Family Vacation (Catching Up 6/17 - 6/22/11)

Last summer, we took the boys to California to visit Disney and the beach. This year, we decided to go a bit lower-key with our family vacation.

We started off outside of Austin at the wedding of my best friend from High School. The boys call her Aunt Rachel, and she is definitely a part of our family so it was wonderful to be with her to celebrate her wedding.

Here are a few from the Rehearsal Dinner (the hostess was thoughtful enough to provide beads and bubbles for the kids).

Didn't I say the beads were for the kids? BFF's since 1990.  ♥

And here we are, Matron of Honor and Bride, just before the ceremony.

The wedding was beautiful, but it was OUTSIDE in 105 degree heat. Wow, it was hot. I was lucky to be in the wedding party so I spent the hour prior to the ceremony inside the house in the AC...my boys all had to suffer outside. Anthony was such a trooper, wrangling them all in the heat.

And then the party began...the boys had been playing on the dance floor since the day before, and they were ready to boogie. 

Jackson was my favorite dance partner...he can shake it! We had so much fun together, doing goofy dance moves. 

What was really amazing about being far out in the country after dark was seeing all the stars! It was so beautiful, and the boys had never seen anything like it. Cody said, "It's Aunt Rachel's special day, so the stars probably all wanted to come out and celebrate for her." Awww, my heart. ♥

The day after the wedding, we drove to San Antonio. Our first stop was the Alamo! 

I don't think the boys got much out of it ("This is IT?"), but they did enjoy the story behind it and we had fun walking around the grounds. 

We also enjoyed exploring the River Walk.

We even had dinner outside in the heat so we could enjoy the river view at Casa Rio. Some very nice mariachis played "La Bamba" for us. 

We had watched the boats so much that we couldn't wait to take a ride on one. 

Afterwards, the boys and I posed for serious/silly shots with a boat in the background.

On our last day, we went to the Mercado to look at all the wonderful clothes, hats, dishes, belts, guitars, art and countless other things on sale at the old marketplace. 

The boys all wanted to try on the big sombreros. Of course, right after we took this picture, we saw a little sign that said, "Please no pictures with the hats." Oooooooooooooooops.

It was definitely a day for hats, because Jackson spied a cowboy hat he wanted almost as soon as we got to the Mercado. We told him to wait and look around at all the other options and that we'd come back if he still wanted it. Well, he still wanted it. So he got his first cowboy hat. 

I spent a lot of time that evening taking pictures of Jacks with his new hat (see next post for his birthday pics), but I got this one of Cody, too. The Wink strikes again! 

There's a really cool theater with the river running right through the middle...these steps/seats are on one side, and the stage is on the other. 

On that last evening, Luke was running around chasing pigeons. This is what we heard:  "Birdie, birdie, birdie, birdie....whoa! A piece fell off!" 

And here's what he showed us: 

I think if you asked the boys, they'd say the best things about San Antonio were the hotel pool and the Rainforest Cafe. But we had a great time just the 5 of us, and it was fun exploring a new city together. :)

Mavs Parade (Catching Up 6/16/11)

We were so proud of our Dallas Mavericks when they won the NBA Championship, and we just couldn't pass up the opportunity to go cheer them on in their Victory Parade. So we got all dressed up in our Mavs gear and headed downtown early.

We picked out a good spot right in front of one of the crowd-control fences and hunkered down for a long wait. 

There were a bunch of Mavs fans walking around with funny props. We saw this guy with a skeleton dressed up in a Lebron James costume.

And here's a man with a styrofoam version of the NBA trophy.

It was HOT and sunny, and we waited a really, really long time. Luke was pretty happy, despite being sweaty and tired.

Jacks...not so much.

And then, finally, it was time for the parade to start!

Here's Champ, the Mavericks' mascot.

Mark Cuban, with the NBA Trophy. I'm thinking his wasn't made out of styrofoam. ;)

Rick Carlisle, Mavs' head coach.

