Thomas and Friends

Grammy and Grandpa gave the kids a ride on Thomas the Train for their birthday.  This weekend we met the whole family in Rusk, TX to play and ride on Thomas.  The kids were so excited... a slumber party in a hotel on Friday night and then a whole day of fun including a train ride on Saturday. 

They all got little engineer caps to wear... blue for the boys and of course, pink for the girls.  Too cute!

The kids had a blast on the train... dancing and clapping and being together.

In addition to the train ride, they had a day full of other fun stuff.  They played with trains...

They colored and legoed it up...

They pet horses, rabbits, donkeys, etc. at the petting zoo.  Well, some just looked instead of petting.  Hmm... wonder who I'm talking about??

They enjoyed music and story time with Hobo Joe.  

And they had fun just spending time with their cousins Kaylie, Andrew and Emmy.  Surprisingly, we didn't have too many meltdowns. You never know what you'll get when you take 5 toddlers out for 6 hours of fun. 

Thanks for such a fun birthday present... what a treat! The kids were totally spoiled... snow cones, hats, whistles, and a super fun-filled day!   Reese and Tucker had a blast and were asleep before we left the parking lot.  

Thanks again. We love you Grammy and Grandpa!

Pumpkin Patch - Take Two

Family pictures are going to be the death of me.  The kids are 2 and we have yet to get a quality family picture.  A couple times a year I decide to get us all coordinated and give it a go.  There are usually tears and tantrums.  Oh, and the kids usually get frustrated too.  But despite many failed efforts, I'm determined to get a family picture that we can frame and hang on the wall.  Last weekend we headed to Hall's Pumpkin Farm to try one more time.  The kids (and Chris) were great sports even though they wished I would put the camera down and just let them play. 

I'm not sure we got a frame worthy family portrait... but I must admit that some of these are pretty stinkin' cute...

Reese was really hammin' it up for the camera this time.... a huge change from last year's Pumpkin Patch Pandemonium.   

Ok, seriously.  Could they be any cuter?  This one will definitely be edited and framed.  Love that Tucker is totally cool and acting like it's his old truck. 

Despite all the picture-taking, the kids did get to ride tractors, run around, eat kettle corn and have a little fun.  Next time we're leaving the camera at home though.  I can't help it.  I think it's the fact that I have zero childhood pictures that makes me the neurotic, gotta capture every moment on camera, mother that I am. 

Big thanks to Brian and Jen for coming with us and helping with the photo shoot!

Farmer Tuck

Chris has been working out at the "Ranch" quite a bit lately... mowing, etc.  The eight cows that are currently residing on it can't seem to keep things under control, so he's been out there wackin' everything down.  The kids and I met him out there on Friday night for a picnic.  Tucker was all about it... riding on the tractor, talking to the cows.  But you know Miss Reese said, "I don't want to" as soon as the cows came running. 
Tucker really is all boy... rough and tough and lovin' everything dirty.  He helped Chris "mow" a little and had fun callin' the cows just like his grandpa taught him.

I got in trouble for bringing him out there in flip flops.  I guess I'm gonna have to get the boy some boots and overalls.

Pink Faminko

Can I just tell you how much more fun it is to go to the zoo when it's not 100 degrees outside?  We had today off for "Fall Break" so we spent the morning at the zoo. It was such a perfect day for it.

It's funny, we went to the zoo several times this summer, but today was different.  It felt like I was hanging out with a couple 5 year olds instead of toddlers.  They were talking up a storm and were way more into the animals than they were this summer. It's amazing the difference a few short months makes.  Someone please make them stop growing.

Tucker was determined to see the "Cheetos".

Reese looks so motherly in this picture.  That's a nice way of saying she's bossy.  Poor Tucker has two moms.  He's so gracious though and totally humors her.  He's gonna make a great husband some day.

I'm not sure how we missed the flamingos in our first 5 trips to the zoo. But somehow we did.  The kids saw them for the first time today and they were a huge hit.  Reese even told our next door neighbor all about the pink faminkos when we got home this afternoon. 

We love you Fort Worth Zoo.... see ya soon.

Hoops

Baseball, football, wiffle ball... it doesn't matter what kind of ball it is.  If Tucker sees it, Tucker wants to play with it.  Caden and Emma introduced the kids to Basketball the last time we were at Grandma and Grandpa's house.   I must admit that it's pretty hilarious watching toddlers try to dribble.

Hey, it's not easy handling a ball that's twice the size of your face. 

It's only appropriate that Emma have a pink basketball.  Reese refused to put it down for fear that someone would snatch it from her.

Grandma assisted them with their first slam dunk.  And yes, that's pizza all over Tucker's face.  The boy couldn't wait to get outside... there was no waitin' around for mom to clean his face. 

Reese was a natural... she just might be a baller like her mama.

The kids can't get enough of being outside.  It's a good thing we have lots of fun fall activities planned... I better go get an allergy shot.

Throw it to Me... Throw it to Me

Last week we took the kids to the Homecoming Parade.  It was there first parade experience and I wasn't sure it was going to be a good one when the fire trucks turned the corner with sirens blaring and both kids took off in the other direction.  Luckily it only took us pointing out the horses coming down the road behind them to get them to come back and watch the parade. 

They enjoyed the band and floats I guess... it was a little hard to tell because they were so consumed with picking up the candy being thrown at them.  And because they're so stinkin' cute, they had a lot of candy thrown at them.



They didn't even complain that I only let them have 1 sucker.  The rest of the candy went in the candy jar in the teacher workroom at school.  They didn't care... the fun was in collecting it and putting it in their bags. I better enjoy that while I can.  There won't be many more years where I can steal their candy without them really noticing. 

Halloween should be fun this year. Wait till you see their costumes.