Police Station Tour

(My computer is broken so I took advantage of Chris bringing one home tonight and did several posts. Scroll down to see all the new posts to see what we've been up to.)

A few months ago the kids and I met Chris for lunch and there were about 4 police officers there. They were in line by us and then their table was right next to ours. Wyatt was starstruck and kept staring and asking me questions about them. We talk a lot about stranger danger and that policemen can help if you are lost and so on. So when we were finished we went to their table to thank them for their service and let Wyatt get a close up. One of the men was a Lieutenant and gave us his email to set up a tour at the station for us and some friends. Wyatt was sooo excited. Today we went to our tour and it was so neat.

In McKinney the police and fire departments share a big building and the firemen admin ladies wanted to see us so we went to visit them first. And they had goodies, which was a super hit with the kids. I told the officer that was taking us around that he shouldn't have given us fire hats and then taken us to the police side! I bet they are ordering police hats right now!


We got to go into the dispatch room very quietly and it was super neat. It was quiet in there when we went in and they didn't have any calls, but they said that's a bad word because as soon as they say that it will get crazy.


And the sweet dispatch people had surprises for us, too. But no police hats. ;)


I love watching the kids totally into stuff like this and excited to check things out. It's the total teacher in me, but isn't this cute?!





Kenley wanted to carry her own bag.


Now the trip WAS about the kids, but when we got to this side and saw all the CSI stuff it was totally about ME. I LOVE this stuff. I might be addicted to the ID channel and the Bio channel. Everyone knows I hate reading and so my mom let me read whatever I would read and as long as I can remember it was true crime books. I am a good interrogator and just might have missed my calling; however it comes in handy as a teacher and mom (sorry kids, you're mama will always know the truth). So when I saw this sign I was totally excited...


Oh yes! Then we went into the door and there was this door... And we got to go into THAT door, too!!! We stood in the CSI room! The detective that works in there talked to us and told us all about his toys. The kids had no idea how cool this room was, and probably wanted the moms and Chris to quit asking questions. I didn't take pictures in there because I was afraid we weren't allowed to. So, here's my interesting facts of the day.

They can do everything in there, except DNA analysis and ballistics (I was bummed, because that's what I was looking for as soon as we got in there but the conversation was interesting).
Those types of things have to go to a private lab.
And a swabber, which you would need for every blood sample costs the PD $600 each to send to the private lab. So, if they have blood and need to test 6 people for a match that's $600 each person. Yikes!
And there's a drying machine in there that dries evidence items without heat (because you don't want to add heat to bodily fluids).




Here's where the lady is that stores evidence. She had tons of bagged up items lined up ready to go to court today.



And the weight room...

Wyatt asked me when he woke up if we'd get to see a police car. They didn't disappoint. We got to see and play with a K9 unit car. This is the new type of cars they are switching to. Nice, huh?!


The kids had a blast playing in the K9 area of the car. There's even a little metal bowl all fancy on the wall for food or water for the dogs. They have 3 dogs and will be getting at least 1 more. We didn't see the dogs.





Each kid got to sit in the driver's seat and touch buttons, turn on sirens, and lights. They loved it! They have tons of squad cars. Did you know that the radar units in the cars (for those of us that might occasionally speed) can get you from ALL directions. Even if you are driving away. He told us the secrets and the secret is we can't hide! :) If you see a cop with the radar gun, that is another type and it's a laser that will lock onto your car and they have to be aiming it at your car, but not the other kind. Not that we asked a lot of questions about this or anything.





Our last stop was the briefing room where all the officers meet at the beginning of their shift to talk about what's been happening. Just like on TV.



This sweet and patient officer was sooo awesome to give us a tour and take time out of his day to make these guys' day. He was so good with the kids. All the kids had a blast and so did the parents. Wyatt has already told us all about his special trip to see the "policemans" and how his friends were there.


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VBS and Soccer Camp

Wyatt had such a blast at VBS last year and has been talking about it ever since. He couldn't wait for this year's and I couldn't wait for a new CD. We have listened to the CD from last year over a million times. This year the theme was Kingdom Rock and the church was decked out and looked awesome. We do VBS at our preschool because the kids have to be entering kindergarten to go to the one at our church.


Here's Wyatt getting ready to show us the songs he learned .


And it just so happened that I found a sports camp, but it was the same week as VBS. VBS was from 9-11 am and soccer was 5:30-8:30 pm. I was sooo nervous about the week. Wyatt hadn't been to school in awhile so I wasn't sure how drop off would go. He likes soccer, but can hardly stay into a practice for an hour! And soccer was his first real camp mixed with big kids AND teenager leaders. I was a nervous wreck. BUT this kid did amazing! Each night we picked him up and he had a huge smile and looked like he had played hard. He had an exhausting week, but loved it. The sports and art camp was put on for free by The Parks church, which meets at an elementary school by our house. I was so impressed with how well run everything was and how great they did with the kids. We will definitely be going back next year if they do it again.

And by the way, we know that shinguards go under the socks, but apparently they were itchy and so they went on the outside. And we know crocs aren't the best sports shoes, but again this mama was glad that the busy days were going well and was not choosing those battles. :)


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Big Girl Bed

We decided that instead of getting another crib, we would get Kenley a twin bed. We discussed bunk beds, but then decided on a single twin. Grammy and Grampy have bought each kiddo a bedroom set, which has been so special. My grandparents bought mine and my sister's when we were born. Kenley absolutely LOVES her new bed. She is so proud and if you ask her about it, she will take you to her room to show you how she sleeps in it. There wasn't any problem switching her over. I did use a guard rail this time and I didn't with Wyatt, because this girl sleeps all over the place. She moves all night long. Wyatt has always stayed in one place. She also got a pillow for the first time and as you scroll through the pictures it's obvious she likes her pillow.


