Dallas!

This year we switched it up a little and headed over to Dallas first, so we would be there over the weekend. I thought the Aunts and Uncle would be more free for meeting up on the weekend versus during the week. And they did come over and hang out with us! 

Of course, I got zero pictures of that... But I swear they like us and came to see us!

On our last day in Dallas, I did remember I own a camera! And brought it! Mostly because Grannie went and bought us donuts for breakfast and we were goofing off while we waited for her to come back. The kids decided it was well worth the wait when she came back with sprinkle donuts!

Thomas was very intrigued by the game Pawpaw was playing on his laptop. Pawpaw explained to him how solitaire worked, but Thomas isn't quite up to trying it for himself. Yet...

Also, we got to meet the newest member of the family while we were there! Bucky #2! He looks a lot like his predecessor, Bucky #1. Much more energy right now though, because he's still a pretty young guy. 

And of course, we can't go to Dallas without going to the Perot museum! I honestly think the two of them might be plenty happy just playing with the musical forest outside. Well, maybe if it wasn't blistering hot temperatures, anyhow...

The museum was moderately packed. It wasn't quite as bad as when we went on Labor Day, but it was pretty busy. Thomas still managed to get his shopping lists completed though!

And Henry managed to snag the truck all to himself for awhile!

The two of them hogged this conveyor belt for a little while, but that seemed to be the going trend everywhere, so I let them get away with it. Plus they had on the orange vests, so they looked super official!

The grandparents look like they are catching a quick nap. I think the activity level was a little much for them...

It was much less crowded outside (because it was so stinking hot!), so the grandparents were happy enough to hang out there with us. The boys jumped straight into the giant sandbox and were super excited to discover a bone! I swear they have seem them before, but you wouldn't have guessed it from the reactions.

This crazy kid! It took forever to convince them to go back inside even though they were both quite sweaty. Oh to be a kid again and not be so bothered by the temperatures outside. 

One last chance to play on the frogs before we headed out. As always, it was a blast not only at the museum, but spending time with Grannie & Pawpaw. Thanks for having us! :)

Random Summer Fun!

Summer around here is busy and full of fun, so I figured I'd show you all an assortment of the summer fun we had before we took our big trip down to Texas. 

Soccer time! Soccer is only outdoors in the summer and it's much more fun than the indoor soccer. Well, unless it's raining, but I got a new soccer mom chair this summer that has a pop-up cover on it. So I'm ready - rain or shine!! 

Henry and Thomas played on separate days, so Henry found ways to entertain himself when he wasn't playing. His favorite activity? Picking dandelion puffs and trying to blow them, though he prefers to call them dandy flowers, which I think is just adorable. :)

Matt somehow convinced these guys to not only clean the table and vacuum the floor - the two of them would argue over who got to do what. Ummm... what other things could I have them do for me??

Apparently I can convince them to carry their own soccer gear and chairs. No more pack horse momma!! Also, that backpack looks giant on Thomas, but he didn't complain.

Grannie brought these sheet tent sets with her when they were in town. The boys kept asking to make them and I kept forgetting until it was too late to set them up. Until one night when I remembered and made this super awesome tent for them to have a sleepover night. I texted a photo to Matt (who was working late) and told him I was the fun parent. Winning!

My little breakfast helpers! I let them try the biscuit dough since it was egg free and they apparently thought it was tasty!

Luckily we realized it was National Ice Cream Day before it was too late to celebrate! I have finally convinced them that ice cream is just as good as frozen yogurt, so we've gotten to go to Baskin Robbins more. I can't say I would have gotten the ice cream with pop rocks in it, but Thomas was pretty happy with it. 

Clearly, Henry was plenty happy with his chocolate ice cream... This kid is serious about his ice cream!

We stopped at the neighborhood playground on the way home to burn off some extra energy the ice cream had provided them.

They still make me nervous with the climbing bravery, but obviously they have got this!

