She Likes Purple

Two Hikes to Tell You About

Hiking has become our favorite weekend activity of choice. In Texas?, you might ask, but Texas has a seriously bad reputation for being nothing but tumbleweeds and flat landscape as far as the eye can see when we actually have plenty of hills! And plenty of trees! And lakes too! (We also have places like Lubbock, hence the reputation.) (Kidding, Lubbock fans!) (Except not kidding at all.)

So, anyway, we're determined to spend as much of our downtime--especially in the magical months we call April, May, October, and November, when we can actually stand to be outside for prolonged periods of time--exploring the different trails in driving distance from us. (See Possum Kingdom, Mineral Wells.) 

In the last month or so, we've been to two new places.

Lake Ray Roberts

This is just a thirty-minute drive from us, and we can stop for lunch on the way there or back in Denton (which has some great restaurants). Mike grew up camping at this lake, and we hope to get back to do just that soon, but the trails were fantastic for a day trip. And we've heard great things about the fishing too. 

Those gigantic sunglasses inspired by Elizabeth

Bob Jones Nature Preserve* 

This is a whopping ten-minute drive from our front door, and I literally had never heard of it until a few weeks ago. Seriously, my own home is a surprise five years later. This was nearly deserted on Mother's Day, and it was wondreful weather, and just an all-around perfect hiking day.

After hiking for about an hour, we were treated to a lovely beach, and though I saw a few too many beer cans for my particular beach liking, the breeze and the water nearly made up for that. 

Kyle also slept 2.5 hours after this hike (so *I* slept 2.5 hours after this hike), so let's stamp it the best hike there ever was. 

*There are some seriously awesome-looking programs, classes, and workshops offered through the nature center, if you're local!

Where should we head next? 

The Best Day(s) of His Life

I don't know if there's anything I've loved as much as Kyle loves motorcycle racing. Specifically MotoGP. (Okay, I do know, but they're all fictional characters from CW shows, and it's better I stop talking about it in public now that I'm 32.)

Anyway, I can't quite remember when his love first began. When he first started watching races, talking about the riders, reciting stats and numbers and exact reasons why so-and-so crashed. "He didn't lean enough to the right, Mommy. The corner got him." 

He began popping out of bed on Sunday mornings, asking if there was a new race on. If there wasn't (sometimes a few weeks pass between races), he'd just ask to watch another race over again. There are certain races I've seen a dozen times. Maybe more.

Mike races, and I first thought Kyle picked up this love because he wanted to be more like his Dad. Who could blame him? But as Mike reminds me, this kid knows way more than he does at this point. 

His love grew so strong that he got a Cycle World magazine subscription for Christmas and when a new issue arrives, he takes it to bed with him and "reads" it cover to cover. 

We watched the first race of the season a few weeks ago at my in-laws house and a few days later, as we drove home from school, he said completely out of the blue: "I'm just really proud of Scott Redding for coming in seventh place in his first MotoGP race."

Uh, me too, kid. Really proud of Scott Redding.

MotoGP is an international motorcycle racing circuit. It's a seriously big deal, though most people have no idea what I'm talking about when I talk about it. (But, one of the racers is on the Forbes list of the top-100 most-paid athletes in the world. Big deal!) They only race twice in the United States this season, and once is the new Circuit of the Americas track in Austin. One of two tracks in the entire country and it's in driving distance! Meant to be, I'd say. This is my son's DisneyWorld and Christmas and about 100 other awesome things all rolled into one. 

So, yeah, I bought three tickets like they were shoes, like they were bottles of champagne. I bought them with pure glee. Being a mother has changed me in really strange, beautiful ways.

The race was this past weekend.

It was one of the best weekends I can remember, and I like to think it was one of the best weekends Kyle can remember either. 

