Recap of end of summer

I told you that we tried to do a few fun and special things to wrap up the summer and kick off the new year, but I never posted any of those pictures. I know you are over the curiosity and have totally forgotten, but since I use this to keep a record of our lives I thought I would post them for me.

Right before school started we took the kids to the Water park at the Villages. We intended to go to Splash Kingdom but the weather was bad so we had to compromise and try the indoor water park. Our sweet friends the Bryans offered to watch Andrew so we could go with less stress and it was a HUGE help! The first 30 minutes or so threatened to be disastrous. They have this huge bucket of water that fills up every 30 minutes or so and then dumps gallons upon gallons of water on whoever is below. Becca hated this! We couldn't get near the area without tears and she even got upset when we weren't around the water and it fell because it was just too stinkin loud! Eventually she got used to it, got over her fear and we had a good time. Aidan needed a little bit to warm up also but he did get braver over the course if the day and he had a good time. Here are some pictures.

Then we went to dinner in Dallas at the Rain Forest Cafe with my brother and his family and my sister and dad. We decided to pick a place the kids would enjoy since it was the Friday before school started. We had planned to let Aidan pick any place he wanted to go which would mean Chucky Cheese or McDonald's but since we were in Dallas for my grandmothers funeral we changed plans and chose a place for him. It was really fun. It is a great atmosphere and the kids liked it. There were a few points when the noises were a bit much for Rebecca and she needed to hold daddies hand...isn't that just too sweet! Here are some more pictures:





And finally we read the Kissing Hand book and made Kissing Hand cookies. This is a cute book about a raccoon going to school and his mom sends him to school with a kiss on his hand so he can know that she is sending him her love throughout the day. It is a really cute book and was probably more special for me than Aidan. Here are the cookies we made.

We used hand shaped cookie cutters and placed a Hershey kiss in the middle. I don't know exactly what we did wrong but these cookies did not come out right...but they sure were cute and it was fun to do together.
And since I am recapping our lives with pictures why not add these:
Aidan reading to Andrew

Aidan attempting to teach Becca chess. His daddy taught him how to play and he knows the rules but isn't great at strategizing yet. He has trouble finding a partner to play with and since I don't know how I am not much help.

Sweetness between the Boys