Arboretum

On Monday, I took the boys to the Mommy and Me day at the Dallas Arboretum. It was hot, but we still had fun. There was a music and dance class in which we participated. Cameron loves music and had fun watching all the big kids dance and sing. They also have a fountain that children love to splash in. Carson liked cooling off in the water. It is so pretty there and I hope we get to see some of their concerts this summer. I guess it depends how early Cameron gets tired. Lately, he demands to be in bed by 7:30 which makes evening fun out of the house challenging.

Wildflower Festival

We went to the 2008 Wildflower festival and had a blast. We spent the first 1.5hours in the kid zone for Carson. Then we went see the really cool Pink Floyd laser light show which was in 3D. It was loud, but didn't seem the bother the boys. We only stayed for 1/2 the show since it was too long for the boys to sit still. Afterwards, we went to a show at the Eisemann Center to see Slaid Cleaves perform. Mark really likes him and I can see why after seeing his show-he sounded great. Cameron got to crawl around a little, we drank a couple of beers and Carson ate homemade pudding...what's not to like? It was a great night.

Slidey's Pillow

Carson wanted to make a pillow for his Webkinz horse, Slidey. After he chose white, I made preparations for him to sew a pillow by taking a couple pieces of felt and cutting holes around the edge. He sewed the pillow with blue yarn and a child plastic needle and stuffed it with cotton balls. He also put some Ylang Ylang essential oil inside so it would smell nice for Slidey when he was sleeping.

Swim playday

Mark went to his parents for the weekend and I took the opportunity to have a rare Saturday playday. We had my good friend over with her 3 children. I forgot my camera until after the swimming...oh well. Carson and his friend scrunched down into towel rocks (see them in the picture), just like after a bath - I didn't know other kids did that too, until her son did it! We always love playdays with them.

Our new walking trail

In the field directly behind our house, the city is building a wide walking trail. It connects with an existing trail that goes all the way to my gym, whole foods, target, and many other cool places. We are really excited to be able to walk out our door and rollerblade, bicycle, or jog without traffic! Yeah!!
Carson really liked watching the cement mixers and crew doing their job. They were friendly and didn't mind us hanging out to watch :)

Community Spring Picnic

Our neighborhood has an annual spring picnic to encourage residents to meet each other. They had bounce houses, face painting, BBQ and music. The boys had a great time. A few of Carson's neighborhood friends were there.

Big Boat!

Carson loves to run his Abuelo's remote control boat in his pool. Recently, the boat broke and his Abuelo gave him a surprise gift of his very own remote control boat. I think the boat is bigger that he is! He LOVES it.

Fossil Rim

During our camping trip to Glen Rose, we went to Fossil Rim. It is a really cool drive-thru wildlife center. I loved the giraffes! Even though they are wild animals, they were so comfortable with humans and have no qualms about sticking their head in your car. It was really fun!

Webkinz

Webkinz are stuffed animals that you can interact with online. Some of Carson's friends have them and he has been wanting one very much. We finally bought one for him and he LOVES it. He carries it around in a backpack that we bought for him while camping. He was so excited to show it to his friends. He is a horse and his name is Slidey.
We don't yet go online with Slidey since we feel that Carson is too young. I have told him that when he is old enough to read the Webkinz directions and website that he can interact online. He is happy just to hug him and carry him around anyway.

Cole's Anniversary

It has been eight years since we lost our sweet baby boy, Cole. Somedays it feels like a lifetime ago and somedays it feels like yesterday. Cole died when he was 8months and 13days old to a devastating disease called Spinal Muscualar Atrophy - SMA Type I. Mark and I have been through so much and we are so thankful for all three of our boys.
Tonight, we each tied a note to a balloon and let it go in memory of Cole. Carson was so excited and wrote a touching note to his big brother.
I put a few pictures of Cole below for you to see what a beautiful boy he was. The one with the party hat was his birthday party. I knew he wouldn't live to be 1years old, so I had a party marking his 1/2 year. We were lucky to have him for the time that we did.

Camping Trip

We finally had a chance to break out the new pop-up camper last week. We went to Dinosaur Valley State Park in GlenRose. It was such a beautiful park and since it is off-season, we had a lot of privacy.
Carson insisted on reading The Nutcracker Ballet during the entire trip. We brought some cool camping storybooks, but he wasn't interested. He really wants to go to the ballet when Christmas rolls around.
Anyway, the camping trip was fun and the camper was awesome. We were able to get the boys to sleep and have a little Mommy/Daddy time around the campfire. One night, a bold racoon decided to terrorize me. I kept trying to scare him away, but I was the one that was scared.

Camping Trip - part 2

Asleep

The boys wiggled into a funny position in their sleep and I just had to take their picture. Cameron didn't like the flash and squinted a little. Cameron is usually wearing clothes at night, but they didn't make it on him that night. He is usually cuddled up to me nursing to keep warm anyway.

Making a clock

Carson decided that he wanted to make a clock. I thought that a paper plate would work well. He was very focused while he worked and wrote his numbers.

Ducklings

Last week during our farm milk pickup, we saw a mama duck with her ducklings. This is in the middle of the city with no lake or pond around. Not really sure where they were going. I love that we are not over scheduled and have time to stop and see things like this everyday with my boys. The discussions that this stimulates are the kinds of things that you want to take your time with when talking to your children.

Playing with Uncles

Carson had a dental checkup last week. Our holistic dentist is in Fort Worth and since my parents and brothers live there, we decided to go a day early for a visit. Carson LOVED playing with his uncles.