Deja Boo!

It doesn't seem like Halloween without the ghost cookies! 

For a minute, we thought maybe we lost the old school-three fingered ghost cookie cutter, but fortunately it turned up at Grandma's house just in time for Halloween. Thank goodness... only treats!

African Adventure in Fresno!

For months, we've visited the zoo and knew they were working on a new addition... it recently opened and we decided to check it out.  It was AMAZING!  We were blown away.  I cannot even describe it in words and the photos don't do it justice.  You definitely forget you're in Fresno!   

 

Ben was so excited to see a rhinoceros in person, since he's never seen one before...

Kara said she loved everything about the new African Adventure area... 

And Jason wore his new "Zoovengers" shirt out of the zoo! 

So if anyone is heading our way... we've got a must-see!  And the zoo is great as well :)

Firsts of the Season

Kara scored her first goal of the season.  From where we were sitting, all the way on the other side of the field, it was hard to tell who scored, but as the girls were running back, Kara had a huge smile on her face and one of the other moms said, "That was Kara for sure.  Did you see that smile?"

Ben has always enjoyed playing goalie, in part, I think, because there is less running involved.  Today he didn't play goalie at all, but instead started as a defender and in the second half, he was a forward.  I looked over to one of the grandparents on the sideline and questioned, "Why are they playing Ben there?"   Ben did such a good job - I've never seen him play so aggressively and go after the ball with such determination.  It was awesome.

Jason is the player that while the game is going, he waves and says hello or he runs over to me to give me a mid-game hug.  Who can resist such cuteness??

I must say, I didn't play soccer growing up and I've never enjoyed watching soccer on TV, but it is so much fun to watch these kids on the field and cheer for them.  It's official... I am a proud soccer mom, van and all!

A Hat-Trick Weekend

So I am using the hat-trick phrase very liberally... and maybe you'll guess what happened this weekend.

Though Jason seemed to have a better game this weekend and had some shots on goal, he did not score three goals during his game.  But he smiled and had fun while trying!

Ben usually spends half the game playing goalie, which he enjoys, so he also did not score three goals (but he probably stopped three!).

And Kara had a great game also, and no, she did not drink three Gatorades during her game...

The amazing part of the weekend was that Ben lost three teeth!  He's had three loose teeth for awhile now and we've been waiting for them to fall out or get knocked out during soccer.  He lost one on Friday and two on Sunday.  He's keeping the Tooth Fairy very busy!

So this weekend's hat-trick had nothing to do with sports, but I think this might be almost as rare!

311

Kara has always done well with reading and taking the computer tests that score if she's really read and comprehends the story.  Most of the books she's read are worth a couple of points and they all get added together so she can reach her trimester goal.  The book she just finished and took her test on was a long one... the longest one yet... 311 pages to be exact.  And she aced the test, earning 10 points towards her goal. 

She was very proud and we were very excited and impressed.  This called for some celebration... so after dinner we went to Jeb's for ice cream and Kara ordered a double-scoop sundae.

Almost equally as impressive, she polished off that sundae on our ride home!

Soccer Saturday

Saturday started soccer season!  Despite a Friday night family play date, which put the kids to bed pretty late, they were up early for their first soccer games of the season.

For two years, Jason has been going to soccer games, wearing hand-me-down uniforms, just to feel like part of the gang.  He finally gets his own uniform and his own game!

Looking at the schedule, we've got two kids playing many Saturdays at the same time on opposite ends of the school... and after Ben's game, I felt myself starting to lose my voice... it's gonna be a fun season!

"Tomorrow can be Friday"

Jason went back to preschool last Friday and though he wasn't super eager to start school again, he happily greeted his new teachers and had fun at school. 

To mark his first day back (and since we no longer have to rush to pick Ben up at 12:15pm), we went to Foster's Freeze for lunch.  I don't think I've had a meal here since high school and I forgot how much I enjoy the floats and fries!  I suggested to Jason that maybe we should go to Foster's every Friday to which he replied, "tomorrow can be Friday."

This week was the start of soccer practice for all three of the kids.  Even though it's still super hot at 5pm, everyone seemed to enjoy practice.  Only a few more weekends until our Saturday mornings will be spent on the sidelines cheering for these kiddos.

Clay's tradition is to have a Roller Towne outing at the beginning of the school year, so today Ben and Kara both laced up their skates and around the rink they went! 

Last year Ben kept his skates on for about five minutes.  This year he worked up a sweat and had a lot of fun doing it.

Kara also had fun skating and when taking this picture with Kiara, who has been her best friend since kindergarten, I was reminded of their first skate together three years ago and how fast time flies.

Just to add to the fun Friday, we had the Carrasco kids over after school.  The kids had fun and will definitely sleep well tonight!

After all the fun today, I'm sure they'll all want it to be Friday again tomorrow :)