Trip to the Botanical Gardens

 We had a fun outing last weekend checking out the Grapevine Botanical Gardens! With a perfect forecast, we were looking for something to do outdoors. So we picked up sandwiches to have a picnic and then enjoyed the park and gardens!

Eric was traveling, so my parents me up with us for this outing.

The kids loved the play ground, and could've played here all day!

After having to DRAG them away from the park, we went to explore the garden area.

Checking out a very old tree with Nana and Grandad.

Herbs galore....

Cole may or may not have plucked a few stems to death before we caught on. :/

Just a cute photo opp

They loved looking into the koi pond.... they were some really huge fish!

Shenanigans on the lawn. Grandad is always good for that!

Cole had to spin circles once he saw the big kids doing it!

1. I love Cole's excitement in this video over spinning

2. The big kids also can't get enough

3. By chance, I caught a little mishap on video here that we couldn't stop laughing about!

So Cole's foot fell straight into about a 5-inch wide whole.... that is why you see his whole leg disappear. Not only that, but his shoe fell off into said, deep, dark hole, and Grandad was forced to go in after it! EEEEEEK! Kinda freaky for a sec, and not good at all that he fell into that because it couldn't been so much worse, but soooo funny when we look back and see it happen again! 

Love all these beautiful little people!

Ella doesn't pass up too many opportunities to do cart wheels in a wide open space!!

All tuckered out when we got home. We all were!

Fun day of exploring with the family! Only thing missing was Daddy!

Cole at 1 and 1/2!!!

Cole celebrated his half birthday back in March! He his your typical busy boy, hilarious, cute and smart toddler! Here are some of the things he's up to lately!

• He weighed in at 25 pounds and was 33 inches tall (at his appointment, which was around 19 months). He has finally caught up in height to where Carter was! He must've had a growth spurt or two sometime in the last 3 months!
• He has 10 teeth! 4 middle on top and bottom and then 2 top molars. His 2 bottom molars I'm sure will show up any day now. He's been like Carter was... a late teether! But his lack of teeth have never held him back in the eating department!
• Speaking of that, he continues to be an awesome eater! Some of his favorite foods are vegetables (sauteed green beans, asparagus, zucchini, onions, bell peppers.... SERIOUSLY!) He knows what's good! He eats all fruits, snack foods, loves yogurt and cheese, he loves pasta, but he's not huge on bread and he's getting pickier about mean than ever before. But he still takes the trophy for my best eater! I'm hoping in a few years, he'll help Ella and (especially) Carter learn what's truly delicious!
• He is so active and athletic! He kicks a ball and dribbles a ball like a 3 year old! And jumps on the trampoline like he's been doing it for years! He does somersaults now, and loves to mimic Eric and I as we work out. He's a runner! He puts us to the test when we're out and about and we let him get down on the ground. And when he takes off, he's FAST!! Of course, it's a game and he thinks it's hilarious! I cannot tell you how many times that kid has made ME RUN to catch up to him! 
• He's still not much of a talker, but he's making improvements all the time. He nods his head 'yes' an 'no' constantly now... although sometimes he doesn't use them correctly! He's recently started using 'uh oh', 'bye bye' and 'more' to communicate. These are words that he has been able to say for a long time, but not used as tools to communicate with us. So we've seen huge improvement there. 'Gaga' is his word for Carter, and "Ewa" is his word for Ella. Mama and Dada he knows, of course. And dog, ball, bounce, bu (bunny), nana. Funny how most of his words are b-words. But he is still a lot of pointing, grunting and "uh, uh, uh" to communicate. He raises his hands to his shoulders to say 'all gone' or 'all done'... and that's pretty cute! Also, just in the last few days we noticed him chiming in when we ask a 'who' question to all the kids... such as, "Who wants to go play outside?!" Generally, the big kids would respond by shouting, "MEEEE!" Cole has picked up on that and now chimes in with the same, while raising his hand in the air. It's hilarious, and so adorable! 
• He takes a 1.5-2 hour nap each day, sometimes early afternoon, sometimes later. Love that he's still so flexible and can go with the flow easily for whatever our day needs. He sleeps from 8pm-6:30/7am, usually without a peep. 
• He loves to be outside most of all. Playing outside is this kid's love language! 
• His hair is still somewhat reddish, but is lightening up quite a bit and looking more blonde each day. It seems like it might bleach in the sun like Carter's does. He also TANS! WHAT?! Yep. He does. He's currently sporting a farmer tan from all our outside and park playtime lately in the gorgeous weather! 
• He has the most contagious and adorable smile that make it really hard not to just fall in love with him. Plus, DIMPLES! This same smile, when flashed at the right time, is also one of the most mischievous grins I've ever seen! No kidding. 
• Sometimes he's super outgoing, comfortable smiling and waving to everyone including perfect strangers. And other times he is shy, hiding his face, and even crying when strangers talk to him. Depends on his mood.... never really know what you're going to get! 
• He LOVES his brother and sister, loves making them laugh, and loves laughing at them, and joining in on their silliness. He watches them, mimics them, and learns from them each and every day. He loves them big time, and they do him, too. 

