May was SUCH a busy month, but I love looking back through the pictures to see all the fun we managed to squeeze out of everything! I have no context for this picture since I didn't post about it on Instagram, but I am sure it was from our after-school wait together :) We stay at Daulton as long as possible so Colby can play, then hurry over to Lillard to pick Brooke up. On occasion, we arrive early and hang out.
Colby created an entire "Ninja Warrior" course with his legos and wanted photo documentation...
In early May, we went on a camping adventure to Purtis Creek State Park.
It was hot when we were setting up the tent and I was beginning to doubt our decision to go camping, but the weather ended up being perfect! And I loved our spot, nestled in the trees and right on the water.
The most perfect part: Colby could fish at all times, haha.
Brooke brought along some things to work on as well :) She also made good use of her new camp chair and matching umbrella.
Colby caught a fish within the first 10 minutes, and caught 3 more within the hour! He was literally in heaven!
We made deconstructed tin foil dinners (without the foil packets), and the kids were awesome little helpers! I'm pretty sure they just wanted to get to the s'mores, but dinner was tasty!
We tried our luck at night fishing, and Colby caught another fish! He actually thought his line was just caught on something, so Kevin ended up reeling it in, haha.
Morning sleepy heads and snuggles...
Camping with Brooke and Colby is the best! They love to help and can independently do a lot. Colby wanted to start the morning with some fishing (no surprise) and caught his first little fishy of the day. His pajama pants are also inside out and backwards, but he informed me that it didn't matter, haha.
They cooked their own eggs for breakfast tacos, then went straight for hot cocoa. Nothing beats campfire cocoa with roasted marshmallows (and whipped cream for the kids.)
After breakfast, Colby went straight back to fishing. He didn't love baiting the hook, but he became very good at it.
Brooke didn't have much interest in fishing, but played with worms and named one Margaret.
I forgot to mention that it poured buckets all night, so we woke up to a small stream through our campsite and VERY muddy trails. But guess what?? We didn't let that slow us down. I was just wishing that I wore my rain boots like Colby!
We fished along the hiking trail as well...
Kevin caught one fish off the primitive campsites, but once he saw a 5-6 foot snake along the shore, we hightailed it out of there. I have NO interest in getting close to any water snakes.
Overall, it was a fantastic weekend away as a family. I really love the time we spend outdoors together. It's so nice to be free of distractions and just focus on our connection as a family.
The next day was Field Day/Fun Day at Bolder Adventure Park. I loved watching Brooke with her friends and I felt grateful that she wanted me to do all the activities with them.
Brooke with two of the triplets, London and Camden. She loved getting to know these girls this year and I have a feeling that they will stay friends over the next few years. Brooke is SO much taller than them, but they have a lot in common and love hanging out.
I had to get a picture of Brooke with her buddy, Sydney. We have pics of them at every Field Day since Kindergarten, so I couldn't let this year be the exception, haha. His mom loved it as well!!
As we ran over to the climbing area, Brooke squeezed me and told me that she was "so glad" I was there with her. My mama heart was full.
We spent our time on the bumper cars, playing in the ball gun arena, and going down the slides.
The pool officially opened and Colby wanted to go right after school. He informed me repeatedly that he had been waiting ALL DAY to go. I agreed to go for 20 minutes, which turned into an hour. Bring on the summer!!
We picked up the newly upholstered seats from the guy in Fort Worth, so we went one night to reinstall them on the boat. The boat owners parking lot was flooded, which meant that we had to take the long way around to get access to our boat.
Apparently I didn't get an after picture, but we were pretty happy with the way they turned out :)
Colby's Field Day was on Tuesday, and I'm so grateful that I was able to rearrange my work schedule to be there. Colby kept talking about how he wanted to win a ribbon for the 50 yard dash, and although he didn't win that event, he walked away with 3rd place for the softball throw, 1st place for the sack race, and 2nd place for the three-legged race.
Kevin had the week off work, so he showed up for the afternoon events. It was a blazing hot day at Daulton, but we enjoyed watching Colby compete :)
We checked both kids out early from school and went for slurpees at 7-11 before heading to the pool. Kevin played football with a group of kids and Brooke and Colby enjoyed the extra playtime with their daddy.
Having Kevin home that week was amazing. We had a random shopping and lunch date on Wednesday. Our weekends are usually so busy, so it was such a luxury to have a few hours together during the week.
The boys went on a father/son campout at the end of the week and I had one of the best nights I've ever had with Brooke. We went shopping together, wandered Hobby Lobby with no real plan (and forgot the two things we actually needed), perused shoes and bags at Marshall's (found the cutest purple bag for her birthday), and enjoyed dinner al fresco at Panera.
Highlights: seeing her sweet face since I let her sit in the front seat, enjoying the total Brookie treat we found (a marshmallow kabob), hysterically laughing as we left Panera and she tried to push both doors open for a grand exit and failed, and watching Princess Diaries 2 in my bed before falling asleep together.
I felt like I was hanging out with a little bestie and I loved it SO much.
Kevin sent me this pic before heading to bed...
They came home with a million bug bites, but they had so much fun. They ate a bunch of junk, stayed up until 1:30 AM, and made lots of memories together. Colby also came home wanting throwing knives and willingly did a bunch of chores trying to earn up enough money, haha.
I am SO thankful for the one-on-one time we each had with our littles!
When the boys arrived home, I was cutting a watermelon and Colby kindly asked if he could have an entire section of the watermelon. I wasn't expecting him to eat it like a total savage, but he did polish it off quite nicely.
We went for an evening boat ride and Brooke wanted to drive all by herself...
The kids entertained themselves while Kevin and I chatted :)
This photo was taken moments before Brooke let go of the noodle and sent Colby plunging into the lake, haha. The water is still pretty cold, but they both took a few dips.
