Playdate with Rosy and Miss Jennifer

Marvin and I went to the UT game with Sandy and Barrett tonight, which meant Rosie came over for a playdate with the girls and Miss Jennifer babysat. They had just a bit of fun.

Pease Peace Makers

Instead of Smart ticket winners this year, the girls' school is trying Pease Peace Makers, where students are recognized for acts of kindness throughout the week. Larkin and many of her third grade buddies were deemed Peace Makers at this morning's assembly. Afterward, I said "Larkin, let me get your picture real quick," and without missing a beat, everyo of these kids just jumped on in. They know how to pose for the camera, for sure!!

First and Third!

Larkin was cheerful, and Logan was, in her words, "so nervous" about the first day of school. Larkin's classes this year are on the third floor of the school, so she's got a beautiful view out the windows. She has Ms. Martinez for reading and Social Studies and Ms. Dvorak for science and math. Logan has Ms. Graham, who taught Larkin when she was in first grade, too. They've both reported tonight that they had a good first day, and Logan was pleased that she read a book of colors to Ms. Graham. Fingers crossed that her courage will continue.

Back-to-School Potluck

Larkin takes after her mama in that she keeps crying at random intervals about going back to school. But she still loved seeing her friends at the Pease Potluck tonight. She starts third grade and Logan starts first grade on Tuesday. Logan has decided this event should be called a "Meetluck," which I kind of love.

Tonsil Tuesday!

This morning, Logan had her tonsils and adenoids removed. We went in at 6 AM, she was taken back for surgery at 7:20, and she was back with us by 7:45. We had to stay at the surgery center till 9:45 for observation, but she's really handled the whole thing very well. She's eating popsicles and Jell-O like it's her job, and she hasn't shed a tear yet. We will see how night one goes, but we are hoping to stay ahead of the pain with meds every three hours.
Thanks, M.A. and Jimmy for the Get Well bouquet!

Pre-op smiles and cuddles with her new porcupine lovie:

Making sure her gap from her lost tooth is showing:

Almost time!

Sleeping it off in post-op while her worried big sister stands by.

Home and all smiles!

Waterslides!

I took the girls to Bartholomew Pool near our house this afternoon. It's a city pool that is very popular, so naturally I've avoided it until today. I was curious how the girls would take to a couple of features of the pool--one is this obstacle course type thing where, while hanging on to a rope above your head, you step along these big lilypads that are tethered loosely to the bottom of the pool. The lilypads move around enough that it is a challenge. I also wanted to see what they would think about the giant waterslides. They both did the lilypads course without much trouble but took a little convincing to try the waterslides. Once they did, though, they were all smiles.

Home!

And reuniting with her lovies:

A West Texas Welcome

We drove from Santa Fe to Snyder, TX yesterday, hitting rough weather almost as soon as we crossed into Texas. A few dust storms, miles of torrential rain, and constant heavy winds accompanied us to Snyder. On the way home now under sunny skies, thankfully!

Meow Wolf--House of the Eternal Return

We spent the morning at Meow Wolf--an artist collective that has constructed an interactive exhibit called the House of Eternal Return. I can't really describe it in any way that does it justice, but it starts with a house that you enter and wander through. Then, the closer you look, the more portals in the house you can find that take you to these wild dreamscapes or other dimensions or who knows what? The exhibit actually tells a story about a family, and every piece of it (down to handwritten science journals and home videos playing on loop) is in some way connected to the story. But chasing after kids left little room for figuring out that story, so luckily you can also just enjoy the strange through-the-looking-glass experience for just that. We know the story was something about a set of twins named Lex and Morgan. Lex disappears at some point, and Morgan records various ways they are trying to locate him and bring him home. There's also something involving a 40-year-old, possibly-robotic pet hamster that keeps showing up in various places. All I know is that I spent the morning climbing through fireplaces, refrigerators, and dryers and climbing up and down various types of spiral staircases. Larkin said it was her favorite part of the whole trip. It was pretty wild, folks, and well worth a trip to see it!

The outside of the house

The only portal I took a photo of, but there were secret passageways in every room of the house.

The last entry of Lex's science journal. 

All other photos are in no particular order.

Inside a random RV with a window that looked like they were in Arches NP. Of course, this was buried in one of the dream worlds.

Those rib bones play notes when hit by drumsticks:

Into the dryer!

 which was a slide into this crawl space. ↙️

There were also a few mimes/aliens scattered throughout who would interact with you. This one in the cafe area was fascinated by the girls' light-up shoes.