VEGAS!!!

Ryan surprised me for Mother's Day with a trip to VEGAS for our 5th anniversary (August 18th)....so the day finally came when we got to pack up and head out for a weekend of me+him! We were excited, to say the least! Our weekend consisted of: winning money on the blackjack table, losing more money on the blackjack table, seeing CarrotTop (who is SO stinking funny if you're not easily offended....so go see him with an open mind and be ready to laugh), Mystere Cirque show (amazing), some of the best sushi I've ever eaten in my life, dinner at Delmonico's (one of Emeril's places in the Venetian), eating the BEST dessert ever at our anniversary dinner, some time at the pool at our hotel, Trump Towers, lots of walking, lots of people watching, taking pictures just the 2 of us...in the same picture, more times than we have in the 5 years we've been married, enjoying some peace and quiet, face-timing our boys back home, getting lucky playing Roulette, sleeping in, a little Starbucks, a gorgeous new wedding band from my husband, & enjoying the heck outta my husband! It was a fabulous trip and although it was short, it was the best weekend! 

Thank you darling husband of mine for a wonderful get-away to Vegas, but most importantly for FIVE fun, exciting, hard, wonderful years of marriage. There's no one I'd rather do life with than YOU!

Quin's Only Child Week

This week, while Braidy was in Houston and while John was at his mom's house, Quin was our ONLY CHILD...something he hasn't ever experienced and something he's not so sure about! We had such a fun week together, but he kept asking about Braidy and John....but I know he loved the 100% of our attention he got, too!

We read LOTS of books, had several playdates with special friends, went to PetSmart with Taybo and Aunt D, went on walks, jumped on the trampoline...and beds, and just enjoyed sweet Quin! He's so happy and so sweet and he just makes our time together so enjoyable. I tried to be very intentional with our week together, because one-on-one time with any one around here is rare! I sure miss those other 2 boys though!

On Thursday, our friends Kenley and Baker drove down from Amarillo, so we had FOUR boys 2 and under, and they were WILD and had a ball.  There were lots of toys out, cars everywhere, guns, swords, you name it. They were so sweet together. We were even brave enough to take them all to Blue Sky for lunch, and minus a few sand throwing incidents they all had a blast. It's crazy to watch Cape and Baker vs. Quin and Tabor and the differences in just 6 months. Danielle and I just sat back and watched, because we know in about 6 months we will have the ones in the "difficult" stage...but for now we are enjoying the fairly easy stage of toddlerhood we are in....because we all know it is short lived! ha!

They had a blast, and really were just being little boys. You gotta love them!

M-M-O

"Momma's Morning Out"....Danielle, Amber and I have invented our own little "MDO" except it's 2 mornings a week, for 2 hours, and it's free! Score! We rotate houses, and the boys get to play twice a week, and momma's get a short break or a great time to go to the grocery store or to run errands! Here are our boys on the first day. They met at Cape's house and they had SO much fun!! Quin loved playing with "Taybo" and "Tape"! They are sweet little friends, and I love that I love their mommy's just as much as Quin loves his friends! I can't wait to watch them grow this semester and become best little friends!

Nena "Memories"!

Last Monday our Nena came to visit! She spent the week with us, and then Pops joined us on Thursday evening because momma and daddy were headed to VEGAS on Friday (another post coming soon).

So, we had a week of fun before our trip with our Nena. Nena is the best. That's just all there is to it. She goes, and does, and does some more, and never complains, rather looks forward to and treasures all the fun memories they make together. I know our boys wear her out, (they wear me out too!) but she knows that she needs to make the most of their time together, because our visits seem to end way sooner than they should!

On Tuesday, Nena took our 3 boys and cousin Crockett to the Dollar Tree where they each got to pick out 5 toys! This is a great idea, because it's cheap and the boys get to get anything they want. They are always so excited for Dollar Tree Day! The toys ranged from a basket of seashells (Braidy), three balls (Quin), a gun and handcuff set (John), and a pack of baby spoons and a sack of rocks (Crockett). Pretty funny stuff! After a couple hours at the D.T. Nena took J and B to the grocery store....and they did, indeed, buy the whole store! Our pantry and fridge have never looked so full!

