And you would think that cooperation would come from the oldest but not true...Luke is unable to look and smile at the camera for any group picture! He loves to have his picture taken alone but cannot take a group picture. I suppose he doesn't like sharing the "lime light". In any case, we enjoyed walking through the Arboretum, checking out the fish in the ponds, exploring the child-sized buildings in "Texas Town" and checking out the lily pads (which was exciting for Nolan because in kindergarten they spent an entire week studying pond life!). My sister Jackie joined us for the Labor Day weekend and beyond! She is helping take care of Dane this week before she heads back to Missouri on Friday. All of the boys (especially Luke) are going to miss her dearly! Who else will read books to him and fetch him "fresh water" at bedtime?!?!

Let the posing begin! Luke strikes a pose the moment we get into the gardens.

Nolan and Luke photo opp!

Nolan and Dane

Dane smiling for the camera

An attempt at a family picture

Aunt Jackie posing with her 3 Texas nephews!

Brotherly love (and then right after this picture was taken Nolan instructed Luke to get off of him!)

Sisters!

Luke and Nolan posing with me!

Too tired to smell the roses!

1st Day of School - 2010

The official start of school began today with great anticipation last night! Luke went to sleep right on time but Nolan just couldn't get to sleep. I guess the anticipation of 1st grade was just too much. At 10pm I bid him my final good night. This morning both boys got dressed, ate their pop tarts and did their obligatory 1st day of school picture poses. As you can see, Luke's beloved "chicken" was available for pictures this morning as well. 1st day of school is such a terrible rush! Before we even had time to video tape the event we were walking into Nolan's elementary school and back out again in what felt like 2 minutes flat. Kids and parents were everywhere! This year Nolan looked a bit more apprehensive than I remember him looking last year in Kindergarten.

Next stop, Primrose! Luke is officially a "big kid" and now he attends Pre-K in a new classroom. This year Luke will wear his official Primrose uniform and rejoin some friends from last year's preschool classroom. His teachers are Ms. Babe and Ms. Garcia. We know Ms. Garcia from Nolan's Pre-K school year and she's soooo excited to have another "Wilson boy" back in class with her. Both teachers are young and hip so I think he'll have a great year too!

As for me, no tears (who has time, anway?!) Just lots of pride knowing that they are happy and well adjusted little boys happy to be in a learning environment. Last year and this year I took off work for their 1st day of school and I think I am going to make this my new tradition. I like being able to take my time with them in the morning and I enjoy every moment of it.

Nolan - 1st Grade (2010)

Luke - Pre-K (2010)

Luke & Nolan - 1st day of school (2010)

Nolan with Mrs. Robinson

Luke getting ready to enter Primrose (he's finally growing into his backpack!)

Oh Dane...seriously?

Call him an explorer who ventures into territories where his older brothers have never gone before...the toilet bowl! It's too bad that I wasn't able to snap a picture of him when I first found him because that picture would have shown him sitting in the bowl like a bird in a nest. And he was smiling so big! Tonight felt like a F4 tornado hit our house. Dane began the evening by shimmying under the baby gate which keeps Dane and Lucy out of the cat food and cat box (or at least now it keeps Lucy out). He was helping himself to huge handfuls of cat food which I had to extract with my finger from his clenched shut jaws. Guess what? He bites!! I finally had to let him chew up the last few pieces (ewwwww...gross, I know!) It was shortly thereafter when I found him in the toilet bowl. Is it too much to ask for a few minutes to change clothes and use the potty? Apparently so! Then, when I was getting everyone ready for bed I went into Luke's room and found ALL of Luke's books pulled off the shelves in his closet and scattered across the room. I don't think I can blame that one on Luke...I'm convinced that "Tornado Dane" barreled through Luke's room as well! And just like a tornado, the havoc he created took him probably less than 3 minutes!

Santa Fe Trip 2010

This year our summer vacation plans got cut short due to my starting a new job however we made the most of a long weekend with wonderful weather in Santa Fe. Drew, boys and Grandma and Grandpa headed out of town on Thursday morning and after a long day of driving arrived in Santa Fe early evening. I was the lucky winner who got to work all day and fly to Santa Fe on Thursday night! The boys took several hiking trips with our main trip being made to Bandelier National Monument. It was beautiful and the weather was perfect...well, almost perfect! Just as we were approaching Alcove House to climb a series of wooden ladders it poured rain on us! Of course to the boys, that was the best part of the day!

On Saturday morning we went to the farmer's market and it was the most wonderful scene of fresh produce I have ever seen! Sally and I purchased fresh basil, beefeater tomatoes, oyster mushrooms, white corn on the cob and fresh peaches and declared that we would be eating in for dinner! We whipped up the most wonderful pesto pasta with shrimp! Yummmmm....

Luke loved picking plums at the "sita" (aka casita aka single wide trailer in a 55+ community!) and they both loved to go swimming at the pool. Sunday morning we all headed to church (well, most of us anyway) at the St Francis of Assisi Basilica. It is a beautiful Catholic church in the middle of quaint downtown Santa Fe. Afterwards we spent the morning perusing the beautiful Indian jewelry. What a shame when all good things have to come to an end. I flew home Sunday night and Drew, Luke and Dane drove home on Monday. Nolan was the winner as he managed to tag along on a trip to San Diego with Grandma and Grandpa Wilson! 10 full days of fun and sun near the ocean! I can't wait to see him when he gets home!

A Mike McLintock trademark which I am officially adopting (it's a compliment ya know!). This is so you know where we are!

A very important plaque...Drew's Grandpa Milo (Sally's father) was one of the men who passed through this portal by designing the bombay of the Enola Gay. What amazing family history!

Dane was such a fabulous hiker!

Nolan and Grandma Sally

Luke and Nolan posing

Family picture

An amazing view from one of the small caves

Pointing out the Indian carvings in the side of the mountain

Luke climbing a ladder at the top of Alcove House

Nolan climbing the same ladder in Alcove House

Our views from Alcove House! Breathtaking!

Dane knows what to do when I whip out my camera!

Just the guys!

Did you know...

This post is for those of you who aren't avid Facebook users. This past weekend I had an interesting conversation with Nolan about numbers. He recognizes that numbers go on forever and then proceeded to tell me about the number called "cake". While initially perplexed Drew and I had a good chuckle when we realized he really meant "pi"!!!

Nolan and Luke's biggest fan!

That's right...this little guy was shuttled to every game this season, sometimes even plucked out of bed in the early morning to get to the game on time! Naps were sacrificed and often times meals were cheerios and grapes on the go! Yes siree, he IS the best fan a brother could have! Here is a great shot of Dane attending one of Luke's early morning Blastball games!

Luke - Sports Update

Luke also played a sport this spring..what locals here call Blastball! This was his 2nd season and he loved Dodger blue! He would always say, "We going to play 'Go Dodger' today?" There's nothing like watching a group of 3-4 year olds all dressed up in their baseball pants, shirts and hats to make a mother say "ahhhhhh"!

Luke was so excited about his new uniform he had to try it on right before bedtime!

One of my favorite pictures although I'm not sure what happened Luke had a few tears but nothing Coach Brent couldn't make better!

Luke giving the ball a 'whack' off the T!