Summer outing....

We had a fun outing to Space Center Houston yesterday. However, I think every summer program in Houston had the same idea. There were kids everywhere! There were YMCA groups, day cares, etc. Wew! We got there just in the nick of time and were able to get in line right before most of them. SCH has a traveling exhibit called "Daredevil Island" that I thought the kids would enjoy. Boy did they! Clark was too small for some of it, but he enjoyed what he was able to do. Here is what it says on the SCH website: "Nowhere else can you swing high in the air unharnessed on a giant trapeze; test your climbing skills on a 4 story high spider web; bungee jump on bouncy trampolines; or test survival skills through a mystical maze! Thrill-seeking visitors craving an "Indiana Jones" type of experience will discover a wild expedition only at Daredevil Island!" At first I thought "sounds good, but what will it really be like?" You know when you expect something grand and you get there and it is a flop? However, we were pleasantly surprised that it was exactly like it sounded. Ali was able to swing from a trapeze, climb a tower of bungee cords, and more. Clark was able to jump on the trampoline with a harness, try his hand at the tower of bungee cords (he was just too small to make it past the first level), and he did the maze with Ali. The worker that helped Clark into the harness later told me that he needed to be on a diet of steak and eggs so he could be a football player. Ha! Yes, he's little...we know! They also played in the huge play structure a little before getting overrun with all of the other kids. I am sure we will be going back while that exhibit is there.

Ali began a morning swim practice this week.......can I just say it gives new meaning to the word MORNING. I had her at the pool by 5:30 (as in AM!!) and she swam until 7:30! Oh the life of a swimmer.... But, that is just for the month of June. Next month we are back to her 2 hour evening practices. Right now they are sharing the pool with a summer league and therefore having to work around their practices. Believe it or not she doesn't seem to mind it...once she is actually awake. She is a little slow to get out of the door. Ha! Well, one summer league swim meet tomorrow and then one more to go next Saturday. (no complaints here) She will have 3 weeks off from her year around team for "summer break" in August.....what will we do with ourselves? Just imagine 3 weeks of NO practice. I am not sure what that will be like.

We are awaiting a referral to go through for Clark to see an ENT. He had an appointment with his pediatrician this week, and she decided that we do need to move forward with his speech issues. She said we must first rule out a medical issue for the nasal sounding speech before we hit full force with speech therapy. My gut feeling is that it is a learned speech issue and perhaps not medical. He is...shall we say...a little lazy when it comes to his speech. He will run things together, skip what he would consider not important words, and just doesn't take his time to speak clearly. We have been trying to be more diligent with making him repeat us word for word. He gets frustrated, but I think it will help. We will see. It could be much worse. We just want to take care of it before he gets older. He is so darn cute it is easy to let the speech slide sometimes. :) On a side note, our little man has grown 3 inches since he came home last Aug. Wahoo! He is now 37 1/2 inches tall and 30 lbs. So at 4 1/2 years old he isn't on the growth chart yet, but I have confidence he will be soon.

I want to say HAPPY FATHER'S DAY early to my wonderful hubby! Our children are blessed beyond measure to have such a fabulous Daddy. And HFD to my Dad and father in law.....we love you both! Oh yes, my brother has something to celebrate this Father's Day also.....they are expecting a baby boy in November. How exciting...we need another boy in this family! (congrats again Jay and Paula...don't worry, I'll try not to spoil him too much...NOT...heehee!!!)

Space Center Houston