We rearranged things a bit. And let the new baby have the crib and one of the dressers so that Kenley had more room for toys and to play.














She's such a big girl. Here she is showing off her bed. Of course, you've got to show how well you can jump on it.


And here's our sweet girl sound asleep. On her pillow.


When she wakes up she gets out of bed to get a book or a toy and then gets back in to play with it until we come up. I love these sweet memories and one of my favorite things in the whole world are "good morning smiles."



Papa bought Kenley a comforter and pillow sham that are so cute, but I haven't put in on the bed yet. I'll need to post a picture as soon as I get it all set up.

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Our Houston Trip

Bunny, Aunt Kenzie, and Aunt Maddie are in town staying at Aunt Jessie, Uncle Gene, and Tripp's house so we took a little road trip (these kids love a road trip) to see everyone. The weekend we originally planned to go Kenley got sick the night before we were going to leave and Wyatt was so sad that we couldn't go. But the next weekend everyone was well and ready to go. When Bunny is around she is our photographer and I haven't gotten those pictures yet so I'm lacking in photos, but here's a few.

Aunt Maddie and Kenley chillin' with some cartoons one morning.


Look at their similar poses...


Wyatt had a blast with Tripp! They are both all boy and it was hilarious watching them play. I love that the cousins are so close in age. I can't wait to see all the memories our kids make over the years.


One morning the kids hung out in our room watching cartoons and eventually the boys ended up wrestling. It was so cute. How do boys know to do this?! I mean, Wyatt even knew to be gentle but with Tripp. It's crazy to me.


Wyatt posing with Aunt Kenzie. I can't believe how grown up these girls are. I remember them being babies and now they are wearing makeup and talking about boys and stuff.


More cousin time...





I can't believe I don't have any pictures of Bunny, but I know we took some so I've got to get them. And learn to take pictures when I'm having fun.


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Location:Trip to Houston

Fourth of July 2013

Wyatt got to go golfing with Daddy and Grampy for the 1st time. He loved it.... for about half the time. Then Grammy picked him up and he hung out with her the rest of the afternoon. Kenley and I were chillin' at home.





We had a little cookout at my mom's and then went to watch fireworks. We've gone to the same spot for 3 years in a row and it's not crowded, but a great view. Perfect. We had friends, snacks, glowsticks, sparklers, and lots of fun.





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Summer!!!

My computer has been broken for quite awhile and my blogpress app wasn't working on my phone so I'm playing catch up with a ton of pictures. It works out okay, because we've been doing a lot of the same stuff this summer - swimming, hanging out, swimming, and hanging out. It's HOT in Texas!And this pregnant mommy with 2 busy kiddos just wants to be hanging out in water where it is cool. My friend, Morgan was in town with her son, Kaleton, for 2 weeks visiting her family so we got lots of hang out time with them. I didn't get pictures of everything we did, but there are a few.

I grew up with a pool in my backyard in every house I was ever in and I NEVER wanted a pool of my own... UNTIL NOW!!! The kids are at a great age for a pool. I want to just walk outside and have a pool right there. For now, this is our pool... (Yes, I get in too!)

 



Both kids are loving summer reading, which is great because I hope they always love to read since I hate it. Kenley has to hold her own book when we are doing story time. It's cute. Wyatt's new favorite books are the Curious George books. We got some from the library and he was so sad to give them back that Daddy took him to Half Price Books to get a few.

 

Wyatt and Kenley are best friends and love to be silly together. A house full of giggles makes me happy.

We went to a jumping place with Kaleton one day. The kids wore themselves out big time. And the few times I had to go through the obstacle course bounce house wore me out!

Wyatt is starting to want little chores to do. He's a pretty good cleaner and the official silverware putter-upper.

And monkey see, monkey do at our house. (I swear we put clothes on her occasionally.)

We love the fountains splash area. 

 

Summer just means ice cream, right?! Grammy keeps it in stock for us. Late bedtime has also been a part of our summer - who wants to sleep when you can swim and eat ice cream?!

More swimming. The Beach Club is so fun and the kids love to go back and forth from the sand, splash pad, to pool. It's so nice that Wyatt can swim and Kenley will wear the vest. We will see how it all works next year with 3 kids. 

 

And we found a new pool with the best splash area ever. The water all around was shallow and the slides were perfect. Kaleton and Wyatt had a blast racing each other. Kenley held her own, too, but I didn't get any pictures. 

Lots of our summertime lunches are picnics.

We went to the fountains in the evening to watch a music and lights show. It's always a good show and Kenley was jammin'.

We find messy things to do like play in this squishy, slimy stuff I bought to make. It's supposed to go in the bathtub, however we tried that once and both kids freaked out so now we just play with it outside. 

It was a MESS. It's a control exercise for me... I just have to breathe and let it go sometimes. And it wasn't anything the hose couldn't clean up.

I was sitting on the couch and looked over to see this. How cute is she?!

 

Our favorite pool to swim in is Grammy and Grampy's. We've spent many hours in there this year. 

I'd say they are having a fabulous summer. This has been my favorite one so far.

 

 

Cheers!!!

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