Funny story about his red Marc Marquez (Kyle's favorite rider and the winner in Austin!) t-shirt. We bought it for him Sunday morning, in a vendor tent at the track. We handed it to him to hold as we paid, and before we knew it, he began taking his other shirt off to change right there in the middle of everything. My shy kid is sometimes the absolute opposite of shy, kind of like how his shy mother sometimes loves to sing karaoke. 

I mentioned to someone recently just how much he loves motorcycles and racing and MotoGP, and they kind of sucked in air and said, "But doesn't that make you nervous?"

Well, sure, if he wants to ride one day, that'll probably give me a fresh set of things to worry about on top of the million things I already do. It's safe compared to riding a bike in traffic but a lot less safe than, say, writing or reading or some dozen other things I think would make for fine hobbies. Why not read a few blogs, Kyle! 

But I want him to be happy and full more than I want him to ease my worry. I want him to love something one day as much as he loves MotoGP now. If it keeps on being the same thing, I'll be thrilled. 

I really will.

January Highlights

1. Mike and I went to New Orleans to celebrate my 32nd birthday, and it's going to be a tough birthday to top. It was a wonderful little weekend away. We ate unbelievably good food (August and Johnny's Po Boys, FTW!) We also enjoyed both a swamp tour and a cocktail tour. (I love this cocktail tour so much, I've now been on it three times.) More than all those things, though, we enjoyed naps and sleeping in.

2. Hosted a baby shower for Kristie! 

3. Spent some time with Mike's sister and her family. Kyle was spoiled with so much cousin time, he sulked around for days after they left. 

4. After a very fitness-light 2013, I started to regularly work-out again this month. I got back to yoga, tried a few at-home vidoes, and tested out my very first FlyWheel class. (I was offered a free month of classes to the two local FlyWheel studios, and I hope to write up a full review (+ a giveaway!) soon.) Let's just say during my first Barre class at the studio, I actually thought I might have broken a muscle. I don't think that's physically possible, but it was unfamiliar pain. I felt like an absolute rockstar after the class, but all broken muscly during.  

5. In addition to working out, I started the 21-Day Sugar Detox this month. I am only five days in as of today, but I'm a fan so far. I feel great, I've already lost a little weight, and it's kick-started a healthier year for me. (I just bought the cookbook, by the way, since it's got most of the information I thought I'd need.) 

Unpictured highlights: a happy hour with a friend who gets me, a movie and dinner date with my mom to belatedly celebrate my birthday, and our mini-Cowboy's Stadium field-goal kicker!

The Kicker

Kyle got very into football this past year (say what you want about Johnny Manziel, but he sure knows how to make a four year old think football is the most exciting thing ever), and he's asked if he can play football himself about a hundred times since September.

Didn't think that sports-introduction through, did you, self?

"You can be the kicker!" I said once, somewhat jokingly, and now he's obsessed with that. 

So far, we've kept his "join a team" requests at bay by playing ball with him in our own backyard. I might try to convince him we're our own official team if some friends wouldn't mind coming over once a week to cheer us on. He'd be a lock for team MVP!

The love for the game is still there, though, so we were all pretty stoked to bring him to Cowbow's Stadium this past Sunday, where Mike's company had a sponsored family day planned. We got to hang out on the field and kids got to try out different football-related stations. One station was kicking field goals. 

Kyle beelined for that particular station and was first in line. He waited patiently for things to get started. Seriously, the kid didn't move for 15 minutes, and that's quite possibly a first in all of his waking hours. 

Just waiting

Setting it up

Kick! 

So his two dreams include playing football and being a MotoGP racer. Nice, safe dreams that won't do a thing to his mother's blood pressure levels, oh no.

I'm in trouble.

Things to Do in Texas: Camp/Stay in an Air-Conditioned Cabin at Possum Kingdom Lake

I've been wanting to visit Big Bend for years. It's in Texas, but it's something like nine hours away from us. (Texas is just too big, my goodness.) Anyway, that's...a lot of hours in the car. That also makes it tough to get away for a weekend without taking time off work. Hey! We're here for three hours! Time to go now. When I was lamenting how unfair geography is, Mike told me to pick a place (much) closer to home for a weekend away, so I picked Possum Kingdom. 

