Meet the Mocks: Summer Wrap-Up

The last few weeks of summer seemed to go by pretty quickly, as we were out of town every weekend in August. However, when we weren't out of town, our normal day to day life hasn't been documented. I can't remember if I have talked about this before, but this is B's famous "lady walk" as he calls it. He has started mimicking the way I walk and came up with the name all on his own.

The weekends we were here in July, usually wound up with one of the kids coaxing Wes into making pancakes.

"I will get my way!!"

My cousin, Alli, and her two girls came to visit and we all met up for lunch one afternoon. The boys had a blast with Izzy - wish they lived closer to us!!

We have spent some time with Ryan this summer on sight words to prepare him for school (hence, the board on the right), so now B has insisted on his own board. Wes made him a board with letters on it, and as of right now he has learned about 15-16 letters which is about 15-16 more than he knew 6 weeks ago. His eagerness to learn over the past month has skyrocketed which has really surprised us. He has taken a major interest in reading, letters, counting, etc. so we have definitely tried to capitalize on it and encourage him.

The boys attended a few birthday parties a couple of weeks ago. Jacob, his best bud from school last year had his party at Inflatable Katy, and both boys had a blast. You can see B in the background checking out his loot. I am sad they won't be together this year, as I know they will miss each other a lot! Luckily, B and Hannah will still be at school together, so I am sure we will see them often.

We headed to our good buddy, Grant's party straight after for some more off the wall fun. B remembered Westwood from Ryan's birthday party and had a blast.

The first week of August, Wes and I took our first real vacation in nearly two years! We were so excited for 5 nights away together. We stayed at the GoldenEye in Jamaica, and it was pure paradise.

The view from our villa

This trip was just what we needed to reset and take a break from parenting! We slept in every morning, laid by the beach and the pool, read books, ate a ton of good food, imbibed in delicious tropical drinks, and enjoyed each other's company (with no little ones asking for food or needing diaper changes!)!!

They had kayaks, stand-up paddleboards, and a snorkel boat available at all times for the guests. We definitely took advantage of the daily activities which was very peaceful. There was a lagoon on the backside of the property which was gorgeous. The water was like glass and had such a cool vibe to it.

They served coconut water straight from the coconut. I wish we had a coconut tree in Katy!

Our villa from the front

We left the property twice for dinner and the suggested places did not disappoint. We had authentic Italian food one night (weird, I know, in Jamaica!) and delicious, fresh-caught Lobster the other night.

The sunsets were gorgeous - the iPhone did not do them justice

We were definitely excited to see the boys when we got home and came home to this awesome sign that Gigi and Nina helped them with! We were so thankful to them, as well as CoCo and Poppy and everyone else who helped take care of our brood while we were away. It definitely takes a village, but we enjoyed every minute of it.

Fast forward a few weeks after our two trips to Galveston, and it was time to start getting ready for the school year. First up, Ryan got a much needed haircut.

Can't believe he's old enough to be starting big school

B has started an insane bedtime process. It begins with needing his teeth brushed, then hands wiped down, a sip of water, two hugs and two kisses, telling everyone goodnight, getting tucked away in his blanket and usually a few other random things that get added. Sometimes it's a song or a book, other times, he doesn't like the way a picture frame is arranged on his bookshelf or his closet door is slightly cracked when it shouldn't be. If anything is out of place, he will for sure notice it. Bedtime has resulted in a lot of tears as of late, as well as staying up for up to two hours past bedtime crying or just lying in bed. We are really hoping this is a phase and he'll outgrow it soon. He just seems to have a lot of anxiety around certain issues, bedtime being a major one.

He thinks he is happy to be going to bed, but this attitude will change on a dime

Sweet brothers sharing a milkshake at CFA after swim practice.

Our kids clearly tan a little differently from each other.

We finally got around to getting B's haircut last week. As you can see above, he had a total mop going. The kid loves getting his haircut (not that you can tell below). He's already asked twice in one week if we could go back.