Mallett Mayhem: August & September

I know, I know. It has been way too long since I updated. Life has been busy like for many other people this time of year. I've also attempted to update several times and the website wasn't cooperating. So here we go with what we did in August and September.

New York City
Leland and I returned to NYC for our 11th anniversary. We didn't do anything exciting for our 10th and we wanted to return to NYC to do what we wanted to do - so off we went. We took our good friends Reuben & Shannon with us also, we all had a great time. It was a nice relaxing trip. We took a nap most days, and casually saw what we went to see. It was a great trip. Here's a few pics of our adventures.

In front of the Coca Cola Corporation.

We watched the Today Show for awhile before our tour of NBC Studios.

As Reuben & I walked down the side of the studio, Matt Lauer walked out a door. We were just feet from him. The only celebrity sighting we had.

We toured the Intrepid aircraft carrier. They also had a submarine there to tour. So very interesting.

On the Intrepid.

Leland "steering" the ship.

Being the journalism teacher he is, we had to visit the Horace Greeley statue. For those that know the movie Newsies, this is the statue they spend most of their time around.

Waiting at Battery Park to go to Liberty Island.

We got tickets to go inside and to the top of the crown of the Statue of Liberty. They just reopened it on July 4th. We were so excited to get these tickets and get to climb her. This is the original torch that they replaced since it was deteriorating.

On our way up the windy staircase.

The view from the crown.

I wasn't sure I was going to make it, but I'm so glad I did.

The city behind us.

We spent a lot more time at Ellis Island this time. It was nice to get to read and learn all about it.

We thoroughly enjoyed the show Wicked.

I didn't mean to wear emerald green to the show, but we thought it was funny that I did.

School

Ryland started 2nd grade this year. He is loving school. He has a great teacher this year. He also has 4 girls on his "like list." Isn't growing up so fun? :)

Turning of the Leaves

At our congregation we do a Turning of the Leaves ceremony each August. We have a tree painted on the wall and the kids staple leaves to it that have their name and the verse, or Bible concept they had learned over the past year. All the kids really enjoy it.

Six Flags

The last weekend in August, we went to Six Flags. We love going on Sunday afternoons because hardly anyone is there. The lines are short so you can hit lots of rides in less time. Lots of the characters were out this time, of course we had to get pictures with all of them.

Soccer

Ryland is playing soccer again this fall. He has improved a lot since last year. He's got a decent team and a good coach. I'm excited to see how much he improves by season end.

Teeth

Ryland has been very disappointed that he has yet to loose a tooth. He feels like he is the only 2nd grader to not have the tooth fairy visit yet. So when we showed our dentist (who goes to church with us) that his permanent tooth was in but the baby tooth wasn't budging and he said to make an appointment, Ryland was giddy with excitement.

Ryland before the dentist appointment with all his teeth.

Ryland with a missing tooth.

Look at that tooth. The entire root is still there. The dentist said that it looks like we will have a long relationship. Ryland is working on the next tooth, but the permanent one is cutting through. I have a feeling we'll need help again to get it out.

Pecan Festival

This weekend we had a good time. Yesterday we went to Ryland's first official soccer game (we've been rained out for 2 weekends). We then went to the Mansfield Pecan Festival. We haven't been before so we wanted to make it this year. We had a good time. It was really hot which made it uncomfortable, but the kids had a blast. There were lots of vendors with crafts and prizes as well as food. There were also carnival rides and lots of bounce houses. We only did the bounce houses, but that made the kids happy anyway. We then ate at CiCi's pizza and crashed at home. It was a long but fun day.

Our good friend Donna and her granddaughters joined us at the festival. It was fun having friends go with us.

Ryland has been asking to climb a rock wall lately, so we did the blowup version. He made it to the top with no problem. He was very excited.

Randcom Extras

Those are the main activities for the last 2 months. Our October is full of many more, so I'll try to stay on top of my blog a little better. Below are just some random pics.

Raylee has been asking for some flowers, so Leland had her help pick out some fake ones to make an arrangement. They all helped and Raylee loves looking at the basket everyday in her room.