Dolfin Swim School ROCKS!!!!

This swim school is absolutely AMAZING - if you have not heard of it - go to their website, http://www.dolfinswimschool.com/ and take a looky-lu... The classes are held at private pools in the University Park and Preston Hollow neighborhoods - it is a trek for us - but, well worth the drive - and money!!! But, we do live and breathe swim school for those 2 weeks!

One thing that I think is SUPER important for kiddos is to learn to be strong swimmers. This school does that. The teacher/student ratio is great - one of the first things they teach the kids is how to roll over and "rest" if ever in trouble. Also, they will do a drill where the children have to come in long sleeves and long pants and "fall" in the pool. This is to help with the disorientation that can happen when you fall into a body of water when not expecting it - and, having to swim with heavy clothes and shoes on as well.

I can't say enough about this school - Maddie (at age 4) went from being terrified of the water and getting her face wet to diving for a rock at the bottom of the pool in 2 weeks!!!

This summer was Maci's first swim lessons - she did great too!!! At age 2 she is now able to "motorboat" the pool and swim to the bottom to pick up her rock!! The video shows her doing her "kangaroo jumps"...so cute!

Doctor anyone?

I just have to share this website I came across that I am loving. It is a place where you can look up a doctor and see patient feedback as to their office staff, bedside manner, helpfulness, etc.

It is www.ratemds.com. While on this topic - who are your favorite doctors?

Here are mine:

Dr. Michelle Heintges (OBGYN)

Dr. Jerald Michaelson (Dermatologist)

Dr. John Porter (Pediatrician)

Dr. Dennis Kay (Opthamologist)

Momma horses don't have 3 holes!

Who knew?

Birds, bees, horses???

This morning, we went over to a friend's house in our old neighborhood for a playdate. Most of the kiddos are around 3 with younger siblings...this is actually Maci's playgroup, but she can't go during the year b/c she is in MDO on Wednesdays - and Momma is not giving that one up!!

So, we are driving on Sachse Road and see the horses - stupid me makes the comment, "Hey, look at the horses....". Maddie peeks out the window - I think she will just comment on how pretty they are, can we ride one, feed one, etc. - but, instead, she asks me:

"How do baby horses come out?". (WHAT!!!!!?????????? )

So, I say to her, "well they are in their tummies like Mommies have their babies". Case closed, right?

Maddie: "Do they cut them out or do they come out of a hole?"

Me: "Well, depends - possibly either way...."

Maddie: "Where is the hole?"

Me: "On their bottom..."

Maddie: "How do they pee?"

Me: "They have another hole for that."

Maddie: "How do they poop?"

Me: "There is another hole for that."

Maddie: "So momma horses have 3 holes?"

Me: "Yes." (of course I know where this is headed...)

Maddie: "Momma, how many holes do you have?"

Me: "(Ahem) 3"

Maddie: How many holes does Daddy have?

Me: "(AHEM) 2"

Maddie: "Hmmmmm. Are we almost to Kimberly's?"

Maybe not Grand Cayman but still fun....

I am sad to report, that we did not get our long awaited vacation to Grand Cayman afterall:( Jim and I had planned to meet my sister and her girlfriend there but as we looked at the weather reports, there was a HUGE tropical depression in that area dumping TONS of rain. I don't know about you, but the last place in the world I want to be during tropical weather is on a flat island - YIKES!!!

So, we started damage control plans.....first, we were going to just road trip to Florida's Emerald Coast (Destin area) - but, then that plan got tanked - long story - won't bore you with the details. In the end, my sister and I have decided that we will all try and go somewhere at the end of summer - maybe Mexico or Hawaii - somewhere tropical for sure....

Well, Jim I and I did something that many of our friends have done tons of times with their family - but we never have - we decided to take the girls on a vacation - just the 4 of us!!! It is not that we haven't traveled with all in tow - however, we are usually accompanied by MiMi and Papa or Pop and Grandmomma - never just US ....we feel so GROWN UP now - we survived our first family vacation all alone - imagine that - AND, wanna know where we went....Austin for one night and then Schlitterbaun for two!!!!

First we went to the Austin Childrens Museum which was FANTASTIC - they have a pretend Austin City Limits stage where the kids can pretend they are famous musicians - they can dress up, do the stage lights, pick the songs and see themselves on the monitor. As you can see - my kids aren't shy....

