Fall

We had beautiful weather this weekend! We don't have many days like this in Dallas, days where we don't have on either climate control system in the house, days where it is sunny but crisp outside, days we can really enjoy being outdoors. This weekend, we had that kind of weather for two days!

Saturday was Sachse's annual Pumpkin Prowl. We had never been before, but had a great time! A pumpkin prowl is like an egg hunt, only you hunt mini pumpkins instead of eggs. Mason and Max were in different age divisions, so we don't have pics of Max actively hunting.

Getting ready...

At the starting line...

I love the ornery look on his face in this one =)

Look at my haul!!!

The competition was a little stiffer on Max's side. He only got one pumpkin on his own--the division was 4 and under, so he had several bigger kids to contend with and Daddy wasn't much help in blocking =) Towards the end, another dad saw Max only had one, took one from his kid's bucket and tossed it on the ground towards Max. Max thought he found another and was very excited =)

Sunday was a rare day--the house was clean, the laundry was done, and I got groceries early Sunday morning. I didn't have a list of things to do! It was great!!!

After an afternoon nap for Mom and Max, we all went out back to play football. Mason is determined to not like any teams that his dad and I do. I'm taking this harder than Daddy, I think. Right now, Mason likes the Broncos (eek!) and Nebraska. Who knows where he comes up with these things. He'll realize soon enough that college will only be funded by his parents if he is a Jayhawk...just kidding, of course.

We need to work on the passing still...

The hand off! Mase has really got that hand off and hold figured out. He says he has to hold the football like a paperclip.

Trying to get past defender Dad! Look how he has that football tucked up and under =)

Max got in on the action.

Mase's mean football pose...

Don't you see future Heisman winner all over this picture?

What a wonderful weekend. If only more could be this relaxing full of nothing but time with my boys.

Brothers

Mason and Max are definitely at the age where they are playing together, when they're not annoying the heck out of each other, that is =) It's so much fun to watch them interact with each other and enjoy being together, building that bond. Mason is so protective. It's okay for him to antagonize Max to no end, but no one else better do it. When we were back in Kansas recently, Mason was playing with Klaus during Max's nap. When Max woke up, the big boys were still playing and Mason immediately said, Come on, Max, you can be on our team. Then he turned around and tackled him, but I guess that's all part of being a boy mommy!

Here's a short clip of them playing together tonight. I love hearing Maxy laugh at everything Mason does.

Fall Festivities

Over the weekend Jacob went back to Kansas to participate in the Cowboys for Cortlyn roping that Jaime and Ira held in honor of their daughter who they lost to Trisome 18 last year. It was a very special event and one that we hope will become an annual one!

The boys and I didn't make the trip, so my mom came to hang out with us. On Saturday (which had a high of about 50, which was freezing for us!) we went to the Sachse Fall Festival. Sachse is not a very big town so the Festival wasn't much, but the boys had a lot of fun and got lots of candy from the booths. The local dr.'s office even gave them each a free bike helmet! They were passing them out to all the kids, which was pretty cool. The best part about the Festival was the food on a stick, although I think Mom and I were the only ones that ate--the boys only had candy and a funnel cake. But what's a festival without junk food, right?

After the festival we headed to the pumpkin patch. We always go to the pumpkin patch at the Dallas Arboretum, but it's so far from us and this year I really wanted to find a more authentic patch. Last year over Klaus' birthday we went to a really neat patch in Columbus and I wanted to try to find something like that here. Well, I didn't find it. It was out in the middle of no where, which was fine, but when we got there a person was standing at the entrance telling all of us to drive in carefully, not slow down or stop or we'd get stuck. I look over and the field where they were parking everyone is one huge mud pit. I nearly turned around, but Mason had already spotted where we were going, so on we went! I gunned the Expedition, fishtailed and threw mud everywhere, but did not get stuck =)

There was a petting zoo, which most city kids would like but my kids were like wow, a cow. They were pretty much over the animals wallowing around in the mud. With our admission (yes, admission. we all had to pay to look at the pumpkins) we got a free hot dog. Of course, in keeping with the junk food theme of the day, the boys only ate pumpkin cookies.

Max was thrilled with the menu for the day =)

Next was on to the photo ops. I have to say they had made a lot of cute little areas that were great for taking pictures.

Grandma and the boys.

At the Fall Festival, Mason got these green vampire teeth in one of his many goody bags. He wore them for the rest of the day and really every day since then. He was pretending to bite Grandma.

The boys on an old tractor...

Next was on to the hay rack ride. It went around the patch, down and around an old pond, and then back by the petting zoo. Mase thought it was great! I guess we need to do anything Kansas hay rack ride soon!

Again with the teeth =)

And the last photo stop. Max was pretty done by this point. He hadn't had a nap and he really didn't want any more pictures. I thought this was one of the cutest backgrounds, so I coerced him into a picture by letting him take a silly one first.

The silly pic...

And the best of the good pics...

I love fall and we had a great weekend experiencing all the fall activities around here! We were all very happy that Grandma got to be here to have fun with us.

Sail Away, Sail Away

Mason and I went on a cruise! Mom and Dad had this cruise planned for a couple of months and had planned on taking Grandma Phyllis and Pompi. Well, after all the everything happened with Grandma, we decided to still take Pompi to keep his spirits up. Kelli and her entire family, Mom, Dad, Pompi, Mason, and I went.

As were docking at Ensenada, Mom and I kept hearing this noise that sounded like seals. Sure enough, we went out to the balcony and this is what we found. Look at all of them!

After we came back on the ship from Ensenada, the elevators were broken so I pulled out my teacher skills (althought I never taught early childhood!)and entertained the boys for 45 minutes. We got these superhero capes in town so the boys went on missions. Pompi got in on this one!

Mason and Klaus had a lot of fun at the kids pool. I spent a lot of time with Kelli or Klaus (uncle Klaus) in a deck chair with a margarita watching the kids play.

There was a great water slide at the pool that was only open for an hour or two each day. Mason made the most of those hours! However, the first day he was deemed tall enough to go down by himself and the next day he wasn't. Mommy got lots of turns down the slide!

Pirate night is always one of Mase's favorites at the kids program. He loved walking the plank, looking for treasure, and going around the ship singing pirate songs.

This was a really cool view of the Cabo coastline from Mom and Dad's balcony. Cabo was incredibly hot, so we didn't spend much time off the ship.

Pompi and Kate. Pompi really got a lot of enjoyment from all the kids, but especially Kate. He calls her Little Arlene since she's named after Grandma.

A lot of fun was had by all. There were some tears as we all shared favorite memories of Grandma and a whole lot of laughter. That's what Grandma loved best, laughing and spending time with her family. Her legacy will certainly live on in the joy and happiness she instilled in us.

Posting

I know, I know--I didn't post at all in September. The school year started and everything got crazy! I hope that my work schedule will settle down and become more regular so I can get back in to my routine of posting.

It seems that since Mason started Kinder, he's grown 3 years over night. He's such a big boy--although right about the time I'm marveling at how much he's grown up, he's through a fit just to remind me that he's still little =)

Max has fully and completely entered the terrible twos, and it's just a couple of months until he's three! He's very much into saying no, throwing fits, and fighting to assert his independence. We're hoping it's just a phase =)

I'll post new pictures soon--Mason and I went on a cruise last week and had a ball! Until then, hope everyone is well!