Picture day at soccer was *not* Henry's favorite. This poor photographer could not convince him to smile for the camera. Amazingly, the other photographer must have been part wizard because he got Henry to drop his arm, pose and even got a great smile out of him. I was too in awe to pay enough attention to how he did it - would be a great skill to have!

Last day at work before heading out on our two week trip to Texas! I love the shape of Texas (because all Texans do), but I hadn't ever tried to draw it out accurately. Much harder than I expected, but I finally got a decent approximation!

Matt wasn't going with us on this trip, but he very nicely dropped us off and helped us get checked in early in the morning. Also, look how helpful Thomas is - we did a few practices attempts in the house before I completely relied on him to help me with a bag, but he did great! 

Oh and you can see their awesome new backpacks! After the cabin trip, I decided they needed better packs that we could clip in the front so the straps would stop sliding down their arms. We have had many discussions about how the whistles built into the clips are only for emergenies and so far, they haven't blown them without asking for permission first.

One last hug for Dada before heading through security! 

These two were studying the emergency info cards like they were going to be quizzed on it! Then the flight attendant did the demonstration right next to our seat and these guys were glued to her every move. She said no one had ever watched her so intently and everyone around was telling me how adorable they were. Unsurprisingly, they got lots of attention and treats from the crew after that. When I was helping Thomas in the tiny bathroom, Henry waited outside after his turn. As soon as I opened the door, he proudly showed me the 5 Biscoff cookies he had gotten from the nice flight attendant.

Flight #2 was pretty much a breeze as well. They both were sound asleep before we even took off! They woke up and had time to eat lunch and watch a movie before arriving in Texas. Easy peasy!

I may have spoiled them with a few new treats in Texas...

And visited some old classics!

I can't say for sure which of the must-stop Texas restaurants is their favorite, but they are covered in the most food after Waffle House. Those chocolate chip waffles are messy...!

Seward with the Elams

Matt and Sam put in on all of the same hunting tags and against all logic / odds, they both got a goat hunt tag on the far side of Resurrection Bay for this fall. Matt had a tag on this side of the bay last year and it was pretty challenging, so they were wanting to prepare as much as possible for the far side. So we planned a long weekend in Seward so they could take a flight or boat over and scope out the mountains. 

For some reason, they ended up not doing that at all... But I still had plenty of fun things planned for the boys and when the dads decided to scope out a fishing spot, we decided to check out the super cool looking library. Henry was *very* excited!

Conveniently, it was located across the street from the house we were renting!

The library had a really nice kids area that was somewhat sound insulated from the rest of the upstairs, so they could play some games, check out the musical instruments and read books while sitting on cushions that look like tree stumps. 

Plus it had a ton of windows and it had a pretty awesome looking background, huh??

After the guys gave up on fishing, we all headed over to the Sea Life center. Of course, it was a mad rush to get to the boat first and claim the captain's wheel. I am pretty sure Thomas only won because the other two got distracted...

The fishing game behind the boat has started to be more interesting to the kids now that they can basically play it. They don't quite get the point and end up overfishing most of the board, but they still have fun trying!

This time they were both daring enough to touch the sealife in the tank. I was super proud of them! :)

Everyone is looking for Woody, but he was pretty happy just cruising around ignoring all of us. We lucked out two years ago to be there when they were feeding the sea lions, but that's the only time. Sigh...

But some things don't change and a quick run across the balcony break was still in order - though Henry did a much better keeping up than the last time! ;)

Almost forgot to get a photo of the kids in front of the sign - they were nice enough to go back upstairs for me. Also, so they could play on the boat again. Win-win!

Because we didn't quite pack *enough* fun into one day, we headed over to the playground, which was conveniently only two blocks from the house. Best house location we've had in Seward yet!

