InstaFriday

 Joining InstaFriday at Life Rearranged

Wednesday morning, this is what our house looked like.  Nick pounded that sign into our yard and we are officially on the market!  Excited, nervous, hopeful....stressed.  These are the words that come to mind this morning. :)  Probably more hopeful that things get rolling fast, because I'm sure everyone can imagine trying to keep a house tidy with 2 tornadoes living in it.  

 We picked this up from Target a couple days ago.  I mean, this will show nicely in the house right?  It goes with the decor....no??

 Yesterday was our last day of VBS.  Honestly, I was a little sad it was over.  I was exhausted, but it is so refreshing seeing those kids every morning and just watching how your relationship with them grows over the week.  Since it was the last day, and I knew Cole would have a blast, I let him stay with me during the opening song/dance time.  Our theme this year was Super Heroes and Cole is a freak about super heroes lately so I knew he would totally dig it.  He definitely had a blast!!!  He was a little sad to go back to his classroom but he got to have a super hero ice cream bar and that made things all better :)

 This is what the kids got to play with on the last day.  There were about 10 HUGE bounce houses and they all had a blast.  Pretty sure they didn't have stuff like this when I was a wee-little one doing VBS!

Happy Friday and Happy Weekend!!

Happenings lately

Here are a few things that have been going on around here the last week or so.  We are definitely in the full swing of summer and it is getting HOT!  Of course the kids still want to be outside playing so we go hang out with Jackson and jump on their trampoline.

Last time we were there Finley acted like she wanted to get in, so I let her...thinking she would get scared.  She didn't...this girl has no fear!

The other day, Finley had woken up from her nap.  Cole always loves to go in with me and help get her out of bed.  This is the look she usually gives me when I go get her.  I love her little mysterious look!!! :)

But she definitely gets so excited when big brother gets in bed with her.  There is nothing better in her world than when her brother gives her attention.  I love it!

 

The last couple months, Finley, who would hardly eat anything as a baby, would make an entire jar of baby food last 3 days, has become my little piggy!!!!  She wants to eat constantly, and eats way more than her brother.  Still haven't found a food she doesn't like but she definitely likes to make sure the dogs don't go hungry, as half of her food ends up in the dogs mouths.

Finley is also getting good at saying her "cheese" for the camera :)

This past weekend, we joined Pete and Katie at their pool.  It's a very short walk from their house so we just loaded the kiddos up in their wagon.  Is this not the sweetest thing!?!

Sunday we had Addison's 2nd birthday party at one of our favorite splash parks.  We absolutely love it at this park.  This was also Finley's first time at a splash park. 

Cole and his friend Reese

The birthday girl Addison....Happy Birthday!!!!

This week is a very crazy week!!!  Cole and I have VBS at church.  I am volunteering with the 3rd and 4th graders and love it!!!  I'm definitely not used to this age group, I'm used to the high school age but I am definitely having a blast!  It's amazing, we have over 1000 kids at VBS!  Today, my group of boys decided to drench me during the outside activities, AND I was wearing jean shorts.  Note to self, don't wear denim tomorrow!  Oh well, it was hot and it actually felt nice, but I will be getting them back before the week is over!

Our group got a visit from the Frisco Fire Dept.  It was pretty cool, they actually got a call while they were at church so we got to see them hurry and get their gear on and turn the sirens on.

 Like I said, Cole goes with me to VBS and he is exhausted by the time we leave!  I don't take Finley with me because there is no way she would last and that would stress me out so Tracy has been watching her.  This is Cole after about 2 seconds in the car.  And....I successfully transferred him to his bed and he went back to sleep...praise the Lord!

Also this week, we signed all our paperwork last night and our house goes on the market tomorrow morning!  Our house has never been so clean and I'm praying it sells fast because I have no idea how I'm going to do all this showing stuff with two small kids.  Let's pray it sells fast!

Well, that's all for now.  Looking forward to this weekend and having lots of showings, woohoo!!

Vegas

Well, I'd say we are done traveling for awhile...but we all know that may not be the case :)  We may decide to fly to Colorado yet this summer.  I totally can't complain now because the temperatures in Dallas have actually been bearable, but come July, I'll probably be looking for an excuse to make a trip home!  But for now, we are done for awhile.  It was nice to actually unpack my bathroom bag last night!  Haven't done that in a month :)

Back to our trip.  Nick and I took the kids down to Granddad and Gigi's house last Friday morning and we flew to Vegas after that.  Of course I was sad to leave the kids, I've never flown away from them.  However, it was SO nice to actually sit on a plane, read a book, have a drink and relax.  I haven't done that in over 3.5 years!