Possum Kingdom is a glorious two hours away instead of nine, but it's also a place I'd never been, and I really love adding new pins to our wall map.

We originally planned to camp, but then we laughed at ourselves because camping in July in Texas is a really stupid decision. We instead stayed at the Hideaway Cabins, and it was a great, centrally located place. The cabins were clean and spacious and the staff could not have been nicer. I can't imagine ever going back and not staying there again. Really recommend.

We hiked nearby trails both mornings. Oh boy, the trails were awesome. If you like hiking, I'd recommend Possum Kingdom for the trails alone. Kyle was a freaking champ for both hikes and the one Saturday morning was long and hot. I don't know if I've ever been more proud of him, quite honestly. 

Oh, and we all enjoyed a three-hour nap after our Saturday morning hike. Hikes, you're my favorite.

We also made s'mores, swam at the lake, grilled dinner, introduced Kyle to Friends in our cabin's living room, drove around to explore and spotted ELEVEN deer (Kyle kept count), and just had a really wonderful weekend. And we brought Molly. It helped her forgive us for at least some of the trips we've taken in the last few years without her. 

Some pictures of our weekend:

Kyle cried when we had to leave, it was that nice of a weekend. The kind of weekend you hope to have when you plan for it.

Things to Do in Texas: Go to a Fort Worth Cats game

After we went to the Rangers game, we knew a couple things: 1) Kyle had a lot of fun and (unfortunately) 2) The cost of professional baseball tickets if you want to be anywhere near the field are stupid expensive. 

But, Fort Worth has the Cats (I don't think it's minor league, but I know that it's baseball with reasonably priced tickets, so that's good enough for me) and that's actually much closer to home, so I bought us three tickets for this past Friday's game and crossed my fingers.

It worked. It was so much fun. 

For $14/ticket, we sat in the first row behind home plate and Kyle actually got to experience baseball without saying every three minutes, "I DON'T EVEN SEE THE BALL."

What was most fun about this kind of game though, besides the cheap seats, is how fun they made it for the fans. They had fans on the field between many innings, playing games and winning prizes. They had "spotlight" players that, if struck out, could get fans two-for-one beers. The mascot danced in the stands and it was just...fun. Especially for kids, my goodness. Kyle had the time of his life. He is SO a Cats fan now. 

So, you know, buy a few tickets and enjoy a baseball game next time you're in Fort Worth. They also have funnel cakes so enough said, right?

Four years later, and we finally win at fireworks

We moved into our house four years ago, right around July Fourth, and that first year I vaguely remember watching a few fireworks from our porch, where I didn't enjoy them as much I prayed my way through that they wouldn't wake up then-five-months-old Kyle.

I don't remember being able to see the fireworks too clearly, or at least I assume that I couldn't see them too clearly, because the next year we piled into the car and headed to the big, open field and festival our town throws in honor of the holiday and where we could (or so we thought) better see the fireworks show. 

The year after that, we drove a couple blocks and watched them from a big, open parking lot because we got a late start.

Last year, we headed back to the festival. 

This year, Kyle was a little timid about the whole thing, though. He doesn't particularly like loud noises (who can blame him? I find loud noises rather annoying), and he didn't seem all that excited about going to the festival just to listen to loud noises, no matter how many bounce houses we promised him. We invited my mom and Mike's parents and some friends over and told everyone we'd just play it by ear, either pile in the car and head to the festival or try to see some of the higher fireworks from our backyard. In the meantime, I made festive sangria (possibly the best sangria I've ever had; make this TODAY) and Mike bought sparklers and poppers to keep everyone entertained. (Kyle doesn't like loud noises, but he absolutely loved those poppers. So much so that Mike had to go out and buy more the next day. I don't understand four year olds either.)

Sangria. Seriously, so good.

