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Air Force Thunderbirds

This weekend is the Travis AFB Air Show. We didn't want to venture out to the base today with the little guys, BUT we live close enough to the base to hear them fly by and SEE the action!

For the past few days, we have been listening to and enjoying them fly above us during practice.

Today, was the first day of the Air Show and as soon as we heard the "zoom", we ran outside and were treated with an awesome show! I was able to get a few really good shots of them mid-maneuvers.

My favorite from the day, though, is this one....

We had all gone inside already, but I heard the thunderous roar of the planes so I ran back outside with the camera and found them flying RIGHT ABOVE our house!!! SO EXCITING!!!!

YEAH! Michelle's Photography Website is up!

I am so excited that I finally finished and posted my new photography website...check it out...

www.MRS-Photography.com

I am open to feedback so please post any comments here. THANKS!

Audio - Cody Talking

Cody loves to talk. Most of the time it is his own language that we can't understand, but he is making an effort to talk. :)

I have been wanting to record it and today, I finally remembered.

Here it is...

http://www.mrs-photography.com/AudioVideo/Cody082708.wav

p.s...I wasn't going to mention it, but Chris heard Cody's "bad word" on the audio. :) If you listen closely to the first couple of seconds, you will hear him say "shut up". It sounds more like "dut up". Bad, huh? But you have to admit he sounds cute. :)

Cody's Turn.....First Day at Pre-Preschool

Why do kids grow up so fast????

This past Monday, Cody started his pre-preschool. For 6 weeks, he and I will attend preschool together so that he can get used to the new environment. After the first 6 weeks, he will go to the actual preschool class and I will slowly let him become more independent (well...that's the teacher's plan, but don't be surprised to hear that I stay with him all day every day! - I already lost one kid to school this school year and I'm not ready to lose the other!!!!).

He is only 2 and that is young for school, but with the early intervention program for special needs, they have them attend preschool early so that they can slowly transition them to the preschool environment.

The best part is that Cody LOVES school!!! I don't think he will have a problem transitioning at all after these first 6 weeks. I, on the other hand, will have a VERY hard time transitioning.

Cody also now has speech therapy and (warning - proud bragging mommy coming up...) today, his speech therapist said that Cody is the most proficient signer (in sign language) that the teachers have seen in a long time. We are SO proud of him!!!!!

We are constantly introducing new signs to him and he learns them right away! The therapist was impressed last week when he picked up a couple of new signs right away and actually started putting together 2 sign sentences (e.g. more cars, want blocks). He usually signs one word at a time so it was great to see him put together 2 signs to relay what he wanted.

And now to the school pictures....

First...he had to pick out shoes for the school day. Too bad those weren't his shoes. They were DJ's. :)




Look how happy he was on the car ride! He was so excited when we turned on the street for school!



His excitement increased as we got closer to the school!



Doesn't he look like a big boy?



There he goes...entering the school on his first day...



And he's off! As soon as we opened the door, he took off running to the toy area.



When we went to his orientation on Friday, this was his favorite toy. I guess he remembered it because he went straight to it.



Who doesn't love a trampoline?



Concentrating on blocks.



At recess time Cody couldn't wait for them to open the gate. He stood at the gain signing "help" until his teacher opened it. :) I think he is like DJ and recess is his favorite part of school.



OOOO...his favorite....CARS!!!!



After driving the truck around for a bit, he realized there were more cars at the back of the playground.

I like this picture because it looks like he is car shopping in a car lot.



FOUND ONE!



Cody did not cry at all at school. The only time he complained was when we started walking out of the school. He wanted to go back in!

I am so glad that both boys are so enthusiastic about school!

Homework

DJ has been having a great time at school and is even upset that he doesn't have to go to school on Saturdays and Sundays.

The one thing he is eager about is homework. He receives the packet on Thursday and it is not due until the following Friday. He knows this, but still is adamant about finishing it the day he receives it. He makes his mama proud!!! :)

Ever since Kacy and Gian used to come over everyday (since he was born up until they moved to TX), he sat with them while they did their homework. Eventually at about 3 yrs old, he decided that whenever they did homework, he wanted to too. Sure, it meant he would sit there scribbling on paper, but he always wanted homework.

Now that he has his homework, he is ecstatic.

Look at the concentration on his face.



The sausage fingers at work.



Cody is no different than DJ. Just like DJ was with Kacy and Gian, Cody was anxious to do homework alongside DJ.

Aftermath of a Codnado

You have all seen the aftermath of a Tornado, but have you seen the aftermath of a Codnado?

This is what a room looks like after a Codnado has hit. It was Sunday, August 16th. Superman, Batman and Cherry the red bear were sitting quietly on the couch.

Without warning, the Codnado entered the room and threw them all to the ground. No one was seriously injured, but I am sure they bare emotional scars.

Well, Superman may have injured his neck after Cody sat on his neck and jumped a few times before beating him in the head. The entire time letting out his "monster" voice - a deep sounding grumble.

Even the excercise mat (from the 80's) was left victim to the Codnado's hit.



This is minor compared to previous hits of the Codnado.

Discovery Kingdom

We recently took our first trip to Discovery Kingdom. I hadn't been there since it was still just Marine World and there were no rides. What an AMAZING change the place has gone through!

