Kindergarten....er....First Grade!!!

After Davey was born we realized that we had a decision to make.  He turned five last year in late August, just a couple of days before the deadline to enroll in Kindergarten.  Dave and I decided to hold him back so he could be one of the oldest kids in his class rather than the youngest.  This year rolled around and he started Kindergarten a couple of days before he turned six.  About a month in, we realized that maybe holding him back hadn't been the best thing for him.  He was so ready to be reading and be challenged, and kindergarten wasn't moving fast enough for him.  He was getting super bored and thought a lot of the stuff they were doing in class was "dumb." So after discussing things with his teacher and principal, he decided he wanted to try first grade.

 

So he has been in first grade for about a month and a half now.  He loves the things he is learning and doesn't seem to mind being there all day.  I think he is making friends and hope that he is eating enough at lunch (he is SUCH as picky eater)!  I do miss having him around all day, as does Charlie.  I knew the day would come that he would be gone at school all day, I just wasn't prepared for it to come so soon.  I sure am proud of my smart boy though!

Davey's Sixth Birthday

 Davey had a fun family party for his sixth birthday.  We had everyone over for a barbecue and presents.

He requested a chocolate cake, which I was happy to accomodate!

Dave made sure he showed Davey how they celebrate birthdays in Bolivia...where they shove the birthday boy's face in the cake!  Davey thought this was hilarious!

Then he decided that having cake all over his face was so fun that he might as well try to get it all over his entire body.

When we were living in Utah County we made sure that he was well aware of the fact that we are Aggie fans, and that we never cheered for BYU.  Davey is now a HUGE Aggie fan and even went so far as to tell his primary teacher that "We don't like BYU."  When I saw this BYU shirt at the store, I couldn't resist getting it for him.

I think the thumb says it all!!!

Some of Davey's favorite things at age six are:

-Charlie. He is always thinking of his little brother.  Davey has a chart where he receives points for doing chores and other good things.  He noticed the other day that he had a lot of points while Charlie only had a few.  He came to me, visibly upset and said he wanted to erase some of his points and give them to Charlie.  I tried to tell him I would give Charlie points without him having to erase points of his own, but he insisted.  He is so kind to Charlie and loves him more than anything (except maybe his Dad).
-His Dad.  It is a pretty tight race between his Dad and Charlie.  Dave told Davey that Charlie is his best friend, but that means Davey is his mejor amigo (best friend in Spanish).  Davey always chooses to sit by his Dad at dinner.  He loves to cuddle with him every night before he goes to bed.  Sometimes Dave goes and talks to him at night when he is tucking him in and they have discussions about all kinds of things.  I love seeing the special bond they have.
-His favorite sport is baseball.  He has tried playing all sports and has fun with all of them, but if you ask him which is his favorite, he will always say baseball.  I think he enjoys it because he can be social and visit with his friends while playing.
-He likes cheeseburgers, playing Super Mario Sluggers on the Nintendo Wii (you should see how sweaty he gets from jumping up and down), drawing, science, and superheroes.
-My favorite of Davey's features is his smile.  He has always been a smiley boy, even when he was really little.  He hardly ever looks grumpy and his little grin is contagious.  I can't help but smile every time I look at my smiley boy!

Bear Lake

 We went to Bear Lake a couple of times this summer.  Both times we didn't really do anything exciting. We pretty much just let the boys play in the sand and they were more than satisfied with that, especially Charlie.  He was content to sit on the sand and dig in.

The boys LOVED collecting rocks.  Charlie especially was into it.  If you know Charlie, you know he loves rocks.  He stops and picks up rocks everywhere we go, including the landscaping rocks people use in their flower beds.

We had so much fun playing in the sand that we went back a week later and brought along our own sand toys!

We also brought along the cousins for some extra fun!

I was worried about Charlie going out in the water, so I put arm floaties on him.  I didn't have to worry, he was so intent on playing in the sand, he didn't even notice the lake!

It was definitely a lot of fun!

Baseball Season

If you ask Davey what his favorite sport is he will say baseball. It is actually kind of funny, because although Dave and I both like baseball, I wouldn't say it is either of our favorite sport.  I think maybe Davey likes it because he likes the slower pace so he can look around and visit with his friends.

It is funny to watch them field the ball.  Each time they send out two kids to field and it is a footrace to see you who can get the ball first. Davey learned quickly to put his mitt down on the ball right away or the other kid would take it.

He got really good at throwing as well.

He also enjoyed hanging out waiting to bat!

 

This last picture is my favorite.  I love him and his cute smile!

Soccer season

This spring Davey played soccer.  It was an especially fun year for him because Dave was his coach.  I don't know if it was particularly fun for Dave.  Trying to get a bunch of 5 and 6 year-olds to follow directions is definitely a challenge.  Half the time one kid would be laying on the ground, while another was hanging from the goalposts, while another was stealing the ball from his own teammate.  All in all though, Davey really enjoyed himself, and had really improved by the end of the season.

Coach Dave in action.  I think this is one of those rare instances in which they were actually listening to him!

I think he really enjoyed the social aspect of the game!

Poor Charlie, he had a really hard time sitting on the sidelines, especially with Davey playing and Daddy coaching. Most games we ended up making him sit in the car with a grandparent to make sure he stayed off the field!

Here he is starting to be a little more aggressive in going for the ball.

All the boys together at the end.

Playa Del Carmen, Mexico

In May, Dave and I decided it was time to leave the boys and go on a trip by ourselves. This is the first time we had left them since Charlie was born. Back when we got married, we had planned a trip to Playa Del Carmen for our honeymoon, but it didn't end up working out so we decided to finally go.

Playa del Carmen is about an hour south of Cancun. It is less of a party place than Cancun, and is more resorty and relaxed. We stayed at an all-inclusive resort called the Riu Playacar. It was pretty nice, and we got all the food and drinks (including Tequila...JK) that we could eat.

Each day when we would come back to our room there were these awesome towel sculptures. There was something different every day. I had to take a picture of each of them because I knew our boys would love them!

Here are a few pics of our hotel. The pool area was super nice, although we hung out at the beach more than the pool.

Ha ha! This one is pretty funny. Playa del Carmen has actually been pretty popular with the Europeans for years, so they were all over the place. Most of the men wore speedos and honestly, there wasn't a single one that was worth looking at!

Pathway to the beach.

View looking down the beach. It was beautiful and the sand was really nice and soft!

We went to this giant sinkhole or "cenote" on our way to see the ruins. We were able to jump off the cliffs on the side into the water.

Here we are at Chichen Itza, one of the Ancient Wonders of the World. It was huge and amazing, but it was SUPER hot. It was also a pretty long trip to get there, about 3 hours on a bus each way, but it was worth it to say that we actually went and saw it.

The giant Mayan ball court. This was one of Dave's favorite parts of the tour.

The back side of the main huge pyramid. The actually took a lot of stones from one side of the pyramid to put on the other side so it would look perfect, that is why it looks like it is crumbling.

It was so crowded with vendors trying to get you to buy their souvenirs.

Another day we took the ferry over to Cozumel and went snorkeling. Then we rented a moped and drove around the island.

We also went swimming with dophins and shopping in downtown Playa Del Carmen. Plus we got couples massages a couple of times, which was heavenly of course. It was super nice to get away and enjoy a vacation by ourselves. Of course we missed the boys and were excited to get back to them, but every couple needs a few days to themselves every now and then. Thanks, hon, for such a fun trip.