For whatever reason -- those vagueish memories from 2009? our own unimpressive intelligence? -- we just assumed our backyard wasn't the best place to see them, and that we'd certainly make DO, if we had to, but it wasn't ideal or anything.

But we did end up staying home and BOY were we wrong about our backyard. We're idiots, basically.

We can see our town's fireworks show PERFECTLY. PER. FECT. LY. We had fold-up chairs and blankets and drinks and it was the best July Fourth holiday I can honestly remember. The festival is fun, but walking into our backyard without any of the crowds or parking hassles is WAY more fun. Like so much more fun we're never going to the festival again, sorry town festival! 

After the show, we even lit and released some lanterns we'd purchased a few months ago, inspired by our trip to Puerto Rico (minus the almost-burning-buildings-down part, that wasn't very inspiring). My particular lantern ripped pre-flight, but I will not read too much into THAT or what it might mean for my wishes. 

It was a wonderful night, and Kyle did great with the noise. He kept saying, "It's not THAT loud!" It was such a perfect holiday, and the rest of the weekend was great too. 

I hope yours was equally wonderful. 

Also, next year, fireworks watching in our yard. You're invited. 

 

Things to Do in Texas: Hike at Mineral Wells Park

This is a branch of my What To Do posts because I'd like to collect our cool advenutres from around our state into one series, so I can link to it whenever people ask, "But what on earth is there to do in Texas besides eat barbecue and ride horses?" 

I also hope this inspires me to get my family out to do more things in our pretty big, pretty great state. Especially this time of year when "STAY INSIDE AND WEEP" is all we really want to do. 

So, about a month ago, we took Kyle an hour outside of Fort Worth to hike around Mineral Wells state park. Kyle wasn't sure what hiking was, when we told him that's what we were going to do with our day, but he did like that I packed cookies for our post-hike picnic. 

Once we got there, though, parked the car and hit the trail, Kyle said (adorably), "Oh! Hiking is just exploring." Explore we did.

We hope to camp one day (the camp grounds seemed really nice), but it was a great way to test out the park, to see how Kyle would do on the trails, and he was a champ. 

If you're anywhere near DFW, or if you're in the area for whatever reason, I really recommend the fairly short drive to see the park. It's a great one.

Weekend Snapshots

It was one of the good ones.

 

Texas is growing on me

We now have In-N-Out Burger, Trader Joe's, and these views an hour-long plane ride away.

(It's not the Carribean or anything, I know, but it's not half-bad either.)

Okay, so we likely always had these views an hour-long plane ride away, but I had never hopped on a plane with my kid to see them before this past weekend.

Hard to tell if Kyle enjoyed things, though.

We traveled down to Port Aransas for our niece's first birthday. Even though the celebration fell on Father's Day, Mike already had a motorcycle race planned (with his dad) out of town, so I decided spending the holiday with the rest of his family was the next best thing to celebrating with him.

Kyle's four, but it was actually our first flight just the two of us, and I couldn't have asked for a better, more smoother flight experience on the way down (we'll ignore the flight experience on the way back, when American Airlines told us we couldn't get on an earlier flight unless we paid $75/each). On the way down, though, the lovely AA worker waived our baggage fees and let us jump the security line. Oh, airline companies, why do you have to keep us on our toes! Anyway, Kyle was a champ for all the traveling. I don't know how a four year old can channel such patience, but he was a total inspiration to me on the trip. 

It was a quick weekend away (we were gone from Friday morning to Sunday evening), but it was just what we needed. It felt like a real vacation with sandy feet and sun-kissed skin and reading on the porch of our beach house and early bedtimes (and very early mornings, which was less vacation-y than I would have preferred KYLE) even though we were gone less than three days.

I hope Kyle remembers this mini-vacation, holding hands while we walked to the beach each morning and building sandcastles and splashing in the ocean. I hope he remembers slathering sunscreen on his tiny legs and cannon-balling in the community pool, but I'll remember for us both, if he doesn't.