The boys were trying really hard to figure out the monkey bars and rings. And I don't just mean these two little guys - Matt & Sam were also competing to see who could get further on the monkey bars. I got in on the competition as well - I was in shock how much harder it was than I remembered... And all these tiny kids were just flying across them. A bit humbling. ;)

And we can't leave the park without some swinging time in front of the scenic Resurrection Bay! Even if the guys didn't get their scouting in and the fish weren't biting, we all still had a blast. Thanks for a great weekend, Seward! :)

Cabin and Camping Fun

I know I said that we were going to try public cabins closer to home this year, but the boys are convinced that Glatfelder Cabin is "our" cabin and have been asking to go back all year. So we figured we might as well just go back to the cabin they love so much. And thankfully it didn't take nine hours to drive there this year (thank you for the distraction, mini-DVD player!)

These boys love everything about staying at the cabin, even the oatmeal and hot chocolate breakfasts! They were even excited about the new sporks I bought them!

Henry was less excited about waiting for his breakfast to cool off enough to eat it...

Ready to face the new day and hike out from "their" cabin!

They are little troopers with the hike back and forth to the parking lot. They just refuse to walk in the front - spiders tend to span the path with invisible threads of web and whoever walks in front gets to find them all...

We decided to drive up to Fairbanks for the day and check out Pioneer Park. I'd never been to Fairbanks at all, so it seemed like a fun day activity!

Needless to say, the kids were more than happy with the awesome park to play in!

Don't worry - we didn't leave the girls behind this year! They were more impressed with the shade than any other aspects of the park, but they are just happy to be hanging out on the family vacation!

Natalie would not be still long enough for me to get a photo of her. There was just too much to look at and investigate!

In case you can't tell, Henry is yelling "All aboard!!!" for the train on the playground. They were super excited about the train.

And the moose swing...

And the paddle boat. And the sign post. Pretty much everything was awesome to them. :)

I was most excited about the funnel cake, but apparently I am expected to share it?!?

The next morning, we got up and the nearby wildfires had gotten much closer. It was super smoky over the lake. Luckily for the fires, it started to rain, but it was less exciting to think about spending the day cooped up in the cabin. So we decided to head back a day early and find somewhere to camp on the way home. 

Obviously this is always our back-up plan and we had all of our camping gear with us! Glen allen looked to be rain free on the radar, so we headed that way and Matt took us to a campground at nearby Kenny Lake that he had stayed at before on one of his motorcycle trips.

The tiny general store even had all the supplies to make smores! The boys were definitely loving this part of the camping trip!

The campground wasn't that full, so the boys decided to practice their soccer skills! Henry just started this year, but already has a blast trying to kick the ball away from his brother...!

Last breakfast of the trip! Thomas ate all of his oatmeal and wanted more food, so he got a bagel too. I swear that kid has a hollow leg sometimes.

It was a great trip!

Maybe next year we will branch out to trying a new cabin... ;)

Company Picnic

One of the favorite family events returned for the 4th year in a row! (Well for us - it has definitely been a thing longer than we have been up here.) And this year had pretty awesome weather to go with it!

The obligatory "Smile and hug your brother before you get to go play" photo! They seemed to know the drill this year and didn't complain too much.

The inflatable maze won out for first activity. I followed them around a few times, but they are getting harder to keep up with in a giant maze and I finally gave up and waited at the exit for them to tire out.

I noticed the wait for the balloon artist wasn't long at all, so I convinced them to go there next. They still weren't impressed that they had to wait at all...

Unsurprisingly, they both ended up with light sabers once they knew that was an option. Though they were both clear that they wanted a good guy color and not red. 

The picnic had a Lego play area this year and they were both all over it. The had a blast building cars to race down this giant ramp. Henry could just barely get his car up there, but he managed!

They have played with these Lego plate spinners at other events before and always seem to love them. We should probably just make the investment and buy the lego motor to make our own...

Of course, they are both still perfectly happy playing with the giant Lego Duplo blocks as well. Anything Lego makes them happy!

