July 27, 2016: Reading, Fencing, Video game camp and Growing up!

Somehow between all their cousin visits, we managed to fit in our reading.  The kids have read 30 minutes a day almost every day.  Liam read 25 chapter books (I Survived, Diary of a Wimpy Kid are favs right now), Bryn read 25 Early Readers level 1 and 2, and Nora looked at lots of her picture books and let all of us read to her).  They did the summer reading challenges at Barnes and Noble, Half Price Books, and the library.  They earned 12 free books and free kids meals to a few restaurants as well.

Somehow my baby had two big milestones this week.  We purchased her uniform for school next month...cannot believe we are here! Seems like just yesterday I was leaving her screaming in the infant room...we might still get a few tears this year.  Don't let the fake smile fool you...she is NOT excited when we try to talk up going to a new class.  Hoping once she realizes she is one of the big kids, she'll be more into it...

I promised my family (who pushed for this a long time ago) that I would get Nora a big girl bed when she asked.  Well one night she asked-no demanded-a big girl bed.  Luckily I still had the manual to her crib and when I looked up what I would need to convert her crib to a bed, I realized it was nothing!  All I had to was pop off the front side and voila!  Toddler bed and happy toddler :)  Since I felt a little guilty that the older two moved straight from the crib to queen size beds, I sprung for the obnoxious Frozen bedding she has been asking for :)  She has not gotten out of bed (or more surprising, fallen out of bed) and we are so proud of our big girl!

 Liam did another camp, this time it was a video game creation camp!

 He made a funny animated video about a moose and a baby on the side of the Grand Canyon.  The baby was asking the moose for directions to a bathroom.  Potty humor is still pretty popular :)  He also made this cool maze game...

 Best part of camp was doing it with his best buds Justin and Jackson!

 Last weekend Bryn had another special sleepover with the Lingerfelts.  The next night, Liam had a sleepover with Mallie and Dallie.  Since Liam spent the next day at their house, Nick took Bryn on a date to the carousel and bookstore.  While we love our family time, I know they really enjoy these days to feel extra special :)

 While Liam was gone, we took the girls swimming and taught Bryn to dive in the pool!

 Liam has also been fencing this summer with Justin.  He has really enjoyed it, and this week was his first time sparring! He's in the blue shoes :)

 Also it should be noted that because it's such a historical event, the kids watched the DNC roll call and saw Hilary Clinton become the first female presidential candidate! With all that's going on lately, we have been talking to the kids a lot about equality.  I hope they always believe and defend the rights of everyone.

July 15-17, 2016: Houston Visit

We had a fun visit to see Nana and Pops!  The kids were so excited to see them...and Gracie :)  

 Even Bryn was finally comfortable with her!

Liam's big treat is getting to go four-wheeling with Pops!

 We did a lot of swimming in their pool over the weekend.  We also went to a glow-in-the-dark putt putt which the kids enjoyed...

 We celebrated Nick and Liam's birthday early...a new foosball table!

 The kids love sleeping in the bunk beds :)

It was a quick, but great trip!

June 22-July 15, 2016: Cousins, Cousins, Cousins!

The kids couldn't WAIT for the Smiths to get here for their annual summer visit!  What was supposed to be one week turned into two and they enjoyed 24/7 together!

We did lots of outings with all the kids.  Obstacle Ninja Warrior Kids...

Lots of swimming...

Rough Riders game...

Mexican night out...not easy finding a table for us all!

Liam and Bryn soccer games and a tournament in the 95 degree weather...

They had lots of fans for soccer this week...to the indoor games at least :)

Ticket to Ride mania...

GNO to Fireside Pizzas...

While most of the family was in town, we were able to celebrate Pepper's baptism!

 Snuggling my Fox during the ceremony...

 I tried to get a picture of all my godchildren...but Nora was distraught about being left out and therefore made a pitiful photobomb :)

 We love you baby Pepper!

Max and Olivia came in to town before the Smiths left, so we had some overlapping days of even more cousin fun!  Max was downtown for the first few days with his parents, playing in the national volleyball tournament so Livies got to hang with us.  We had a girl slumber party at our house with Olivia, Pres and Anna...

We did story time and crafts at Barnes and Noble...

We went to the Frisco water park

Nora was brave enough for the orange slide this year...

Liam and Livies coming down the mat slide...

and here comes Bryn behind them!

Making princess cupcakes from their cookbook...

Olivia showed off her skills and made flannel napkins for all the kids for the upcoming school year...

One afternoon Nick and I took David and Liam to Bricks and Minifigs.  While there Nick and I built some brother-in-law minifigs....Cam, Nick, Alex and Daniel, haha!

Cameron was able to come in town for July 4th weekend which was great!  We had a fun dinner at the Lingerfelts and the next night had a sibs night out to Mi Cocina...

On his last day of tournaments, we went to watch Max play.  His team did awesome and the kids really enjoyed seeing him in action!

Spending the holiday weekend in the pool!

Movie night...

These two besties had a great time together.  They have lots of whispers, secret handshakes, and shared passions.  It was cute to see them share hairstyles, mani pedis, and have so much fun together.  Love to see them get closer and closer each year...

Last night together...one more big hug!

After the Smiths left, the Bacon family was here for a couple more days.  Nora helped Mark with his hair and nails...

Liam and Bryn have been dying to try indoor skydiving and the whole Bacon clan was up for it!  They loved it and it was amazing to watch them!  Yes, even Nick got in on it :)

Liam...

Bryn...

We had Max and Olivia at our house one night while their parents went out.  They joined us outside playing with our neighbors...

More four square...

The next day we took them to Ninja Warrior kids...

and back to the water park one last time!

Because we clearly haven't had enough water park action, we fit in one more event.  Nick's company just finished the remodel of the Jack Carter park so the families of the employees were allowed in for one night before opening.  Because there was an informal ceremony, Nick asked the kids and I to come stand next to him since he was going to speak.  Nick was introduced by one of the city employees as the 'fearless leader' of Turner.   Under his breath, Liam muttered 'he's not fearless!'  Haha, hopefully not too many people heard.  Later when we asked him about, Liam said, "well he's not fearless because I know he's scared of something, everyone is."  What can I say, I get the literal side of him :)

Anyway, the kids LOVED it, Turner did a great job!

The big kids loved the flow rider!  Even though there was so wipe outs, they both jumped back up to try again!

On Max and Olivia's last night, we went to Bahama Bucks.  When Mallie asked "who had a good vacation?", my kids raised their hands :)  This was such a great visit and they are such good role models for my kids!

The next day we decided last minute to go bowling...and ran into Grandma and Grandpa, who had Kaity and Ryanne with them!  Unexpected fun treat to run into them :)

During Lindsey's wedding in April, Aunt Steph and I started planning for Mayce to come visit for a week in the summer.  We lined it up so that as soon as the Bacons left, Mayce came a few days later.  I was worried we might bore her with our little kid lifestyle but she was awesome and up for anything!  She loved playing with the kids, ate everything I put in front of her, and was such a great help to me during the week.  When I forgot an ingredient, I ran to the store...alone!  She watched the kids...can't wait for that stage sometimes :)  It was also nice for me to have someone to watch Bachelorette and eat salads with, and I loved our talks and getting to know her better.  She is such a great teenager and I'll feel lucky if our girls turn out like her!

Swimming in the neighborhood pool...

Ticket to Ride (she was such a good sport since we play this almost daily!)

A visit to the Perot museum...

Nora getting Mayce ready for prom :)

Bedtime cuddles...

Top Golf...

Blocks...

Roller skating...