The only thing better than the trip itself was the company, which is the best truth of all the best trips, isn't it? Doesn't matter where we go, not really, just who we go with.

Easter 2013

Easter is one of my favorite holidays, which I know may sound a little strange. I'm not a very religious person, but I do believe deeply in a few things and one of those things is the power of the people I love to make me feel wholer. 

I had a house full of those people this morning, and I felt it very good.

Including these little dudes, who dominated our egg hunt AND our confetti egg stash. 

We thought it might storm during our brunch and egg hunt. Sometimes Texas can surprise you in the best, most sunshiney ways.

I hope your day was just as warm, literally or otherwise.

***

Oh, and these beer biscuits that were on our Easter menu were DELICIOUS and you should make them immediately. 

My Easter Brunch Menu

I've hosted an Easter brunch and egg hunt for the last three years and it's one of my favorite traditions. Fine, it's because I serve mimosas. Guilty! Anyway, here's what else is on my menu:

(From left to right, top to bottom: 1, 2, 3, 4)

We're also having deviled eggs, fruit, and bacon. Juice and coffee, too. 

What are you having? 

The Best

Mike and I have finally begun putting together a living room we can be proud of. It's only taken four years to start this project and it'll only take (I'm sure) another four, but hell I'm calling any progress a victory at this point. 

In January, we painted the walls a nice steel gray, and we've bought frames for the many pictures we want to hang on them. Over our couch, we've decided to hang travel photos, just scenery shots, and it was such a fun ride through vacation memory lane, choosing which pictures we should display. We chose one from Puerto Rico, Chicago, St. John, Boston and in the middle we hope to find just the right photo from College Station. That might not be your vacation city of choice but all this travel, all this everything, began with that tiny Texas town.

Of course we chose a photo from the family roadtrip we took in the summer of 2011 (here, here). You might remember that trip if you've been reading my blog since then. We traveled through Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, and a tiny bit of Arizona for a family wedding. We took Kyle, then two and a half, and Molly, then (and now) a giant but lovable pain in the ass.

As I searched through the hundreds of photos from the trip for just the right one to frame, I remembered how we almost didn't go. My car broke down (to the tune of many dollars) the week before the trip and the day before the trip Kyle got a Mystery Fever. No money and a feverish child. Yeah, that screams fun family vacation.

But, against all rational thought, we took the trip. We packed the car, we booked a couple cheap hotel rooms, we filled a cooler with snacks and filled my laptop with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse episodes, and we hoped for the best. 

We ate burgers in Amarillo, drank margaritas in Santa Fe. We hiked in Arches National Park while watching a storm roll through one of the most beautiful places I had ever seen before or have ever seen since. Kyle threw up in the backseat on a particularly curvy Colorado mountain road but then we saw a deer inches from our car a few moments later, and he quickly cheered up. We visited the Four Corners. We graffitied the cars at Cadillac Ranch. We introduced Kyle to family he'd never met and we sat around the hotel pool with them, catching up and slapping mosquitoes against our arms. Mike's parents treated us to a once-in-a-lifetime helicopter ride above Gateway Canyons, where we stayed for the wedding. We off-roaded to visit Shiprock.

We also had this one giant fight, on a New Mexico highway late one night as Kyle slept in the backseat. It was ridiculous, as many giant fights tend to be, and Mike and I stewed quietly after it ended. I went to sleep angry. He slept with his back to me. We apologized in the morning, after coffee, a good night's sleep, and a strong dose of perspective, and we shared a family hug in our cheap hotel room before eating the worst continental breakfast we'd ever had.

There was also this beautiful moment on a straight stretch of road, driving out of Utah as the sun was setting one night. Kyle had just fallen asleep and Mike and I were talking about anything, nothing, I don't even remember. Maybe our trip, maybe stopping for gas, maybe Kyle. I think my favorite thing about my relationship with Mike, or maybe just my relationship with anyone I've loved so long, is the ease of conversation. You realize how rare that is, as you get older, when there is no anxiety or self-consciousness or even awareness of what you're saying. You just talk. It's like breathing, talking to Mike, and I realized on that Utah road that I was just so damn grateful we decided to say yes to a trip we nearly said no to. 

