The Arnold Weekly

Read the latest in entertainment, sports, relationships, education, travel, family, reviews and the occasional toddler meltdowns in

The Arnold Weekly

Issue Date 8/20/11

All in all, nothing much has changed in the Arnold household this week... As usual, we've been insanely busy but are having LOTS of fun!

BREAKING NEWS:  After suffering through 40 days of 100+ degree weather, this streak was broken on Sunday with a day in the 80s.  Although this comfortable weather was definitely welcomed, we missed the record number of most consecutive days over 100 degrees by 2 days.  Are you kidding me?  2 DAYS!  I'm not going to lose any sleep over this, but it would have been nice to at least make 1st place instead of the measly 2nd, especially after the miserable summer we've had.  However, now that the temps have rebounded back up into the 100s, we are still in the running for the most days in a year of 100 or more.  The record is 69 days, and as of today we are at 54.  At this point, I'm not wishing to beat this record.  Bring on the autumn weather!

This week in ENTERTAINMENT
Sunday, August 14th- We took advantage of the 80 degree weather and went to our new favorite park!  The boys had a blast playing on the playground.

Rolling his tractor down the slide

 Since this was a tall slide, Luke felt more comfortable going down on his tummy the first few times.

 Then he worked up the courage to go down like his big brother!

 Luke LOVES to swing!

 

 Hudson was just like this at Luke's age- It's much more fun to climb UP the slide!

Tuesday, August 16th- Our friends, the Carlsons, came over for a super fun playdate!  They stayed most of the day giving the boys lots of play time with Kelsey and Trevor while us Mommys chattered away.

Friday, August 19th- Emily and her mommy, Jennifer, invited us to a playdate yesterday at the new Sea Life aquarium in Grapevine.  We've never been to an aquarium, so this was a fun new experience for the boys.  My favorite part was the tunnel through the aquarium where the fish and sharks swam above and underneath us.  Hudson and Emily were a little tenative to walk out on the glass, so Jennifer went first to show them everything was ok.  Hudson's favorite part was the toddler area where he was able to touch the starfish and shrimp.  That was pretty neat!  There was one rule- You can touch anything you want but "No picking anything up".  Well, I turned my head for a second to pick Luke up, so he could look inside, and when I turned back around Hudson was holding the starfish!  "Look at this Mommy!"  We were those rule breakers picking up the fish!  The toddler area also had a playground where we watched the kids played for a little while.  After the aquarium, we ate lunch at Rainforest Cafe.  We were seated at a table right next to the angry looking gorilla who hollared every 10 minutes or so.  Hudson was not a fan of this, so he wanted to share a seat with me to stay close for protection.  Emily and Luke loved the gorillas though!  What a fun day with the Baxters!

We weren't allowed to use our flash inside the aquarium, so a lot of the pictures turned out pretty dark.

 Look at that big sting ray!

 Watching the sharks inside the tunnel

 Emily and Hudson

 Hudson and Luke

 Pointing at the fish

 Touching the fish

 This shrimp feels slimy!

 Touching the starfish that he later picks up!

 This picture cracks me up!  Emily is looking at Luke's night-night as if saying "Really, Luke?  Why do you carry that thing around?"

This week in SPORTS
Sunday, August 14th- We brought Hudson's soccer ball out to the park on Sunday to touch up on some soccer skills.  Hudson did fabulous! I didn't realize how comfortable he was with dribbling and kicking the ball. He is going to have so much fun playing soccer next month!

I captured the cutest video of Hudson playing soccer and his "celebration" grunt, but I'm having trouble uploading it to my computer. I will share once I do.

Luke enjoyed playing goalie!

 I made a goal, Mommy!

 Goalie Luke

 This goalie may need a little more practice

 This would make his Uncle Derek very proud!

 Goal!

 Fives from Daddy

 His victory dance (we might have to teach him some etiquette to take this down a notch!)

This week in RELATIONSHIPS
Sunday, August 14th- On Sunday, I met up with two of my besties, Jennifer and Courtney, for brunch to celebrate Jennifer's 30th birthday.  Cheesecake factory was outstanding as always, and we had a fabulous time with just the girls.  After brunch, we saw The Change-Up, which was a refreshing and hilarious movie (see review below).


This week in EDUCATION
Wednesday, August 17th- Hudson's new school backpack arrived this week.  After trying this on and reading a post with Mommy about his friend, Leah, who started preschool this week, he is very excited to start school!  We go on Monday to meet his new teacher.


This week in TRAVEL
Saturday, August 20th- Today we traveled out of town for a very special birthday.  I was a little nervous about our trip because this was the furthest we've traveled with both boys.  Feeding off each other, they can be an handful on a long car ride even just across the metroplex, so I knew we needed some additional entertainment for the 3 hour trip to Oklahoma.  Therefore, I ventured over to Target this week to make a purchase that, in my opinion, is long overdue - DVD for the car.  This was well worth the money!  The boys did wonderfully the whole 6 hours.  They chose The Wiggles for their first DVD.  Then we watched Finding Nemo, Barney, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Cookie Monster's Best Bites.

 The Wiggles

This week in FAMILY
Saturday, August 20th- We enjoyed visiting my brother's family today for Will's 1st birthday.  I have to say that I have the cutest nephew ever! He's walking around now, so it was fun to watch him interact with Luke.  They are only 3 months apart.  We were also looking forward to seeing my parents as they have been in Colorado for the past six weeks.  Opa and Meme were very excited to see the boys as were the boys happy to see them!  Kitty took some pictures on her camera of all the boys together, so I will share when I get them.


This week in TODDLER MELTDOWNS
I never imagined how difficult sibling rivarly could be!  On a daily basis, I am diffusing arguements between two frustrated boys.  This week's issue:  this dang phone...

Hudson has grown attached to this phone taking it wherever he goes.  When it rings, he answers it and carries on a conversation with whomever he decided is on the other end of the line at that time.  On occasion, you can even hear him talking on that phone while he's sitting on the toilet.  Well, Luke has also become particularly interested in this phone and screams when he doesn't get his way.  Although this is a good lesson for him with sharing, I don't particularly want to teach it constantly, so I weighed my options.  My solution:  I will be making a trip to Target to buy another dang phone sometime tomorrow.

This week in REVIEWS
The Change-Up:  This is a super cute and hilarious flick!  As is expected of a comedy such as this, the movie was predictable in parts, but I found that the humor overshadowed this.  Being able to relate to so much of the humor, this movie was a comic relief to everyday issues of my life that I can sometimes find stressful.

Heaven is for Real:  I have been looking forward to reading this book since I've heard about it from at least 5 different people in the past few weeks.  So I was excited when my mom gave it to me today.  I was able to read some of it in the car on the way home from Oklahoma, and so far it's a great book!