CASA Race

Today we participated in a fund raising event for CASA, the CASA Superhero Run.  Ainsley wanted to race and we signed her up for the 1k kids fun run.  Everyone is welcomed to dress up as their favorite superhero and we saw lots of really cute hero costumes.  Ainsley only wore a cape, I thought the full costume would be too hot.  Matt did the run with her and he said she ran pretty darn fast.  They don't do chips on the kids so we don't know how fast she actually ran, but I can say as a spectator that Ainsley did not look tired when she crossed the finish line but Matt did :-)

Jack and Kara stayed on the sidelines with me, but next year they said they want to race too!

Pix from the morning...

Ainsley before the race:

About to cross the finish line:

Finishing in front of daddy:

Proudly showing off her medal:

Lots of fun! We will definitely do this event again next year!

Just a Picture

This is a picture of the kids before we left the house to go to a birthday party.  This picture sums up some comical traits...

Jack always wears something blue.  He can always be found with a ball, a fire truck, a bat, or something with spider man.  The pink backpack was an anomaly, he was trying to upset Kara by wearing it :-)

Ainsley's latest trend is that she wants to wear pants.  Always.  Even when it is over 100 degrees.  She will settle for shorts if we insist it is too hot for pants.  The only time you will see her in a skirt or dress is if we make her, and under much duress.  I love her look in this photo, as if she is saying, "No matter how many times you say 'cheese' I will not smile!"

Kara, who today decided her name du jour is Princess Lulu, always wears pink.  The more pink the better.  Unlike Ainsley, she wears only skirts and dresses. 

Never a dull moment and lots of laughs :-)

Last month of Summer

More gardening!  Our last crop didn't make it so we are trying a new crop.  Even if nothing edible results, the fun part is in the planting...

 And of course the watering!

The most exciting thing to hit the Diamond house all year is a giant empty box that the kids decorated and made into a house.  They spent a lot of time making the house pretty, then we added a door and some windows.  Hours of entertainment...

We made it out to the first UT game of the season.  It was really nice to see a football game on a Saturday (rather than Sunday!) and in person.  The kids loved the tailgate party and Ainsley and mom went into the game and stayed until halftime.  Ainsley LOVED it!  While Kara was happy to wear a Longhorn shirt, it had to be pink of course...

Tattoos!

 

New School!

The kids started their new school today, Magellan.  They were very excited about their first day at MIS.  They are each in their own classroom, but the rooms are very close together.  

Happy Birthday!

My wonderful family treated me to a lovely birthday :-)  I still can't believe how fast time flies.  Everyone says it, and it sounds cliche', but honestly age 28 to 38 felt like warp speed.  Matt, Pa, and the kids made my day special, complete with a meal cooked by Matt and birthday cake designed by Kara.  (Nini is a nickname Ainsley came up with a couple of years ago.)

My sweet little munchkins!  They look like they are cuddling with me, but they are actually arguing over who was going to get the first piece of cake. 

Matt treated to me to a nice dinner Saturday night while Pa watched the kids!

 Silly naked girls before we left for our date...

Other cute photos from the weekend include Kara wearing her princess gear for breakfast (because she slept in it, of course)...

Jack and his firetruck...

The cute part about the fire truck is that it parks in front of the toilet whenever Jack needs to go...

Our neighborhood hosted a snow cone truck so we enjoyed snow cones with the neighbors...

Trip to Ohio

We finally got to visit Grandma and Grandpa D in Ohio (rather than them jetting around the world to visit us!).  We timed our visit for Grandma Bussy's 90th birthday party.  Unfortunately Jack caught a stomach virus which pushed our trip back a day, so we were late to the party.  We got there in time for the kids to meet their cousins and visit with Grandma Bussy for a little bit.  Because we went straight from the airport to the party my camera was packed away in the suitcase so I didn't get pictures of the party.  Here is a picture of the kids with Bussy a different day:

Four generations:

 

While in Bremen we enjoyed a day at the local park.  The weather was a welcome treat, about 30 degrees cooler than Austin :-)

 

There was so much corn!!!!!!!!  We had to take a picture in front of the tall corn!

Thank you Grandma and Grandpa D for such a fantastic visit.  We all had a great time!

Summer in Austin

It has been a doozie of a summer in Austin -- we have had 53 days of 100+ F for June, July and August so far.  And the heat just keeps coming...!  Our normal weekend routine includes running our errands early in the day and swimming in the afternoons.  The kids are not phased at all by the heat, aside from Matt and I complaining about it when they ask to go play outside :-)

Some water coloring outside in the shade...

Swimming now involves first letting Jack & Kara's pick out their favorite swimsuits.  Kara likes anything princess and has a princess swimsuit (thanks to Grandma D) and Jack's current love is Spider Man (I believe this is also a Grandma D purchase from last year)...

And Ainsley doesn't care what she is wearing as long as she can go swimming...

While Ainsley has zero interest in princess stuff, Kara is the princess of the house.  She wears her princess attire every day.  Most nights even to bed.  And forgive anyone who takes her crown...