Holiday Fun at the Gaylord Texan

The Gaylord wasn't quite the same this year as Grandma and Grandpa weren't with us but we still had fun!

Waiting in line for ICE wasn't that fun though.

ICE's theme this year is Shrek the Halls. This is at the beginning of the exhibit when the kids weren't frozen and still smiling. All of the figures are carved out of solid ice blocks!

Decorating our gingerbread people:

This is at the end of Shrek the Halls. Freezing and not enjoying ourselves any more!

We met Gingy!

Chloe's Class Holiday Party

Fall at the Arboretum

Great Aunt Shirley is in town for a visit and we enjoyed the beautiful weather today at the Arboretum. Chloe was all about having her picture taken...Parker was not!

First Day of School

Parker's first day of pre-K!

This big girl is officially a first-grader!

Chloe and Parker's Picture Taking

The kids obviously got a hold of the camera.

At least they aren't taking pictures of the floor or furniture, which is what I ususally find on the camera.

Lovin' the self portraits

Tried to get Beau in this one!

Pimped Out

Ray just got done making our golf cart the official Nebraska cart of the neighborhood. I think he's pretty proud. Now if he can just get the turn signals to work!

Cabo!

I was lucky to tag along with Ray to a work conference in Cabo San Lucas for a few days. His mom came to stay with the kids and I'm not sure who had more fun!

Cabo is absolutely amazing. The water is beautifully clear but more blue than that of Cancun. The rocks are treacherous though - I have a large cut on my foot to prove it! You could see really colorful fish swimming right up to the beach.

I went shopping with some other wives on Monday and we stopped at Senior Frog's for lunch.

This is the view from our 5th floor hotel room. Magnificent!

A new Beau

After many trial names and much debate, I think we settled on Beau as a name for our new cat. We call him Bo Bo for fun. I have been looking at cats since May but just hadn't found one that seemed perfect for our family. A foster the humane society in Frisco had this guy and as soon as I read her description, I knew he'd be perfect.

She said he loves kids and dogs and is used to a very busy household - she was right! Beau loves the kids and will let them pick him up and carry him all over the house. He's still a little cautious around the dogs but he's already shown that he's willing to stand up to them if they invade his space. The kids are thrilled to have a cat that will play with them!

Home Updates - June

Our newest piece of furniture: a bar cabinet. Ordered in January, received in MAY!

We just hung our curtains last weekend!

We had 4 more trees removed this week. One was taken from where I am standing and another was between the playset and the pergola, a.k.a the grilling patio.

View from the secret garden, where it's quite a bit more sunny!

The pond. We ordered a new pump, which is badly needed as you can see from the moss. Hope it gets here soon!

From the patio, looking out at the secret garden. We got rid of two willow trees, one on each side of the arbor. Everything will be much happier now, we just need stuff to grow as we can see neighbors now!

Our martin house is full of baby martins. The parents work so hard bringing fresh bugs to the babies all day long! You can see one baby out on the deck.

The Slide

Kindergarten Awards Ceremony

Chloe is officially done with Kindergarten! Their ceremony was last Wednesday - she got to walk across the stage, accept a couple of pins and shake her principal's hand!

Updates

I am dreadfully behind on updates! Here are some highlights - I'll follow up with pictures.

Ray and I got to attend the Jimmy Buffet concert in Frisco last weekend. He was great in concert and we really enjoyed it. We felt like we were a little late to the party since most others had tailgated (all day). The kids had a new babysitter, named Gylissa whom they enjoyed.

I traveled to Connecticut for work a couple of weeks ago. By the time I got on the plane, overheads were full and they took my bag, which never did arrive in CT. Lots of improvisation followed. My bag was returned to me in Dallas 4 days later. It was not a good experience with Delta!

Ray is trying to get home from Atlanta right now - I'm sure his plane is dodging the storms that have plagued north Texas all evening.

We got the kids one of those monster water slides to entertain them while Ray and I work in the yard. They love it. I have to admit, I look forward to taking a turn one of these days!

We're really excited for a visit from Auntie Erin this weekend. We haven't seen her in over a year so we are very excited she'll be spending Memorial Weekend with us!

I booked a trip for grandma Charlotte today she's coming in July to stay with the kids while Ray and I venture to Cabo San Lucas. Ray is going for business. I am tagging a long for a free hotel stay and activities. We are planning to do some zip lining at a tequila factory. That is if I don't chicken out!

I told the kids about grandma coming in July and Chloe replied "well, you'd better get out the 2-step ladder!".

Great Aunt Shirley was here a couple of weeks ago. She helped us with lots of yard work as usual. She planted some impatiens in our secret garden and they are so pretty. They remind us of her each time we go back there! She also inspired us to cut down a few more trees so hopefully that will happen soon!

I think that's all the big stuff! Hope everyone out there is well.

Chloe is 6!