Texas State Fair

On Saturday morning, we woke up to find it pouring and all our sports games cancelled. So, what would any logical family do? Of course, spend all day outside at the fair! Never mind the rain! Our day at the fair turned out to be awesome. No crowds, no lines, we got in free, and they were practically giving the kids prizes away for any game they would play! Plus.....free ponchos, which seriously were a lifesaver. Here's our day at the fair.

The kids and me sporting our stylin' ponchos. We tied up the back for Brooke and it made her look like she had a tail. It was so cute :)

The boys had to hit the hammer and make the bell ring. They got to try it as many times as they wanted to.

And, look at the lovely prizes they picked out. Gigantic swords which they proceeded to fight each other with immediately. The rest of the day, I was constantly saying, "Watch where you're walking with the sword...you just hit that person..."

It was hard to time this picture....the boys are laying on their stomachs on the handglider ride. They were the only ones on it.

Here we are in the greenhouse which had a cool model train exhibit.

The family in front of Big Tex!

We went to check out the car show (for Uncle Ben) and it was pretty cool! The kids loved sitting in all the new cars and I even changed Brooke's diaper in the back of one a Cadillac Escalade that was kind of in a corner.
No one saw me and I figured...what the heck?

The state fair is known for it's fried foods....Jason tried the Fried Frito Pie which won an award for the best new item this year. I tried it..it just tasted like chili in a frito. It was good! Then, Jason and I split the fried cookie dough. Oh my gosh-that was delicious! There were so many choices....

Brooke's favorite...the petting zoo. She loved this! Here she is saying hello to a cow.

Drew is keeping one eye on the cow....and I don't know what that guy in the back is looking at. Weird.

Farmer Jackson!

Brooke didn't use a scoop to feed the animals like her brothers, she simply used her hands. No fear!

We spotted Scooby walking around and the boys thought they were too big to get their picture taken with him, but not Jason! He grabbed Brooke and posed with Sccoby.

As you can see, the sun came out and we were able to leave our ponchos behind. Here is Drew waiting for the bird show to start. Our last stop of the day.

I had to get the big ferris wheel in the background. Jason and Drew went on it and loved it. They said it was their highlight of the day. The bird show was great too!

The day turned out to be one of the best and the kids were asking if we could go back next week. We told them not for another year. On the way home, we heard Jackson tell Drew "I can't wait til next year!" What fun memories of their first Texas State Fair!

Let's Get it Straight!

A BIG DAY!!

No more "vampire teeth" (a phrase coined by Jackson himself)!

Day 1 of our LONG journey with braces :)

BEFORE---excited and a "little nervous"
AFTER--Dr. said he was a model patient!

Labor Day Fun!

We traveled to Leavenworth to visit the Maupin's for Labor Day. We hadn't been there since Christmas when the snow was 3 feet high, so it was quite a change! We had a cookout (the smoke blurred all my pics. from that night), kite flying, and lots of homeade ice cream!




We knew Grandpa would have lots of tricks up his sleeve and he didn't disappoint! He cleaned up Jason's old bike from when he was a kid and had it ready for Jackson to ride.












There was another bike for Drew that was just his size.....the boys rode all around the cul-de-sac and up and down G-ma and G-pa's driveway.

Just a little cuddle with Grandpa....

G-ma and G-pa got out the tree swing for Brooke who loved it! All the kids loved that swing when they were babies...it has gotten good use :)

Everyone got a tractor ride......Brooke's first ride. She's not too sure!

Jackson's turn....an old pro and it looks like there may not be much room for two on there anymore.

Finally, our future farmer...Drew could have rode the tractor all day. He loved it and didn't want to stop.

Thanks G-ma and G-pa for a wonderful weekend and lots of great memories!

Last of Hawaii...

Ahh....just looking at these pictures again make me miss Hawaii so much. The boys got to try snorkeling the last few days of our vacation. Jackson actually snorkeled right above a group of manta rays and he also held onto a sea turtles shell..how cool!




