Monster Jam 2017

We continued the monster truck tradition, but this year we watched from a suite.  It was a fancy change from previous years, but it was still a great time.  The children had a blast playing with one another and pigging out!  The freestyle competition was a little lack luster, but we will be back next year.

Crazy at IHOP

To kick off the Thanksgiving break, we had two Owens boys spend the night.  They wanted pancakes and bacon for breakfast, so I treated them all to IHOP.  It was a bit out of control, and I got a couple of "holy cow, 5 kids" looks.  Lots of laughs and making memories!

July 4th

Happy Independence Day!  

We continued the tradition with Mi Chula's and the Owens Family.  Our neighbors, the Nesters, also joined us this year, and all the children had so much fun.  Rolling down the hill and partying in the back of truck, and the night was topped off with an impressive firework show.  We are blessed!

Celebrating Independence Day

For the second year, we kicked off our celebration at MiChula's.  While we waited for a table, I looked over to see Reed bellied up at the bar with an empty drink.  The look on his face is perfect, like he has had a long, hard day.

After dinner we picked out a spot to watch the firework show.  Ryland and Jackson were really loving it this year.  

The crew!  Allisons, Owens, and Reeves

Keaton and Ridley were so sweet.  They were cuddling while watching fireworks. 

Lake Claiborne

It is summer, and time for the lake!  We spent the weekend playing on the water with the Owens crew.  Ryland and Reed loved riding on the boat right in the front.

 

One of the favorite things for the boys, was to swim between the pontoons.  This was a highlight for Reed.  Look how happy he was!  They also had fun jumping off the boat and riding on the tubes. 

 

Obviously, the fun wore these two completely out.  

 

Driving Jackson's Jeep

We headed over to the Owens' house to catch up and visit. Since we have been over last, Jackson has become the owner of a huge battery operated Jeep. Ryland thought it was the coolest thing. He jumped right in and took it for a spin. Jackson was kind enough to let him drive while he soaked up the fun. Us parents started talking about the future when it is a real Jeep, and how we will look back on the pictures and laugh. Oh the fun and trouble these boys will get into...

Alumni Crawfish Boil

We headed out to the LA Tech Alumni Crawfish Boil today. It was a cloudy and rainy day, but we were excited to see some old friends and chow down on some crawfish. The Owens also went, so the boys had someone to play with. What we did not realize until we got there, was just how hard it is to eat crawfish with 2 toddlers running around.
Ryland and Jackson had fun running around and exploring.

Look at that big rock. At least I think that is what he was trying to say.

We had a great time at the boil, and we reconnected with several people that we did not even know they lived in the area. Good times!

Game night

We all headed over to the Woods' home for some weekend fun. The kiddos are so funny together, and I just love to watch them interact. After the babies went down, us grownups played a game of 90s Trivial Pursuit. Let me just start off by saying, I suck at any kind of trivia or q & a. Needless to say, Robert, my partner, carried our team to victory.

Pretty obvious that these old dads have had way too much fun.
Thanks for having us over!

All aboard the North Pole Express

We headed out to Grapevine for some much needed Christmas spirit. We met up with the Woods and the Owens for a little weekend fun. We all attended the North Pole Express gig. It started off with a cute skit and some Christmas jingles and then we all headed for the train. The conductor did a great job of getting all the little ones interested and excited.


SNOW! As we headed to the train, we were led down a path through the trees where it was snowing. It was artificial snow, but it was neat to watch Ryland try to figure out what it was.

The boys are being silly on the way to the North Pole.

We climbed aboard an old authentic train for a little ride. As we traveled down the rails, we listened to the Night Before Christmas.

Ryland, Daddy, and Mom

Lindsey, Jackson, and Rodney

Harker, Sarah, and Robert

I just love Harker's expression. She is so over this train.

Ryland told Santa to check out his bowl full of jelly. Eat your heart out Santa.

Santa was available for pictures after the train ride, so we snapped a quick pic before headed off.

We had a great time, and we look forward to coming again next year. It is a perfect family tradition and will become even more fun as Ryland gets older.