It was one of the most incredible trips, no weeks, of my entire life. It was magical, it was beautiful, it was exhausting, it was fun, even the fight, even the carsickness, even the bad felt good on that trip. 

We almost said no, but then we said yes. We hoped for the best, and that's exactly what we got. 

No other reason to write this than I just wanted to remember all of that today. 

(I plan to share the living room makeover when the room is done, of course. So see you for that in 2017.)

No story, I just really like this picture

Big Chucks, little Chucks.

Keep his little for a while longer, time. Please. 

A (Couple) Pins of the Month

I had a goal (on my to-do list this year) to choose one pin a month that's been gathering dust on my Pinterest boards and attempt to tackle it. It could be anything, really, from a DIY project to a local restaurant I've been wanting to try. Annnnd then I failed right out of the gate because January was pin-less. I know! But, hey. My list, my rules. I still get to cross that bad boy off if I finish 12 pins by December and since I did TWO in February, I'm back on track. 

Phew.

(I also might attempt Janssen's Pinterest challenge, so there's an extra six. I will basically own Pinterest by 2014.)

Pin of the Month #1: Dinosaur Egg Party Favors 

(original pin)

I won't quit my day job to create dinosaur egg party favors for a living, but I still think this was a solid attempt. Even Mike was impressed, and that's saying something.

I bought clear party favor bags (at Michael's), candy rocks (I bought 2 bags, which was a good amount for about a dozen favors), and tasked Mike with printing the notes (front and back) on regular ole printer paper. Then I folded evenly and stapled. I would have preferred a sturdier stock, but this was a night-before-the-party project, so. 

Pin of the Month #2: Kyle's Party Shirt

Turns out, I really like buying Kyle shirts to wear to his birthday parties. Here's a snapshot over the years. (Minus his third birthday, when I didn't buy him anything special except a few hundred balloons.) 

I pinned a few possible shirts for his party, and purchased the winning one about two weeks before his party. The seller was awesome and put it in the mail the day after I bought it, since I left a note about when the party was.

In fact, all the Etsy sellers I've bought his party shirts from over the years have been great. Here are links to each: first birthday, second birthday (we had a small family party, with a transportation theme, so this airplane shirt was perfect), and fourth birthday. 

I know, hitting purchase and calling that a Pinterest project might feel like a stretch, but I often (LIKE, WEEKLY) pin things I'd like to buy one day only to forget all about those things and wind up just dropping $50 at Target on similar (but less awesome) things instead. 

So, there you have it! One post with a lot of references to pins. 

A Week of Holiday-ish Activities

Refresher: My sister, brother-in-law, and nephew will be in Texas the week of Christmas. Instead of a month of activities, I'm going easy on myself (and my wallet) and putting together a week of activities while they're here. Subject to change the week of, of course, since kids are notoriously predictable in their unpredictability.

1. Make bead ornaments. (Maybe they can make a handful for friends, other cousins, etc.?)

2. Make and decorate Christmas cookies. I thought it might be fun for the kids to make some extras and...bring them somewhere to give to...some people. Yeah, I've clearly thought this kind act through.

3. Take a train ride! 

4. Let the kids color paper lanterns and then release them in our backyard. I'm about to make it a Tangled-themed Christmas! 

5. Candy cane hunt (stolen from Elizabeth who stole it from Jen)

6. Hot chocolate bar and then a movie (stolen from A'Dell; I have no original ideas)

7. Even though it'll be after Christmas, I'd like to take the boys to Barnes & Noble or the Target sale aisles and let them pick out an ornament or holidy book each. It can be the thing that reminds them of the Christmas they got to spend together since I'm not sure when it'll happen next.

