The Lip

Avery has always had a flair for the dramatics, and this is what we call The Lip. She brings it out in times of horrible injustice, such as being told no when she's about to do a death-defying stunt, or being denied chips when she has not touched a bite of her sandwich (you heard right, she is starting to turn down food once in a while!). I know I'm a mean mommy for taking a picture and posting it but I can't help myself.

The Greatest Show on Earth

Yesterday we went with a ton of mom's club friends to the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey circus! First we went down to the arena floor "preshow" which had jugglers and clowns for the kids to watch up close. I had hoped there would be more animals for the kids to see but oh well. When the show started, Aidan was very interested the whole time, but Avery only stayed still enough to watch big stuff. Daniel and I spent most of the time feeding her snacks and passing her back and forth. But she loved the big intro, the horses, and the trapeze act!

Little Gym reunion!

Before Aidan was even sitting up, he and I were out and about a lot...I was not one to sit at home! When he was 4 months old we joined The Little Gym. There was a class for 4-10 month-olds, and we met some of his very first friends there! We stopped going to LG after he was a year or so old, but we stayed in touch with those friends and did tons of playdates and outings with them. It's been a while since we've all been together (most of them live in Rockwall which is about 30 minutes away) so today we decided to have a reunion at Peter Piper Pizza. I wasn't sure if Aidan would remember these guys but it was like no time had passed! It was fun to see the three little siblings that have now joined the group :) As you can see by some of the "back in the day" pictures below, it's incredible to see how much all the kids have grown!

Group shot from today:

The little sibs...Tyler, Kenny, and Avery:

The Big Kids, all grown up! Taylor, William, Aidan C., Aidan S., Dylan, and Jacob (these smiles made possible by lollipop bribes!):

This is one of our favorite group shots of the boys!

A playdate (I have NO idea why Aidan is all dressed up here!)

Parachute Time at The Little Gym!

Group Cheerio Sharing:

The boys at the Dallas Aquarium:

Waco and Crawford

This past weekend we went to Crawford to see Grandpa, Nanna, Aunt Kathleen, and Uncle Jacob. First we stopped in Waco along the way and hung out with the Brookses for a bit.

Katy, Aidan, Avery, James, & Hannah:

The "twins":

In Crawford we did tons of swimming and running around.






We have discovered that Avery is quite the animal-lover, and there is no better place to see animals up close than in Crawford! Kathleen had a new puppy there which Avery loved, but Aidan was a little skiddish of him for some reason. I've never known him to be scared of dogs! Oh well...he still loves Pippen the poodle. Kathleen also just found and adopted three baby bunny rabbits which were so cute! She also has two horses but we didn't get to see them up close this trip.

Waterpark

Some pics from our outing to the water park yesterday!

Dart Rail, Downtown, and Daddies

Today was another "off day" with nothing scheduled so I asked Daniel if we could come downtown and see him for lunch. Aunt Amy and Sage were also free (Uncle Cody works in the same office and it was his birthday today), so they rode the Dart rail with me and the kids. Aidan had ridden the Dart before but Avery had not, so it was an exciting adventure!

Happy Birthday Uncle Cody!

Last night we went to Houlihans for an early birthday celebration for Uncle Cody. Cookie and Jeff were in town so they got to join us! Avery loved dipping her carrot sticks in ranch. She is not a fan of bibs, so it was quite a mess!

My Little Picassos

Today we are having an "off day" with no activities, playdates, or outings lined up. So I decided to take advantage of the morning shade we have in the backyard and let the kids get messy and creative! Afterwards they hopped in the baby pool before heading inside for a shower.

Time Out!

It's official...Avery is old enough for Time Out! Yesterday she threw a fit and swung her snack cup at Cousin Sage. So off to the bottom step she went! It's a spot frequented by Aidan...here's a picture of him there earlier this year, and I also have his first Time Out picture from when he was just Avery's age (at our old house). Fun times!

Uncle Jason

Last night Daniel and I went to the CD Release party of my brother Jason's band, Loose Leaves. They were AWESOME and I was a proud groupie!