Reunions

On Friday we packed up and headed to Tyler, Texas for the second annual Alford family reunion. We absolutely HEART Tyler. It is hilly, green and full of trees. The houses and businesses are built into the trees, unlike here where they demolish them all and then build the concrete jungle. That sounds pretty harsh, so let me clarify. We love Frisco. It is our beautiful home. We love the orderly streets, the attention to making everything bright, new and beautiful. The endless opportunities. But Tyler's beauty is different...and more green. Going to Tyler feels like going home...even though none of us were born or raised there. Brian's Aunt Pat and Uncle Royce live there and host our large gatherings; their home is a dream. A ranch style dream. We love their home. It is calm and comforting and for whatever reason reminds me of the homes of my Aunties up North. So reunion weekends in Tyler are good for our soul. This weekend was no exception.

Caleb swam and played with his cousins, never slowing down...not even to eat! Cole is ten and loves lego and Caleb thinks he is ALL THAT. And Madison, Gabriel and Sadie let Caleb tell them what to do, which put him in hog heaven. He says that he loves playing with Madison and is counting down to our trip to Waco in two weeks. Bonus: Brian bought me some more Tyler roses to fill our flowerbeds and we even found brown-eyed susans. Heaven. But last night we all sighed with relief as we pulled into our driveway..during a torrential downpour! Caleb declared that he loved "home sweet home" and we couldn't agree more!

These pictures were snapped by resident photographer Caleb. He loves nothing more than to get his hands on our camera!

Madison

Grandad

Bedtime Buddies

The ever fascinating air conditioning unit in our hotel room...

Daddy!!!

And then some more...

Man Day

As part of Brian's Father's Day gift, I signed him and Caleb up for some Build and Grow classes at our local Lowe's. They got to go and spend some amazing quality time together building an armored vehicle that they got to bring home. It is absolutely the newest of Caleb's most precious treasures. The little dude even got a Lowe's handyman apron and a badge to commemorate the day. They are signed up for the rest of July and I imagine they will keep going after that! Of course, before they set off for this, Caleb and Brian set up our new slip and slide in the backyard and spent the early morning perfecting their slipping skills. The rest of the day we played games, ate yummy food and really enjoyed our time together. Before bed Brian and I talked about our perfect family day. If anything, we hope to leave an amazing load of memories for our little dude.

(oh yes...the dudes also got into our dryer to diagnose why it is so sick...)

Father's Day

(I had this ready the afternoon of Father's Day but wanted to wait to post it until I got a picture of Brian and Caleb together....my camera battery died before I could make that happen and now it is two weeks later. The best laid plans...)


Brian. You rock. We love you more than we can say in a blog entry, a card or a gift...no matter how thoughtful and awesome it may be!!!! =)  We are grateful for you Brian. So very, very much. We love you. We cherish you. We know you are #1! xoxoxoxoxoxo

I made hamburgers and fries today. Matthew says that they are the best he has ever had. Granted they are made from cupcakes, brownies and sugar cookies.... I love Bakerella. Love, love, love Bakerella. I love that she sees something precious (or comes up with it herself) and says "I can do that!" I love that she executes it perfectly and then shares with us how she did it. I saw these and had to make it happen for Brian and my Dad. They are completely gluten-free with natural colouring. A big hit with the men in my life (Brian, the Dude, my Dad and my brother)!

Dance Baby! Dance!

After the dance off we took everyone to feed the ducks. A grand day. Perfection.

Bits and Pieces

I am tired. Alot. Brian says that when I do get some energy, I go overboard in trying to make up for it. There is probably more truth to that than I would like to admit. I still love to work on my house projects when I can and there have been some fun occasions to break out the baking lately. Little McKenna graduated from Kindergarten and I thought she deserved some special treats to celebrate. I was hoping that the cuteness factor would make it okay that I was giving her sweets.... I also got to go to Little Rock, Arkansas with my friend and boss Stacey for a Rhea Lana's Conference. It was so much fun and I came home with a notebook full of ideas for our next sale! Caleb and Brian had a very laid back weekend at my parent's house and we were happily reunited after four days apart. Brian has been working the garage and on lots of paperwork odds and ends while Caleb has been keeping busy with playdates, Grammy and Pop days and splashparks. Not such a horrible start to the summer. At least it is still raining and has yet to hit 100! Wahoo!

Graduation Caps and Diplomas. Yummers!

Oh So Sweet Cuddles

Handymen

My dudes are handymen! Here are some pictures of us tackling the garage project. No finished picture yet, still working on the last decoration details. Caleb got to paint the walls with his own mini-roller and helpd prepare the concrete for the epoxy. He loves getting his hands dirty and learning from his Daddy.

Rainy Day Fun

Y'all. Do not let the rain stop you from going to the zoo! Unless there is thunder, lightening, tornadoes...then I would think twice. But a rainy day forecast did not keep us home on the last day of Brian's vacation in May. He took off a whole week and then spent the days recovering from surgery; he had a tumor removed from his hand. Thank you Lord that the test results came back cancer-free. We got my cancer news three days later.... Anywho, I digress. Again. I do that a lot. Brian was up for the outing at the end of the week and we decided the rain could only add to the fun. With umbrellas and a covered wagon in tow (thanks Heather!) we headed to the Fort Worth Zoo and had a BLAST!

Apparently nobody else checked the forecast. We breezed past large groups of school kids and chaperones huddled under little huts during the downpours. We kept dry-ish, splashed in the puddles with our rainboots and had a great day. The new MOLA exhibit (Museum of Living Art) is amazing and takes all of the oogies out of a room full of snakes and spiders. Do not let the rain keep you at home people! This was totally worth it!

Flamingoes still rank as Caleb's favourite animal.

Love this picture!

Caleb and an elephant taking a bath in the rain.

Keeping dryish. A happy crew!

Spiderman and Buzz Lightyear raingear? Check!

Such a goof.

OH NO! SOMEBODY HELP!

Caleb to the resuce!

Victory! Super Dude saves the day!

A bunch of bird-heads.

Highlight of the day? The train ride.

We take our picutre at this exact spot every visit. Love the Fort Worth Zoo!

In A Galaxy Far Far Away

Okay. So maybe not so far away. Caleb did a great job picking out his gift for Brian's birthday. He had no doubt as to where we needed to go for this occasion...Toys R Us of course. Once he saw the Star Wars Light Sabers he had no doubt that Daddy needed them. So that they could have sword fights together. With all of the Star Wars merchandise everywhere, Caleb has taken notice and started to comment on them. Brian and I have discussed many times when he would be old enough to watch the first movie....Anywho, I digress. Caleb was insistent and was very excited to present his gift to Brian. It was a huge hit and they are well broken in now! It is so cute to watch them together. Brian is a great Dad. REALLY GREAT! And this past weekend, we introduced Caleb to the original Star Wars movie. He has not seen it all yet, but he loves it. He ran to get their light sabers and they dueled and watched. My dudes are so much fun. Truly!