Our Stay-Cation...Part Three

On the third leg of our Stay-Cation...after the lake house...we spent the day at Amazing Jakes. This is a huge space (I believe it's the old Mervyn's) built to include everything from a pizza buffet to indoor bowling.
Both the kids really loved the climbing wall, and did it quite a few times. They never did make it to the top, although Weston came very close.

Doug and Avery were ready to race!!

Weston (patiently) waiting his turn on the track.

I'd love to have one of these in my garage...this was on of their favorite things to do out of everything, including go-carts, indoor golf, indoor bowling and the huge pizza buffet. It did fall second (on Weston's list) to video games though...anyone surprised???

Gotta love sisters pink climbing shoes!!

Amazing Jakes was the last leg on our journey...we had an awesome time exploring the local area together and found some really cool things along the way. I honestly think we could do a stay-cation every year and never run out of cool things to do (although next year I'm shooting for Disney)

The Many Faces of Weston

The many faces of Avery.....

To bad sistah's so shy in front of the camera...
we'll have to work on that!!

This week-end we:
-Drove Avery to Grandma B's on Friday afternoon...she lives in Fort Worth
-Took Weston to Boy Scouts on Friday Night
-Met Grandma and Papa V at the Celina game after Boy Scouts to drop him off
-Ordered a pizza from Papa Murphy's and pigged out
-Visited a storage place to find somewhere to store our "stuff"
-Went out to eat Saturday night
-Watched a movie
-Woke up...met Grandma and Papa Via to pick up Weston
-Drove to Ft. Worth to pick up Avery
-Visited with our old neighbors
-Drove to the State Fair
-Tried for an hour to find a parking spot
-Parked
-Ate, visited, ate, petted, ate, shopped, ate, refereed 2 kids who had to little sleep and 2 much sugar, ate and finally purchased some snacks to eat later
-Came home and collapsed
-Visited the Boy Scout Museum
-Did a scavenger hunt, practiced at their lazer shooting range and rode bikes on a virtual 4-wheel tour
-Ate at Chic-Fil-A
-Had Weston's well-child check up
-Fixed leftovers for dinner...Weston-Mac and Cheese, Avery-Ramen Soup, Doug-an omelet with everything in it, Me-bites of Mac and Cheese, Ramen, omelet and toast n' eggs
-Fell asleep on the couch

What happened to the lazy dazy days of summer, when all we had to do was build forts using every chair, sheet and blanket in the house.
We miss those days!!

Our First Home Vendor Party

A few weeks ago I held a vendor show in my home. We had Pampered Chef, Cookie Lee Jewelry, Choo Choo Candles, Mary Kay, Noah's Ark, Chez Ami Clothing and several other vendors including....me....Gracie Rose Children's Boutique. It was so much fun and, although the turnout wasn't as high as we had hoped, everyone did well and had a great time. After all, we had Wine-a-Rita's to sample....plenty of snacks and some good old-fashioned girl time...you can't ask for more than that.

Pampered Chef made my table look unbelievable.

The Door Prize table.......

Chez Ami Children's Clothing exploded in my living room....

and Tastefully Simple provided the most delicious snacks.
I can't wait to do this again!!

Just a Swingin'

A few weeks ago Avery asked me to walk her to the park behind their school so she could "practice her moves" We walked....she practiced....and now here they are folks...

Avery's Moves!!!

See ya'll next time!!!

Mr. Quackers

We have a duck in our neighborhood that was injured and brought to the canal near our house. He's well fed and well loved...everyone knows him and spoils him quite rotten. Each morning when we walk to school, we take Mr. Quackers our leftover toast or waffles. Avery loves feeding him and enjoys this part of our morning routine.

She tries to get close enough to touch him...but he's shy and doesn't come
much closer than this.

He has the run of the canal...sharing the water with fish and turtles and living the high life.

Because he's so well fed...he's often quite picky about his food...but he does love buttered toast.

When I pick Avery up from school...I often bring a pack of crackers or some bread to give Mr. Quackers his afternoon snack. During rainstorms...he'll actually cross the street, go up on the porch of his "friend", enjoy a snack of cheerios then head back home to the canal. He's one of many reasons we truly enjoy our home in Savannah.

Playing the Wii...

Last Christmas Santa left the kids $100 towards a Wii...they had to earn the rest by doing chores, being kind and helping without being asked. Finally...this summer we decided they had earned enough to purchase a Wii. We had a blast making our Mii's...amazing how much they really look like us (although Avery kept trying to make mine shorter and wider...little rascal). I think it's funny to watch them from behind while they swing, bat, hit and punch when playing the games. Here's Weston and his buddy playing tennis. Sadly, my favorite is the cow racing game..it shows your mii riding a cow and trying to run over scarecrows while jumping over hurdles...maybe I need to get a hobby???

Weston is 10

Happy Birthday!!

Amazingly...unbelievably....yet undeniably.....Weston turned 10. He'll be as tall as me before to long...how did this happen. It seems like yesterday I was wearing (really ugly) maternity clothes, trying to open a preschool and finish out my last few weeks at Campfire. After a tough labor and an hour of pushing...Weston, as usual, did things his way. He was born by C-section on September 25th, 1998 and our lives have never been the same. He was born busy, determined and full of fire...and remains so to this day. He's overcome many obstacles and I truly could not be more proud of him. He enjoys pokemon, video games and football...he still hugs and kisses me in front of his friends and loves nothing better than throwing the football with his dad. He fights daily with his sister, hates brushing his teeth and his room is always a mess. He's a great student, a funny kid and I wouldn't trade one day with him. Happy Birthday my sweet boy...I love you!!


We started the day with presents....Football and Pokemon Cards...

And then enjoyed a special birthday breakfast.

Daddy was in Atlanta on business...so he set up a scavenger hunt with clues leading to a loaf of bread...then upstairs for a brand new Wii game.

Grandma and Papa came over Thursday to celebrate with a Watermelon Cake...

and surprised Weston with a new bike!!

We celebrated at Strikz....where the kids enjoyed Cosmic Bowling and...

Lazer Tag....their favorite activity!!

A Dallas Cowboy Birthday Cake

Ready to make a wish and blow out 10 (sniff, sniff) candles...

Happy Birthday Dear Bubba....Happy Birthday to Youuuuuuuuuu

Something special to take home...a bowling pin signed by all Weston's friends!!

On Sunday, we celebrated at the ranch with Grandma and Papa Via and the cousins

10 years ago....he was doing the same thing...watching the Cowboys with Dad

And finally...the 4 cousins with their cheesiest smiles!!