my nephew's first birthday!

on july 7th my handsome little nephew turned ONE!  i don't know how that happened so quickly but we had a great time celebrating this precious boy.  my sister and her hubby threw the cutest party and i loved all of it!

we all signed in on his baby book (custom made by his dad!) and got our adventure pins!  how cute is this?!?!

yummy food!  the chocolate covered 'smarshmellows' were a big hit with a sugar-crazed 3 year old i know.  :)

the birthday boy's gifts!

colin with his adventure pin!

present time!  colin designated himself as the present carrier (of course).

trying out his big boy chair!

so sweet.

he was unsure of the cupcake at first but he quickly discovered the yumminess!!!

i stole this one from my sister.  seriously, how adorable is her little family?

happy birthday elijah cole!  i can't wait to celebrate again next year!!! 

The 4th at Lost Pines

We spent the 4th of July holiday on a mini family vacation at the Hyatt Lost Pines.  This place is like a miniature Disney World and we seriously had the best time.  They had activities for kiddos pretty much every hour of the day, not to mention the amazing pool and lazy river and the movies on the lawn and s'mores in the evening.  I cannot say enough good things about this place - we will definitely be going back.  Colin still has on his red wristband from the pool because he wants to go back to hotel already too.  :)  Be prepared for a photo overload....

We stopped at Chick-Fil-A for breakfast and a balloon before we hit the road.

We got to the hotel, put on our swimsuits and went straight to the pool.

 We got cleaned up and met Honey and Daddy Jay and the White girls at a restaurant on the property.  OK, so it was a pub but like I said, there were kids everywhere.  :)  After our yummy dinner and cold drinks the kids played outside for a bit and then we went to the fire pit for s'mores and the lawn for a movie.  They had blankets and popcorn for everyone at the movie and they were showing Toy Story 3 --- Colin was very happy. 

poor little boo boo was tired and probably wondering why the papparazzi were stalking him in the bathtub.

in line to get the s'more fixings with honey and daddy jay. 

colin and lauren roasting 'smarshmellows'.  :)

blurry but wanted to get the outdoor movie picture...there is daddy trying to put little brother to sleep.  it didn't work by the way.  he was way too interested in watching the movie. ha.

We didn't last at the movie too long - we had a long, full day and were all ready to get to bed.  Plus by the time we left the movie it was already after 9....both of the boys were way past bedtime. 

The next day was July 4th!  I wish I would have taken a picture of our breakfast - it was phenomenal.  We started the day with a pony ride for Colin.  We hadn't set this up beforehand but all of the girls were doing it so we squeezed him in at the last minute.  It is a long and painful story but after an agonizing hour of crying and fit throwing, he finally got on a pony.  The pony's name was Trigger but Colin called him Captain America because he was all fixed up for the holiday.  As soon as he got on the pony he loved it (we knew he would) and had the BEST time.  Momma and Daddy were still frazzled but it ended well and that is what matters, right?  :)

these girls were above and beyond patient with my moody little boy.  :)

 When we got back from horse/pony rides we all met up for a picnic lunch (we all brought a ton of food from home).  It was so nice!  The girls entered a coloring contest that was going on right next to our picnic table and little Jillian won "most creative"!  How awesome is that?!?!  :)  Colin was more interested in the bug on the picnic table than in coloring an entire picture...maybe next time.  :)

the whole gang minus luke (taking the picture) and davis (hidden in his stroller as usual).

Then it was back to the pool for all of us...this time we had Davis' floatie and he was happy as could be floating in that lazy river.  He even got a couple of compliments on his choice of head wear.  :)  Big brother got pretty brave the second time around too, especially with his float on.  I think I might go gray very early in this life.  :)

After swimming it was time to celebrate...Aunt Leah took all of th kiddos to get their faces painted.  Colin loved his so much he kept it on the next day too.  After facepainting for the kiddos and drinks on the patio for adults was dinner and fireworks!  The fireworks show was one of the best we have seen and both of the boys LOVED it.  I was worried it would be too loud/crazy for Davis (because Colin hated them as a baby!) but he just stared up at the sky smiling the whole time.  It was such a special moment to share with my rowdy boys.

i love how serious they both are in this picture!  can you tell they liked the glow swords/light sabers/whatever they were?

 Sadly, the next morning it was time to leave.  Our goal on Thursday was to fill Colin up and tire him out before the car ride home.  We accomplished our goal but not without a fight and a few (or a lot of tears) from big brother.  He didn't want to leave the hotel and I couldn't blame him - none of us wanted to leave.  After breakfast we spent some time in the Activity Room - it was awesome and pretty much empty! 

Thankfully it was a short 2 hour drive home...thankful that our spectacular mini-vacay was so close to home!  Despite tantrums, freak outs, meltdowns, and exploding baby poo -- we had the BEST time and can't wait to go again! 

diaper change on the side of the road...fun times!  :)

he wanted to drive us the rest of the way home.  :)  really just finished a bottle on the side of the road and then we were on our way again.

big brother was happy with a snack and a movie.  thank goodness for this minivan, aka minnie-pie!

 

Random Stuff

I don't even know what happened in the month of June.  I know we were busy playing and working and just living life but I didn't take very many photos and now I just cannot remember what all we did.  Sorry for the random posting but I have to do it now or I will really forget everything!



We made a quick trip to Temple to see the Buckert family and to meet sweet baby Emery.  Of course I did not get a picture of our family's newest addition but I did get one of some of the bigger cousins playing in the pool!  

Emily, Colin, Ally, Anna, and Ben

 We went to Miss Kirsten's birthday party (how is she already 2!?!?) and Colin was in heaven.  He actually thought he was Spiderman in The Little Gym.  :)

We put this crazy headband on this helpless baby boy at school.  He didn't seem to mind.  :)

We had a quick photo session at school for Father's Day.  How cute are they?!?!

Little Brother started sitting in his high chair and playing with puffs!

Big Brother helped me make dinner.  It looks dangerous but I promise I was standing between him and the stove the entire time - except when I took the picture.  :)

Colin had another swim day at school!

Davis had more fun in the high chair.  He likes to sit there and play while I make dinner.  How is it possible he turned 6 months old in June?