Playa del Carmen :) :) :)

This summer we took a trip to Playa del Carmen. We stayed at the Reef Playa Car which turned out to be a great choice. It was in sort of a jungle setting with great landscaping and waterfalls throughout. We saw some interesting wildlife on our resort, one of which was an agouti which ate a cookie right out of Riley's hands. We had a great time kayaking, snorkeling, riding wave runners, boogie boarding, playing volleyball, enjoying the sunshine, eating, drinking, laughing and hanging out together.

More of Our Visit with Justin, Lori and Jordan

As promised I'm finally posting the rest of the pictures of our visit with Justin, Lori and Jordan. We kept pretty busy visiting the Stockyards, swimming and hanging out at Jesse's. Jordan is at a super fun age so it was awesome to get to spend a week with her. Bailey and I even got to babysit while Justin golfed with Jeremy and Lori got in some much needed study time. We went to the dog park, the playground, got ice cream, painted our toes and watched a little t.v. so Jordan could rest which she apparently needed because she passed out on the couch about five minutes after laying down. We also celebrated Jesse, Justin and Eric's birthday's. Colleen, Lori and I ran from store to store in the pouring down rain to get all the gifts but it was worth it and actually a lot of fun :) Can't wait to see them again...hoping to get to Myrtle Beach for a visit next summer.

Justin, Lori and Jordan Visit from NC

The Girls

Playing in the pool with Uncle Justin

Swinging

Jordan was so excited for this!

Jordan and Aunt Jill

***These are just some of the pics I have so I'll post more soon.

Southlake Fun

Last weekend it was just me, Jeremy and Bailey because Riley was going to Southlake to watch a movie with his friends. The three of us decided to get some Mexican food at MiCocina, which happens to be in Southlake too. While walking towards the restaurant we noticed Riley so of course decide to say hi. As he gets closer we wonder why on earth is he wearing a track suit in the middle of the summer in Texas!! Well, as you can clearly see the boys decided to dress-up, walk around the Towne Center and pretend to be serious about their evening fashion choices :)

Swimming with Rudy

Rudy and Aunt Jill

Rudy loves to splash!

Rudy and Bailey

BCI Boat Races Take II

Every year the 6th graders from Bear Creek Intermediate get to create and race duct tape boats and this year was Bailey's turn. She and her team created an octagon shaped boat, which turned out to be a not so great idea :) They could not get their boat to steer straight; it just kept spinning and spinning not making a lot of forward progress. Eventually the girls realized they weren't going to win their heat so they decided to have some fun instead and both jumped in pulling the the boat to the finish line. I have a video too but and I quote "please don't post that it's so embarrassing!"

Banquet Season

Apparently prom is far from the only formal event my kids will attend during their high school years. Every sport has their own banquet following it's season. So here are Riley and Amanda dressed and ready for her soccer banquet and Nadirah for Indianettes.

Pedicure Pampering

It's summer time in Texas and that means sandal season, so I decided to take Bailey in with me for her first pedicure. I introduced her to the joys of the pedicure including the massage chair, foot massage, and of course perfectly painted toes. My pedicure took a little longer so we got her a manicure too. By the end of the trip she was hooked! I guess I should've waited for her to get older because double monthly pedicures could get costly :) But it was so much fun and so worth the money for our mother/daughter date. I think I like having a daughter to enjoy the girly things in life.

Fort Worth Nature Center Hiking

Saturday was such a beautiful Spring day that we decided to go for a hike. We read about the Fort Worth Nature Center and decided to go there since it was close by. We started with a picnic lunch by Lake Worth then headed out to the "most difficult" trail. The trail was 3 1/4 miles each way so while Jeremy was super exited to hike the full 6 Bailey started getting tired around 1 1/2. We stopped at 1 3/4 miles and decided that Jeremy and the girls would finish while Riley and I ran back to the car and would pick them up at the end of the trail. I loved running outside through the hilly trail especially with Riley. We kept a pretty good pace and finished about the same time as Jeremy, Bailey and Nadirah. Apparently the second half of the trail was full of surprises including an old rundown truck, a washer and dryer and an old bathroom building (Bailey and Nadirah are posing in it above). Really the only downside is you can hear the highway at some points along the trail. Jeremy had heard somewhere that Ginger Brown's Restaurant & Bakery are known world wide for their delicious cinnamon rolls. We stopped in to grab some on the way home which was quite a treat in and of itself. Riley's reaction "the clientele here makes me uncomfortable." The restaurant has a non-smoking section but unfortunately for us nothing separates it from the smoking and since we were the only non-smokers in the restaurant we decided to get them to go. Plus the waitress convinced us that it was a much better deal to get them to go anyway. Apparently you can get 18, yes I said 18, for the same price as 5 dine in. The only kicker is you can't eat them inside the restaurant. So while the restaurant was laking the cinnamon rolls were true to reputation and were amazing.

Jaggears Christmas Party

Jeremy and Jill's Tacky Christmas Sweater's

Having Fun in the Photo Booth

Jeremy and Jake

Best Costume and White Elephant Gift Winners

Family Pics 2009

Here are some of my faves from our family photo session. We wanted to shoot the session in downtown so that we had a lot of different background options. We were there for about two hours and it's funny because when you're walking around taking the photos it's hard to imagine how they're going to turn out. Obviously they turned out great and I love them! We will definitely be taking family pictures on a yearly basis from now on.

Learner's Permit

How can I possibly have a child old enough to drive??? I'm so excited for Riley, but so sad for me. I can't believe how fast he's growing up and I am NOT looking forward to him leaving. Today while we were shopping he tells me that he hates school, can't wait to be done and that he just wants to own a house...I must have the only 15 year old boy who's dream is to drive a sedan and own a home :) So back to the driving! Well, there are some things along the way that I decided were dad's responsibility; not limited to but including tying shoes, swimming and driving. Of course as soon as he got his permit he wanted to drive! I was really nervous but I knew it was important to him so I didn't want to say no. Lucky for me he's a great driver. I should count to see how many times I tell him to slow down.

Pig Blanket???

So here we are on family night playing Cranium. This video makes me laugh so I wanted to share it.

Turkey Bowl

Northwood's 3rd Annual Turkey Bowl!

Riley's costume???

Riley and his friend, Nick, decided to dress up for their Halloween party about five minutes before they left and this is what they came up with. He was going for an old school b-ball player and pulled it off pretty well. Now the big question is why would we already own those short shorts? Riley and his friends regularly make Goodwill stops and this was just one of many fabulous finds!?!? Some of the others include a pair of super short, silky, shiny red boxers (I had to ban those from being worn in public), a really huge old school scooter, a tricycle, a black leather mini skirt, etc.... Oh how these boys make me smile!