Vietnam Memorial Traveling Wall

After the aquarium today, we headed to The Vietnam Memorial Traveling Wall.  Devin's uncle was a Marine and died in the Vietnam War.  We went to find his name on the wall that came through Boise.

There he is, Edwin E Wilson.

Devin tried to do a rubbing with a crayon but it wasn't working.  The wall was too hot and it was melting the crayon. 

My friend, Shawnle, was at Ryleigh's soccer game this afternoon and mentioned that she was invited to speak at the program they were having tonight at the memorial.  We were planning on going there today so we timed it so we could listen to her speak on behalf of women in the military.  She served in the Coast Guard.  The girls kept waving to her from their seats.  They love her!

Boise Aquarium

Boise got an aquarium a couple years ago.  We heard it wasn't real great when it first opened but they have since added more to it.  We decided to give it a try.  It was actually pretty decent.  The girls loved looking at all of the creatures.

The first touch pool only had fish in it and they weren't swimming up to the top for us to touch so the girls just put their fingers in the water.

The next touch pool had sting rays and sharks.  Ryleigh was hilarious!  She would get up there to look and would quickly jump off when they came anywhere close.  Bailey sat in the stroller with her hands over her ears because Ryleigh would squeal each time she jumped down.  Bailey didn't even want to look.  I was trying to convince them and Devin to touch the sting rays.  Devin eventually did.  Ryleigh said no way and every time we mentioned it to Bailey, Ryleigh jumped in and told Bailey not to.

Bailey was hoping there would be sea stars at the aquarium and was talking about them all morning.  When we reached this touch pool she was very excited but wouldn't touch them.

After standing there and coaxing her for a good 10 minutes, Ryleigh finally touched the purple star fish.

Look at those suction cups!

Shark tank

They thought this was the coolest thing and kept climbing back up behind it.

"Take my picture, Dad."

Stinkin' Thumb Suckers

We have been encouraging the pacifier with Bentley so we don't have another thumb sucker.  He has been caught a few times in the last few weeks sucking his thumb.

Auntie Ann caught him this time.

This time he thought he was pretty funny.

Ryleigh tattled on him for this one when he was going to bed but as I snapped the picture he took it out.

Both of the girls started sucking their thumbs before one month and never took a pacifier.  I am hoping we have a chance that he won't be a thumb sucker.

Soccer

Today Ryleigh had her first soccer game.  She absolutely loves it!  She did really well keeping with the pack, but was a little timid about actually getting to the ball.  Devin and I were talking about how we have to work with her to be more aggressive.  She was listening in and said, "I will get better!"  We have two six-year olds on the team that have played before.  They were our goal scorers today.

Love this Guy!

I can't believe this little guy is going to be 3 months on Tuesday.  He is so fun these days.  We can get him to laugh, he is always kicking his legs like he has somewhere to go and he loves splashing in the bath.

Kindergarten!

Ryleigh has been talking about going to kindergarten since her cousin Zachary was in kindergarten which was 3 years ago.  She always talked about riding the bus and couldn't wait.  The day for kindergarten finally came but she doesn't get to ride the bus since she is going to my school.  I thought she would be pretty upset but she is ok with it.  The other day I had a staff meeting after school and she wanted to go home so she asked if she could ride the bus home.  I had to explain that no bus at the school goes by our house.

She is loving it and is so sad that she doesn't get to go every day.  She goes Monday, Tuesday and every other Wednesday.  She loves her teacher, Mrs. Miller.  All of the teachers that have worked with her have stopped me in the hall to tell me how cute and sweet she is.  Hopefully it will be a great year and that she will learn lots.

Last Minute Trip

We decided to take one last trip the weekend before I headed back to work.  We went to Shoshone Falls.  They are doing construction on the dam so a big part of the falls is blocked off.  It wasn't nearly as cool as it usually is but the girls thought it was pretty cool.

After we had a picnic at Shoshone Falls, we headed over to Dierkes Lake to play for the afternoon. 

Bailey was pretty grouchy that afternoon due to no nap so she spent most of the time laying on the towel instead of playing in the lake. 

The girls LOVE going to hotels.  This one had two pools so we spent a lot of time swimming.

Bailey stood in front of this mirror forever watching herself dance.  It was pretty funny. 

Our hotel was pretty close to the Perrine Bridge so we took a walk over to it. 

Ryleigh and Devin even walked over the bridge.  I thought for sure Ryleigh would freak out.  Surprisingly, she didn't.

We also got to go hang out with Devin's friends from college one afternoon.  It was a fun weekend and fun to get away one last time before school started.