Bonus! Paint pinecones. I kind of think if it's nice enough to hang outside at all that week, we should toss the kids in the front yard and paint pinecones.

There you have it! So much easier to pick seven activities than 25. 

Sweet California

The first mistake I made when it came to our recent trip to Southern California--a trip to spend time with friends and to take Kyle to Disneyland--was to tell Kyle we were taking him to Disneyland. I have absolutely no idea WHY I did this except sometimes I make poor choices.

This was made all the worse by the fact that we arrived on Saturday morning and our day at Disneyland was Tuesday. Kyle absolutely broke the record for the number of times a three year old has asked, "Are we going to Disneyland now?" in a three-day time-span. Thankfully we had the beach, a beach house with a pool, friends and their adorable kids, pizza, ice cream, and a bunch of other consolation prizes. Still, learn from my mistake, friends! Surprise your kids with Disneyland news the morning of. Or as you are walking through the turnstile into the park. That's an even better idea.

Anyway, so California! We got to vacation there! It certainly redefines sunny, doesn't it? It's sunny the way sunny was intended to be. Not sunny that makes you want to stab things (that would be sunny in Texas) but sunny with an ocean breeze, sunny with just a slight chill at night, sunny without any stupid mosquitoes, sunny with a view. Mike has never had much interest in California, in general. Until he met me, he had no interest in ever visiting, but I slowly changed his mind (so much so that we got married at Lake Tahoe, totally his idea) and now I think he's fully in love. A few days with 80-degree temps and beachy views, and he started saying, "Yeah, we should find a way to get rich and buy a vacation home here." (I'll get right on that! My plan: either lottery rigging or straight-up bank robbing.)

California was good, very good, and my only complaint is that California isn't where I am right this moment.

Let's get to the pictures, shall we?

He hated the water, every drop of it.

Closed-eyed pre-schoolers, ruining family memories since forever.

Just a few people at the beach in California, on Labor Day.

Not bad.

He said, "What is that big blue pool?" Poor Texan.

You are shocked I enjoyed some champagne on vacation, aren't you?

It's always disappointing when you order a "large mimosa" and are brought something like this.

 

Oh, hey! I got to hang out with (and drink delicious drinks with) some S. California bloggers, all ladies I really really love and get to see in November at the Blathering. (Woo!)

I was a little worried Kyle would be timid with the Disney characters. He's just sort of a timid little dude in new situations. (He gets that from both parents, actually.) But he LOVED the characters and he wanted to see them all. (Pluto eluded us until the parade.)

Kyle's first rollercoaster! He loved it. That kid continues to surprise me.

MICKEY! You really can't tell--Kyle looks like he's always hanging out with Mickey, no bigs--but his mind was blown. Mickey was his top choice and when we walked into the room to see him, I could feel his excitment.

All the boys on the trip.

Kyle and his Nana.

Friends' kids holding hands. I KNOW, RIGHT?

I hope Kyle remembers the trip as I hope he remembers all his trips--an extra bright spot in an already bright life. That's exactly what they mean to me.

We miss you already, California.

(All the delicious food we ate coming next week!)

Soccer Mom

Here's a piece of advice: if you've never watched three year olds practice soccer, fix that immediately. It'll be the most adorable thing you've ever witnessed and why deprive yourself of that much adorableness? (Although, you know, make sure it's your own child or a child you know and love so you can avoid being the stranger creeping on the the soccer field.)

Kyle had his first soccer practice yesterday and if you're wondering How the heck did that kid get old enough to play soccer?, well, YOU AND ME BOTH. I'm struggling to wrap my head around the speed with which he's growing, but it's still so damn awesome to watch him grow.

Thankfully, he's on a team with a few friends from school so instead of shyly watching from the sidelines (what I suspect his response would have been if he hadn't known any of the other kids) he jumped right in, listening attentively and adorably for the first half of class and then, well, breaking down into hysterical silliness with his friends the last half. "Oh look at him dribble so well! He's even correctly using the inside of his fo---no wait, now he's purposefully fallen down and trying to make his friend laugh by, wait, is he kicking himself?" 

