Pictures from May

Cracking up about a funny story from school.

She got a shiny red star for good listening.

Practicing with scissors

Row, Row, Row Your Boat (with life jacket)

Aperture talk plus a few pictures

So, in addition to getting a new camera last December, I also started using Apple's program Aperture.  It's like iPhoto's big brother, but technically it's a Digital Asset Management system.  To say it has a steep learning curve is an understatement.  It's 79 bucks now, which is a bargain for what it is (it used to be 300 when it first came out), and there's also a free trial.  If anyone needs lessons in it, let me know.  :)

Anyway, all the pictures I've taken with the new camera have gone in there.  But I'm also hoping to import all my past digital pictures, which go back to 1998.  I've spent a lot of (too much?) time trying to figure out how I'm going to organize it all, how to set up keywords, etc.  But I think I've got a system somewhat set up now, including ways to export and share things to my family and this blog.

Anyhoo, here's a few recent pics that I found while going through stuff tonight.

Face painting from Dr. Seuss day at the library

Modeling her new shirt from Cousin Janice

Waiting for the storm

Action photography-tearing around the corner

"I saw Santa!"

Well, Sophie has seen Santa twice in the past week or so.  She is really into the whole Santa thing, too.  We got The Night before Christmas from the library, and she wants to read that every night.  She knows that Christmas is the 25th (and also Baby Jesus' birthday--there are also frequent baby Jesus sightings) and that Santa comes the night before.  She keeps saying, "Santa's not coming tomorrow."

She also says that she's Santa (and I get to be Sophie).  Yesterday we were playing Santa, and I got a little boy & girl toy, put them in a house, and said she could bring them presents.  She thought that was a great idea.  So she got her elephant purse and put all kinds of stuff in there to be her bag of presents and brought them to me and the boys & girls.

One day we were on our way to the lab in medical building.  As we walked down the hall and then through a waiting area for the xray lab, there was a man sitting with his back to us wearing a Santa hat.  He was an older gentleman with a gray beard.  As we approached him, Sophie stopped and just stared at him.  He waved, and we kept going.  A couple of ladies sitting there just laughed and said, "Did you see that little girl stop and look and make sure he wasn't Santa?"  But when we got to the lab, it was clear Sophie had thought it was Santa.  She kept saying "I saw Santa!"  We talked about it, and the story emerged that Santa was at the doctor because he hurt his foot she said.  I suggested one of the reindeers stepped on it.  She thought that sounded like a good story and she was telling us about it for the next couple of days.

Then today we went to a "come meet Santa" day one of the local organizations was having.  Since we saw him before, Sophie just keeps saying he is going to bring her games, but doesn't have any specific ones in mind.  So before we went today, we stopped at ToysRUs to see if there were any she wanted to put on her list.  She picked out a few, but maybe too many.  We talked about them a couple of times in the car on the way there and tried to practice her list.  (some of the kids had typed lists, maybe we'll have to bring one with us next year)

But when we got inside and actually saw Santa sitting in the chair, she got scared and didn't want to go see him after all.  We watched a few other kids and go tell him what they wanted, but she still wasn't having it.  But when I suggested Mommy go with her and she sit on mommy's lap, she agreed to that.  She did tell him she wanted games (you can see her also signing 'games' with two fists in one of the pictures), but she kinda had a moment where she froze up and seemed like she had a moment there where she couldn't say anything. 

"How about a nice ... football?"

But it went well, and we were glad she actually did it and didn't freak out.  And all the way home and most of the rest of the day, she kept saying "I saw Santa!" and "I want to see Santa again."   She called the place we went the North Pole and said we would go back again tomorrow.

PowWow pics

Today the kids at Sophie's school had a pow wow. She did well and whooped and how'ed when she was supposed to. Looked like all the kids really enjoyed it. And on Friday they get to wear their head-dresses again for their feast, since the school is closed all next week.

Halloween Pics

Sophie got to wear her leopard costume twice because Sunday night we went to a "trunk or treat" event at the church that her day school is at. Then Monday night we went trick'or'treating in our neighborhood. She was very excited about Halloween and especially trick-or-treating. We had to go about 2/3 of the way down our block to find many houses, but she was up for that and more. She got the idea of looking for porch lights that were on, and the knocking, and the saying trick-or-treat (although she's so quiet, but still I think some people could understand what she was saying).  And she would say "thank you for the candy" and also sign thank you.

After it was over, she said, "More Halloween."

Kidsfest & pony rides

Saturday Sophie and I went to an event our city puts on called KidsFest.  It's a back to school thing, but also a kind of fitness fair.  They had booths and displays from dentists, agencies like United Way, gymnastics places, etc. with games and prizes.  And outside they had bouncy houses and, best of all, pony rides!  Somehow we lucked out and walked up and didn't have to wait to ride a pony, but then she wanted to get in line and do it again.  Then we did the bouncy obstacle course and made our rounds inside.  All-in-all, we were only there less than an hour, but it was a lot of fun.

And did I mention she loved the pony rides?  We've been talking about them a lot.

Brownie

Marshmallow

Getting a boost

Having fun

A natural

New School

Yesterday we went to the open house they had.  You could bring the kids in to see the classroom and meet the teachers.  When we got there yesterday, Sophie looked around at some of the toys, checked out the play kitchen, sat at a little table, turned to me and said, "Bye Bye DaDa."  So she was ready.

But today was the official first day of school.  The teacher said Sophie did great.  She was speaking up and answering questions and had a great day.  When she got in the car, first thing she said was "school tomorrow."  (She says this all the time anyway, but I took it to mean she liked it.)