On Tuesday, Nena and I cooked and cooked and cooked. We made homemade spaghetti gravy (spaghetti sauce for those of you who don't know what gravy is!), homemade lasagna, and homemade meatballs. Our freezer is stocked! It's amazing, and puts the cans in the grocery store to shame.

The rest of the week consisted of a trip to Chuck-e-Cheese, a dinner and ice cream, painting and finger painting on big posters, lots of home cooked meals, playing play-do, making meatballs, hanging out with Pops, lots of late nights "making memories", and lots of SPOILING! That's what grandparents are supposed to do, so Ryan and I let them stay up and pretty much do whatever when grandparents are around! 

One funny story:

On the second night, Ryan and I were trying to get the boys to go to bed somewhat early, because they were exhausted from the night before, and Braidy kept getting up crying for Nena....and he told us, "But I just want to make some more memories!" ha! Nena and I were dying we were laughing so hard...and you know what?! It worked! Nena joined them in John's bed for another late night of making memories! 

Here are some random pictures of our week! 

Poppa. Oussss.

A couple weekends ago us and the Stone's loaded up and drove south to Bulverde! Poppa's house is always a highlight of our summer because there is SO much to do for a bunch of little boys! I named this entry "Poppa. Ouuussss" because that was the first 2-word phrase that Quin said. It was pretty cute, he said it over and over and over. Go Quinny!

We got there late Thursday night, so Friday we began our fun weekend. First stop was FISHING! My boys were perfectly content playing in the "forest" and with the worms...the daddy's and the Poppa fished the most but we caught nothing. Boo. But it was fun, Daddy got stung twice by a wasp, and the boys found sticks and made campouts. Fun fuN!

After a hot morning in the sun, we hit up the pool immediately! The boys loved it and so did the rest of us. It felt amazing. Quin LOVED the water, and Braidy swam and swam and swam. This is the trip he really swam by himself. The 2nd day he didn't even wear his floatie thing, he's an official SWIMMER! Yay! Crockett is not usually super fond of the water, but he was SO brave and even jumped off the hot tub to his daddy. Go C!

The next morning we went in search of the "Serengetti"...a place Poppa had been talking about for a while. We got there and they have golf carts for you to drive around looking for the animals, which is a really cool idea (they had a giraffe, a few zebras, an ostrich) but it was 130degrees outside (almost) and there were no roofs on the golfcarts, so after waiting a long time and seeing all the animals as they came up to the fence, we decided to forgo the golfcart ride, and call it a day. We still enjoyed seeing the fun animals...they were really cool!

Dad borrowed a Gator from a neighbor for us to use for the weekend, and it was a blast. I loved taking the boys riding on it, and every morning, Poppa took the big boys on an early morning ride. They were in heaven!

The last evening we were there, I had bathed the boys, had them all dressed and ready to go eat that night, and Quin went outside with JJ, and next thing I knew he was swimming (in his "nice" shorts) with the daddy's and Poppa. He thought he was so cool, and he was having the time of his life. So happy. 

We had an awesome time as usual. As we were packing the car up and getting ready to leave, Braidy, Crockett and Quin were in Poppa and JJ's bathroom, when Braidy walks out with some scissors he had found. Poppa took them away and we left town. He called me a little later because they found a big pile of HAIR (blonde-ish) in their bathroom as they were putting their house back together. I didn't see a place on Quin's head that had been cut.....until I bathed him that night. Braidy gave little brother a good little cut on the top of his head. Luckily you can't really tell unless you feel it. Then, Jessica noticed a little bald spot on the side of Crockett's head too. Looks like they both got FREE, BACK-TO-SCHOOL HAIRCUTS courtesy of Braidy! Lock up the scissors!