Weekend Update: Let the Brainwashing Begin

So this past weekend, we packed up the car and headed down to College Station to visit some friends who recently moved there and to go to an Aggie Game.


It's been entirely too long since we've been (i.e. before Little Miss) so needless to say everyone was super excited about the weekend as a whole. 


Even watching a movie Friday night with friends was exciting:

And thankfully all of the kids went to bed a decent time as we got up EARLY (as in 6 AM on a Saturday) to get donuts before the football festivities.  For those of you in College Station or visiting, I highly recommend Kai's Donuts.  So, so, so good.  And super cute donuts.  They even had Elmo and Cookie Monster donuts which shockingly neither girl choose.

As soon as our tummies were full, it was off to campus.  Clearly the girls were super excited for the tour of their future school (only if Daddy gets his way).

It was great to show the girls some of the things that make Texas A&M so unique.  I mean what other schools have a "working" cannon that they roll out before games and let you sit on...

And horses.

\

And the Corp...

Being silly before "yell practice"

Watching the Corp band

And having the tuba player offer to let you play it after you yell to your daddy, "Look a tuba!"  So what if the tuba is bigger than her!

The girls also got to participate in their first yell practice.   Apparently if they go to school here, its a really big deal.  For mommy, though, it was a great picture moment :)

Both girls loved it, although Littlest Miss was definitely more into it and may have the cutest little "Whoop" in all of Texas (so what if I am biased).

Again, I cannot say enough about the "kids" in the Corp.  They definitely took the time to make the morning special not only for our girls but for all of the kids who were there!

And once yell practice and pictures were done, it was time to head back to the car as we sadly did not have game tickets for the girls.  However, in hindsight, it all worked out perfectly for them. They got to "experience" the campus and be a part of game day, but didn't have to sit through the game, which given the heat may have been rough on them!  Plus, we totally forgot that after each score by Texas A&M they sound the cannon.  Given that Texas A&M scored over 40 points in the first half and the cannon was loud enough to make the adults jump, its a good thing that she was there since Littlest Miss is afraid of thunder and the almost constant booms likely would have meant constant tears!

Once the kids were back at our friends house and settled with the sitter, the adults did go to the game.  And thanks to our friends, we had some great seats! 

But more importantly, we were so grateful to spend time with these people:

And clearly, the kids didn't miss us one bit...

So all and all, a great weekend.  Even if Littlest Miss may be part dog?!?!

Weekend Recap Part II: Friday Night Lights

Friday Night Lights.  A term so many people know, but I am not sure people fully understand.  I know until Friday, I didn't.


As a non-Texan, I don't think I fully understood how "big" football was in Texas.  Even at, or especially at, the high school level.  In part because we don't yet have any Little Dragons in our house (the district's mascot) yet.


But that all changed.  And it may have changed as early as 8:30 AM when our friend sent me this:

and moments later, another friend said we may need more spots.  So given that I was in the area to scope out where we needed to go and avoid the bickering fight in the car, I may have reserved two more spots using, yup, you guessed it, floormats:

Needless to say, by time 4:30 rolled around we, I, was pretty excited.  And have no fear, I was most definitely not let down.  Everyone had so much fun, even the girls...both in terms of the actual tailgating part and going into the game.  The Emerald Belles (i.e. drill team) were definitely the biggest hit of the night in our house.


Actually, the girls had so much fun not only were they asking when we could go again, but Little Miss was excited to let us know that one day, she'd too be a dragon...which is a huge improvement over a year ago when her response was, "I'll never be a dragon, I'm a princess."

 

All the moms

The Husband and Andy

Littlest Miss, their bestie and Little Miss

Family Selfie (just missing Little Miss)

She was too busy having fun with her bestie

New friends

Walking to the stadium for the first time

Again with her bestie

Three future dragons taking it all in

Not having any fun

Friday Night Lights

And one last family selfie to top of a great night

Is it Friday yet?!?!

Weekend recap: Holy Cow(s)

Ugh, Monday...getting up this morning was TOUGH.  Not just for me, but for Little Miss.  At first, I thought I was just tired because Littlest Miss has recently been sneaking downstairs, crawling into bed and velcroing herself to momma all night.  Sleeping on 3 inches of bed means little or no sleep for this momma.


But when I had to wake Little Miss up at 7:45 this morning and was largely unsuccessful (i.e. I carried her all the way downstairs and got her fully dressed before she even started to stir) I knew I couldn't blame my exhaustion fully on the Velcro baby.  At the very least, the weekend activities must have had something to do with it.


And alas, with Loli and Pop coming up for the weekend, we were definitely always on the go, which meant lots of fun...

1. Saturday Morning

After gymnastics, we headed to our favorite Saturday morning activities -- the splash pad, park, farmers market, and lunch at Twisted Root.  Everyone had a blast, even though it was hot and shade was coveted.

Waiting for the water

Tickle, tickle

2. Productive Afternoon

After getting home, everyone kind of did their own thing.  Littlest Miss napped.  Little Miss and Loli got prettied up.

And Pops and the Husband worked on the house.

While us girls lounged around and supervised.

3. Birthday Party Fun

One of our friend's daughter turned 2 so we headed to their house for a low-key birthday party.  Given that its August in Dallas, some pool time was much appreciated.

4.  Puppy Love and Lounging

After the party, we headed back to our house and just relaxed for a bit just the five of us (and Wrigley) before heading to another neighbors house for a bit.

5. Breakfast Treats

Loli surprised us all with yummy breakfast goodies Sunday morning.  She spoils us all so much.  And we cannot thank her enough!

6. Cow, cows, and more cows

After breakfast, we headed to church and then to the Feedstore at lunch.  A friend recently told me that if you ask them for scraps, they'll give you food to feed the cows.  What no one told me was how smart the cows are -- as soon as they saw the white bucket, they came running.  Seriously.  Check it out:

And once they got to us, all they wanted was the food:

Not only was feeding the cows a great experience for the girls, but it was a great way to end our weekend with Loli and Pop.

Thanks for visiting.  We love you and miss you and wish we could see you more!

Five on Friday: The Husband's Birthday

I know I said I wouldn't inundate everyone with a detailed posted on what we've been up to since the last blog.  But I realized that my summary didn't include the husband's birthday and since birthday's are such a big deal in our house, I figured it deserved a post all on its own.  And it works out great for:

So without further ado -- here's how we celebrated the husbands 33rd birthday (back in July).

1. Cake

It's no secret that the Husband's favorite food is chocolate chip cookies.  So every year, we do a different variation for his birthday.  This year, he got these:

And they were good.  Although may had been better if I didn't cave and put cream cheese in the frosting...

2. Dinner

Aside from cookies, he loves BBQ.  Namely the Feedstore. And normally, I am a grump and pushback.  So he was pretty excited when not only did we get to go, but at my suggestion, with a smile.

3. Gifts

We brought him into the 21st century with a smart watch.  Not an Apple watch, but rather its much cheaper cousin that does almost the same thing.

And let's just say it, for the money, I love my Pebble (and so does the husband).

4. Party

It was suppose to be a book club couples event, but when half of them don't show up and you invite your true friends to a party the night before your husband's birthday, you know what it was -- a party for him!

Clearly, the adults had a little bit too much fun celebrating (him and the night away from littles)

5. Love

Probably the best part of any birthday is all the love.  And trust me, there was no shortage this time around!