Grandma Heels 80th birthday

This is a little old, but better late than never! We went to Mineral Wells to visit my Grandma Marilyn Heels (my dad's mom) near her 80th birthday. My Aunt Donna was there too, so we got to visit with both of them.

Day Out with Thomas Slideshow

A Day Out with Thomas the Train

Thomas the Train made a visit to the Vintage Railroad Station in Grapevine, TX! We bought tickets for a ride as Cross and Cole's birthday presents, even though they had to wait until the end of March to go. They were asking all the time if it was the day to go ride on Thomas and when they finally stopped asking if it was time, that is the weekend we were going! Aunt Sunday, Uncle David, and Jude met us there too. Unfortunately, the Texas weather was not cooperating and it was in the 30's with a very cold wind. But, we tried to enjoy it as much as possible anyway. The cold is why Cole was not too happy and would not take any pictures. He was pretty cold and was being a little grumpy about it. They had different stations set up with activities and some were inside, but the ones that were outside they had tents up around plus those heat lamps, so it offered a little relief. One had a bunch of tables with train sets on them that the kiddos could play with and they had coloring sheets, stickers, and tatoos. They had a story telling room where a woman was reading Thomas books and showing videos of the cartoon. It was nice and warm inside there. They had another one with a ton of model trains, but we didn't make it in that one. Sir Topham Hat had a staion to take your picture with him. Cole was not too excited about it and I don't really blame him because he did look a little creepy!
Our ride was at 11:30 and after waiting in line and then piling in to a train car only to realize there were not enough seats (some of the train cars had no windows, so no one wanted to sit in them and everyone was trying to squeeze into the enclosed cars) We found one seat for us and one seat for David, Sunday, and Jude but not close together. Oh well! It was the kids first ride on a train and they had fun.
Afterwards we all went and had some Mexican food for lunch! While eating, we decided that since we were all already out we should go see the new Monsters Vs. Aliens movie. The showtime that we went to was not in 3D, but we figured the kids probably wouldn't keep the glasses on anyways. The movie was cute and the kids were good. And if that wasn't enough fun for one day, there were video games in the theatre lobby, couldn't pass those up. That is where the pictures of Cole and Jude in the batmobile are.
We left the house at 9:15 and didn't get back until 5:30, so it was a full day of fun with the kids! My arms were so tired from carrying Cole around at the train station since he was cold (he's not so little anymore) that I crawled into bed when we got home and stayed there! (Well, as much as I could anyway)

Cross' 2nd Judo Tournament

Cross had his 2nd tournament Sat. 3/14/09. He was nervous about it because he had accidentally tapped out at the first one. (When they are practicing they can tap to get the other person to stop or let them out of the hold, so when he was being held down he tapped and that automatically ended the round in the tournament.) But, this time he remembered not to do that! He won his fist match and lost his second. So, he got a 2nd place medal out of the 4 kids in his brackett. He was really happy about it. Plus after several talks from Dad about sitting still and not rough housing while waiting for his turn, he was a ton better behaved too!!

Slideshow of our trip to the Gaylord Texan Hotel

Valentine's at the Gaylord Texan Hotel

I planned a little getaway for Valentine's weekend. Grapevine is only about 45 minutes away from our house, but the Gaylord Texan is an amazing hotel and it was nice to feel like we went somewhere without actually having to waste time driving or flying. The hotel is built inside a huge glass atrium. Inside this atrium they have built areas to look like different areas of Texas. All of the pictures are taken from inside the hotel even though it seems like you are outdoors. There is a spa (where we had a couples massage-Jesse's first ever), 3 restaurants, coffee bars, a huge sports bar, and several little shops. On Saturday we went to a nearby winery and did a tour and tasting. Then we watched Slumdog Millionaire on pay per view in the room and ordered room service for dinner. We had breakfast at the River Walk Cafe both mornings. It was a great weekend. My mom was going to babysit for us, but got the flu! Luckily Aunt Sunday and Uncle David volunteered! Thanks to them. We owe you, big time!!

BIRTHDAY PARTY!!!

Cross turned 6 and Cole turned 3 this February. I can't believe how fast they are growing up. Last year we skipped the big birthday party and just did cakes at home. This year they opened a bounce house place here in Burleson, so we had a party for them both there. I fun time was had by all the kids. They love going down the big slide (that is Cole coming down head first in the picture) and bouncing in all the different inflatables. Thanks to everyone who came!