Tyson the Tiger

This past weekend Tyson attended his first Cub Scouts pack meeting where he got his first badge! Also at this meeting was the Raingutter Regatta, where each scout would race their boat, i.e. race the boat their parent(s) built. It was a double elimination tournament and each bracket was separated by age group (Tiger, Wolf, Bear, Webelos). With his awesome boat and the power of his lungs, Tyson won all of his races and placed first for his group (Tigers)!

Pumpkin patch

Wild and crazy kids.

I joined the dark side

I'm almost ashamed to admit this. I did what I said I'd never do. I bought a minivan. I joined the dark side. (queue Darth Vader music)

Wednesday night Dynamo game

The Houston Dynamo only have a couple home games left and are fighting for a playoff spot so the boys' soccer club came out to support the home team. Elliot probably had the most fun, going up and down the steps and through the row of seats (it was fairly empty). Andrew was MIA since he wanted to sit with his friends on the team. The drawback was that it was on a school night (Wednesday) so we had to leave early and guess who got ultra sad/mad. Jacob (again). We should've known better... with him, you gotta stay to the very end.

My little cub scout

One day after school, Tyson takes out a crumpled piece of paper that was tucked away in his shoe and said that he wanted to do this. This was the cub scouts. Apparently a recruiter spoke to all the kids at school and made a huge impression on Tyson since he kept asking to join. I've never had any intention of putting the boys in cub/boy scouts. I've always associated the group with pedophilia. Why else would grown men want to hang out with young boys? Call me stupid but that's how I felt.

Superstar kids

Andrew and Tyson are superstars... Marlin superstars. In previous years at their school, they had "student of the month" which was only one boy and one girl chosen from each class. But this year with a new principal, they now have "superstars" which are 2-3 students selected from each class. In my opinion, that dilutes it... doesn't seem as special. Nonetheless, the two boys were part of the September superstars.

Happy birthday to my big girl!

My big girl. My little fireball. My baby Elliot. She is now two years old. Hands down, she's the wildest and craziest of the bunch. "Oh my God" and "Look at what your daughter is doing" are frequently said around her. It only becomes your daughter if she's done something bad, which is quite often. Admittedly she gets away with a lot. Either because she's our last child or because she's a girl but probably a combination of both.

Really far away game

Now that Andrew is playing soccer in a competitive league, we have to venture out of the 'burbs to play games throughout the city. Our first game was in Spring, which was an hour drive one way with traffic. Being that it was so far away, we made it into a mini road trip, i.e. we ate at places you couldn't get at home. And of course we made a stop at the local Target.

Future competitive eater

Life after Harvey

Did you know that it was Labor Day weekend? For people affected by Hurricane Harvey, probably not. At times I had to think about what day it was since everyday felt the same. The kids have been off for over a week but it's definitely not a vacation break. We took in the nephews so their parents could cleanup their flooded home. We didn't really go anywhere during the time off since most places were either closed or had odd hours. Besides, we didn't have a car to transport eight people.

Hurricane Harvey

Holy shit. The entire city is under water. And we're still not done yet. It all began Friday when school was canceled for the pending arrival of Hurricane Harvey. That night, the storm made landfall south of us (around Corpus Christi) and on the next day, all was calm. Besides the early morning showers, it didn't really rain all day. A few light sprinkles here and there but that was it. Why was everyone getting so hyped up for this storm? I thought this was a bullshit hurricane and I wasn't the only one with that opinion. And that's when Harvey said fuck you and raped us in the ass... over and over again.

Crazy first day of school

Birthday week (San Diego, CA)

It's been four years and three kids ago since we last visited California. Now with the new addition, we had to go back before it got more expensive, i.e. Elliot turning two. And this time, we spent the whole week in San Diego... forget LA and Disneyland and all that nasty traffic. This would be our preview of life in San Diego should we decide to make the move here.

Life flashing before your eyes

Belt promotion!