Leaving Journey Learning Center

Today was Sophie's last day at her old school.  She starts the new one on Thursday.  Today they had a party for her.  She and I made cookies to take.  And they made her the star today, singing ring-around-the-rosie to her and letting her sit at the head of the table.  And there were balloons and bubbles.  She had a ball.  I'm not sure she understands yet that she's not going back, but we've been talking about it for the last few days.  And she's seen some of the other kids there leave.  She's pretty good with change, so I think she'll be okay with the transition.  Here's some pictures from the party and a video at the end.

more fishing!

Well, today the City of Euless was having a Junior Anglers day at the city park pond in our neighborhood. Since we can walk to it from our house and thought Sophie would enjoy it, we got there right as it started at 9am. It was already hot, but there was a good crowd at the pond, which is maybe 1-2 acres. They had stocked it with 500 pounds of catfish, provided tackle and bait, and were having contests throughout the event.  All I hoped was that we would just catch something.  The previous time we went to the Bass Pro Shop fishing pond, we got skunked.


So, I'd cast out, then Sophie would wave the pole around pulling the line in and hitting us with it.  But after a few minutes, she got bored of the fishing and was playing around in the chair and the grass.  Probably the 4th or 5th cast, I went to reel in the worm and found a little perch on the line!  It was pretty small (normally a bait-stealer), but we paraded it over the measuring tent:  5 inches.  Not enough to place in the 6yo and under class.  (Unfortunately, the battery in the camera died after we got this pic of her landing it.)

After that, we moved across the pond and set up our chairs in a little bit of shade we could still find.  The pond had a lot of grass in it, but I cast out in the middle and left the rod against a big rock, not expecting much.  But as soon as I sat down to have a drink, I saw the line going out!  Sophie and I ran over to bring it in.  I could tell this one was much bigger and thought we might have a shot at the current record of 17".  It stayed deep and pulled pretty steady, which is usually how you know you have a catfish.  I was holding the rod and trying to get Sophie to turn the crank, but she couldn't turn it because the fish was pulling too hard.  She kept saying "help!" (which sounds like "help-ah!")  When it finally came up, I was surprised to see it wasn't a catfish, but a nice-sized bass!  Sophie was real excited.  There was such a big difference in the two sizes, that it was clear to her this was a much bigger deal, I think.  I grabbed the fish by the lower jaw and carried her and Sophie around the pond to the tent again.  We got lots of attention, and Sophie was emphatic about telling people, "Yes!" when they asked if she caught that fish?

It was a decent bass, and at 14.5" was legally a keeper in TX, but not in the running for the trophy.  They didn't weight it, but judging by the TPWD calculator, it was about 1.5 pounds.  We said bye bye to her and released her back in the pond.  The funny thing is that we didn't catch any of the catfish they stocked.  I saw one other person catch a smaller bass, but everyone else was cats.  Most 16-18", and I think the leader was 22".

After that, Sophie and Stephanie went to check out the tent the library had set up and the playground, and we went home after that.  We'll definitely do it again next year, but I may have to get some worms and take Sophie back more often.  Or get out there early tomorrow morning...

roughing it in the RV

All packed & ready to go.

So the week before last we took a road trip to Port Aransas.  We checked out the beach, missed Tropical Storm Don, which never materialized, and later went on to Victoria to attend a wedding.  Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures on the beach because the winds were so high that there was a lot of salt & sand spray in the air and I worried about the camera.  (Also, because I forgot.)  But we played on the beach Thursday night, Friday morning and afternoon, and Saturday morning.  Also, we drove in our rented golfcart a couple miles down the beach Friday evening.  Mustang Island was packed, despite the high winds.  Then we drove around town, stopped at a souvenir place, and cruised back.

Saturday we left the campground and headed to Victoria for a wedding.  It was nice because we could leave Sophie with her Mimi in the RV while Stephanie and I went to the service.  But we did take Sophie with us to the reception.  She had a great time seeing her Gramma, Grampa, and all my cousins.  And she danced a lot, had cake, and got to participate in her first Grand March.  Saturday night we drove on to Gonzales, and Sunday headed the rest of the way home.

Here's a few pictures that are all over the place because blogger really stinks for arranging them.  Grrr.

Nueces Co Campground.  Just behind the dunes.

Beach overlook.

The golf cart we rented.  You can drive these all over town.

Stopping for shaved ice.

Aargh!!

Ferry ride out of town.

Morgan's Wonderland

Sophie enjoying the carousel at Morgan's Wonderland in San Antonio. This is a fabulous park for young children. She used to be terrified of carousels, but she loves them now.

Stephanie posted the picture above a while back, but I thought I would go ahead and add some more here.  Morgan's Wonderland is a new park in San Antonio that is designed to be welcoming to all kids, even those with disabilities.  So it's equipped with things like swings that hold a wheelchair; lifts to get people on the jeep ride, train, and carousel; etc.  But it's great for any kid.  They have a HUGE playground with all kinds of play equipment I'd never seen before (and I have played on a lot of playgrounds in no less than 3 different states).   Stephanie, Sophie, my dad, and I went there Memorial Day weekend.  Of course, Sophie had a great time.

Watch where you're going there, Missy!

 This little supermarket was one of the best parts of the whole place.  Not only was there a huge selection (although not that fresh), but the register worked and even the scanner as you passed items over the counter.

Stephanie and Sophie on the crate-sculpture in one of the covered play areas.

Yay for free train rides!  We rode it twice, at least.  The place wasn't very crowded yet, as you can see.