This day, I went with them and saw all sorts of cool things. It was calm water and we had a great time.







Nana and Brooke basked in the sun from the shore while my dad guided all of us with the snorkeling.








So, another day, my mom surprised us with a trip into the mountains to zipline!! It was definitely one of the highlights of the trip. Here is our group with our 2 guides.





My mom and I resting between one of our ziplines. We stopped halfway down the mountain and had lunch on this beautiful overlook and then zipped our way back down to the bottom.




I'm coming in for a landing...stand back!









Mom, look at your form!










Here's the group with all their safety gear on. We're lookin' good.








And my mom....thanks to her, we got to have this experience. This was something that she had always wanted to do and I'm so glad I got to experience this with her!

Birthday Fun

So...my birthday......I had to wait in the lobby of the ALoft until I was called up to the room. When I got off the elevator, the "paparazzi" was in my face taking pics. of me as I walked down the hall. This is what was on the outside of my door! It was my "dressing room!"
Here's the deal...the brunch bunch just found out the extent of my past acting, singing, and dancing life, hence, the whole "movie star" theme!

We ate at a restaurant called Nicola's in Plano. Sooo delish and sooo pretty! The perfect place for a girls night.

Sorry, these pics. are a little out of order...Anyways, back to the room. I'm just opening a silly card from the group.

Getting ready to open my present!!! What will it be? It was a gift certificate to Coldwater Creek Spa and some other goodies....love it!!

Kim and Kari hanging out. You can see some of the decor that Kari put together. Stars hanging everywhere and stars all over the bed which Kim crawled around on her hands and knees in the morning picking each and every one up. It was worth it!

Just getting the night started...what a great night!!

School's In!

Backpacks....check.
Lunchboxes...check.
Collared shirts...check, but with great protest.
The boys were ready to go this morning! 1st and 3rd grade! Wow!

Drew woke up with a smile on his face watching the clock so we wouldn't be late. He went right into his classroom and got to work.

OK, honestly...this is like the only semi-smile I got from Jackson. He was grumpy. That's how he acts when he's nervous...he gets a little snippy, so I tried not to say much and just give him a quick hug and send him on his way. When he got in the car, he was back to his usual self.

Jason stayed home with Brooke...she was still sleeping! She missed seeing her brothers all day long, but liked eating breakfast with just Jason and me :)

She doesn't need her brothers to get in trouble. She's trying to climb up the outside of the stairs. I'm gonna be on my toes while the boys are at school. No laying around for me....but I do look forward to her naptime :)

Classic Drew

As we were driving to Wolf Camera yesterday...."Mom, when are we going to be at Dog Camera?" He knew it was some sort of animal.....

Yesterday at lunch I heard him telling Jackson "You better eat that because my taste bugs are really wanting that!"

That boy makes me laugh!!

Hawaii, Part 2

On one of our first days in Hana, we explored some underground lava tubes. Lava had flowed there thousands of years ago and the tubes had remained unchanged. Here are Jason and the boys getting ready to head down into the lava tube.
Still at the start of the tube where we can see sunlight.

Brooke the Explorer!

This was apprently the prime picture spot!

This was also used as a fallout shelter that the owner of this land made in the 60's. He had it stocked with enough food and water for 6 weeks for himself and 15 women....hmmm......

Here's the group in a dark part of the cave. We all had flashlights, but if we turned them off, it was pitch black.

The most adventurous grandparents in the world!

We made it thru the lava tubes and they had a maze made out of these Ti plants. So, Auntie A and Drew were off!

Drew loves to be timed doing things, so we had to time him....

On our way home, we saw this stand on the side of the road that sold homemade banana bread, coconut ice cream, and all sorts of fruit. It was all fresh and organic....we ended up going back to this place almost every day to get another loaf of banana bread!

Back at the house....the boys went with Uncle Ben a couple of mornings and would sit on the rocks by the ocean to get splashed. They would come back soaked and loved it!

I caught this picture of Jackson just when a huge wave was about to spray him. I should have taken an after shot, but I ran to get out of the way!