We had a GREAT trip to Texas, a nice week leading up to our trip (to include TWO snow days for JR), and 3 nice days after our trip to spend catching up and relaxing around the house. I'm truly sad that we had to send the kids back to school and return to work. They are at such a great age for being around. Less exhausting and so much fun. I took a ton of pictures!
Snow Day on November 17th! Like...even the DAYCARE closed. And that was a first in 12+ years! So Jeff and I enjoyed a day around the house with the kids. Here they are bundled up and dying to get outside in the blowing cold. Guess who lasted only 42 seconds?
Hint: NOT this one! He stayed out thee for a good 30 mins!
Hot chocolate is a must after playing in the snow:
We shut off the TV and kicked it "old school." Coloring and games...ON PAPER!
Alex and I did manage to venture out later in the evening to the grocery store. She LOVES the penny horse!
On Wednesday evening, there was the annual Hope potluck at school. I guess they didn't do a very good job advertising it...as there was hardly anyone there!
When am I going to learn to stop letting my children have foods with blue food coloring? Gross!
Friday was crazy hair day for this guy if he brought a jar of PB for Care and Share. Done!
Friday night I got to hang with some of my girlfriends for a Girls Night Out at Painting with a Twist. Amber, Ami, Amy, Hannah, and Nicole were all able to join in on the fun. We had a great time painting, drinking wine, and visiting.
The start of my painting....
Amber and Ami.
All the girls. Each painting looks so different...yet so much alike! After painting we went and had dinner at Bubba's 33. It was a fun evening!
Saturday morning we left for DIA around 11 am. Little did we know...our flight was going to be delayed for over 3 hours. )-:
This little cutie was ready to fly!
Killing some time with Ben and Jerry's.
Finally on the plane...we were supposed to leave at 2:45 and it was closer to 6:15 before we were ready for take off. Boo! But the kids did OUTSTANDING. No meltdowns...they got along with each other GREAT...and everyone managed to keep it together.
So proud of my little travelers.
We got in pretty late, and Sharon had dinner ready for us. We were zonked.
On Sunday, we met the Shannahan side of the family in Irving for lunch. Devin and her boyfriend, Roy also joined us! It was nice getting to see Pat, Adrian, Paul, Jeff's Grandmother and Grandfather, and a few of the cousins! I managed not to get a group picture.
Nanny and Alex:
Devin and Alex
Us 3 girls!
After our visit, Devin and Roy came back to Mumsie's house to visit for the afternoon. Devin is doing much better these days, and said she is almost feeling "normal."
The kids...and Mumsie!
On Monday, we joined Courtney and the kids for an afternoon at the Dallas Aquarium. It was awesome! There was a huge jungle section, and then all the underwater/ocean animals.
Sweet Caroline!
JR and Grayson checking things out. Grayson loves to tell JR about all the different animals and make sure he doesn't get too far ahead of us.
The kids!
JR always being a goof.
Alex loved the penguins. They were just sitting there for quite some time. Great picture opp.
Watching the sharks go by.
We had a great afternoon!
Later that evening, Jeff and I went to Denton to visit the Harvest House. It was a really cool little place with tons of beers on tap, fun cocktails, and a really cool feel. I want to go back!
Our friends Courtney and Keith joined us later on, and we had dinner in Denton at a place called 940's. It was a great adult night!
Tuesday was my Birthday! Jeff took me out to Root's coffee (a favorite) for my birthday latte--The Lumberjack. Sooo tasty!
Later in the afternoon...we drove back to Denton for tattoo's! The original plan was to include Devin, but she had to back out last minute. So...Sharon, Amanda and I decided to go ahead with the plan! I got mine on the top of my foot. Sharon and Amanda got theirs on the inside of their lower legs. I love them!
Sharon made me a French Silk Pie instead of cake and OMG was it delish. She made it for me last year, too. I think we created a tradition!
We also went to The Grotto for my birthday dinner with Neil and Sharon. Amanda stayed behind and watched the kiddos. Always a favorite place to go and eat. Of course....there was dessert!
Man did we do a lot of eating and drinking! I had a great Birthday!
On Wednesday, we went to Grapevine for the Ice sculptures at the Gaylord Hotel. Man is that hotel HUGE! And Nice!! I told Jeff we need to stay the night next time we visit.
We got to put on these huge parkas--it was 19 degrees inside. A little chilly! We are standing in front of a green screen. We did buy a picture with the actual ice back drop behind it.
Aunt Amanda and the kids!
After the Gaylord visit, we went to lunch at the tastiest little Mexican place in downtown Grapevine. I had my first fried avocado. It was memorable! After lunch, we walked around the park area of downtown Grapevine. They had all these little staged Christmas themed photo areas. If only I would have known--I would have dressed the kids nicer and went for Christmas card photos!
These two had a blast posing at all the different areas.
A favorite:
And another favorite!
Such good buds. It truly does amaze me!
"Take a picture of me, Mom!"
They were very intrigued by the fake sod. LOL
Just the coolest little area!
On Wednesday afternoon--we actually had to return to get Amanda's tattoo. She had forgotten her wallet and ID on Tuesday--so we had to go back to Denton. Ha! After the tattoo...us girls went out for dinner and drinks. It was another fun evening!
Thursday was Thanksgiving. We spend the morning preparing all the food and had lunch around 12:30. They sure do eat early in Texas!
Make a wish!
The turkey was so tender the wishbone was a little rubbery. The kids couldn't get it to break. Ha! We had a delicious Thanksgiving meal. Just wonderful.
This one is also obsessed with Sharon's french silk pie. So after her turkey...you can guess what she requested. In fact...she woke up every morning talking about it. It is THAT good.
Sharon and Neil
Group photo with Aunt Amanda and Great Aunt Carol.
After dinner we got all packed up and headed for the airport after about a 1 hour delay. Happy to be on the plane headed home!
The roads coming back from Denver were a little slick, so we decided to grab a hotel for the night near the airport. It was a good decision!
Friday morning we got home to Molly and Moses who were very happy to see us. We didn't waste any time getting all the Christmas decorations up. Not my idea. LOL.
Both kids pretty much did all the work. I just got to sit and supervise. I'm loving these ages!
Picked up these super cool ornaments from a lady who was making them on one of my Colorado Springs mama sites. Love them.
On Saturday, we had lunch and then went to Harding nursery to see...Santa! Alex was convinced she wasn't going to sit on his lap or come very close, really. But when we walked into the room he was hanging out in...there was no line and Santa's focus was on Alex immediately. He acted like he knew her and she had no choice but to fall in love. As she started to approach him he just GRABBED her and put her right on his knee. She literally had ZERO time to even think about what was happening. That Santa was amazing! & we got some amazing photos.
It was a little slow that afternoon...Jeff took the kids to warm up in the car and Santa decided to bust out his phone. Ha! I told the kids he was texting in their order to his elves. Modern Day Santa.
Tree number 1 all lit up with our new star topper!
Tree number 2 all lit up and decorated!
And Eddie! Eddie came back. He was just waiting for us to decorate the mantle with the Santa Boot. (-:
Sunday was spent hanging around the house. Trader Joe's and Bonefish grill Sunday evening for dinner. A great way to end a wonderful week off with my family.
This week we are closing on our refinance. No more private mortgage insurance! We are going to a CC Hockey game Saturday, and the rest of the month has all sorts of stuff going on. I'm sure these next couple of weeks will fly--and then we have two weeks off for Christmas!
