The past few weeks.....

I'm just finishing up posting with the last few pictures from the school year.  Drew had a project about the actual flower mound in Flower Mound. So we trudged up the hill and took pictures. It was actually very interesting and I had never been there. We learned that Indians once lived on this land and this was the highest point in the area where they would look out from. There are also multiple species of wildflowers that grow there.

Another cool thing is that they have an Easter sunrise service on the mound every year. We went right before Easter, so we were able to see the crosses.

Brookes school had a little petting zoo a couple weeks ago and you'd think the girl was raised on a farm!! She jumped right in and fed the goats, picked up baby chicks, and chased the rabbits. She loved it!

 Corraling two goats who want her attention....or the food in her hand!

Jackson came home with a black eye.......who beat him up?!?! Well....it was himself. Apparently, in gym class, they were doing handstands against the wall and his knee came down as he landed....right in his eye!! It got worse over the week and then started to heal. And for his knee....it is fine too.

HITS400

Jason has luanched a new company called HITS400! It opened a few months ago in Plano and they have had a few special guests come visit. Jason was super excited to have Jennie Finch there for a day...you can see why...she is beautiful! She's a famous softball player and has 2 gold medals. We went over to see her and brought along a couple of Drew's friends.

Jackson and Jennie Finch

At the HITS facility with Jennie.

They had some cute balloon blow ups outside, popcorn, hotdogs.....

......and facepainting!!!! Very exciting for Brooke! Now, everytime we go over there, she thinks the face painter is going to be there.

Love the rainbow!

So, there were some popcorn balls leftover and here comes Jackson hauling a trash bag full of them. Hes not even supposed to eat things like that with braces! Luckily, both boys had games later that day and we shared them all with their teammates.
We love HITS400!

Easter Happenings!

Grandma and Grandpa came to visit us this weekend and we started off by dyeing eggs. Each year, there are always new kits and ways to color the eggs. We love trying them out!

Everything is more fun with Grandpa around!

Easter morning....wow, the Easter bunny didn't miss our house!

The boys got SkullCandy earphones....pretty cool!

Brooke got a Dora Mermaid that dives into the tub and swims. She saw this commercial on tv where the little girl grows a mermaid tail when she plays with Dora. The first time she used it, she kept looking and examining her feet and wondered why she wasn't turning into a mermaid! So cute!

Their egg haul after the hunt....

I made a Easter morning breakfast from Pinterest.....Blueberry Buttermilk Breakfast Cake....yum!!!

Everyone looking beautiful and ready for church!

After church, we met up with our favorite family, The Pottorffs....we love them! Our first pic. with all of us together :)

It was POURING when we went to Easter brunch, but they had Easter eggs laying out on the lawn and the kids couldn't resist. You can't see the rain in the picture, but the kids were soaked and freezing. They got as many eggs as they could and it paid off.....inside were free kids meals!! Woo Hoo.....we'll be back at Bridlewood soon!

More from paradise.....

Is this the CUTEST nephew EVER?!?!? He is going to be a big brother in a few months!!! His first time at the beach and he loved it!

Almost every night, Papa and the boys went to the beach for some beach baseball. Even Nana got in on the action one night and caught one of the boys pop flies....pretty impressive. Here are some action shots...Drew going for a diving catch!

Jackson ready for the wiffle ball...

And Brooke.....insisting that I bury her....she loved it .

This year, Brooke really warmed up to the beach. She was not hesitant like she was last year, but instead explored and played for hours. Here she had gotten some beach debris and was twirling and dancing around the beach. It was so cute!

We love getting canoes and going thru mangrove trails. This year, Papa and Brooke were a team. We always say we're not going to "race", but it always ends up that way!

This is one of my favorite things we do....we see all kids on wildlife back there and it is so quiet and peaceful.

Nana and Drew were a team....Nana ended up doing most of the paddling because Drew was not quite up to fully committing himself to the task at hand :)

And....here is the winning team!! Jackson and I in our self portrait. We got the groove of paddling down and were in the lead in no time.

One night, we went on a sunset cruise. All the kiddos getting ready to cruise!

I know Drew looks really weird in this picture, but I wanted one with each of them and this is what I got...

And with Jackson....look closely and you will notice that Jackson in smooshing Drew who was kind of laying on my lap. Geez!

Watch out for that shark!

Our last night....Nana and Papa with all the grandkids. We had a wonderful vacation and thank you Mom and Dad for everything!

Rest and Relaxation

We had another great trip to Captiva Island. Jason couldn't make it this year because of his new job and we missed him! But, that didn't stop us from having a litle fun :) Our first day fishing with Capt. Jim. We caught some big groupers, trout, and snapper! We had dolphins coming up to our boat as we caught the fish hoping for a free handout.

Papa and his grandsons making a "tough guy" face on the beach.

Just me and the kiddos....it felt weird being there by myself.

If Papa was in the pool at the same time Brooke was, she was on his back! She would practically choke him with her grip and she loved every minute of it!

See the choke hold???

Now, it was also time to make our basketball picks.....everyone took some time to seriously contemplate their brackets :)

Brooke insisted on doing her brackets as well....

Jackson sprawled on the floor to study the whole situation...of course making sure KU would be champ!!

One of our favorite restaurants we go to on Captiva is Cheeburger Cheeburger....

Look who's taking the challenge of eating the 1/2 pounder for kids...can he do it?

He did it!!!! And he was still hungry!

Drew caught a little turtle in our bushes on our way to canoe.

The kids in front of our FAVORITE of all time....The Bubble Room! Our house is just across the street from this place and we end up eating there (especially desserts) a lot!