4th of July

4th of July was spent with most of the day at the beach.  So I have no pictures to represent.  We took the boat over to Pensacola Beach and anchored it to the dock.  Then we swam for about an hour.  We learned that Alex loves the water, but hates the sand.  No sand castles built on this trip!  Then Richard, Karyn, Kalee, Roy, and Lance met us for lunch.  We went to Flounders because Randy just HAD to add the 2010 mug to his collection.  Lunch was an interesting experience.  Since we had docked out a little ways, we put all of our clothes in a bag and then walked in the water to shore.  Just as Randy was getting Riley off his shoulders, he preceeded to dip the bag in the water.  Guess what?  All of our dry clothes were now sopping wet!  So for the first time ever,  we all went in to a restaurant and ate in our swimsuits.  I didn't even eat in just my bikini while in Mexico!  At least we were eating outside!  But I was a little embarrassed!

After spending several more hours at the beach, we decided to start the hour long boat ride back to the house.  That was the bumpiest ride of my life.  It was miserable.  Poor Riley just kept crying that he wanted to get off the boat.  I did too, but there was no where to go!

Eventually we made it back in time for my favorite meal of Pensacola, fresh shrimp, corn, & potatoes!  YUM!  Then we headed outside for all the big fireworks.

Unfortunately these were the best pics that I got of the evening.  As you can tell Riley was so sunburned.  But only on his face.  Next time I will make sure that I put the sunscreen on his face, and not him!

Everything is fixed!

Saturday morning we got up and the men got busy fixing everything that had broke the day before.

Finally it was time to enjoy some boat riding with the family. 

Look Mommy finally made a picture!

Alex & Papaw

Riley & Grandma Karyn

Daddy even let Riley drive the boat a little.  He did ok, until he decided the boat should go in a circle.  Is this the same kid who wouldn't let me drive the jet ski in a circle the day before?

Whatever Riley does, Alex must do.  So she wanted to drive the boat, too.

OK, enough with the slow stuff.  It was time for some tubing!  Riley wasn't too sure at first.  Notice the nice leisurely pose.  It doesn't last long...

Then when you ride with daddy, you are sure to end up in the water instead of the tube.  No this did not happen from the leisurely ride above.

Here is an example of how Randy likes to ride.  This time he was by himself.

Trip to Pensacola

Each year the week of July 4th we head to the Farris house in Pensacola, FL. We laugh and call it our resort that we head to each year. Just think a gorgeous house, meals cooked, and full use of jet skis & boat, not to mention baby sitting any time we want to go out. It doesn't get much better than that. So here is our first full day there.

This was Alex's first time on the jetski. She loved it. But she loves anything she does with Daddy.

Riley rode with me, but for some reason he was being a scaredy cat that day. He wouldn't let me go fast or turn in circles.

Unfortunately right after this, I killed the jet ski. Actually all I did was turn it off to let Riley off and then it wouldn't start again. This was after the lift wouldn't come down to let the jet ski in the water. Then following that we found out the battery was dead on the boat. Not a good start for the trip....but it all turned around the next day.

July 4th & Randy's Birthday-actually July 3rd

July 4th is also Randy's birthday. This year we celebrated it on July 3rd because by the time we go to the beach and need to shoot off fireworks, there isn't much time left for cake & ice cream & present opening. We enjoyed a yummy family dinner after spending the day on the jet skis and then had an ice cream cake. Richard & Karyn did not get to come in town this year for Riley's party so we also celebrated Riley's birthday at the same time. Daddy got some new work boots that he desperately needed.
It takes 2 to blow out all those candles!

Riley got a nerf gun. He was so excited. Yea more bullets for me to pick up around the house. :)
After dinner, we had time to shoot off a few of the smaller fireworks. Alex enjoyed her sparkler, but didn't quite understand to be careful that it would burn you. She walked right up to Randy and tried to hand him the sparkler. It almost burned his hand before we got his attention to look at her! Luckily no one got hurt.

Finally this year, Riley was not afraid of the fireworks and really got in on the excitement. Uncle Ryan is trying to keep Riley from burning himself or anyone else.

Birthday Day at the Zoo

Monday for Riley's actual birthday, we went to the zoo. It is funny, how Riley is beginning to get bored of the zoo just as Alex is beginning to get really excited about all the animals. This was the last Monday for the zoo members appreciation which meant that we got to get into the zoo one hour early. In the blistering Texas sun, getting in at 9 instead of 10 is a BIG deal!
They also have different trainers out and about early with animals for the kids to see up close. This was some kind of a shepherd dog, but I don't remember what she said. It was just funny because we didn't expect to see a dog at the zoo. Plus I have never seen a dog that looked like this one!

As always my favorite is the beautiful white tiger!

Then it was time to feed the birds. They were especially hungry this time, so both kids got to feed them.

Of course Alex wanted to do it herself!

Love this smile!

