First MLB Experience

Since Blake was a kid, his favorite baseball team has been the Angels.  Just so happened that the Angels were playing the Texas Rangers last week so we decided to take the kids to their first major league baseball game.  I love baseball but I might have been a little excited about getting to make another Trader Joe's trip.  I could write an entire post about TJ's but I won't....I guess.  Anyway, I was excited about grocery shopping, Blake was pumped to see his team play, and the kids were dying to get back to a hotel pool.  Win. Win. Win.

We drove to Fort Worth Tuesday morning/afternoon, checked into the hotel, and went right down to the pool.  The kids are fish and would swim all day if we let them.  But it was 106 degrees (for reals) and even in the cool water it was HOT!

 

Diva!

They were in heaven!

This one is a natural in the water.

We had the place to ourselves.

 

Love her.

 

Griffin jumping in.  Dare devil.

After a couple hours we took two exhausted (no naps, lots of swimming) kids upstairs for a bath and snack before the game.

 

I really thought the bed would be the end of them but nope.  Just kept eating and watching How To Train Your Dragon.

 

Wanna guess what happened as soon as we pulled out of the hotel parking lot?

 

Yup.  Two sleeping kids.  Oh well.  Traffic was bad so they got to sleep for about 45 minutes.  Actually, Kinley slept over an hour because she didn't really wake up until we sat her in her seat in the ballpark.

 

This picture makes me laugh hard because Kinley is still sleeping and Blake is hanging on to Griffin for dear life because for whatever reason Griffin was having a hard time standing up.

Taking it all in....

 

Griffin's first cotton candy experience.

 

He liked it but not as much as the peanuts and popcorn.

 

Kinley has had cotton candy before and loves it but this is her face while eating it. LOL!  She's always struggled with weird textures and cotton candy is as weird as it gets.

 

Proud daddy.

 

Angels win!  Pujols hit two homers.

 

I wanted to be sure and mention our friend that we met at the game.  He and his three buddies showed up with beers in hand and immediately sat down and started heckling the Angels players.  Obviously, the players couldn't hear them but my kids could and it was just annoying.  And they weren't really over doing it but we were just wondering when they would zip it and just enjoy the game.

 

Enter the Chambers kids.

 

Sharing peanuts.

High five!

 

Both of my kids are super social.  Griffin occasionally doesn't warm up to someone but for the most part both of them are annoying :) friendly.  The guy directly in front of me was the loudest, biggest guy and I really thought he and his friends would end up drunk and unbearable.  I was way off.  He started talking to my kids and then turned to me and said, "Two and three?"  Uh, yeah.  How did this early to mid twenties guy guess my kids' ages?  He continued to play with them and the kids were loving it and the attention.  He was AWESOME with them.  Seriously, I wanted him to come home with us.  We got to talking and he teaches kids ages 18 months to 5 years privately.  He told me all about the Fort Worth Science Museum and insisted that we check it out.  And even told me that Wednesday's are half price day.  He was just the nicest guy.  I regret not getting his name.

 

We got back to the hotel that night around 11 and got the kids in bed.  They slept in a pull out sofa bed.  Together.  And it actually worked out really well.  They giggled and talked until 11:45 that night and I let them because it was the cutest thing ever.

 

We woke up the next morning and Blake took the kiddos down to breakfast then we all went for a morning swim.  Then lunch and our first (yes, first) trip to Trader Joe's.

 

Success!

Then nap, a horrific migraine for me, pizza for dinner, and more swimming.

We were starting to go a little crazy in the hotel room so we brought out the big guns....stickers.

We woke up the next morning and while I made a final run at Trader Joe's, Blake grabbed Starbuck's for me and Jamba Juice for himself.  And off we went.  Homeward bound.

It was a great trip.  The kids had a blast and were tuckered out by the time we got home.  We feel blessed that we can just get away for a few days and come home both exhausted and refreshed.

What We've Been Doing

Can I just say....I'm exhausted.  For the past week, we've been working on our little project every single day.  In the heat.  Sometimes all day long.  But it was worth it.  Blake and I only argued twice and the kids were a BIG help. :)  I call that a success.  Here it is in pictures.

Delivery day.  Yup, he's wearing a Dora helmet.

Four boxes at 160 lbs each.  And that was just the wooden parts.

One of our "helpers".

Weather conditions.

More help.

He did this all on his own.  He's come so far.

Kinley took this picture and it makes me smile.

Another pic by Kinley.  Blake's face says it all.

We thought this was the half way point.  Not even close.

A little closer to half.....

Monkey bars are up and the monkeys are swinging!

I think the swings are the favorite.

The slide was the very last thing to go on.

DONE!

Swings, glider, rock wall, and crow's nest with telescope.