This is our "here we come Vegas" look.  Just kidding, I really have no idea what we are doing here :)

 When we arrived in Vegas, we walked around a bit, then met up with Ryan and Rachel for a late lunch.  Rachel was there for work and Ryan and the girls joined her.  It was nice to hang with them for a couple days!

Then that night, the four of us had reservations at Lavo.  It's a super nice restaurant in the Palazzo and it definitely did not disappoint!  Nick and I had a before dinner drink at the bar while we waited for Ryan and Rachel and this tasted so good!!!

 After dinner we walked around, took pictures and even gambled a bit.

Ryan and Rachel :)

Me and the hubs

 We found a really fun shop at the Venetian, a store full of hats!  This can be so fun because how often do you really get to try on a bunch of silly hats?

I mean, come on...is this me or what?

We are totally ready for the Kentucky Derby!

We had such a fun evening with the Volk's...but we didn't stay out too terribly late.  We were up pretty early that day and pretty tired so we headed back to our hotel around 11:30pm.  Nick and I stayed at The Trump Hotel.  It was a block off the strip, doesn't have a casino so was definitely more of a hotel instead of your typical casino on the strip.  It was nice, very quiet and nice pool area!  The rooms were fantastic too! 

The next morning, we got coffee and walked around some.  It was so freakishly hot there, so the only time that it was bearable to walk around was in the morning.  We walked over to the Wynn and played a little Wheel of Fortune.

 After we walked around, we walked over to where Ryan and Rachel were staying and joined them at their pool.  They had to fly back to Colorado that afternoon so we didn't stay too long.  It was so good to see the girls and spend some time with them!  I think Cameron was a little confused why Cole wasn't with us so we told her we'd try to have Cole come see her this summer.  She is such a funny girl, love her!!

 That evening we were waiting for our shuttle to take us to the strip so we could get some dinner.  While we were waiting, we saw a taxi driving stretching.  I mean, taxi drivers need to stretch too right?

 We went to the Paris and ate at Mon Ami Gabi.  We sat out on the patio and were right in front of the Bellagio so we could see the fountain show.  The food was absolutely delish and we couldn't have asked for a better night!

I guess I didn't take pictures our last day there.  Sunday, we hung out at the pool, I finished reading my book, and then we hung out at Caesar's Palace sports book and watched the US Open and also the Thunder/Heat game.  Nick bet some money on the Heat to win by more than 4 points so if anyone watched the game, you know that it was a nail biter for us!  And no, we totally are not Heat fans (at all!!!), but Nick wanted to place a bet and he knew that's probably who would win.  Boy was it weird semi cheering on a team we don't care for!  Oh well, he won, that's all that matters.

We flew back home Monday morning and were definitely ready to see the kids!  Our flight was pretty uneventful back home but when we got back to the DFW airport, we walked out of the plane and there were all these people taking pictures when we walked off the plane.  Honestly I didn't even notice and didn't even think anything of it.  However, when we walked into baggage claim there was a huge line of teenage girls screaming.  I mean, what a nice welcoming committee but come on girls, I'm not that big of a celebrity, sheesh :)

Anyway, I finally ask a girl what was going on and she said the British boy band "The Wanted" was there.  At first I was like, "oh cool, maybe we'll see some celebrities".  But then Nick says to me, "yeah, that's who was sitting right behind us on the airplane".  Whaaaaa!!!!  How did Nick even know that and how did I completely miss that!  I mean, I knew there were some cute British guys sitting behind us and they were talking with the people around them, talking about their tour and traveling but I completely missed that.

A couple funny stories about these guys.  The guy in the middle, with the black shirt, he sat directly behind me.  Super nice guy, very friendly but would not stop bumping my seat :)  I kinda looked back at him a couple times like, "really?".  

Then, the guy on the far right in the white sweater, he sat to the right of me and when he walked onto the plane he was holding a pillow pet of Stewie from the Family Guy.  Nick and I laughed at him because it was so random!  This guy had the thickest British accent so I kept looking over at him because it was just so intriguing so he probably thought I knew who he was but really I had no idea.  So now looking back, it all makes sense and think it's such a cool story.  Again, they were super nice, friendly guys and seemed totally normal.

We were so happy to see the kids and I think they were happy to see us too.  It's nice to be home and get back into our normal routine.  Nick and I had such a fun time together and totally needed the alone time.  Hopefully we can do it again soon!