Enjoy a bunch of recent videos of our silly boy!! 

Check him out.... :)
(5/8/16)

Loves to attempt anything he sees his siblings do! 

(5/1/16)

He's becoming more interested in books. I love sneaking up and finding him reading or playing

(5.2.16)

Push ups with Daddy are FUN! 

(5.4.16)

Showing off his skills!

(5.4.16)

Just so much cute sibling play....

(5.1.16)

(5.1.16)

(5.1.16)

Little athlete 

(4.21.16)

Fun with Daddy at Braums!

(4.8.16)

Snack time with sis

(3.2.16)

Yogurt!!

(4.7.16)

Crazy boy on the trampoline!

(3.21.16)

First Popsicle!

(2.12.16)

Hard to believe my BABY has a 2nd birthday that will be here before we even know it. :(

Soccer Season is a Wrap!

Ella finished her season in the middle of April. The girls had so much fun this season at their games and practices! We met such great girls and families, Ella's coach blew it out of the park, and we truly had the best experience for Ella's first soccer season! We hope to play with these girls in the seasons to come!

For fun, the coaches silly stringed the girls after their final game! Some of them really didn't know what to think about that, Ella included! 

 Then we celebrated with a pizza party!

 Complete with cookies for each girl....

 baloons, and zebra cupcakes! They really made it special for the girls!!

 The girls each gave Coach Chase a picture they had drawn for him as a gift....

 Ella drew him a soccer player with red hair :)

 Time for trophies! Ella getting hers.....

 So proud!!!

 Messy cupcakes!

 Final team photo

Way to go Zebras!! Awesome season! 

Carter's season was done at the end of April. They didn't have a party or anything, and it doesn't sound like that team will come back together, as the coach isn't returning. Soooooo, I guess that's that. But, Carter has picked up a love for basketball recently, so we're thinking that will probably be his next team sport to try out! He loves soccer, and really improved so much this season. I'm sure he'll try it again next year, but we'll just have to see!

And, I'm not sure if I ever posted these, but here are the kids' soccer pictures! I love that they got to have their pictures taken in a Pro stadium. Made for some great shots!!

I do have to say, I'm sort of glad to have our Wednesday evenings and Saturdays free again, for now! ;)

Texas Day in Ella's Class

I visited Ella's school a few weeks ago for Texas day! It's always fun to see her around her friends and teachers!

Before school -- she HAD to take a picture in these glasses! So cute!

With little bro...

Looking so grown up!

Pony rides were first!

Ella's turn

How cute is this picture?!

 

My babies!

:)

Sweet little face

Time for stick horse races!

Love my girl!

Bean bag toss!

Ella's class.

Waiting on their turn in the petting zoo, they kept busy with chalk! (Notice, Cole had to get in the mix!)

So the petting zoo started out ok, but took a turn really quickly. And not just with Ella..... with a couple of the girls. 

So far, ok..... but not for long! The look says it all!

Checking it out, but not so sure.

The cutest little piglet ever

Okay, no to the goats! About 3 of them all started crying and wanting out at the same time! Can't help but laugh at the crying faces!

Ella, "BUT HOW AM I GONNA GET PAST THE GOATS?!?!" Lol!! Oh geez!! :)

Despite being scared of the goats, it was a fun day! Always love the fun themes and activities the preschool comes up with for the kids! And love that it's so family friendly, and we're always invited!