Arboretum fun

We went to the arboretum for my favorite yearly trip to see the pumpkins. We walked right in and got a not so bad picture of my favorite four little people. 

Look how big this kid is getting.  I still can't believe every single day that I have a sixth grader. 

And as much as I can't believe how old Zev is, Tahl is actually a tiny big taller than him. He just keeps growing. 

This was my picture of all four kids together. 

Isaac does his own hair now and picks out all the most awesome outfits all on his own every day.  He is definitely our most independent kid. 

And he is really stinkin' cute. 

These two can fight big time, but they are really best of friends over all. 

Maya wasn't so sure she wanted a picture in the pumpkins. 

But she tried. 

All she really wanted was to run and explore. 

I did end up with this cute shot though, so I'm calling it a win. 

Zev truly loves to have his picture taken too. I think it was all the years when I used to bribe him with marshmallows. 

I made everyone get in the car at 7:30 to get to the arboretum before it was crowded, so we got pictures with LITERALLY no one in the background. That never happens.

Here is Maya stopping to check out a bug. 

I tried again to get another cute group shot, but I wasn't as successful as before. 

We also spent time not taking pictures and and just hanging out. We got to play on the paths, and the kids even got to take their shoes off to play in the water.  

 

The last days of September

We had a fun last week or so of September. We had school as usual with some time for Maya to ride her bike out front. 

On the weekend we went to the Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge. 

We saw lots of cool bugs, the frog pictured here, and some cool birds too. 

Maya also got in a little snooze after all her running. 

It was a different place to hike in Dallas than what we are used to, so we had fun. 

Maya had some time for her own version of "home school." 

She really loves to paint and get messy. 

It was an epic disaster, but we went to the drive through state fair to visit Big Tex and eat some corny dogs. We ended up waiting for around three hours. We are hoping next year we can just go to the fair the normal way. 

 

September pictures...

Maya went to Pops and Grams house for four days to help me be better able to assist the big guys with homeschool. I got no pictures of Maya with Pops and Gram, but I got this cute one of her play date with Macey. 

Maya came home and immediate had a delicious feast of water spinach for breakfast. 

This girl's love of (healthy) food cracks us all up. 

We went on a little weekend puddle walk. 

I found Isaac asleep like this one day. He had fallen asleep during his afternoon zoom. 

Z and T got to go up to their school to see what the building and classrooms will look like during in person school with all the changes. 

Zev also got a cool new haircut. 

Tahl shared his Elsa pjs with Maya, and she was so excited. 

Someone else has some exciting news to share! He still needs some practice stopping and starting, but he loves being a big bike rider. 

We went to the dentist. It wasn't as cute for the other kids though. 

We got family pictures made near a big mural in Deep Ellum.  Zev really liked some of the murals and wanted his picture at those too. 

Maya and her horse had fun at the park while the big boys were back at school! 

I also got to take Maya to the zoo on her own while the big boys are back at school. She might like this being the only one home thing more than she thought. 

We went with other friends. We were safe wearing masks and even eating at different tables. 

Is sword fighting with sticks a socially distanced activity? 

They got away from us here a little bit.  I do think its okay though because they were outside and I know how safe the other families are being. 

 

Virtual school week

We have very few pictures for the end of August/start of September.  Virtual school keeps us very busy, so there isn't much time for pictures. 

This is a picture of Maya being a queso hog. 

Zev went to the business Costco with us, and we thought it was funny when we found his name on a giant bag of cheese. 

We had a last swim of the summer.  The kids had lots of fun with dad throwing them up in the air. 

Here is a picture of Tahl being miserable doing IXL for virtual school.  

I found Isaac dancing like this during the zoom dance break. He makes sure to turn the camera to him so everyone sees his awesome moves.