Monkey bars, picnic table (my favorite part), slide, and play house.

Color Me Rad

My mom and I ran in the Color Me Rad 5k last Saturday and wow.  That was some wild, crazy fun!  Throughout the 3.1 miles Color Me Rad volunteers either squirt you with colored liquid or throw colored corn starch at you.  We ended up walking most of it because I wasn't feeling good and my mom's hip had really been hurting her and I was making sure she was being safe.  It was fun just walking and watching everyone.  There were tutus and even a speedo.  Awesomesauce.

All white and clean.

So many people.

And there's speedo man.

After the first round of color.  Green!

Then purple.

My favorite picture of the day.

Craziness.

Finished product.

I love hanging with my mom. :)

Tuesday Tidbits

Even though I took a little vacation from blogging I still kept up with some of the funny things and important days that happened with the kids.  Here we go...

Me pointing to Blake:  Who's that, Griffin?

Griffin:  Daddy!

Me pointing to Kinley:  Who's that, Griffin?

Griffin:  Tse Tse!

Me pointing to myself:  Who am I, Griffin?

Griffin:  Momma!

Me pointing to Griffin:  What's your name?

Griffin:  ME!!!

Griffin told me that he loved me, unprompted, on June 3, 2012.  And he's told me multiple times every day since.  Sweetest sound I've ever heard.  We've come so far.

Anybody ever play the kids game Sequence?  It's for kids three years and up and we have played it with Kinley a few time when we've let her stay up after Griffin has gone to bed.  She loves it and can actually focus and finish the game.  A game (the way we play it) lasts 30-45 minutes.  Pretty impressive for Kinley considering the kiddo has a real problem focusing. :) Anyway, we decided to let Griffin play with us.  After watching Kinley take her first turn he understood and knew exactly what to do and sat and played a 45 minute game.  He knew to choose a card, place his chip on the correct animal, then draw a new card and place it in front of him.  FOR 45 MINUTES!!!  He's 2!  I was impressed.  But he shows me every day what a smart kid he is.

Lord have mercy, Kinley is obsessed with her best friend, Gavin.  He came over to play one day and for two weeks after all I heard was

I want my Gavin.

I want to see him!

Griffin calls all dinosaurs "saurous".

I can't remember who sneezed but it was adorable when Griffin said, "Bless you."

Griffin was throwing one of his classic fits and Kinley said, "Um, momma.  Griffin not happy."

Ya think?

When Griffin hears something he says, "Noise sound?!"

Not sure why he started combining those two words but it's pretty funny.

Griffin can count to 10 and can say most of his ABCs.  He also can say most of the days of the week and the months of the year.  But everything is blue. :)

Kinley to Griffin:  Griffin, I love you so much.

This might be my favorite...We took the kids to the new Disney movie, Brave.  Great movie!  It was also Griffin's first movie in a theater and he was perfect.  There are some scary scenes in the movie that involve a bear.  The first time the bear came on the screen and was acting scary and mean Griffin said, "Scary monkey going to eat you!"  HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!  Love that kid!

I have written down that July 5 was Griffin's first nose bleed but now I realize that's not true. A couple months ago he was throwing a fit (surprise surprise) and he slammed his face into the floor.  When I picked him up one little trickle of blood came out of his nose.  Last week he was playing with a friend of mine on the trampoline and he ran into her elbow.  Major blood!  She felt horrible but he was fine and we all laughed.  He's a boy!  It won't be the last time.

4th of July!

It was a great day.  A couple pictures to prove it...

P.S. If you get the chance to watch the new Disney movie Brave, GO!  We saw it today and LOVED it!  And it was Griffin's first theater movie and he was perfect! 

Finally Back

I actually have an excuse for not blogging for over a month.  A certain little boy ripped off about 20 keys from my laptop keyboard several months ago, and we finally realized we had an extended warranty and could actually get it fixed.  For FREE!  Best Buy sent it off, got it fixed, got it back, realized the screen was broke, sent it back, got it fixed, and now I have it.  Yay.

Fun fact:  We bought this laptop (well known brand) about 2 years ago and it's currently worth $60.  Yup.  We checked.  Thought we might want to trade it in for a nicer one.  Won't be doing that.  I won't tell you how much we paid for it. :)

Anyway, I'm finally back.  And I've decided to not try to catch you up.  Too much has happened.  Last day of school for Kinley, last soccer game, wedding shower for my brother and sister-in-law, Father's Day, last minute road trip to Dallas, first Trader Joe's experience (that might be worth revisiting ;), backyard pool time, my brother's wedding (WOW!), and the list goes on. 

I'll be posting a ton of pictures because those are the most important part but just know that you missed a lot! :)

Speaking of pictures, here are favorites from today.