Fall Trip to The Dallas Zoo

Last Sunday we spent the afternoon at The Dallas Zoo with Brenda, Chels, Colt, and Carter. Bren has a family pass that allows all of us to get in and park 2 cars for no cost(other than the yearly fee that she pays, which is not a bad price)! Unbeatable deal!! We always enjoy our days that we spend at the zoo with our friends! Thanks Bren for keeping your family pass! We love you!! :)
The kids really got into the coin drop in the reptile area. They stood and watched to coins spiral down for quite a while!

The new exhibit was an albino alligator exhibit. The gators kept pretty still and looked fake, but no matter how still they were they still spooked me out!!

Colt gave Carson a boost to look at a GIANT snake. Carson was in heaven because he got to have Colt's undivided attention, since Cade was unable to come to the zoo because of a football game.

The highlight of the day was getting to ride a pony! The girls wanted to do this so bad at the State Fair, but there we couldn't find a pony to ride! They were so excited to see this pony that they could ride in the children's' zoo! Ella Cate got to go first!

Emma Claire

Emmy again! The last time that the girls rode a pony was when they were 2 at The Mesquite Rodeo! Back then they were not near as brave!!

Carson's turn!

Another perk of the family membership is that Brenda gets a certain # of carousel passes a year. So on our way out of the zoo everyone got a carousel ride. The girls rode with Chels and Carter. Here is Emma striking a pose!

Ella (left) Emma (right)

Colt and Carter rode in a nest that they spun around the entire time! It made me sick to my stomach to watch!!
To top off our fun day we stopped at a snack vendor that was having happy hour. We got ice cream sandwiches, popcorn and bottled water all for $1.00... can't beat that!!

Splish Splash, Elly and Cooper were taking a bath'

Last night, after Emma got out of the bathtub her spot was taken up by our puppy. All 70+ pounds of him hopped right in the tub and plopped down next to El! He LOVES the water!! He prefers to drink his water from a running spout or hose, or even dropping from the sky in the form of rain! ;) He sat patiently while El scrubbed, lathered, and poured on her Cooper. They both had a blast!!
look how BIG he is!!

Emmy and I were watching in amazement as Sam snapped away! Nothing short of a Kodak moment!

Carson's 5th!

Carson turned the big "5" last Sunday!
Since he already had his dual swimming birthday party with Ethan in August, we celebrated low-key on his actual birthday. However, it was nothing short of a really fun time! Carson was all smiles, all day!
Carson's buddy Ethan arrived at the house around 3:00, and Carson finally got to open his gifts from Mommy, Daddy, Cade, and the sisters! He was soooo excited!


These are a little out of order, but Carson got a Wii!! His very own game system! Sam did lots of research and found that this game system offered the widest choice of age appropriate games. Carson LOVES it already! He is a great bowler and tennis player! ;)
sooooo excited!!
Around 4:00 Carson's best girl-friend Ashlyn arrived! We then took the bunch to CiCi's for an early dinner. Believe me, all eyes were on our table, can you tell why? :)

Carson, Ethan, Emma, Ella, and Ashy

Carson and Ethan...all smiles! :)

Emmy, Ash, Elly

After CiCi's we headed to River Legacy Park for "After Dark in the Park" (a fun fall festival) Sadly it was raining, and it was reeeaaallly cold, but we all hung in there and had a great time! We almost switched our venue to Chuck E. Cheese, and I'm so glad that we decided to stick to our original plan!

we were shuttled by hay ride to the park

Ella Cate, Ashlyn, Emma Claire, Carson, and Ethan


posing, posing, and more posing! They were very patient subjects!

making owl puppets

Ashy got her face painted!

Ethan and Carson got pumpkins!

sweet Elly got a butterfly! She was soooo proud!

Carson playing a game!

Mommy and Carson....I don't think he wanted to pose with me from the looks of this! ;(

Ashlyn+ Carson= Friends 4-Ever

Ethan and Carson enjoying the night!

Ella Cate with her ladybug balloon bracelet

the boys with their balloon ghost blasters...big hit!

all the girls got matching ladybug balloon bracelets!

Caden's 11th Birthday

Last Wednesday Cade turned 11 years old!! How is it that more than a decade has passed since he was born. It really just doesn't seem possible.
I feel bad for not posting on his actual birthday. I really had the best of intentions, but somehow things never slowed down.
He had a great day! We all woke him up by singing "Happy Birthday", then he had a yummy cupcake for breakfast. He wore his new Tech sweatshirt from Grancie, and I brought him Subway for lunch at school.
Gosh 11?! I can actually remember being 11. 11 was when I started middle school, and I met my lifelong best friends at 11. I became boy crazy, and I actually had my first kiss at this age!! It was also when I entered my crazy note writing stage, and my first journal starts when I was 11. I was oh so awkward at age 11...my hair was the worst...absolutely horrible! At the time I don't really think that I appreciated being 11, but looking back it doesn't seem so bad! Maybe my memories will ease me along in raising my sweet boy through his 11th year!
Cade reminds me of myself in many ways at this age, and I'm sure he has plenty of his daddy's 11 year old ways! Here's to Cade's 11th year!
Happy 11th Birthday Cade! We love you! xoxoxo

posing on 10-07-09

cupcakes for birthday breakfast!

breakfast cupcake cake! yummy!!

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The weekend before Cade's birthday we had a small party at our house. We had family and a few of our close friends come to celebrate Cade. We ate spaghetti, pizza, salad, and cookie cake. The kids played their hearts out, and the adults got some good talking time!

lighting the candles!

making a wish!

Robin and Ella Cate having a blast!
Cade got many great things including games for his XBox 360, I-tunes cards, $, TX Tech Gear, and more. From us he got a Nintendo DSI that is really cool! To wrap the birthday week up, Sam took Cade and his buddy Jalen to "Screams" (a Halloween theme park in Waxahachie). They had a great time!!

Eeeeewwww....Earthworms!

Don't ask me why none of my children are wearing clothes, but a couple of weeks ago they enjoyed observing icky earthworms. In my 4th grade class we are studying ecology, and to go along with our unit we made a terrarium. I bought earthworms to add to the terrarium, and I thought that my little ones might like to see huge night crawlers before I took them to school....eeeewww!!
They must be related to me, because they really wanted nothing to do with the slimy creatures. All 3 of them watched from a distance as the earthworms slithered around.



enjoying from a distance


Cade didn't care much about the earthworms, so he took Cooper on a walk while the little ones observed.