Weekend Recap

We had a super fun weekend and I am so excited to share it on the blog!  First, Colin had his first Soccer Tots practice - I'm not really sure if you call it a practice because there aren't any games, so maybe soccer class/session is better.  Whatever the terminology all 3 of us loved it and can't wait to go back next weekend!  The coach was great and they did everything from setting out cones, kicking the cones down, picking the cones back up to kicking and throwing balloons, kicking soft balls and throwing and cacthing them, chased after hula hoops, played with bubbles, played with a parachute and probably more I am forgetting.  His class level is a parent participation class so Luke and I were out there running around with him and helping - it seriously was so fun!  I was able to get a couple of pictures with 'my daddy' as Colin calls Luke and by the time we tried a picture with 'momma', he was over it - what else is new?  :)

We played with balloons.

We practiced kicking balls against the wall and to mommy and daddy too.

Time for a water break!

Colin loved Soccer Tots!!!

Colin does not love taking pictures after a one hour soccer class! :)

We also got to take a trip out to Lake Conroe to spend some time with Honey and Daddy Jay (Luke's parents).  They rented us a nice cabin right on the pond/lake at the KOA campgrounds.  We had a blast here and can't wait to go back!  They have swimming, horseshoes, volleyball, paddle boats, a mini stocked lake to fish on and lots of other fun stuff.  Most of all we enjoyed getting to spend time with Honey and Daddy Jay!!!

Colin, Luke, & Daddy Jay in the pool!

Colin & Momma

After swimming Honey brought out the fruit pops!

The view from our porch.

From the gazebo looking at our cabin...very Dirty Dancing don't you think?!?!  :)

Colin in his pj's on one of the many walks up and down the dock.

Daddy Jay caught a fish!  Colin was sort of grossed out but interested at the same time.

Then Colin got into his dirty car and drove us home!  :)

My little helper

I have the biggest helper at home. You might be surprised to find that it is not my husband, but my sweet little man! Side note: I know I use the word ‘little’ a lot to describe him, but he is little and won’t be for long, so let me do it, ok? Anyway, Colin is the best helper – when I ask him to help, when I ask him not to help, and even when I don’t actually need any help. At times it can be a tad, what’s the word, frustrating? Especially if I am trying to do something in a hurry, but then I think back to a post I read from the Layla Grace blog – knowing that her final days were near her mom wrote a post about all of the times her little helper prolonged household chores and how much she wished that it would take her 30 minutes to unload the dishwasher again. I don’t want to be a Debbie Downer but that post has really stayed with me. I am grateful to have a healthy little helper and I don’t ever want to take it for granted, though I am sure at some point I will, I am really trying my best. Anyway, back to the cuteness…

Last night he walked into the kitchen from playing in the backyard and a couple of cabinet doors were open as well as the dishwasher door (just finished emptying/reloading). He immediately drops his cup on the floor (this he does not help with!), walks to the dishwasher, looks at me and says “close?” and then without waiting for an answer he closes the door. Then he walks around the kitchen and closes each open cabinet door and shuts the pantry door for good measure. Then I start sweeping and Colin takes the dustpan and runs it all over the entire 1st floor of the house. He is too cute! He is notorious for tossing all of his food onto the floor when he is “all done” with dinner – there is always food leftover and he wants nothing to with it once he has finished. I have a boy that likes a clean table – it’s just too bad for us that he throws/tosses pieces of food to get it this way, but we are working on that! He also loves to help load/move/unload laundry and especially likes to push the buttons on the washer/dryer and dishwasher. Oh, he is also obsessed with turning out the lights. What a responsible little man I have! I know Colin won’t be my happy helper forever or that he won’t want to snuggle in bed when he first wakes up in the morning or that he will let me smother him with hugs and kisses – so I am going to take full advantage of every day with him and enjoy it!

Fourth of July, part 2!

On July 4th we started the day with a trip to Canyon Lake for a swim.

On the way home from the lake we stopped to pick up fireworks!

Then we played some games, took some naps, and went swimming again in the river.  Colin had watermelon for the first time and he loved it.  The girls decided to attack Aunt Angie & Uncle Scot and things really got crazy when all 4 cousins started dancing on the table!  It was pretty cute - Luke took some video and I will have to post it later.

Then the fun with fireworks started...yes, we know we are crazy to let a 17 month old play with fireworks but there was plenty of supervision if that makes it any better.  Plus he mostly just stepped on those little paper poppers you throw on the ground - I can't remember what they are called but he was obsessed with them, as was Jillian.  Last year Colin hated the fireworks and cried and cried (he was only 5 months old!) but he loved them this year.  He asked for 'more' at least 500 times!

We were able to snap some group pictures before we left the next morning but not everyone wanted to participate.  Some didn't feel they looked good enough for pictures, but that didn't stop me as you can see below. :)  We got some great shots of the cousins - I love those little girls and so does bubba (aka Colin).

Our last stop before we headed home was lunch at The Gristmill with Scot & Angie.  Colin didn't want anything to eat on the entire table except for one of Luke's onion rings - at least the boy has good taste!

We had such a good time with the whole clan: Honey & Daddy Jay, Granddad & Barbara, Aunt Leah & Uncle Brian & Lauren & Nora & Jillian & Uncle Scot & Aunt Angie...whew, that was a lot of people!  We can't wait to do it again!!!  Hope everyone had a Happy 4th of July!

July 4th Recap - Part 1

We spent the holiday weekend with the Horton family at a river house in New Braunfels and we had a blast.  It is always great to get out of town for the weekend and even better to spend it with family.  I figured the easiest way to do a real recap is to go in order of the pictures, so here we go with part one....there are entirely too many pictures to put them all in one post.

Getting there....decided to stop at the donut shop on the way out of town!

Fun at the river house w/the family......Honey (aka Sharon/Luke's mom) made fried chicken on Friday night and it was amazing! We got to relax and hang out and other than a couple of falls we had a chill night with the family.

Trip to Landa Park in New Braunfels to ride the train!  This was so much fun - all of the kids loved it and we had a great time.  Colin got a special treat from Daddy for the train ride - now we can't wait to ride the red train at Hermann Park in Houston!

Playing in the river!  This was right across from our river house and the water was freezing!!!  The house was at the dam of Canyon Lake and the Guadalupe River so the water was extra, extra cold!  The kids didn't mind but it took some getting used to for everyone else.  Luke and his dad built a 'house' as the kiddos called it for us so we could relax and they could play without worrying someone would float down the river!  Colin saw the guys skipping rocks and he immediately got busy.  That kid must have relocated at least 100 rocks while we were out there, if not more.  He loved it!