For the first time in a really long time, we made it all the way to the back to the Texas Wild. Riley was so excited about the seeing the alligator and bats!

The majestic bald eagle!

Such a fun day! We are always so hot and sweaty when we leave, but we have a blast!

I have a 5 year old!

Oh My Goodness! I have a 5 year old! I know I will probably go through this crazy emotion all over again in a few months when I have a kindergartner, but right now I cannot believe I have a child that is 5 years old. I remember it like it was yesterday, when my tiny sweet little boy came into the world 6 weeks early. I remember all the details, good and bad. Like the 40 hours of labor, two shots & 1 pill to try to stop the labor, the dr telling me that I wasn't in labor. If I wasn't in labor, then I really wanted him to explain the intense pain that started in my back and spread to my belly every 5 minutes. Vividly I can recall telling Randy to go ahead and leave for Midland at 3 in the morning because I was pretty sure that it was just braxton hicks. But still I was timing them and called my dr at 8 in the morning. She told me to head to the hospital. So I drove myself to my mom & dad's. I figured if I had been having contractions since 10:30 pm the night before (on our one year anniversary!) then I didn't have time to wait for mom to get dressed, drive all the way to Haslet, and then us turn around and drive back to downtown Fort Worth. They gave me a shot and sent me home to rest. Luckily I chose to stay at my parents since Randy was out of town and take a nap. I just wish that I had taken a shower because I ended up not getting a shower until two mornings later! At 5:00pm, we headed back to the hospital because my contractions were back to 15 min apart. This time we stayed at the hospital. But no one, except me and my parents believed that I was having this baby now! The dr still told me I was not having a baby and don't tell my husband to come home. Around 10pm I decided that I needed to tell Randy to come home. He not so nicely told me that he had been up since 3 am and it was not safe for him to drive 5 hours back home! Well great! Finally around 5 the dr gave me my epidural. I was exhausted by then and dying in pain. Then he wanted to break my water immediately. I knew the first flight out of Midland wasn't until 7, so I convinced him to hold off breaking my water. Then of all times, the first flight was booked, and Randy doesn't tell anyone that his wife was IN LABOR! He takes the 2nd flight out. He landed at Love Field around noon and by the grace of God and Richard's insane speed driving, he walked in the hospital 30 minutes later. I immediately starting pushing and at 2:36pm, my beautiful red headed boy was born!

Just look at how he has grown through the years.... I am so proud of the handsome sweet boy he has become. Now we just have to work on that perfectionist in him and sensitive side that gets his feelings hurt. Too much like his mommy!

Happy Birthday My Sweet Riley! I love you to the moon & back, infinity and beyond, forever & ever!

A Big 5 year old party

On Saturday, we had Riley's 5 year birthday party at Main Event in Grapevine. He had been to a birthday party there about a month before that and decided that was what he wanted to do. The funny thing was a month ago was his first ever time to bowl. He was horrible. In fact he had the lowest score of anyone at the party. But I let him have his way and have the bowling party. In an effort to be a good teaching mom, I decided on Friday morning that we should go bowling one time before the party to get in some extra practice. What a fiasco! He threw the biggest fit and told me he didn't even want to have a party. I was furious!! I even went in to the sales office to see if I could cancel. No such luck, but now I am so thankful that I didn't cancel. On Saturday morning, my easy going, fun loving child showed back up. He was so excited about the party that he naturally threw the ball harder down the lane. In fact he scored a spare in his second frame. That did it. From that point on, he was having the time of his life and bowled really well. In fact, he had the highest score at our party! I was so proud of him. At one point during the party, they crank the music up, turn on the black lights and the disco ball, and have a dance party. My children liked this the best. In fact, next year I think I will just rent out a club and have a dance party! Alex doesn't look like it in this picture, but she was just dancing and having so much fun!

Riley squeezing in some dance moves between bowling!

This was the only picture that I got of his face while bowling. It looks weird because it was so dark in there with only the black lights on.

The final score for the boys in his lane.

Then it was time for the cake & presents. We did Toy Story cupcakes for the kids and pizza.

The kids loved the Toy Story rings in the cupcakes.

Alex loved the icing!

Riley is so into space right now, so this gift was a huge hit. Most of his gifts were Toy Story, space, or cars theme. He was so excited about all of them. For the first time ever, I can truly say that he was really excited about ALL of them. Our friends do an awesome job of picking out toys!

After all the food, the kids got $15 game cards to spend on games. We had two extra, so Chuck & Randy also got to have their own cards. I'm sure Riley, Brandon, & Matthew were glad that they did not have to share with Dad.

Motorcycle? I see trouble in my future!

Alex & Gampa had to play all the shooting games. At least she doesn't realize that she is not really playing. It is much cheaper that way!

Claire & her mommy had a long game going on!

Jacob had to practice shooting the rifles with his granddad too!

This was Randy's idea of watching Alex!

Father & Son -Truckers!

Riley was so excited. I would say the party was a huge success. Thanks to all who came!