Really Good Friday & More

I think this was the first Good Friday we had off in like 8 years so we made it a really good one.  Easter weekend was full of all the usually traditions: egg hunts, church, and lots of family time.  We are so blessed to have both sets of grandparents and most of the cousins in town so holidays are busy and fun. 

We started the weekend with some baseball followed by an egg hunt with Grammy & Grandpa in Granbury.  I don't think I'd ever seen so many kids in one place. 

 

After the hunt and playing at the park, Grammy helped the kids color some Easter Eggs.   

 

After a full day of fun, Grammy read the kiddos a book about the true meaning of Easter.  We always have fun with all the Easter traditions, but the kids seem to really understand the real reason we celebrate. 

 

Sunday was full of more family fun.  We all went to church together, followed by lunch and another egg hunt at Grandma and Grandpa's house.  The kids are all about anything that gets them more candy.  We attempted (like we do at every holiday) to get some family pictures.  They will never be RIL quality, but we managed to get a few cute smiles...  

 

 

 

Love these sweet pics of the Bigs with Rylan.  She adores them... and they're pretty good to her too!  She's got two moms, that's for sure! 

We don't take Easter baskets to eggs hunts - we take shopping carts!  I guess she figured she was going to clean house this year!

Rylan loves her gparents!  Especially going on walks with grandma and sitting on grandpa's lap so she can have all the cocalella (coca cola) she wants. 

 

Springing Back Into Action

I can't believe it's been almost 7 months since my last post.  How did I go all summer without getting caught up?? I'm gonna blame that on being a working mom with 3 kids.  I'm going to pick up right where we left off and try to get all caught up... we'll see how long it takes.

Well, my bestie did it!  She quit her teaching job and is doing photography full time now!  She's so inspiring.  She took some great spring pictures of the family....

 

Thank you Rooted in Love Photography for capturing our family so beautifully.  You'd never know how uncooperative the kiddos are by her photos!!  Love you Andrea!

Choo Choo Food Truck

For the first time in years, we had Good Friday off.  It was a gorgeous day so we met the Skinner's and the McDonald's for a day of fun on the Trinity. 

We road the trinity train which is always a big hit...

 Seven kids feels a little like a daycare field trip... but they were great.  A little popcorn goes a long way! 

 

For lunch we checked out one of the city's newest food truck parks.  What?!  Why didn't I think of this?  Probably because I used to call these things "Roach Coaches."  Oh how the food truck has changed!  There's a great little park on University right on the Trinity River.  Family friendly and really fun. And the food was good too! 

 

This takes me back to their first "date" to the children's museum when Reese tried to kiss Campbell.  This one is called, "Wow, is he dreamy!"  Love it!! 

 

Stockyard Stampede

Spring break brought some beautiful spring weather this year and we took advantage by going downtown to the Stockyard Stampede.  I can't believe I've lived in Fort Worth all my life and never been.  The stampede was just the beginning of a fun afternoon on Exchange...

 It took a lot of coaxing to get Reese on this thing.  She finally agreed, but only if Emma would do it with her.  She wants to be just like her cousin! 

 All our little Texans... love it that all the cousins are close and get along so well!  Such a blessing to live right up the street from all of them!

 The kids loved getting to go see where the longhorns live and how they take care of them. 

Emma and Caden did the maze... while they were trying to find their way out, the littles spent some much needed time in jail.

 

Tucker couldn't wait to get on this thing.  He keeps asking when he can get his own horse... he hopped up on this saddle like a little cowboy. He didn't care one bit that it was a cow.  

Yeeeehaw! 

Pump It Up With The Big Kids

Seems like we have about a birthday party a week these days.  Chris says "whippin'" but I say "free entertainment!"  The kids always have so much fun.  Tucker had a t-ball game at the same time as the last party so I took the girls while the boys played ball.  Rylan was in heaven... totally jumping and sliding with the big kids. 

I don't think I've seen Reese have this much fun in a long time.  Gymnastics has turned my cautious little scaredy cat into one brave girl.  It was great seeing her have so much fun with her friends.

She was great with Rylan too... including her and taking care of her.  These girls are turning into the best of friends! 

Where's Your Pole

Have I mentioned how obsessed Tucker is with Firemen and Policemen right now?  For the longest time he said he wanted to be a fireman when he grew up. Now it's a policeman, and I'm pretty sure it's because he think policemen get to drive faster than firemen. 

He was crazy excited when he and Reese were invited to a birthday party at the fire station. Tucker was all about it... he hung on every word!

 

Reese was there more for the social aspects of the party!! Not sure these girls let go of each other the whole afternoon.  So proud that Reese has come out of her shell this year and made lots of friends!

 They had a blast... and learned a lot too!  Fun party! Please notice that Reese is the only one not wearing her fire hat.  See... told you she was only there to socialize! 

 

I'm pretty sure Tucker asked them "Where's your pole?"  about 20 times.  He was a little disappointed that he didn't get to slide down the fireman's pole. 

The Electric Slide

We've been so blessed to have some beautiful Sunday afternoons this winter. We've enjoyed riding bikes and playing on the playground. I've said this before but I feel like Rylan has the best of both Reese and Tucker's personalities. She's friendly and fearless like Tucker, and confident and independent like Reese. She has some qualities all her own too... she's got to be the sweetest, snuggliest girl alive! I kept fearing that it would go away as she got older, but so far so good! Just last night, Tucker went in and turned on her light in the middle of the night (long story) and woke her up. I didn't mind so much because she wanted to snuggle with me all night. Every time I stopped tickling her back she would wiggle and say "tickle" in her sweet little voice. While I don't miss the 3 am feedings, I do miss our snuggle time!

Anyway, I say all that because she is also like Reese when it comes to twisty slides... that girl could slide all day long. You can tell from her hair that she pretty much did!

 

Now that's what you call the "Electric Slide!" 

 Rylan wasn't the only one loving our Sunday afternoon playtime...

 At first I thought "Awww look at Rylan holding Tucker's hand." Then I realized she was really just trying to get him to get his hand off of her. Hey, a mother can dream can't she?! 

 The slides aren't the only things we like at the part... we enjoy climbing and monkeying around too!

We're SOOO ready for Spring it hurts!!!