Then the next day we toured the Capitol - Maddie actually requested to tour it - isn't that amazing!!!!!! So, how do we turn that down.....

Later that day, we went shopping in San Marcos and zipped on down to our Featured Destination - Schlitterbaun. The #1 Waterpark in the WORLD for 10 years in a row - Grand Cayman can't top that baby.....well, maybe it can but let's not dwell on that.... The kids (and us) had a blast. So much so, that we have booked another trip there in August!!!! We stayed at the resort located at Schlitterbaun - so, it was SUPER convenient with young kiddos - especially one still in diapers. There was so much for tots to do as well - I had no idea - Maci has zero fear and went down all the slides with the speed of lightning - the crazier the landing, the more she loved it!!! Her favorite slide was the "octopus" - she can't say hamburger but she can sure tell you about the "octopus"!!!!

Maddie and Jim rode every single ride out there I think - she is a dare-devil too!!! Which she so did not get from me. My sweet little 7 year old went on the Master Blaster (the best watercoaster in the world apparently) and LOVED it - she took me the next day and I actually liked it - even though I was white as a ghost boarding it - she took great pleasure in my fear (too much I think???).

Grand Cayman Baby!!!

Yep - that's right. Jim and I are heading for Grand Cayman on May 31st for 7 days!!!!! We have a 2 bedroom condo on the beach, so my sister and her girlfriend are coming too. I can't wait!! It has been a LOOOoooong time since we went on a "real" vacation (you know, all adults and no kids). Of course I am a bit stressed thinking about leaving them for so long - Maddie will do fine - she is used to spending tons of time with her grandparents - she quite frankly - prefers it. Maci on the other hand has not spent that much time away from me (she will be 3 in September) and is a momma's girl. Which I totally LOVE, but trying to leave her for this length of time, will not be easy or her (or ME!).

I hope all of you moms out there had a great Mother's Day yesterday.....Mine was great. Maddie performed in the Children's Musical, "Rock Solid" (both services) and then afterwards we went to one of my favorite restaurants - Kyoto - love the hibachi grill places. It was Maci's first time there and it kinda freaked her out at first - but, once she started seeing the food dumped on her plate, her attitude quickly changed. I have never seen a 2 year old little girl eat so much in my life!!! She was dancing while she ate (that is how you can tell if she is really enjoying her meal!). Maddie was wowed at the "volcano" the guy made as well as fried rice shaped in a heart - he even made it beat. Very cool!

Afterwards, I tucked Maci in for a nap, and Jim took Maddie for a swim in our pool. So what did Momma opt to do........well, SHOP (of course!). I met my mother at Firewheel Mall and we had a great time together.

I promise I will post more regularly!!!!!

Maddie's 7th Birthday

It is hard to believe that Maddie is already 7 YEARS OLD!!! In some ways it seems like only yesterday that we were eagerly awaiting her birth - and on the other hand, it was a lifetime ago! This year, we decided to do a scavenger hunt birthday party for her. This was quite the undertaking for the anti-creative soul that I am!!! But, I don't know about everyone else, but it seems like they are charging more and more to host birthday parties "off location" these days. I mean come on - why should it cost $250 - $300 to have a birthday party somewhere.

So, I decided we would do this party at home. I bought little wooden treasure chests that my dad spray painted purple (thank you Dad!), that the kids decorated with stickers, and gem stickers and I had a Bible verse that we pasted inside.

Once the kids were finished with this, we divided them up into 2 teams. Each team had a digital camera and would have to find the clue but also do an activity for a picture. I hired youth from our church to run the hunt (and do the craft) - they would have things like - "I have keys but they don't unlock the door . . ."KEYBOARD. "I made Snow White fall fast asleep" . . .APPLE.

Well, it ended up that they looked for the clues which led them to the final Treasure Chest and then they filled up the mini chests that they had decorated earlier - IT WAS A FABULOUS PARTY!!



Now, let's rewind - Me and Maddie had spent the night in the ER - she started having breathing problems during her soccer game the day before - it later escalated into major abdominal pains. So, after a battery of tests thru the night and the diagnosis of Maddie needing to poop and maybe has exercise induced asthma - we returned home at 4 AM!!!



So, these clues that I came up with were from sleep deprived state in about one hour's time before the party - and it went well - I am so excited!!