We had a limited amount of time to be there because of previous engagements so we didn't get to ride any of the rides. Instead, we did a "walk-through" and checked out everything that was there. We ended up buying their 6 visit deal package so we will get to ride the rides in the near future (when it isn't as crazy busy as it was this past weekend with almost 2 hour lines!!!)

Doesn't Cody look so cute chilling in the Discovery Kingdom stroller? He enjoyed the stroller so much that he actually fell asleep half way through our visit.



As soon as we walked in, we saw Shouka the Killer Whale.



Posing at the Dolphin Fountain.



Sylvester is such a silly cat. He stole DJ's cowboy off his head and put it on his own.

Cody wanted NOTHING to do with any of the characters so we kept him at a distance whenever any of them came around.



CHEEEESE with Tweety and Sylvester!



Sylvester stole Teri's hat, too.



Of course, they had to take a picture with the Looney Tunes stars Daffy and Bugs!



These cute little penguins were enjoying the heat. DJ informed me that these were African penguins since they weren't in cold weather. Not sure if he was making it up or if it was true.



My little cowboy...or is it redneck? Check out the black tooth courtesy of an ice cream sandwich.



Hanging out near the Dolphin place.



Cody absolutely loves trains and cars now. I was SO excited to see that they had a Thomas the Train section. Cody LOVED it!!!!



They even had a Thomas Train that we could ride.



Cody couldn't wait to get on the train. He kept trying to push through the turnstyle.



Cody and Mommy striking a pose.



The Justice Leaugue didn't make an appearance so DJ and his Uncle improvised!



This the new baby camel, Kubla Khan.



A few days before our trip to Discovery Kingdom, DJ said that he wanted to ride either a camel or an elephant. He was so excited when he found out he could ride an elephant! I was pretty excited too! I remember riding both a camel and an elephant when they first opened as Marine World.

Meet Valerie. This is the elephant that DJ, Teri and I rode. What an amazing adventure! We had so much fun!!!







I saw these cute, little super hero capes at the front of Discovery Kingdom and had to buy them for the boys. Aren't these the cutest Superman and Batmans that you have ever seen? Even our dog, Scooter, enjoyed wearing the Superman cape.

Circus Circus, Reno and Mini Horses

A couple of weekends ago, we met up with Doyle's dad and his wife in Reno. They were there for the mini horse show and it was a great opportunity to visit with them and get a little vacation in before DJ started school.

The last time we had seen grandpa was when Cody had his heart surgery 2 years ago so we were overdue for a visit with them.

This was the kids' first time in Reno, so where else would we stay, but Circus Circus!



There were 2 beds in the room and once we told Dj that the one bed was just for him, he went straight to it and did what DJ's do best - jump!



After about a half hour of jumping on the bed, we headed out to meet with Grandpa and Grandma at the mini horse show.

Here are the boys with their dad and grandpa.



Aren't mini horses cute? Don't you just want one???



That night, we headed back to the hotel for dinner and to go to the Midway to watch shows and play games. LOTS of games.

Here was the one act we caught that night - the traspeze, as DJ would say.



That night, DJ got his first tattoo!





Isn't that one mean looking, smiling kitty cat???



After the first night, DJ got in bed with all his winnings. He won 8 that night, but ended up with about 20 of them by the end of the weekend. They all have names, too. Except for the fish, because as he said "mom, fish don't talk so he couldn't tell me his name!" As always, he was creative with their names. Pictured with him here are (in no particular order) - Cherry, Hairy, Beary, Ribbit Ribbit (guess who that one is), OO OO AA AA (that's the monkey), Stripes, and I think the lion's name is Orange.



The next day, the most important show for DJ (and the rest of us were excited for it, too) was the dog show. It was so much fun to watch. I fell in love with the white great dane.













The first night, we weren't able to win DJ the giraffe that he REALLY wanted. My bean bag got absolutely nowhere near the milk bottles. Doyle came THIS close to winning one that night, but it didn't quite happen. You needed to knock the bottles down three times in a row to upgrade to the giraffe.

The 2nd day, though, that was the first place DJ wanted his dad to go and sure enough, he won it. Here is DJ with his overpriced giraffe! :)



Cody wasn't sure what to think of the place. He enjoyed the lights everywhere, but it was a bit overwhelming.

We found some little rides for him and we spent some time there with him so he could enjoy some time outside of the stroller.

Here he is with Mickey. Do you see how he is leaning forward? He had just looked behind him, saw Mickey and tried to jump out of the car! HAHA



On the last day, we went back to the mini horse show to watch the Costume contest that Morgan (their cousin from Grandma Margaret's side) was in before heading home.

Here is one of the other entrants.



Here is the group that Morgan was a part of. They had a Bedrock theme. Cute, huh? They won 2nd place, but they should have won first place!

I like how the horse doesn't mind at all that he is dressed as a dinosaur!



I just had to take a picture of this little one. It is a baby mini horse and is about the same size as our Boxer dog.

DJ now wants a horse so that he can name it Ping Pong Buttercup.



Here the boys are with Morgan.



The boys with Morgan, Grandma and Grandpa.



We had a great time at Circus Circus and DJ is anxious to go again. He wants to stay for 19 days next time. :)