On the road again.....just can't wait

to get on the road again! We are leaving today for our big road trip! I am so excited. I think I slept about 3 hours last night! I will be sure to take lots of pictures and post when we get back next week!

Road trip prep

We are taking our first big road trip with the boys on Friday. We are driving to TN to see my dad's side of the family. It's been 5 years since I have seen them. We made the drive when Mason was 10 weeks old. So, this side of my family hasn't met Alex. I am so excited to see everyone. We are driving to Texarkana Friday and spending the night in a hotel. Then Saturday we will drive the rest of the way to TN. I really don't want the boys to fight or whine in the car, so do you think I have enough activities for them?! This picture excludes the 50 or so movies we are bringing as well!

I came up with a game we could play in the car. Yesterday we cut pictures out of magazines of things you may see from your car window. On our trip I will have the kids pick a card and try to find that item by looking out of the window. For example, if they draw the card with the horse on it, they have to look out the window and try to find a horse, once they find it, I will give them a new card. Maybe this will keep them busy for awhile!

I also put together a bunch of bags with individual art activities. Some bags have a small picture with a couple of crayons. Other bags have a picture to color with markers. Then there are bags that have several pieces of construction paper with a glue stick, scissors and stickers.
We are also taking cookie sheets that the boys can use as their lap tray. They can do their art projects on these, as well as eat on them. I am also packing magnets that stick to the cookie sheet for them to play with.

I have a bunch of snacks that I am going to put in individual bags, along with juice boxes. If anyone can think of anything else that will make a long car trip with two boys a happy occasion, please let me know!

Painting

The kids wanted to paint today. It's definitely much more fun to paint hands first, then the paper! I had to shut the project down when they started painting their arms and feet!

Update on potty training

Alex has decided he would rather sit on the "big" potty now. Although he doesn't actually "go" on the big potty yet. He likes to unroll the entire roll of toilet paper and flush it down the toilet. It's the little things in life that bring joy!

He is also a little confused on how to properly wear underwear!

Here is our future musician! Mason loves his violin. He turns the tv on Great American Country and plays along to the songs.

Here is Alex making his debut on the karaoke machine last night!

Happy 31st Birthday to Uncle Casey! Hope you have a great one!

Rockband Party

Last night Andy and I dressed like "Rockers" for Josh and Tara's Rock Band Party! It was Josh's birthday. We had a blast!

Can you guess which one is a wig?!

Here is my hot date!

Tara's costume was great! The little baby bump added a special touch to the outfit!

This is Josh's brother Jake and his wife Tracy. They dressed like their characters on the Rock Band game.

Sam and B.K.

Tara and Josh had a contest on best costume. John won the prize!

Breaking News

I just had to let everyone know that Alex went pee pee on the potty for the first time last night (or as he told Jeanell- he went potty on the tee tee!) He went on his little potty, then he went again on the toilet. We went to the mall today and when we got home he went potty on the toilet again. Whoo Hooo! He is very excited about wearing underwear now. Hopefully he will be potty trained soon!

Inflatable Wonderland

My mom and I took the boys and our friend Dayna to the Inflatable Wonderland today. They had a blast! Here are the boys trying to find Dayna!

There were a lot of new inflatables since the last time we had been. There were several geared to Alex's age. He was glad to be able to play without help! He had so much fun.

Here is an action shot of Dayna! It sort of looks like a glamour pose!

Right now Mason is dressed up in his Spiderman costume and Dayna is dressed up as Buzz Lightyear! I feel pretty protected since there are two super heroes in the house right now!

Dirty Job

One of Mason's favorite shows to watch with Andy is Dirty Jobs. Well, this evening Mason was helping me make dinner. We were making parmesan chicken. I had one bowl with melted butter, worcestershire sauce and garlic powder. I had another bowl with parsley, bread crumbs and parmesan cheese. Mason took the raw chicken and dipped it in the butter sauce, then rolled it in the bread/cheese bowl before putting it in the pan. After he finished doing that to all of the chicken he looked at his hands and said "Now THAT's a dirty job!"

Girls night

Last night I went to dinner at South Congress Cafe with my friend Dana (on the right) and her friend from Atlanta (Sazuko) and Heather. I had never been to South Congress Cafe but it was REALLY good. After dinner we went to the San Jose hotel to meet two more of Dana's friends. It was a really nice night.

After Party

The boys were opening their party favor bag on the way home from Riddick's party.

Alex decided to turn the stickers into "face art"!

Riddick's Bday Party

This morning we went to Riddick's 3rd birthday party. It was at his neighborhood swimming pool. The boys had a great time! Here is Alex swimming in the baby pool.

Mason loves to throw the diving sticks and then get them with his feet!

The pool had a rope that designated the lap lanes. The boys had to check it out!

Our Manor Land

Andy decided to go do some work out at his land on Friday. As he pulled up he discovered there had been a fire at his land. After talking to the neighbors, he found out the fire happened on June 4th. Apparently, one of the neighbors was mowing and a spark from his mower caught the grass on fire. The wind carried it to our tract. Our neighbor told us that Manor Fire Dept. came out the first day but they just made sure the fire didn't get to the road. The next day the fire was still smoldering so Austin Fire Dept. came and put it out for good. The picture below is one of the right side of our front entrance.

While inspecting the damage we came across this dove nest. The mama dove flew out of the nest and acted like she had a broken wing. When Andy saw that he knew that she was just distracting us from her babies. So Andy looked around and discovered the nest.

I told Andy, at least he didn't have to shred this year!

Playtime with Baby Reagan

The boys have been in camp this week. The theme is "A Week at the Beach". They have been having lots of fun. Today is the last day and they are going to have water balloons and popsicles!
Last night Stacey, Bodie and Reagan came over for dinner. We haven't seen Reagan since she was a few weeks old! The boys were so excited for her to come over. They brought out a "few" toys for her to play with!

Mason was really good with Reagan. He kept asking to hold her and then wanted to feed her. He was watching out for her the whole night. It was really sweet! She is such a good baby. We definitely need to get together more often!

Water slide

Saturday we went to Jake and Nicole's house to let the kids play on the water slide. On the way to their house Mason kept telling us he didn't want to go down the slide. We told him he didn't have to, but we wanted to bring his swimsuit anyway. Alex went down the slide first and thought it was great. Therefore, Mason decided to give it a try. He didn't leave the slide until it was time to go home. He had a blast!!


Alex went down the slide twice. After the second time he decided the water was too cold, so he watched from the side lines!

We had so much fun with Jake, Nicki and their friends this weekend! The kids had a blast.