I am REALLY looking forward to summer evening boat rides. Only 9 more days of school and we're all feeling it!
Kevin is training for a Spring Triathlon and Colby wants to join him, so we rode our bikes a mile over to the clubhouse pool and realized we didn't bring our pool card. Thankfully, someone let us in so we could have our fun :)
The pool was too cold for me to swim laps, but Brooke was swimming and having fun, then decided to beat Colby's lap time and now she wants to do the triathlon as well.
Colby was super proud of the artwork he brought home...
Brooke is looking very grown up these days, so it only seems fitting that she is almost done with 5th grade!
I celebrated the last day of speech therapy with games and treats for my students. I really enjoyed my time at the charter school this year and will be back again in the fall.
I made a few treats for the administrators that I work with as well.
I detailed the car one day while the kids were at school, but Brooke wanted to help me paint the few places where we've (mostly me) hit the curb, haha. We looked into getting new rims, but the guy at the shop told us to just get black nail polish to cover the scuffs and that has worked surprisingly well.
One Friday night we headed over to the lake to enjoy the most beautiful evening. The water was unusually calm and serene. We had found the perfect spot and were about to get out the new wakeboard Kevin bought the kids, when we saw a boat trying to get our attention. We headed towards them, only to find out that they were dead on the water and needed a tow back to the marina. We obviously wanted to help, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't bummed since it was gonna take away from our perfect evening. This boat was a decent sized cabin cruiser (think VERY heavy), so it took forever to slowly tow it over to the marina. But we made it to their slip and still had about 45 minutes left before dark.
Kevin gave them a quick refresher course on the wakeboard, then Brooke called for the first ride. She was completely strapped in and ready to go when the nerves set in. Our efforts at reassuring her that she could do it failed, so she eventually climbed back in the boat and gave Colby the first ride. But I loved the sweet picture of her and her daddy.
Spoiler alert: she tried (and nailed) it the next day!!
Colby loved that golden hour ride...
Colby attended a swim party for his (twin) friends, Nathan and Jackson. He spent a lot of time playing basketball with their older brother Henry (Brooke's age), but he always enjoys his time with these boys!
Colby, Nathan, Jackson, and little brother Oliver.
As mentioned above, we headed back out to the lake on Saturday after a sweaty day of soccer. I heard Brooke tell Kevin that she was going to wakeboard that day, it was just too cold the night before. (The water is still chilly, but I don't think that was the main factor.)
Brooke popped right up on her second attempt and was SO happy. Kevin was floating with her to give her encouragement, so then he had to float in the water forever while Brooke rode all over the lake. He held up a pink noodle so nobody ran over him, and eventually we went back to pick him up.
Colby was my videographer since I was driving the boat, so you could hear him singing in the background of some of the videos and I had a few surprise selfies on my camera roll, haha. He also did awesome on the wakeboard again and was confidently crossing over both wakes by the end of the night.
On Sunday, we went to visit Papa at the Rehabilitation Center and the kids enjoyed playing games together. He's regaining strength and should be going home soon!
Brooke went with me to get Colby from school the day of her awards ceremony...
Brooke enjoyed being back at the Daulton playground and playing with Brock and Marlie again. Even though we are neighbors, we don't see them as often as we used to.
One night, the Activity Day boys and girls were combined for a sand art craft night. The kids all LOVED it!
We finally made it to the last day of school!! I had to take a picture in the same spot I took their first day of school pics for comparison :)
I had to pick Colby up a few hours later for his check-in with the ENT regarding his ear tubes. One tube is still in, but the doctor seems happy with how his retraction has healed.
They tested his hearing again in the sound booth and there were no concerns.
I put together a little "Welcome to Summer" display on the table for when the kids made it home from school...
We also went out for fro-yo at Sweet Frog, so they were loving life.
I have a whole other post about Memorial Day weekend, but the next day, we had intense morning storms and we walked outside to this! A portion of the neighbor's tree was lying in their yard, and that afternoon when they were cutting it into pieces with a chain saw, we helped them stack it up along the curb for pick-up.
Tracy and Doug Myers came into town to go house hunting (they moved to Colorado a few years ago but want to come back), so the girls met up for a long dinner. We literally stayed at the restaurant for hours, and of course as we drove away, the storm intensified. I was super scared driving home from Forth Worth and was white-knuckling the steering wheel for a solid 45 minutes. At one point along Highway 287, I hydroplaned and fishtailed back and forth. Luckily, nobody was around me, but that was terrifying. I was praying so hard and ended up calling Kevin so I could talk to him the rest of the way home. It was still worth it to have time with my besties who are more like sisters to me, but hopefully next time the weather cooperates a little better.
A few days later, after Tracy encouraged Doug to go get checked out due to some pain in his neck and numbness in his arm, they found out that he had a spinal tumor and would be going in for surgery ASAP. I will post all the details later, but it was a miracle that they were in Texas when they found out because the medical care is significantly better here and we were able to rally around them during such a stressful and emotional time.
I was just reading a post about feeding the geese last year and the caption was something about how my kids hadn't outgrown this activity yet. Guess it's still true today! It was in the mid-70's that morning, so we had to take advantage of the good weather. All was going well until a lady stopped to inform us that Canadian geese were known for being aggressive. We'd already been there for 30 minutes without an issue, but as soon as she walked away, a goose came right at me and kinda pecked at my calf. We decided it was time to go after that, haha.
We enjoyed another beautiful Friday evening at the lake! We've had so many smooth evenings recently and I'm all for it.
Colby was killing it on the wakeboard and Brookie was gaining confidence in crossing back and forth over the wake!
Can't wait for an entire summer of fun!!
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