Once I finally pried them away from the Legos, we made it over to the giant obstacle inflatable. It's always one of their favorites to play on!

Just like last year, they spent most of the runs through the course trying to beat each other. But unlike last year, Henry is getting closer to beating his brother. 

But even if he can't seem to quite beat his older brother, he still has a blast trying!

Dinner time! Which is about when we finally found Matt- not sure how he manages to always arrive after the hard core running around... Good planning on his part?

My youngest is such a ham for the camera...

Though this face is not him hamming it up. This face is the first time their dad convinced them to try pop rocks. He isn't quite sure what to think of them...

After they finished they food, they were off trying to sword fight again. It was a pretty epic battle of brother vs. brother. But the real danger wasn't from a brother, it was from the somewhat pokey grass...

Yup, the grass popped Henry's balloon. This face was also not him hamming it up, he ran up quite distraught about his light saber. Such a sad face! Luckily, we were about to leave anyhow and they always have going away treats for the kids. A bag of brightly colored candied popcorn was able to save the day from being a total disaster - whew!

(Getting a new light saber would have probably been *more* effective, but the line was beyond ridiculous at that point...!)

Summer Sprinkler Fun

One of the best parts of having little kids is that the most mundane things sometimes turn into the most fun. Like watering the lawn...!

These two were laughing and shrieking so loud that I came out to see what the commotion was. And ran back to get my camera to get some photos of all of the fun.

Henry had to run over and tell me that the sprinkler got him! I would have never known, Henry! :)

I think Thomas was trying to block the water with his hand...

Clearly that did not work out as well as he had hoped!

Henry was more into running through it the spray at his version of full speed! And if that isn't a look of pure joy, I don't know what is!

Thomas was timing it so that he would try to run through the yard before the water came back and got him. So he looks a little more stressed than joyful...!

Either way, nothing says summer is back in Alaska quite like sun, green grass and playing in the water.

Except maybe the fact that the float planes are constantly flying over the house again! Always a welcome sight and sound in the summer. :)

Random May Photos

It feels like the more random things that happen in the month, the less likely I am to have my camera with me. So I'm thinking the random photo post at the end of each month might be a recurring feature...

Matt's parents came to town this month and if you looked closely, you might have spotted them in the background of the birthday party photos. I didn't do a great job of getting them front and center though, so they put up with a mini photo session with the boys after the fact. Such good sports! :)

I didn't get any close up photos of the cake at the party either! In my defense, it was right after I came back from vacation, I was drilling and just overall a little stressed out. I did manage to get a decent photo of it the night before - the side pieces were trying to slide off the cake while the icing was still soft, so I used marshmallows to prop them up until the dried. I was pretty proud of myself. :)

Grannie always come bearing fun gifts and this time was the Paw Patrol vest she made for Thomas and a Ninja Turtle costume for Henry. They were both pretty pumped!

I didn't get left out of the balloon making at the party! Ben made me this super awesome praying mantis! Matt wouldn't let him sleep on his side of the bed, so he had to hang out in the chair instead.

So rude to my new friend!

They had a "muffins with mom" morning at daycare, so I got to have breakfast with these two adorable guys. I still think dads win with their "donuts with dad", but the muffins were pretty tasty! 

Matt had to work super late one morning and wasn't coming home until the donut stores were open. I felt bad for Matt, but he brought us donuts and that was pretty much awesome. Look at all those sprinkled donuts! 

We finally got around to checking out the Aviation Museum while the grandparents were in town. And they had this super rad play airplane! The boys also got the chance to try out a flight simulator. Based on their skills, I would not recommend flying with them until they figure out that planes belong in the sky, not running into houses...

Thomas and I at his graduation from daycare! They called their names and had them walk across the room with their diplomas. It was the most adorable thing!

Henry was pretty excited about it as well - though I bet he is going to miss having his brother next door all day. :(

The two of them were less excited about the crawfish boil we took them to. They were not at all certain about these "bugs" we were trying to get them to eat. In the end, they seemed to like them!

