32 Hour Adventure

Due to the amount of time we would be spending in the car and a hotel room, MIMI and I told the girls we were going on an "adventure" to make the experience more exciting. Janet and I took all 4 kids to Frisco/Plano/Little Elm for Ashley's baby shower.

Thursday 11:00 a.m. - Load up in the car

1:00 p.m. - Stop halfway for lunch

4:00 p.m. - Arrive at hotel in Frisco

5:00 p.m. - Shannon picks me up to help get ready for the shower

6:00 p.m. - Uncle Drew and his girlfriend, Kim, come to the hotel to watch the kids while we are at the shower

7:00 p.m. - Celebration for Aunt Ashley and Baby Graham

The Hostesses

Shannon came in town to visit Wendi and once again did a great job of being the photographer during the party.MIMI with her daughter-in-lawsHoney with her daughters
All the pregnant women at the shower.
After a delicious fajita dinner, we played bunko.11:00 p.m. - Back at the hotel for a quick chat with Uncle Drew and Kim then off to bed. (MIMI slept with Aubrey, Carter slept in the bathroom, Emery slept by herself and I ended up with Lily in my bed.)

Friday 6:00 a.m. - Everyone awake and ready start the day.

9:00 a.m. - Visit Mema in Plano.
Papa and Carter
Lily loves her Papa.
Mema and Carter
The kids love playing with the toys that Mema has at her house. These are the toys that Daddy and Uncle David played with which makes them at least 30 years old.

Aubrey found Snoopy.

What is that Lily? Carter diggin' in to all the cars.
Carter chewing on a car.
Carter chewing on a whisk.Carter chewing on Mickey Mouse.
Jackpot...Mickey Mouse and the whisk at the same time.
The girls take a time out for a quick snack.
Papa and MIMI discussing what adorable grandchildren they have but boy to they wear them out!
11:00 a.m. - Arrive in Little Elm at Honey's for a playdate and lunch with the Junods, Michaelis' and Halls.
Watch this Anna Lou!
A "Cousins" picture
2:00 p.m. - Loaded everyone back up the in car to head back to Houston.

7:00 p.m. - HOME!

Katie's 30th Birthday

My dear friend Katie turned 30 this year and for her birthday she wanted to go for a girls weekend to float the river. We stayed in this house that was within walking distance to get on the river. We spent much of our time at the house playing what has become one of my favorite games, Whoonu. It is the perfect game to play with a group of people you don't know very well and people you think you already know. Wow, I learned a lot that weekend and had a blast doing it.

Here is the group before dinner at Gruene River Grill. We didn't get to dinner until 9:30 so this was the extent of our night life experience in Gruene but we made the most of it.

Carly (Meggan's best friend), Me, Shannon, Katie, Shelley (Katie's friend from Sugarland), Alyssa (another friend from Sugarland), Meggan (Katie's sister)

The group getting ready to float the river.
Check out all of our shoes. Yes, mine are the tennis shoes....although they were not stylish, they did the job.
The group heading out.
While I was gone, Mike had all 4 kiddos all by himself for the weekend (MIMI was in Canada.) He did an amazing job. They went to the park and played on Saturday. He also took the opportunity to dress Carter in "boy" clothes.
He took them to Sunday school and church on Sunday. I was so impressed that he had them all dressed with their hair fixed and still had time to take pictures before they left. Everyone at church was very impressed also. Although he did get questioned about why they weren't matching :-). Not only did Daddy have a wonderful time with the kids, he also had the house clean and dishes done when I got home. What a guy!

Belated Birthday Bash

The Davis family was not able to make it to Lily and Emery's birthday party so they generously had a belated get-together for us, the Scalises and the Heurings at Champions Club pool. We enjoyed swimming with the families and eating a delicious meal. Our children are always in good hands with Meyer Davis.

Lily and Emery are helping take care of Grace Scalise.
Aubrey swimming with Sally Heuring and M.K. Davis.
Mike, Eric Heuring and Buff Davis cooling off in the pool. All of the kids enjoying dinner.

Thanks Anne for watching all of the kids so the adults could enjoy their meals.
Me, Anne Davis, Kari Heuring and Stacie Scalise

I met these moms at Stroller Fit and we have become good friends over the past few years. There were 6 kids among the 4 of us back then and now there are 12.
Popsicle or Ice Cream Cookie Sandwich anyone?

Lily and Emery LOVED their dessert and another celebration in their honor.

Is the party over yet? 1/2 of the kiddos

Fort Worth and Frisco

I took the kids to spend some time with Nana in Fort Worth while she was on her summer break. The first day we were there we went to Frisco to visit my sister-in-law, Lori, and two of my 3 nieces, Abbey Clare and Julia (Bella was in Abilene visiting her other grandma.) We went to a splash park in a neighborhood close by to play and have lunch. It was surprisingly cool that morning so we ended up spending most of our time on the playground next to it. We had lots of fun!

Nana with 4 of her 7 grandchildren

Carter is chillin'.
Abbey Clare lovin' on Aubrey. Aubrey loves to push people in swings. Abbey Clare was nice enough to let her do it.
Peek-a-Boo
Carter trying to get the puffs. That kept him busy for awhile.Aubrey going down the pole.

Emery going down the slide.
Lily going down the slide.
Ashley and Anna stopped by to say "Hi!" It was good to get to spend time with our cousins. We love you!

The next day we went over to Ms. Henning's house to swim. Ms. Henning and my mom were sorority sisters at Valparaiso University. It is a long story of how they both ended up in Fort Worth but they are glad to have each others friendship. Ms. Henning got Carter a bunch of TCU stuff including the hat he is wearing.
The rest of our time in Fort Worth was spent relaxing at my mom's. The girls love to play with the toys that she saved from when my brothers and I were little. They also like to put together wooden puzzles that their great-gramps made. Thanks Nana for the wonderful quality time.