Weathering the Ups and Downs

Good news! The weather is finally cooling down here in Austin! Yesterday, Labor Day, was the perfect day to spend outside with the family and neighbors. Highs were probably in the low 90s, but after a summer of record breaking heat that felt great. We spent a lot of time outside.

Just a quick rundown for you guys outside of Austin:

•  August was the hottest month EVER recorded in Austin (breaking the record set in July of this year).
•  This summer is the hottest summer ever recorded in Austin - 2009 is the second hottest and 1925 is the third (we have been here for two of those years. Why??)
•  August 28th 2011 tied the record for all-time hottest day in Austin at 112 degrees!
•  We set a new record this year for most consecutive days over 100 degrees - 27 days from July 17th through August 12th.
•  As of August 31st we have had 76 days over 100 degrees. The previous record was set in 1925 at 69 days.
•  FYI: the average number of triple-digit days in a year is 13.5

Information found here.

Yeah, so we're pretty happy with this turn of events. Apparently, it's the coolest weather we've had since May. Now we just need some rain.

Anyway, on to other things...
Emily is enjoying school. I was hoping they would change the pre-k to half days this year because of budget cuts, but instead the school day was lengthened. Now Emily gets on the bus at 6:48 am with all the older school kids and doesn't return home until 3 pm! She comes home exhausted and slightly grumpy but she would be so sad if we pulled her out. She loves it.
The other day Emily was picking up her crayons and was searching everywhere for the last one. When I pointed out that it was in her hand she laughed at herself and said,
"That's like when I was at school looking for my backpack. I asked my teacher and she said to the class, 'boys and girls, can anyone see Emily's backpack?' and they told me it was on my back!"
I love that she can make these connections and laugh at herself when she does silly things.

Caleb is doing great. He is learning to talk and I am learning to understand him. He says Emily and Elinor exactly the same way so we sort of have to guess who he's talking about and that's pretty confusing.  A lot gets lost in translation.
examples:
Caleb: [something indecipherable]
Me: What? You want some chicken?
Caleb: NO!! Elinor's my sister!!

Caleb: [something else indecipherable]
Me: Can I comb your hair??
Caleb: NO!! Can you pick me up!!

And so many other confusing conversations. I wish I could think of more right now. He's a silly little boy who has a hard time using consonants.

Elinor is probably the cutest little baby ever. She is working on talking and will say hi and bye pretty reliably, along with a cute little wave. Her very first "word" was "I did it!" and she still uses this phrase a lot. She also said quesadilla repeatedly the other night. That was pretty sweet.


Here is a picture of my first diaper to arrive in the mail. On one of Joseph's textbooks.

And here is our rollerskating princess. She loves rollerskating. And she loves beautiful costumes! What a perfect day!