Luke had a nice aerial view....

Yay, there's Dirk! (He's the tall, skinny white guy in the middle. Jason Terry is on the left behind the blue column, and that's Jason Kidd over on the back right in the hat.)

I love this one. There was a line of construction workers watching the parade from on top of a building, and this picture makes it look like Dirk and Jet are waving just at them.

And after all that waiting, the parade was only about 10 minutes long. But it was a really fun experience, and we're still just so excited that the Mavs brought home the championship.

Go Mavs!

Bros (Catching Up June 2011)

Well, it's officially summer vacation! (Note: I've finally caught up with the beginning of summer...yippee!)

We spent the first week hanging out at home, just relaxing and trying to get some time outside before the days got too hot!

One of our favorite activities was doing target practice with empty soda cans and Jackson's Nerf gun. Jacks was really great and helped the younger 2 learn to aim and shoot.

He got pretty serious when it was his turn, lying down on the ground sniper-style to help his accuracy. :)

When it gets too hot out, we retreat into the AC. Jackson and Luke enjoy sharing earbuds and listening to tunes.

Coming up: our trip downtown for the Mavs parade, our vacation to San Antonio, and Jackson's 9th birthday!

Last Days of School (Catching Up June 2011)

Luke enjoyed each and every minute of school this year. He was lucky enough to have 2 wonderful teachers who loved him, and the feeling was definitely mutual.

It's hard to believe how much Luke has learned and grown since September. He's almost a full brick taller than the "Fall" picture! He adores school and can't wait to go back.

Jackson had a great year in 3rd grade. He learned cursive, participated in the Science Fair, and got commended scores on his first TAKS tests. He is ready for 4th grade, but he's also really enjoying his summer off. :)

The biggest transformation this year was Cody. He started Kindergarten still clutching on to Bear-Bear, cried in the mornings (and evenings) for the first few weeks (months) of school, and knew most but not all the letters of the alphabet. 

By June, he'd gotten comfortable with being away from me during the long days at school, was reading above grade level, and had fallen a little in love with his teacher. :)

I can't say enough about Mrs. J. She took such good care of Cody. She gave him love and understanding but also set high goals for him and believed that he could reach them. He has grown so much more confident and comfortable in his own skin over the last year, and so much of that is thanks to her. And he knows it. 

Here's Cody with his Mrs. J.

And here's the card he made to give her on the last day of school. The cover says, "did you know I love you?"

Inside, it says, "dear Mrs. J, i have loved being in your clas tise (this) yere (year). I will mis you so much." And the little sad person underneath is saying, "im criing (crying)."

And he decorated the back, too.

We weren't sure if there would be long-term academic repercussions to the brain tumor he had at age 2. He started the year with a broken arm. Motor skills have always been an issue. So you can see why we might have been nervous for him back in August. But Cody totally rocked Kindergarten, and he amazes us every day.

We're so proud of all three of our boys! They had a great year and have earned a vacation. :)

Crazy Hair Day (Catching Up 5/19/11)

On Crazy Hair Day at Jackson's and Cody's school, they can dye their hair wild colors and craft spiky do's with gel. Jacks was very excited to color his hair green, though with as dark as his hair is, it didn't show up too well in the pictures. We also sprayed some glitter on there, too, so he sparkled. He was thrilled.

Cody, on the other hand....was not. As you can see above. He said he wanted red and he wanted spikes, but right after we finished styling it, he asked if we could take it out. Unfortunately, we didn't have time before school started. I think he was worried he'd be the only one with wild hair, but I visited later in the day and his teacher had pencils sticking out all over and many of the girls had bright pink streaks. So he fit right in.

Luke was very jealous that we didn't make his hair crazy before his school day, but it wasn't Crazy Hair Day at his school and I didn't think his teachers would appreciate him showing up with a mohawk. But AFTER school....we went to town.

He loved his "fire hair."