Glen Rose / Spring Roadcation : ) Day 3

My girlfriend, Angie, and I had the brilliant idea to take this years spring break on the road. So - we did just that. We packed up our combined 5 boys and set out for Glen Rose to visit Dinosaur World and Fossil Rim Animal Park.

We started our trip by meeting at the Science Place on Wedneday. Which was a lot of fun. They all  had a great time. David and I have a membership and haven't really been since we got it. I had forgotten how awesome the Science Place is for little kids. We will definitely be going back more often.

Some photos from our day.....

Andy testing out gravity; Ben and Andy playing with huge bubble makers;

our 5 boys (Ben, Jared, Ben, Brayden, and Andy)

A kalidescope that you get in - it's 5 of Will : ); Andy in his fireman outfit. Will and Andy's favorite part was the dress-up area. It was so cute. They had a 'mock firestation' and they LOVED it.

Andy; Will; Will & Andy in the firetruck going to put out a fire : )

Will has said pretty early on that he wants to be an astronaut. He was pretty pleased to find a costume he could try on; Will climbing up the rock wall .... another one of his favorite things to do - CLIMB.

In the car - headed to Glen Rose ... well Cleburne actually - to our hotel.

Ben, Jared and Will sat in the back; and Andy and Brayden in the middle seats. Andy was pretty worn out from the science place so he took alittle nap; we stopped at Whataburger for lunch/dinner (Andy, Ben, Jared, Brayden and Will).

Ben and Jared; Brayden and Will; and Andy

After eating we found a cool park near-by and decided to take the boys there to exert some energy.

Is that possible with 5 boys?

Will found a tree to climb on - he loved it - as he loves, LOVES to climb;  Will at top of tree (in red); Ben climbing up (in green) and Jared (blue stripes) and Brayden (red stripes) at the bottom.

The tree was a big hit; Andy found this wavy slide and that was his favorite.

He kept going up and down, up and down .... so fun!

The next discovery for Will was this HUGE rock. He loved it and pretty much planted himself on it; Jared and Ben on the tree

Will and Andy on the rock; Will laying on top of the rock; and laying across both rocks

I didn't take my big camera - was afraid of handling it w/the 5 boys. And my Canon G9 got broken when my husband dropped it - so I had to go back to my Sony. And for some reason the flash kept going off, the camera kept switching to manual.  Didn't notice till afterward - but that's why these pictures are a bit blown out.

Will, Brayden, Jared, Ben and Andy; and my 3 handsome boys (Will, Ben, and Andy)

After the park, we went back to the hotel and got the boys ready for bed. Once they all finally fell asleep - Angie and I were able to relax and enjoy a few drinks to un-wind from our fun - but busy day!

What's on tap for tomorrow: Fossil Rim Animal Park and Dinosaur World here we come .....

Spring Staycation - DAY 2

Well .... today wasn't quite as exciting as yesterday. We had plans with my girlfriend, Angie, and her kids for today - but things didn't work out. So .... we hung around at home and tried keeping ourselves busy (it was pretty difficult).

I went to the doctor this morning because my throat and ears have been bothering me for about 3 weeks and I wanted to get them checked to make sure it wasn't something I needed medicine for. It was ok - nothing, I guess just drainage. However - my blood pressure was slightly low .... no big deal, but just not normal for me. So we decided to do bloodwork. I wanted to know my vitamin D levels as well as other levels just to make sure I'm healthy! You never know : )

I brought McDonald's home for the boys (and David) - which they were all waiting for. Our cook is on spring break too. Ha! We ate lunch and then tried to entertain ourselves the rest of the afternoon / evening.

I .... filled out my Census form! Very exciting and fun! Interesting to know I could have had 12 people living in my home according to the Census. No, thank you ... but nice to know there's the option!

Snapped a photo of my handsome husband while he was slaving away working .... Isn't he cute? I love him!

(I should of photoshopped that mess behind him or cleaned it up. But that would definitely break the no cleaning or cooking on spring staycation rule I made up. Ha!)

Boys (this is Ben) played on the computer;

Andy watched a little TV in his room with his stylish glove and hat on.

Not sure what this outfit was for - he put it on himself ....  : )

I did a little cleaning.... very little! Ben and Andy even helped. I got pretty bored of that fast. Afterall, I'm on spring staycation right? No cleaning or cooking on spring staycation : )

And thankfully today we got "Princess and the Frog" from Netflix so the boys watched that. If you are wondering why they aren't watching it on the big flat screen tv in front of them. Well .... the DVR is broken - so they get to watch it on my laptop. It's just as good, isn't it?

Overall it was a good day! A little of everything to bring our 2nd day of spring staycation to a close! Hopefully .... hopefully - tomorrow will be a bit more exciting and include more adult beverages. Afterall - it's spring staycation for mommies too : )

Stay tuned .....

Spring Staycation - Day 1

My girlfriend, Angie, and I typically spend Spring Break together. Our 2 oldest sons are BFF's - so we try and get them together during spring break, since the school year is so busy. Not to mention - it's a bonus for us because we enjoy each other's company as well.

