First Day of School!!!

All packed up and ready to go!

Jacob and his sweet teacher Mrs. Sullivan

Ready to work!

Jacob had a fantastic first day of Kindergarten!  I got lots of reports from teachers around the school that he was doing great and having fun!  He was having so much fun that he was sad to leave!  When I saw him after dismissal he told me he was worn out but had the best day!  

Kindergarten!

Jacob can't wait to start Kindergarten on Monday morning!  He met his teacher, Mrs. Sullivan, and saw his classroom on Friday night and is so excited to go to school with mommy and be a Bennett Bear!!!

Rangers Fan

In just a matter of days, Jacob will officially be a Kindergartener!  We found out who his teacher will be and he'll be able to meet her and see his classroom at Blast Off on Friday evening.  While I went back to work last Thursday, Nathan has been staying home with the boys and having lots of fun!  To help celebrate the beginning of school, he and Jacob went to a Rangers game on Monday night, the last time they'll be able to stay up so late on a weeknight.  Jacob had such a great time and was fast asleep when they returned home just a little before midnight.

Fun at Main Event!

On Saturday afternoon, we took the boys to Main Event in Frisco to help celebrate cousin Brady's 6th birthday.  Jacob really enjoyed bowling and the arcade games at Drew's party back in April, so he was super excited to show Jonah around!

Ready for his turn!

A little help from Daddy

Silly time!

My favorite boys!

Playing Fruit Ninja with Daddy

Flashback Friday

Summer 2012

Ft. Worth

This past weekend, we decided to take the boys to Ft. Worth as a last hurrah before school starts back up again.  Planning began when Jacob saw a commercial on PBS for a museum in Ft. Worth with a special Lego exhibit.  After further research, we discovered that the CR Smith Museum is located near DFW airport and we decided to book our little vacay!

We left home after lunch on Friday and headed right for the CR Smith Museum near Euless.  Not only did it have the Lego exhibit, but the museum itself is part of American Airlines and tells about the history of aviation.  Jacob loved looking at all the information about planes as well as the Legos!

This picture is the only evidence that Jacob was not the only person on this trip!

If you know anything about Jacob, you know he is absolutely obsessed with Legos right now, so this was his dream!

Building a car to race daddy

Wait!  More evidence- there's Daddy! 

Jacob loved touring a real airplane from the 1940s.  It was really interesting to see how much they have changed!

After a few hours (and a trip to the gift shop) we went to the hotel.  We stayed at the Marriott in Sundance Square.  The location was perfect because we could just walk to dinner!  After getting settled into our room, we headed to Mi Cocina for a delicious dinner and what made it better was that it was only steps from our hotel!

The next morning, we got ready and went to the Ft. Worth Museum of Science and History.  It was really close, and not crowded at all.  A great way to spend a hot day!  The museum isn't huge, which some people may think is a bad thing but it was perfect for our two boys.  Jacob loved how hands on it was and how it encourages you to touch and explore!

Tornadoes aren't so scary inside the museum!

Exploring vibrations and sound

Dinos were a hit!

After reading a story about a little boy cooling off in a dinosaur footprint filled with water, they let you test it out to see if you fit!

Dinosaur puzzle

Jacob enjoyed the children's area but it definitely wasn't very challenging for him.  It was fun play time, but I think he was more engaged in other exhibits

So sweet wrapping up the babies!  What a good big brother!

Dr. Jake

We went back to the hotel and put Jonah down for a nap while Nathan and Jacob cooled off in the hotel pool.  Again, we walked to dinner at Cantina Laredo (hey, we like Mexican food!) and then grabbed cupcakes from The Cupcakery on the way back.

It was only two nights, but just a fun little getaway with the boys.

The Big Apple

At the end of July, Nathan and I had the amazing opportunity to take a trip to New York for his work.  The insurance company he works with set us up with flights, hotel and even some of our entertainment which was a huge blessing!  We dropped the boys off at Mim and Poppa's on Friday evening and returned home to finish packing for our early morning flight.  Luckily, we were on the same flight as some other people in Nathan's office, so we had some people to chat with!  Upon arrival, we were picked up and taken to our home for the next four nights- the Waldorf Astoria.  It was such a treat!  Unfortunately, New York was experiencing a heat wave while we were there and it was actually pretty miserable.  We thought that for sure we'd be able to handle it since we live in Texas, but it was a totally different kind of heat.  That, plus you walk everywhere in NYC and their air conditioning just didn't seem as powerful.  As soon as we checked into the hotel, we went for a little walk around the neighborhood.  Our luggage hadn't been delivered, so we were still in our travel clothes, which proved to be a bit too warm!

Of course we stopped here to buy the boys a gift!

Yum!

In Rockefeller Plaza

Taking a little break to cool off in St. Patrick's Cathedral

After walking around a bit and shopping, we headed back to the hotel to get cleaned up for the welcome reception being held in the hotel. 

Nathan had a morning meeting on Sunday, so I got to sleep in and relax.  When his meeting was over, we met up with a small group of people in the lobby and walked to The Smith for a delicious lunch.

Afterwards, it was back to our room to change yet again (did I mention it was hot???) and do a little more walking around before catching a cab to Brooklyn to meet up with Nathan's brothers.

We explored Grand Central Station...

and found the church that my grandparents were married in long ago.  Five years ago, my parents renewed their vows at this same church for their 35th wedding anniversary.  It is such a sweet little church and will always have a special meaning to me!

The Church of the Transfiguration 

aka The Little Church Around the Corner

Where my grandparents and parents both stood!

Dinner in Brooklyn

Looking into Manhattan from Nathan's brother's roof

Much deserved $25 chocolate cake from room service after a busy day!

After Nathan's meetings on Monday, we braved the heat (and on this day a rain storm as well!) to find my beloved Kate Spade.  We again did a lot of walking and ended up at Kate Spade's newly opened townhouse on Madison.  The sales associate their was phenomenal!  When I told him what I was looking for, he showed us to the fourth floor and ended up giving us a full guided tour of the entire store.  It was absolutely beautiful and such a wonderful experience!  A little more walking (okay, a LOT) and shopping later, we headed back to the hotel to get cleaned up for dinner and Wicked.  It is my absolute favorite musical so much so that I listen to the soundtrack constantly and even Jacob has a favorite song (Popular)!  Dinner at Eddie Van's was amazing, our seats were perfection and afterwards we headed to dessert with Nathan's boss and his wife.  The perfect NYC evening!

Blissfully unaware of the rainstorm outside!

A lovely way to escape the rain!  No trip to NYC is complete without a stop into Dylan's Candy Bar!

A delicious steak dinner at Eddie Van's

Excited! (and ready to sit in those 5 inch heals)

Great seats!

Our final day in NYC was pretty low key.  We went to lunch with some coworkers (one last slice of New York style pizza!) and then walked around and shopped.  Because we didn't have a lot of the main attractions that we wanted to see on this trip we were able to take it easy and just enjoy the city.  We also stopped at the New York Public Library to see the Honus Wagner baseball card as well as an exhibit they had about children's literature.  Then, it was time to go back to the hotel and get ready for our dinner reception that evening.

At the end of the trip, we were certainly ready to come back home to our boys.  It was so great to get away for a few days and not have to worry about naps or potty breaks, but we definitely missed them!