The Greatest Show on Earth

During the summer, we took the boys to the Ringling Bros & Barnum and Bailey Circus when it came to Houston at Reliant Center! What a fun day!  Michael took off on a Friday and we went down that morning and got there in time to see the preshow performances (i.e. acrobatics, elephants painting and playing basketball, etc).

Our seats weren't the best...we were up at the top and the lights from the common areas up above ours lit up our whole area.  So we weren't in the dark center seats, but we still had a good view to see all the acts.  I really thought the circus was so fun.  Andrew loved seeing all the animals come out and kept saying "Yay!!!!" while clapping his little hands. Of course at one point during the show while Michael and I were busy watching the act, I look down in front of me and Andrew has pulled his shorts down and is starting to take his diaper off!  AHH!   Joseph enjoyed the circus too.  He's kinda funny when we go to new things - he checks out after about 15 minutes and acts like he is ready to go but then after the fact, he talks about it forever and keeps asking when we can go back.  Ha!   Matthew did great and just fell asleep in my arms during the show...such a good baby!

It really was such a great performance and we all had a great time!   So fun to share these experiences with our boys!

On our walk into the stadium

Going down to the floor for the pre-circus acts

Family selfie while eating cotton candy (which cost $14!!???)

Matthew taking in all the scenery

So fun watching all the animals perform

Look!!

So sleepy!

Blueberries & Friends

Alright, I'm on a roll tonight...so one more post before calling it a night!

In early June, my dear friend Amber and her family came for a visit from Ft. Worth.  We typically only get to see each other once or twice a year at the most, so we were thrilled to have them down for a visit.  Amber's little boy Tate is a few months older than Joseph and Maeve is 18 months. 

Amber & John and kids arrived on a Friday afternoon.  After lunch and naps for the kids, they all had a great time playing together. I was really excited for Joseph to have a little boy to play with that is his age since most of his friends at this point are girls that we have playdates with. 

Saturday morning, we all went to the blueberry farm to pick some blueberries!  This is the same place we have gone the past couple of years.  The mosquitoes were awful unfortunately given all the rain from the week before...but the berries were abundant! We all filled our buckets and were back home by 11:15am.  We put the kids swim suits on and they had lots of fun playing in the sprinkler with a picnic lunch on the patio!   After naps, they were back out in the sprinkler and blow up pool and played until dinner.  What a nice day!

Amber and I had so fun catching up and enjoyed just chatting on the couch after the kids were all asleep.  And Michael and John are long lost sports soul mates so they discussed all the big sports talk while making us sit through Rocky IV, ug.   :P

Blueberry pickin' boys

Andrew and Amber scoping out the best berries

Little Roo heading down the row of trees

Tate, Joseph and Andrew

My boys with the Wyatt Family

Pink cheeks in the summer heat

Family pic! Matthew slept the whole time!

Sweet Wyatt Family! Amber, John, Tate and Maeve

Lunch outside in swim suits!

Outdoor fun

Fun dinner outside on our new expanded porch!

Joseph and Tate - sweet buddies

Our attempt at a kid pic - haha

Fire Department Outing

Oy, another May post!  ;)   We went with my old mom's group at our last church on a super fun playdate to one of the fire stations in Houston!

What a neat experience it was too!  The firemen were so nice and really opened up every little thing for the kids to climb through.  They even raised the huge ladder from the ladder truck and they gave every kid the chance to turn the water on and spray it from the water hose.  So neat!  And Andrew always points out the ladders on the fire trucks when he sees them now and on the toy one we have at home. The kids got to climb up in the fire truck, back of the ambulance and see all of the gear in the lockers and the fire chief's car.  And while we were there the ambulance received a call to respond to so it got all kinds of "oooh's and ahhhh's" when it turned on its siren on the way out of the station.

After that we headed to McDonald's for lunch and play time with Bridget and her 3 sweet girls.  So it was definitely a super fun outing for me and the boys!

The kids loved seeing the huge ladder go up!

Joseph's turn to turn the water on

And Andrew's turn!

Inside the back of the ambulance.  Joseph really liked it in there but Andrew wasn't too sure about it.

Fireman Joseph

Joseph and the girls by the station pole!  I wasn't sure if they still used those or not, but the fireman said they have done away with them in the newer stations for safety reasons because there have been cases up north of the firemen's skin getting stuck to the pole when it's super cold!  Eeek!

On the back of the fire truck

Inside the chief's car.  There were a few too many pushable buttons in there for me, lol!

Andrew finally got brave to sit up in the big fire truck on our way out

Such a fun time and great learning experience!

Flying High

Back over Memorial Day weekend, we had a great time hosting my family all here for the long weekend.  We had a great time! Saturday, we went to the park for a picnic and some time outside for the kids to play.  Unfortunately, as soon as we finished lunch it poured down rain, so our time at the park came to an end and we headed back home.  The kids all had so fun playing together. 

Sunday, we surprised my Dad and all our husbands with an early Father's Day surprise.  We had them do a scavenger hunt throughout the house to find their clues which led them to the big reveal...they were going indoor skydiving!  We took them to a place in The Woodlands called iFly and it's a big indoor wind tunnel which simulates skydiving without the danger of actually jumping out of an air plane.  ;)   Skydiving is something on my Dad's bucket list so we're hoping he can cross that one off now.  The guys all had a great time and we had lots of fun watching in the viewing area!

We enjoyed playing games each night and pigging out on our usual junk food and candy - ha!  Everyone headed back home Monday morning and we are so thankful for a fun and great weekend!

Joseph, Jacob and Luke playing with the sculpty sand

Enjoying a picnic lunch at the park - before the rain!

Suiting up for their indoor sky dives

 

Our guys!

Happy Father's Day gift to our Dad!

Dad's skydive - he was all smiles

With our boys and the best daddy I could ask for for them!

All the kids after dinner at Fuddruckers

Mom and Dad with all 9 Grandkids

Not sure who this is - I'm thinking it's my Dad. I can't seem to find my pics of Michael doing his, but thought this pic was cool

Battleship Texas

Another post from a May event!  Michael's parents came down for a weekend and we decided to go be local tourists and go to the Battleship Texas...about 40 minutes from our house.  I hadn't been in such a long time so it was fun to go back as a family!

Joseph and Andrew had so much climbing all through the battleship.  It's nice that everything is able to be touched!  ;)    I forgot just how tiny those staircases and ladders throughout the ship were...eek!  The boys did a great job climbing up the steps and Michael and Jimmy carried them down because it was just so steep.  Not to mention it was a crazy windy day which made all those outdoor staircases even trickier.   Little Matthew did great and slept just about the entire time. So Faith and I took turns staying with him on the main deck in the stroller. 

It was a great day and more fun memories!

On the bridge onto the Battleship Texas

Climbing through the ship

Michael, Jimmy and the boys are those little figures up high  :)

Climbing up!

Lots to keep these guys busy!

I finally managed to get in one of the pics!

Fun day!  (And Matthew still asleep in the stroller!)