As I kept saying to the other parents: Three year olds, right?

I'm also the Soccer Mom, as in the Team Manager. So far, all this really means is I'm in charge of organizing the end-of-year party. And, yeah, SOLD. I AM ALL OVER THAT. There is a Pinterest board just waiting to be started, let me tell you. Mike is the assistant coach, and this might be his proudest parenting moment to date. He played soccer all through school and when he was told he was going to be a dad, I bet "I get to be a soccer coach one day" was his first thought right after "well, Jennie's about to get even more emotional for a while. That's swell." One thing about Mike, though, is that he's really awful with names. (See the time he thought he dated Kelly Clarkson.) (Spoiler: He didn't actually date Kelly Clarkson.) I could tell he was trying hard to quickly learn the kids' names last night, but it was rather hilarious to hear him from the stands, "Great job....buddy!" "Awesome dribbling....you!" He'll get there, and Kyle will have a blast in the meantime.

Me? Well, no shock, I'll be the one tearing up in the stands.

He's just so big.

Perfect

I do this thing (maybe you do it too) where at the end of most days as I drift off to sleep, I survey all the things I didn't get done on that day's to-do list. Every day, there's something left un-crossed-off and those are the things I focus on at the end of most days.

I didn't do the laundry (again). I didn't buy more checks (for another week in a row). I didn't email that potential Style Lush sponsor. SHIT, THE WATER BILL. (Small Texas city, can you please embrace auto-draft bills already?) I also didn't paint those mason jars even though I bought those mason jars IN 2011 OMG JENNIE JUST PAINT THOSE MASON JARS ALREADY.

It's probably that I have too long a to-do list but it's also probably that there aren't enough hours in the day and then there's also the DVR I like to spend time with. Still, all the good reasons (and good TV) in all the world don't stop me from focusing on the un-crossed-off things on my list at the end of each day.

I am a perfectionist who will never be (close to) perfect, and no matter how easy it is to type that, it's impossible to swallow. It's easy to focus on what I don't get done on any given day, and it's just as easy to lose sight of everything else.

This past weekend, we drove a few hours south to spend time with our new niece. She was a week old, that delicious tiny baby, and I could have snuggled her for days on end. In fact, we did little else this weekend than lounge on the couch, watch Kyle play with his new train track on the hardwood floor and snuggle this new person who will one day be playing with her own toys on the hardwood floor but for the weekend just slept in our arms.

Kyle loved her -- "look at baby Ava!" -- and I loved her and Mike loved her and it's really beautiful to see a family grow and I don't mean that in the technical way, but it's just really beautiful to see hearts expand to welcome more people into the world.

Most days I kick myself over all I didn't get done (THE LAUNDRY, THE WATER BILL, MY GOD, THOSE MASON JARS) and then some days I lounge on a couch all weekend, snuggling a new baby I get to spoil rotten without every worrying about the ramifications of that spoiling while watching my sweet boy play on the floor and I think...I didn't accomplish a single thing this entire day and yet this day is one of the days I'll conjure up first when I begin conjuring up perfect days.

I'm not perfect, not even close, not even close on a good day.

But sometimes life is.

He Gets His (Lack of) Golf Skills from Mike

Whoa, you blink and a week passes between posts. I don't know how that happens either. Anyway, a drive-by post today to share some photos from Kyle's first mini-golf outing, from Memorial Day.

(Horrible photos courtesy of Mike's non-iPhone.)

Kyle would hit the ball something like nine dozen times before just picking it up, putting it riiiiiiiight next to the hole, and tapping it in. Then he'd shout, "HOLE IN ONE!" We'd cheer for him and tell him what an awesome golfer he was because there is time enough for giving it to him straight and that time is not at three, during mini-golf.

As we drove out of the parking lot, he said, "We should do that again sometime!"

Noted, my boy.