Wisconsin Trip

 Yes, once again we were out of town this past weekend.  Don't worry, Nick and I only have one more trip coming up then we are done traveling for awhile!  Whew!

Our family of four and Auntie Em flew out last Thursday and headed to Minneapolis.  We went for Nick's cousin's graduation and to see family.

Auntie Em and Finley hanging out at the airport before take off

 The flight there was great.  Finley did fuss for a few minutes at the beginning because she was tired but quickly fell asleep.

 Once we got to the airport, we had to drive a couple hours to Rice Lake, WI.  Of course after being in an airplane for 2 hours, then being in the car for 2 hours, it can get a little long for kiddos.  So, we took lots of silly pictures and tried to be as entertaining as possible. :)

 But FINALLY, the kiddos fell asleep and it was bliss :)

 Sorry if you are getting tired of the self portraits of me and my kids but again, we were bored and had to do something to keep ourselves busy.

After we arrived, we just hung out the rest of the day and played around Uncle Don and Aunt Mary's house.  There were so many fun things to play with at their house!

 Finley was very interested in Alex (the graduate).  I think she would have given him a big smack on the lips if she could have :)

 Stephanie was so sweet to both kids.  Even though we have a Wii at our house, Cole and Finley were much more interested in playing their Wii. 

 Friday we all helped get ready for Alex's graduation party.  They had a ton of people attend the party and it was great seeing everyone.

Finley and Gigi had matching outfits for the party :)

 Saturday morning started off exciting!  We had been sleeping in Don and Mary's basement while we were there and all of a sudden at 6:45am the carbon monoxide/gas alarm went off.  Of course we thought it was just needing new batteries or was faulty because it was so random.  Nick went up to Don and Mary's bedroom and asked Don and after checking things out for awhile and realizing it wasn't faulty, we got everyone out of the house and called someone to come check it out.  It was a very early morning for everyone and instead of just waiting outside we decided to head over to Gigi and Granddad's hotel and go swimming. 

The water was pretty chilly, but they still had fun.

 While we played at the pool, Finley and Auntie Em took a little nap.

 Later in the day on Saturday, the weather was perfect so we headed over to Uncle Don's brother's house and swam at his pool.  He has an amazing property, great pool and just so pretty!  Finley loved chasing around the dogs :)

 Cole had a lot of fun playing around in the water too.  They had a spiderman swim jacket for him and he thought that was the coolest thing ever!

 Cole even crashed the hot tub party on the young-ins :)

 Cheeeese!!!  Someone got into the chocolate cookies!

 After we were done swimming and went back to Don and Mary's house, we got the kids cleaned up, put to bed then we sat outside and relaxed.  We made a bonfire, drank yummy drinks and also watched Nick and Alex play a game of basketball.  It's a terribly dark picture but Nick is way over on the left side, making a shot :)  Not quite sure who won but Nick was definitely sore the next day!

Sunday morning, we got everything packed up and we headed back to Minneapolis.  We were flying out the next day but wanted to spend a little time in the cities before we left.  Tracy had gotten us tickets to go see the Twins play Sunday afternoon.  Nick is a huge Twins fan so he was excited to have Cole experience a game with him.  Tracy stayed behind with Finley and Granddad, Auntie Em, Cole, Nick and I headed to the game.  Our hotel was walking distance to the stadium so it was nice to not have to worry about parking.

My two boys.....love them!

Granddad and Cole

 After a few trips to get food and a new hat and baseball bat, by the time we knew it, the game was over and we were all surprised that Cole made it the whole game!  I think he had fun because he keeps talking about the baseball game we went to and how he wants to go again.  It was a great afternoon, followed by dinner at a wonderful Pub.  Minneapolis did not disappoint!

The next morning we hit up the Mall of America pretty early because we had to catch a 1:00 flight back to DFW.  We didn't get to spend a lot of time at the mall but we did have fun with the little time we had.

 We took Cole on a Dora school bus ride and he had a blast!  This is me and Cole way up high!!!

 Granddad and Nick took the kiddos on the merry-go-round.  Going around in circles like that is not something I enjoy so we sent the guys on with them.  I'm pretty sure this was Finley's first time on anything like this.

It was sad to leave our little trip but as always it's nice to get back into our own beds.  I know the kids had so much fun and they were great little travelers as usual.  As much fun as it is traveling with the kiddos, Nick and I are definitely ready to have our own little vacation next weekend!  We head to Vegas for 3 nights and we can't wait.  It will be nice to actually sit on a flight, just the two of us and not worry about keeping two monkey's entertained the whole time.