Henry was most excited that his shirt matched the crawfish. And the giant cooler of them crawling around was the highlight for most of the kids at the party!

Our friend John was in town for a conference and brought them these Minecraft swords that are thankfully super soft. They have no idea what Minecraft is (I don't either...), but they love their flame swords. They insisted on sleeping with them and did these totally awesome poses for a photo thank you.

Note Eliza in the background - she is ready to bolt if they get a little too enthusiastic with the swords... :)

I never make it on any of the hikes after work that all of my coworkers seem to. But I did this one day! And I did not do so great...

Apparently not hiking much makes you a pretty bad hiker. At least I was with two of my friends that didn't give me too hard of a time about bailing before the summit. (Near Peak is ironically further than it looks...)

We didn't get into the after school program at Thomas' school, so we are on the hunt for an after school activity for him. He did a trial at Tae Kwon Do and while the first time was a bit of a fail, he had a blast the second time. He got to break one of the boards and I am pretty sure that's what sold him on it. ;)

Daycare "Graduation"

The daycare started a new tradition last year to hold a graduation party for the kids that will be starting Kindergarten in the fall. I vaguely knew about it last year, but this year his teacher gave us the tiny cap & gown and I was definitely having a moment about my son growing up too fast. 

I insisted on taking some photos of him in the cap & gown and he thought he was too cool!

Until I took too long and he was so tired of photos. I swear this kid has hardly any patience for his mom who loves taking photos of him. Boo!

Henry, on the other hand, wanted to be in photos! No cap & gown for you yet, but mommy will definitely take photos of you anytime! 

50-50 odds on whether this mommy will make it through the ceremony without tearing up... Too much growing up for one month!

Thomas Turns 5!

Thomas is 5 and I am having trouble believing that 5 years have passed since this awesome little guy joined our lives.

I got back from the girl's trip the night before his birthday, but wanted to still make him something fun for his actual birthday. Luckily he wanted brownies and ice cream, so I wasn't having to try and decorate a cake while making dinner! Doesn't he look super excited about being 5??

We had his birthday party the following weekend, so that's when the decorating really started happening. To be honest, I was fully aware that I was going to be swamped with work as soon as I got home, so I planned ahead and ordered all kinds of cake decorations from Etsy. Those ladies are incredibly talented with fondant and I was more than happy to support them and save myself some stress!

In case you couldn't tell / don't have kids, Thomas wanted a Paw Patrol party. I tried to stick to the theme as much as possible. See those orange things in the dog bowl? You might think those are Cheetos, but they are Puppy Tails! Also, I found this table cloth at Target that you can color on and it was Henry's favorite thing of the day. (Well that and the new Paw Patrol "Ryder" vest that his grannie made for them.)

We again invited the whole day care class to the party and definitely got more friends than last year. But still shy on the girl's - though one more than last time! Three girls this year! :)

There was the usual chaos and pockets of calm. I did my best at hiding toys that I thought might get broken or cause too much trouble. The costumes and playmobil sets were definitely the favorite. Except for the inflatable dinosaur, the girls loved him!

As usual, I made way too much food for the day. I think it's expected at this point though, so I would hate to disappoint! Also, I think this is the only photo that I managed to capture one of the grandparents! Grannie and Pawpaw came up for Thomas' birthday, but I think the noise finally got to Pawpaw, he disappeared upstairs after an hour or so. (I don't blame him!)

I finally managed to get the crowd of kiddos outside and playing in the yard. As always, the bounce house was a huge hit!

Clearly Henry has been chowing down on some puppy tails... Also, the girls were so much crazier than the boys in the bounce house. As a mother of only boys I am so confused by this!

Finally it was pinata time! Thomas got to go first, but then we only made through about 4 more kids before his bestie, Marek, took the dinosaur out! He knocked him off the string and before we could string it back up, he had bashed the dino in with his bat. 

