4th of July Festivities

On the morning of the 4th, we had breakfast, got dressed and out the door for our neighborhood parade first thing that morning. We quickly had about 3 minutes to snap some family pictures before we left.

Carter rarely poses for pictures these days, so we gladly got a few of him while he was willing!

 Something was funny!

 4th of July cuties.

 with Momma

 

And, below are the ONLY two pictures taken of the 4 of us all day long. Just look at how great they both are! All smiling and looking at the camera..... amazing! Thank goodness we had 3 minutes for pictures or we'd have missed out on these!

So, this is our "float"

I'm seriously creatively challenged, and when I saw that we were supposed to decorate a float, I was clueless on where to start. This is what I came up with. I thought it looked goofy, but whatever, we had a decorated float, and we were off to our first neighborhood parade.

 The firetruck came and everyone lined up to get a close look....

 And then take a quick inside tour....

 Carter went through too, but alas, I was not there with my camera in hand. 

And here, he refused to smile. Cute pic anyway.

 A little playtime before the parade starts.

So, wanna know the funniest thing about my decorated wagon? While I thought it was a very pitiful attempt at a patriotic float, to my surprise, it actually WON our neighborhood float contest! Ha! That still makes me laugh! But, Carter got to wear a "winner" ribbon and the kids got a fun water gun out of it, so it actually ended up to be a pretty sweet deal.

Lights and siren going, the firetruck led the way for the parade.

 Eric very proudly pulling around our award-winning (HA! Hahahahaha!) parade float on the parade route.

 Sweet girl finished the parade on Daddy's shoulders.

 All done and heading home.

 

 So after the parade, we headed to IHOP for brunch with the kids. Then took them to the movies to see Despicable Me 2. This was Ella's first movie, and she did surprisingly wonderful!! She got a little restless while we waited for the movie to start and sitting through the previews, but once the movie started, she couldn't get enough of the minions. I fully expected to have to leave with her halfway through, but as long as she was able to go back and forth between mine and Eric's lap every 10-15 minutes and we kept her cup full of popcorn to snack on, she was a happy camper. We all loved the movie! It was so funny, looking forward to seeing it again! 

 Later that evening we headed to Lewisville for dinner and fireworks with The Byrums, my brother and his girlfriend, and my parents. 

Ella "chilling out".... so ladylike.

 Carter and Ava playing while we waited for the show to start.

 The guys played catch.

 Sweet girls.

 Fun with glowsticks!

 

The fireworks made this little girl a tiny bit nervous.

 

 Soooo handsome

 Carter watching the show from his spot. Can you tell he's tired?!

We headed home and up the tollway just in time to see Frisco's fireworks show, too! We watched it all the way from 121 in The Colony until we pulled into our neighborhood. And I think we ended up seeing at least portions of 5 or 6 different shows over the 3rd and 4th. Fun stuff!! 

We had such a fun 4th of July this year, and hope you did too! 

Family Fun at the Horse Races

We took the kids to the horse races on the 3rd. This was Ella's first time, and Carter's second. We had fairly mild weather, which was great, and enjoyed our fun evening out at Lone Star Park! 

Ella seeing the horses for the first time at their stables.

 

Two handsome guys.

 She had been talking about "horses" and "race" all day long, and was excited to finally get to see it!

 Watching them run the track... this was just before the horses crossed the finish line right in front of them.

 In between races, we headed to the family fun park. Carter had a ball in the bounce house with some new friends that he made.

We also went inside the petting zoo (no pics of that, my hands were a little full!) that they both really liked, too. There were the cutest little baby goats and miniature pot belly pigs that Carter loved. And an overly aggressive llama that kept bumping into me and Ella... she didn't really like that. She did enjoy looking at the animals, although she wouldn't pet any of the animals. Eric did eventually get her to take one of the brushes they provided, and brush the goats. Such a girl!!

 Time for treats. Snow cones and popcorn!

 Sneaking a peak at the horses.....

 Pretty sure this girl ate her weight in popcorn.

 And, we're drinking the left over snow cone syrup... nice!

The kids had their share of fun, and we actually opted to leave early and beat the traffic out rather than stay for the fireworks since we knew we'd see some on the 4th. Turned out to be a good decision because on our way home, we saw parts of probably 4 different fireworks displays. We ended up getting a pretty good show after all, just from the highway! Such a fun night with our little family!!

Pool Days

We've been going to the pool almost every day lately, sometimes twice a day! Thankfully it hasn't gotten old yet! Carter is becoming a stronger swimmer every day. I'm really proud of how much he's improved. A floatie is definitely a thing of the past for him! And Ella LOVES to be in her puddle jumper. She bobs up and down, rolls all around, and will even sit on the side and plop herself in, or "jump" into the water from the step. She has no fear, and actually requests to do "bubbles" (swim briefly under water). 

One night we had the whole pool to ourselves, and they clearly loved it!

And, I have to share this hilarious video of Ella. She had just gotten out of the water, and was throughly confused by the water dripping off her swimsuit. She thought she was peeing. Or heck, I don't know, maybe she was! But listen at the end of the video, she actually requests a diaper change. HA! Further proof that we NEED to potty train this girl! 

Lots of summer still left, which means lots more pool time to come!

Vacation Bible Camp 2013

Last week, Carter attended his first ever week of VBC, and he really seemed to love it! He learned lots of fun new songs, brought home some very creative artwork, and talked a lot about the new friends that he made.  Here he is in the car headed there on the first day. 

Also, some of the volunteers helping with VBC were kind enough to put together a video recap at the end of each day and post it to their facebook page. I really looked forward to these, and enjoyed being able to take a peek at what they were doing the whole week. Carter actually made it into the first video!! Watch it here.... he is painting around 1:05. :)

I have very fond memories of growing up in church and attending VBC, so hopefully Carter (and eventually Ella, too!) will always enjoy this one week during the summer!

Cabo San Lucas 2013

Just wanted to post some pictures from our trip. Of course, we had an amazing time. Didn't do much other than lay in the sun with a drink in hand and enjoy each other's company. Oh, we also ate a lot. :) Went to some old favorite restaurants, and tried a few new ones that will be added to the 'favs' list.

Not a bad way to start. Movies, wine, and snacks! 

 A few panoramas of the resort
Main Pool

View of the Pacific from our room

View from the Sky Pool

 Heading out to dinner one night

Weather was perfect during the day, but chilly at night! I had to wrap myself up in the comforter to sit on the patio!

 Hubs relaxing

Enjoying yet another pool day! 

 Panorama of the resort at sunset.

 Love this guy!

 :)

 Skyping with our babies one morning..... so happy to see them!! And the feeling was mutual :)

 Perfect view.

 Heading out for our sunset dinner cruise

 On the boat enjoying the views

Land's End

 This is where you get a peak through to the Pacific side.

So gorgeous!