roller sk8ting rink

i took my kids to the roller rink on wednesday.  i know, i know...two activities with all three in one week?  clearly i am trying to win some award right???!!!

wednesdays from 10-12, they have toddler time @ the local roller rink (straight from 1980 at best, i should add).  the great part is that it's only $5 per child and they can bring anything they want except for bikes.   grocery carts, strollers, scooters, plasma cars, big wheels, trikes, skates...etc.  bring. it. on.

em brought "baby" and her stroller.  she was BUSY the entire time protecting baby from other creepers that wanted to kidnap "baby"....

 ainsley and ellis went old school and wore actual skates.  yes- that is lipgloss (possibly lipstick) that she is wearing @ 10 a.m.

 just pushing baby...

 lights=fascinating

 babies are so much work....

i only took one picture of him because he was on my bad side.  he is SO high maintenance...

 just a little cherry lime-aid for the 15 month old...

 chicken dance...they also do the hokey pokey :)

 emery highjacked this car...

we then swam the afternoon away...and brandon took them to a 6:40 showing of cars.  10 p.m. bedtime... and a fun day for most :)

Blue Bell (the best ice cream in the country!)

guess where we went today?!?  brenham, texas!!  we toured the blue bell factory...the kids loved it!!!  even beckett...who rarely gives a sh*t about anything :)  i am sure the promise of ice cream at the end of the tour had nothing to do with it...

here is ellis smiling and beckett trying to smile (or maybe trying to poop???)

 better...

 ellis obviously thinks she is a model :)

 yes.  you better believe she sported one of these!!

 love it...

 gawd i am such a nerd...but this is cute right??

 tourists!!!

 emery was so happy i let her out of the house (she gets left at home a lot!!)  look how happy she is :) and pls notice beckett's hat...i am not even sure how he did that...

 i snuck in a pic!

 sweet treat...

 this is his best "pls take the effing picture so i can get back to my ice cream" smile..

 she loved...

 we then went to lunch @ the brenham airport.  DELICIOUS.  there is a diner there that is kinda famous.   they say people fly in just for the burger!  google it.  yum.

we got home around 2...and i was able to keep emery awake until we got home (bebe was driving) which was major sweet awesome because she slept from 2 till almost 6.  thank you blue bell!

total badass

i am so proud of beckett...i just have to brag on him for a teeny tiny second :)  at 3 yrs and 3 months...and after only 5 group lessons (5 kids in the class)...he is a swimmer!!!  he is even better than in this video, just haven't taken a new one.  go, beckett, go!!  he calls himself CRUSH (the turtle from nemo)...hence my use of the word "dude" in the video...

poo poo bird

 ellis and beckett call emery "the poo poo bird".  no idea where it came from but i don't find it too offensive.  today, i suspected emery of having poop in her diaper...so i said "come here little poo poo bird".  ellis and beckett gasped...and then ellis said, "patty doesn't let us call her that...i guess that means she really cares about her."

patty is emery's sitter and she apparently cares about emery more than i  do :)

pool in the hood

we have been LOVING the neighborhood pool this year!!  with ellis, beckett, and emery being all about swimming this summer, we have been clocking some serious hours there :)  a huge part of it is only a foot deep with a slide structure...and emery is hooked.  she goes up the structure and down the slide all on her own.  and repeats.  over and over and over!  i throw a life jacket on beckett (he has to wear one to go down the BIG slides) and i can keep up with all three...

 there goes emery...heading back to the stairs...

 here are the big slides...ellis and beckett must go 20 times when we are there.  ellis passed her swimming test (swim the length of the adult pool) so she gets to go without life jacket) :)  yippee!

and here is a video of em going down the slide for the first time!!  she squeals with happiness every time!!!

come swim with us!

hot mess

blackberries @ redstone...

surfside

2 hours after landing from the abacos, we were in the car with the kids on the way to surfside.  crazy, right?  we rented a house with 3 other families...friends from college :)  8 adults and 8 children...ellis being the oldest!!  so much fun!!  there was a nasty stomach bug that ran thru the house, hitting all 3 of my children at different times.  awesome.  luckily, kids are pretty resilient and they got right back to the fun...

here is the "older" part of the group: ellis, taylor, beckett, and pate

 each couple was in charge of cooking a different night...check out this smoker on a trailer w/ rope lights!!

 2 of the 3 one year olds...emery and emmy

 the wind picked up this baby pool about 2 minutes after this picture...emery went FLYING thru the air...brandon somehow caught her.  it was crazy!

 the house was BRAND NEW.  as in, we were the first peeps to stay there.  the deck was ginormous...so perfect for kids...

 beckett and his future girlfriend, taylor :)  they are both crazy!!!

 the itty bitty baby, patrick :)

 and the 3rd 1 year old, henry :)

 so cute eating his first popsicle :)

 his hair reminds me of beckett's @ 1 year!!!  adorable....

emery was a deck fan...

 ready to hit the beach!

cute couple :)

 and they're off!

 we filled 200 water balloons...and the kids ambushed the dads who were sitting under the deck keeping watch on the brisket...

 beckett wasn't much help.  that is him asleep in brandon's lap :)  but taylor is about to throw 2!

 ellis got really into it...she looks crazy here

i didn't take as many pictures as i wanted to...bummer.  fun & crazy times with good friends!!!