Giant Weekend of Fun!!

Hello Fall!!!!!!!

giving some love to his Mommy at the Zoo


We have had a wonderful and very busy weekend! Jer was off work on Friday, so we headed over to Frank Buck Zoo in nearby Gainesville. It is a tiny little zoo that is absolutely ADORABLE and the perfect size for a toddler to explore. Colin loved the petting zoo and the chance to feed some very hungry goats. They also have a fantastic park and train ride, so Colin was in heaven. He zonked out the second we got back into the car and slept the whole way home. The weather was sunny and 70 degrees...I think we are officially done with screaming heat until next year, thank goodness!!

Saturday was a rainy mess of a day, but we had Aubrey's 2nd birthday party to attend and Colin had a blast. He has been doing really well lately with large groups of people and seems to have worked through a lot of his sensitivity to big group settings. Of course, it helps that he has known Aubrey since the day she was born. :-) He ate a ton of pizza and checked out all the awesome presents. There was no nap that day and he started to melt down pretty fast as it got later, so we headed home for some Chinese food and cozy time. In my opinion, any day that ends with good Chinese take-out is a winner. It was so great to spend time with Ellen and her family...I love them all so much. She is pregnant again and is just finishing up her first trimester. I am so happy for her and a little jealous; we were pregnant together with Colin and Aubrey and it feels strange not to be going through this with her again! However, I am so excited and can't wait to find out what she is having! My bet is another girl! I have had a good time looking at Aubrey's 1st birthday post...these two have grown up a LOT this year!!

Colin checking out Aubrey's loot

Aubrey and Colin while she opens her gifts

I love this...the face I got when I told Colin that he could not have her present.

Now, SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY! Our good friends The Roberts invited us over for a Cowboy's vs. Broncos party at their house and we had the best time, despite the Cowboy's losing the game in the last second and the fact that Jer had to work, so he missed out on the fun. Everyone brought appetizers and we munched all afternoon while the kids played and the men watched the game. The girls were busy chatting and taking care of the little ones, but I managed to watch a good deal of the action. :-) Colin and Hayden had on matching Romo jerseys and were absolutely adorable. They refused to both look at me for any sort of decent picture, but at least I got a couple. Colin thinks Hayden has the best toys ever and I had to bribe him with a cookie to even get him out the door to go home. All the kids had a great time and I love that they are finally old enough to play together. Colin was on his best behavior and I was SO PROUD of him!! He played quietly and nicely, he shared well, there was no throwing or tantrums and generally it was the perfect afternoon. He has been an excellent little boy all weekend and I kissed him extra hard tonight as I was tucking him into bed. I thanked him for being the best baby that any mama could ask for and he said, and very sincerely I might add, "You welcome Mommy". Love that boy.

Baby Pierce gives Colin a kiss! SO SWEET!

Two "romo" boys...they looked ADORABLE!!

sweet boys!!

Last, but not least, Colin shows off his awesome new long sleeved pj's for the cooler weather. It finally cooled way off here tonight, so we busted them out after bath time. Colin loves them and was more than happy to show off for a picture. It was the perfect end to a very busy and joyous weekend.

YEA FOR FALL!!!

Aubrey and Colin

Colin and I had a great day today...we had an awesome play date with Ellen and Aubrey! We met them for lunch at Chick-Fil-A and then headed over to the mall for some browsing and playtime at their toddler area. I did not even realize they had a play area and I am so glad that Ellen introduced us to it! This will be a good spot to hang out on freezing cold winter days in the future. The kids had a blast and Colin still adores Aubrey. Please note him giving her a ride in his car. ;-)

They had so much fun together...Ellen and I really need to get them together more often. Colin has a great time with her. He even stayed calm and happy in his stroller the entire time we were at the mall!!! This is no small feat considering that he did not have a nap before we went. He liked having her strolling beside him, which was super cute!! On another note, it was incredibly packed in the mall today...holiday shopping is in full swing. We had to park on the very top of one of the parking garages! Santa was already there and everything. I can't believe how fast this year has gone by. Here is one more picture of the little man and Aubrey playing together. Such precious babies!!

Aubrey's First Birthday!

Our very good friends Ellen and Wes invited us to their daughter Aubrey's first birthday party today and we had a blast! Ellen and I were pregnant together with our precious babies and I cannot believe they are both one now. It just blows my mind. I took several pictures of the festivities. Aubrey looked adorable in her pink tutu! Colin was a handful and a half, let me tell you. Aubrey is much smaller than Colin and not running around like he is, so their home is not quite baby proofed just yet. In other words, Ellen has a ton of beautiful things that I was scared to death Colin was going to destroy. I spent the whole time running after him watching his every move! Not to mention that it took everything I had to keep him from opening her presents for her. :-) The first picture below is Aubrey opening our present to her.

Here is Ellen and Aubrey with all their "helpers", including Colin.

The only way we were finally able to get Colin out of the presents!


The beautiful little birthday girl!


Last but not least, Colin in the middle of Aubrey's awesome loot! He was wearing out at this point!

We had such a wonderful time and were so happy to be included on the big day. We are so lucky to have such great friends.

Lazy Sunday

This was such a pleasant weekend! Yesterday we did absolutely nothing, which was great. The whole family basically stayed in our pj's until it was time to go to the pool. We finally took Dad to the splash park pool that opened at the new amenity center in our community. I am pretty sure that makes our 7th pool (wow!) and this one is my favorite because it has a stand alone splash park with lots of fun water features. Since it is not connected to the main pool (which is also really nice!) Colin is able to run around the whole thing playing because the water is only 12 inches at it's deepest point. It makes me laugh how much our family has changed...up until this summer, I had only been to the little pool that is on our street and only maybe twice...and that was living here for three summers!! Now we are pool experts. :-)

Today we had brunch with Jer's parents at our favorite Mexican place, which was yummy as usual. Colin ran out of steam a little early, however, and suddenly wanted out of his highchair and into my lap. He cheered right up when I let him walk around the entrance and smile at all the waiters. This afternoon we went over to Ellen's house to play with Aubrey and he had the best time. He and Aubrey are so cute together...she loves to share her toys with him and they sat for the longest time looking through her stacks of books and piles of stuffed animals. Colin hugged her several times and I was very proud of him! He was much more gentle and is slowly getting the hang of it. She has a wall of bins filled with toys and they played together for a couple of hours, taking the bins down and dumping all the toys. I think he would have stayed all night, but I had to drag him home for dinner and bed time. At one point he walked over to Ellen, climbed in her lap, and gave her the biggest hug. It was so sweet!! He is such a lover!

As I was putting Colin to bed tonight, I noticed that his room was a lot darker than it has been. That is my first signal that summer is drawing to an end...the shorter days are on the way. I am excited for fall...Colin is such a fun little toddler now and this year will be so much fun. Fall is by far my favorite time of year and the holiday season with Colin is going to be such a joy. I am looking forward to the weather cooling down and spending more time on walks outside and playing in the park. There is so much to look forward to this year!! The end of August is so hot and tiresome, but great times are not far away! I can't wait!!