We had planned to go to the Zoo today, but decided against it since all the area schools are on spring break the same week and we were afraid the zoo would be packed and crazy crowded.

So today - DAY 1 - of our Spring Staycation we went to Joe's Crab Shack. They have an outdoor playground surrounded by a huge sand box. The kids LOVE it! They loved it so much that we spent 5 hours there. We couldn't believe it. We're fortunate our kids get along really well and enjoy each other as much as we do : ) The kids played, we ate lunch, the kids played, we ate some more. When it was time to go - they didn't want to leave. They had a great time.

Will, Ben and Andy

Will throwing sand up the slide; Jared, Ben and Will sliding down the slide;

Brayden, Ben and Jared playing in the sand

Will, Ben and Andy playing in the sand; Andy playing in the sand; and in the slide.

Andy had such a great time. He was in his own world. Playing, pretending, digging -

it was fun to watch him!

Friends: Brayden, Jared, Ben and Will

(where's Andy?)

and .....

Andy on his 2nd bowl ... or 3rd (he ate Will's) of mac n' cheese. The food was pretty yummy!

Awh - my BFF, Angie, and her 2 boys, Jared and Brayden....

I should of gotten a photo of me and my boys .... tomorrow for sure! : )

A huge added bonus for two mom's of 5 boys under the age of 7 is happy hour which means that my BFF and I get to celebrate Spring Break too : ) Here's to a Fun, enjoyable week!

What's the plan for tomorrow?? Possibility of rain tomorrow - so maybe someplace indoors or maybe back to Joe's for more drinks .... I mean FUN!

It's a good day!

At last, at last - Andy is potty-trained. We've been waiting hoping for this for awhile. I really do think he was ready weeks, maybe months before this - but someone (not naming any names - ME!) might of been a little lazy.

On Monday & Wednesday - I sent him to school in underwear! He did fantastic! Yea Andy! And then on Tuesday, Will, Andy and I went to the zoo with my girlfriend, Angie, and her son. And I took Andy in underwear - didn't even give it a second thought. He was ready ..... he's been ready and he's doing fantastic!

I am so proud of him! He's out of his crib, out of his diapers ..... now - just have to get his pacifier away from him. My plan is to only allow him to have it in his bed. I think it's going to be harder to get away from him than the diapers. He has the pacifier and his blanket (my girlfriend, Miesa, gave him the blanket when he was born and he has carried it everywhere for almost 3 years) that he LOVES! So .... we'll let him hang onto the blanket whenever he wants - but try and wean him off the pacifier.

There's a couple reasons for weaning him off the pacifier. (1) He's almost 3 and I think he's too old; and (2) it's affecting his teeth already. My dentist told me to take it away yesterday.

Next week is spring break - so my intention is to take it away before he goes back to preschool on Monday, the 22nd. Wish me luck!

Fancy Day

Ben's class read Fancy Pants last week - so today was "Fancy Day" at school. They had a field trip at school as well and went to Furrs Cafeteria for lunch. They learned how to be Fancy and how to set the table (yea me!)

Ben's idea of fancy is eleastic sweats without holes in the knees. In the past year he has declared that he does not like pants with buttons or zippers only elastic.

I wasn't sure what he would wear - he has nothing, and I mean NOTHING, fancy. I posted something on facebook about needing a suit in his size. Luckily, my girlfriend (thank you Star!), has a son, Eric, alittle older than Ben and was able to loan me one of his suits. Ben loved it! However, the pants were alittle too tight. So - he wore the jacket and shirt. I bought him some jeans (that are obviously too big), and a little tie.

And here's my almost 8 year old boy! Isn't he handsome?

Please excuse the unfolded blankets in the basket next to him : )

A Sunday morning ...

It seems there's never a time when I can lay on the couch (alone) and rest if the boys are home and awake. If I lay down they all want to be laying with me. I have to admit, I do love it - except for the fact that Ben weighs 72 pounds, Will weighs 65 pounds, and Andy weighs 32 pounds and at times they crush me : ). It's a lot of weight on me, but I do try and stand it as long as I can.

I know these moments are fleeting and I want to savor them and enjoy them for as long as I can.

Living in their home!

On days when it's raining or snowing and the kids can't go outside - they play indoors. They ride their bikes, their scooters and whatever else they can ride. It sometimes can be trying - but I wouldn't have it any other way.

I want them to live in their home. I don't want it to be a place they avoid because everything has to be perfect. I want them to enjoy being home and feel comfortable being themselves in their home.

On this day in particular - it was raining pretty hard out and Andy wanted to ride the scooter. He taught himself to ride his brothers 2-wheel scooter in the house. He was having such a good time and was so very proud of himself (and so am I!).

Snow Day in Texas

Lots of snow... Basically all day and still going into the evening... So what is the forecast for tomorrow?

More Snow!


...funny thing about new Texans - they really don't like so much snow... Poor little guy was having lots of fun at first - but we're just not well prepared for this stuff...



david