You can imagine the chaos that followed. I ended up taking the dino remains upstairs and dumping the goodies out from the upstairs landing. It lasted maybe 2 seconds...!

Finally cake time! I was so concerned with getting photos, I failed to notice that Thomas was trying really hard to get his party hat on...

He finally gave up and just blew out the candles. :)

Present time! The kids are so fun during present time. Half the time they tell Thomas what they got him before he opens it, but all of the time they are so excited when it is their present being opened. So adorable!

Also, I again bribed my friends to come make balloons for the party. Ben doesn't seem to mind making balloons if we feed him and it's a great excuse to invite the two of them to our house all the time! Kathryn ended up losing in a sword fight to Abby, so there will probably need to be a rematch.

It was a great birthday party for my not-so-little-anymore guy and I'm glad so many people came over to help celebrate. Happy Birthday, Thomas! :)

April on the iPhone

It feels like my poor camera got a little neglected this month, so here's what the fancy schmancy camera missed this month...!

Henry loves being a little bit silly during Kiddie soccer. He's definitely improving overall, but he has his moments...

We finally had the Tomahawk Steaks for a game night. When the guys were butchering up their bison, they kept a few steaks on the giant ribs to make these awesome caveman looking steaks. I got the third one since I was pulled into duty several times over the days it took to process so much bison meat!

My boys making dinner for me! Theresa found the recipe for Anna to make and passed it along as one the kids could easily make. I had to help when they decided their fingers were too cold from the frozen raviolis, but otherwise they did everything. Yay!

I don't think we had any particular reason to go to the Nestle cookie store, but we did and the cookies were delicious. Who needs reasons when there are warm cookies??

I've been trying to play more advanced games with them since I have so many fond memories of playing with my family. (And there's only so much Candy Land I can take.) Henry gave up on me after a few minutes, but Thomas and I played until the bitter end. I beat him, but just barely - this kid gives me a run for my money with games!

I made the kids BLT sandwiches for lunch and Henry proceeded to pick off the "gross" stuff and reassemble his bacon sandwich. Yup, that's pretty much what I did as a kid too, so maybe he will come around...

Haven't had a kiddo fall asleep on me in such a long time. I think my leg fell asleep, but it was worth it to get some sleepy cuddles from my little guy!

Family picture after our whale watching cruise in Seward. It's been such awful weather that this burst of sunshine definitely had us all smiling! 

The Legos are taking over. They were such a disaster and Thomas wanted to build some of his kits. So I sorted them and re-bagged all of his kits. It took forever, gave me a crick in my neck and Henry has already destroyed half of them again. At least Thomas was super excited...

The Anchorage sign that summer is getting close - the hotdog carts are back! Yes!!!

Got Henry a new rainsuit for school and he insisted on the Camo pattern. I think I heard him muttering something about hunting bears with his dad. Obviously need to keep an eye on this guy...

Trip to Texas = Trip to Chick-fil-A. Chicken biscuits, you make my heart sing. As amazing as always! :)

And of course, What-a-burger too! Mostly to send photos to Matt. I am the best wife! ;)

The Lido Deck on our ship - you can see why I called it the party deck. Though Theresa and I avoided it during the day, we did sit outside two evenings to watch movies. Super fun!

We did manage to get one photo together! It was such a fun trip! :)

The day after the cruise, we went on a field trip with Wallace's class to a super cool amusement park in San Antonio. And look who found me? Hi mom! :)

And to top off the Texas trip - I finally got to see Alton Brown! Thanks to the move to Alaska and then being 8 months pregnant for the last show I bought tickets for, my mom and sister went in my place. So 3 years later, I got to try again! :)

And I am no longer the only AB fan in my circle of friends. Brittney & Rachael were both super pumped to go see him as well. (Theresa opted to hang out with Josh for their anniversary instead - weirdo!) The show was great and a trip to Austin with my girls was awesome!