Friday Night Lights

This past Friday night, we went to cheer on our Alma Mater at Williams Stadium.  It was the Owls first playoff game this season and was the perfect night for some football.

We began the night with a little tailgaiting.  Jackson played lots of bean bag toss and even beat his Uncle Scott, I do believe!

Lila Lou ran around for a bit before Memaw took her home.  She did good at the tailgate, but she's not quite football watching material just yet!  All in good time...

The rest of us enjoyed some good BBQ and then headed on into the game.

Thank goodness Poppi and Boom went in ahead of time and saved us some seats.  It was packed! 

Our group had three former GHS football players,  two former cheerleaders and one very enthusiastic little boy.  How could the Owls lose with that kind of support?  We cheered them on to victory, sang the Alma Mater while pointing at Ollie the Owl and then headed home.  The Owls play this next Friday night at Cowboys Stadium, and you can bet that we will all be there again.  Gig 'em Owls!!

Dallas Zoo

This past Saturday we were finally baseball free, so we decided to take a trip to the Dallas Zoo.  We went with our good friends, the Rachavongs, and everyone had a really good time.  When we first walked in, the kids found these cute little kangaroo statues and ran over to them.

They were so excited to be there and ready to go see some crazy animals.

Lila was stylin' in her shades--too bad it never got warm enough for her to take off her jean jacket.  She still rocked her pink ruffles, though:)

The first animal we saw was this monkey.  He put on a show for us by swinging all around his little house-



Which got lots of laughs and big smiles from our whole crew.  Little girl just kept hollering, "Monk! Monk!"



After watching the monkeys, we walked over to see the cute little sea otters.  We could see them swim under water, too, which was cool, although they did look like rats from that angle. Eeek!!

Our crew--not fans of being still for a picture.  Just look at their discomfort!

They were much happier when we let them just run!

Probably the most exciting thing the kids got to do was ride a camel for the first time.  For that matter, it was Daddo's first time, too.  He said the whole time that they were riding, Madison just kept telling him how he didn't need to be on there with her and Jackson.  She is so brave.  Notice Jackson hanging on for dear life!

After the camel ride, we went to see the rhino.  Jackson rightly pointed out, "It's a boy!" and said it loud enough for about 50 other people to hear.  Oh, dear. Yes, Jackson, it is.

Then we went to see the reptiles and encountered this enormous, very scary snake. 
Seriously, it could eat Lila for lunch. 

And we got to see this albino aligator.  Such weird creatures, I think.  I look at them and can't help but think that there is no doubt that their cousins are the dinosaurs.

After lunch, we got these four to somehow sit still for two seconds! 

And even got a whole shot of both our families, too!

On our way out we got to ride the merry-go-round.  Lila and I were on the tricertops, J was on the elephant and Maddie was on the pony.  It was the perfect way to end the afternoon.

$21 for zoo admission, $3 for a dr. pepper, 3 kids who slept the whole way home - Priceless!

Tis the Teason...

for hot chocolate and bundling up!

It was our first chilly day yesterday, so the girls and I celebrated by making hot chocolate. 

Lila settled on cold milk, but Maddie tried the hot chocolate deliciousness with me. 
J was our cameraman.  I think he did a really good job!

 Love this look--stripes and all--and I especially love her hands in her pockets.  She kept them in there for a while, too, while she bebopped around the yard.  It was cold for this little Southern Belle!

Happy Halloween!

Halloween finally arrived on Monday and the kids had a spectacularly spooky day. They began by getting dressed up as Batman and Tinkerbell and heading off for a fun filled day at school. 

When we arrived, The Red Crayon was reading a Halloween Tale to all the kids.

After the story was over, it was time for the kids to enjoy some yummy snacks.  Jackson passed on the pumpkin shaped rice crispy treat that had candy corns in it--way too crazy for him!  No worries, I happily ate it for him:)

The whole kooky class.  One of the dad's came dressed as Mr. Incredible.  How cool is that?!

Maddie's class party began thirty minutes after J's, so I was able to scoot over there just in time to snap this fun class pic.  Maddie and her sweet friend, Bryn, were both Tinkerbell this year.

Their class got to ice and decorate big sugar cookies.  Maddie decorated hers, took a small bite, but then decided that she would really rather just eat the icing straight off the knife.  Oh dear!

We love Madison's teacher!

A few short hours later it was time for the real deal.  Trick-or-treat!!

I was so excited that Baby Tinkerbell decided to wear her costume!

"Enough with the pictures, let's get this show on the road!"

The grandparents walked around the cul-de-sac with us and got to see the kids run up to their first few houses.  They were a bit timid at first, but very soon got the hang of it.  By the time we got out into our neighborhood Maddie and Jackson were running up to the houses, ringing the doorbells, hollering "trick or treat!" and most of the time even remembering to say "thank you" after receiving their candy.

Forty-five minutes later their candy baskets were full and they were exhausted! 

About half-way through trick-or-treating Lila decided she had observed enough and told us that she wanted out of the red wagon.  She walked the rest of the way, carrying baby in her right arm and her candy basket in the other.  Such a big girl!

The three musketeers with all of their loot.  They got an extreme amount of candy this year and the smiles on their faces say it all.  Best day of the year. 

Lake Pointe FF

Sunday afternoon we decided to check out our church fall extravaganza.

The kids had been waiting for the bounce house ever since the night before.  They ran right for it once we got out of the car.  Before we left that evening, Maddie had run through it five times and J had done it three.  A toe injury derailed J man from making it thru a few more times.

After the bounce houe, they were ready to play a few games--Little Feliz  practiced throwing a football and won a little candy...

and then they found the firetruck and had to go check it out. 

The whole time that J & M were having fun, little girl was very content to hang out with her daddy.

We must have been temporarily insane, b/c we let both of them get their faces painted!  J got a Ranger "T" on one cheek and #32 and #25 on the other, for Hamilton and Kinsler.  Maddie went with a purple heart.  Both were touching their faces and the wet paint about a minute after getting it painted.

After face painting, it was time to go check out the Duck Pond game, where Gigi and Boom were working.  J caught every duck in the water...

and then Maddie did, too.

After that it was time to let Lila do a fun thing--train ride, here we come!  J went to play with Daddo, while the girls and I rode the train.  We all enjoyed our fun afternoon outdoors and the kids came home with even more candy.  The candy stash was beginning to grow! 

Fall Fest #1

Saturday night we began official Halloween festivities.  The kids got all dressed up, except for Lila, who was so not feeling her Tinkerbell costume!  After many tears and literally pulling it off of her shoulders, daddo took pity on her and changed her clothes.

 Then we set off for the Mall where Memaw and Poppi's church was hosting a Fall Festival. 

While the big kids stood in line for the first game, Lila was content to hang with her daddy.  I'm pretty sure she was still a little put out with me for trying to get her to dress up:)

We did the fishing game first because that's where M & P were working.  Memaw was working behind the curtain and made sure the kids both got really cool huge balloons.  It's nice to have connections!

Then we were off to many other games, like Noah's Ark...

where all of the kids did so good.  Lila even took a turn and threw those animals in the boat. By that time she had figured out the program--play the game, get some candy.  The girl loves candy.

"Mom,  I need some more candy!"

"Really guys, this is just not going to do!"