Moody Cotton Festival 2012

This past weekend was the annual Moody Cotton Festival.  It is always a special start to the fall and every year the boys get older, the more and more fun we have.  The committee that my mother started 5 years ago, Moody Beautification Committee, won first place for their float!  It was amazing and had moving parts!  It is such a sweet, small town tradition and it has been fun to share it with the boys.

This year Ian was one of the 3 judges asked to judge the festival pie contest.  So, he was up at 8am tasting over 30 pies!  (Quite a breakfast!)

Here are a few photos from the weekend.

 Mom reading the boys a night night story before heading to bed.

 Elijah, Joaquin and I waiting outside MiMi and Papaw's house for the parade to start.  It goes right in front of their house!

 Daddy and Joaquin (making his funny face)

Elijah kept saying, "I can't believe there are real cowboys!"  That was an unexpected favorite in the parade.  Second, of course, only to picking up all the candy that was thrown out to them.  (Elijah quickly realized that if you want candy you have to wave at the floats.  It's hard for them to pass  up a cute little kid waving at them.)  Look out, that one is a strategizing smartie-pants.

This was the 'small' rainbow snow cone MiMi ordered the boys!  It covered their whole face when they were biting into it.

Elijah's miniature pony ride

 Joaquin on the pony

MiMi and Joaquin listening to some live country music

The Herbivore 

The Carnivore

Joaquin trying to show us his 'acorn hat' as he calls it.

But now he just looks like he has an acorn nose.

Here is a video of Daddy, Joaquin, Elijah and MiMi going down the 'mega-slide'!

The boys first roller-coaster ride!  They were in the last compartment and Joaquin was laughing and smiling the whole time.  Elijah, on the other hand, was screaming 'STOP!' the whole time.  Afterwards, when we were walking away, Elijah said, "That was fun!  I love roller-coasters."  I don't know if he was trying to cover up how scared he was or if hind-sight made him realize it was pretty fun after all.

And, it always ends in MiMi and Papaw's backyard.

Here are the boys playing in the sandbox.

What a wonderful way to bring in the fall!

The Gift of Friendship

Don't you love it when God works things out so perfectly, you couldn't have dreamed it better yourself? Well, that is exactly what God did when he made sure my best friend's son's doctor worked out of Austin. 

Many of you know my very best friend since college, Melissa.  A couple years back, she and her husband made the move from Dallas to Little Rock Arkansas.  They have been extremely blessed by being there, but it was a big move.  

The caveat to their move, though, was the fact that Melissa's precious son, Carson, sees a specialist doctor that only works in Austin and New York City.  So, God made sure that at least once a year, I would get to see my best friend!  Awesome isn't it!  :)

True friendship is such a devine gift.  Melissa and I were friends, cheerleading team members, roomies, stood by each other at our weddings, hand holders during the birth of our children, and everything in between.  Our relationship is one that sustains and grows deeper and wider with age; we are soul sisters -- as we say.  It is truly something God smiled down on the both of us.

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Just this week, Mel, Nathan and little Carson came to visit for their anual check in with the doc.  It was an amazing visit.  Ian and Nathan got to hang out.  All the little guys turned into what looked like triplets.   Elijah being 4.5 yrs old, Carson 4 and Joaquin 3 - they are little bosom buddies.  So, it was a perfect time of everyone getting their fix of friendship!

We had a nice dinner at one of our favorite TexMex joints and then had a low key brunch the next day before they headed out.  Here are some pics from our time together:

All the boys huddled around the ipad after dinner was winding down.

Mel and I at dinner.

All the little guys playing outside in front of the fountain.

Nathan, Mel and I at brunch before the made the long drive back to Little Rock.

Love you guys!

The Kirkland's Summer Visit

This past week Ian's family (minus Chris and Melanie) flew out to visit.  The boys are getting bigger and bigger, so there are so many fun things we are able to take the family to do together that we weren't able to go do when they were younger.  

We had so much fun doing touristy things and going to all the Austin hot spots and favorite eateries.  

Barton Springs Pool/Aquifer was a must.  The boys said it was freezing, but Gampa thought it was warmer than the California coast he is used to.

 The huge natural swimming hole was super busy that day, but everyone really needed a break from the 100 degree heat!

We also ate (although as a vegetarian myself, I just had coleslaw and potato salad) at "the country's best BBQ joint" - Franklin

 We ordered a family portion and everyone got a little of everything.  It was a total hit from all the meat-eaters.

 We were really smart (although I can't say it was planned) to head to Franklin at around 1pm - it opens at 11am for lunch and is open until they run out of meat.  Usually there is a 2 hour + line to get in and if you don't make the cut, sorry for you.  Driving up we saw the sign saying they were out of meet on the door, but when Stu and Ian went in to inquire, they said we could prob. just barely make the cut off.  We just scooted in and only had to wait about 30 min!  Score!

Here is Ian and I and Katie and I waiting in line

Gamma also came with an extra suitcase of Ian's old childhood toys and it was a total hit!  The huge play-mobile pirate ship was Elijah's favorite for sure and Joaquin was into the Star Wars figurines. I think the boys may be getting a bit spoiled from their California fam!  :)

 Another family favorite we had to stop by was the Hula Hut.  It has pretty much been a tradition to head out to the end of the pier in Austin and grab some Tex-Mex and Margaritas while we watch the sun set over the lake.  The boys love being able to watch the turtles swim by from their seat and everyone is happy!

 Gamma also smuggled some dark chocolate chips inside her suitcase, and the boys soon learned Gamma's famous Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe.  It was a special moment and the rest of the family reaped the benefits of cookies to eat while playing a family game of Trivial Pursuit Genius after the boys went to bed.  (I'm happy to say that Katie and I won!)

 There were many a family night of deep conversation until 3 am, computer craziness till the wee hours of the morning, and board games with stiff competition, pointing fingers, and lots of laughs!  It is always a blast being in the Kirkland Crew!

Gamma and Gampa got to stay an extra couple days and the boys had a blast just doing the things we normally do around here - going to our neighborhood swimming pool and park, as well as waking up the Grandparents early to start the day playing in the playroom!  

My sweet boys!

They can be very loving when they want to be!

 Joaquin and Gampa taking a break high up on the playground

Elijah and Gamma

 Elijah's climb

Joaquin headed down the super slide

 Joaquin and Daddy made it down the 3 story tall slide!

 I really tried to get a good family shot for Gamma and Gampa but of course Elijah wouldn't give me the satisfaction of looking at me and smiling at the camera.

 happy boys

 Elijah peaking out the spiral slide turret

 We also made sure to hit up Georgetown's famous Monument Cafe for breakfast before Gamma and Gampa left to head back home.

If you can't tell from the photos, we had a blast!  Every time we get together as a family it is so special!

Trip to the Beach

We took our summer trip to the beach this past weekend and the boys had a blast!  Uncle Bobby and Aunt Mary live in Corpus Christi - a few miles from Padre Island- so we drove down to see them.  They were amazing hosts and we were completely pampered and loved on!  The boys arrival started off with water guns and beach toys galore!  They knew we were in for a treat the moment we landed at the Hill residence!

 Saturday was a beautiful day and we woke up early to head down to the beach before it got too hot!  Texas beaches are so warm and the people are all so laid back.  You can still drive your cars on the beach so lots of people set up little tail-gate parties and just pack all their stuff in the back of a truck.  What a fun Texan way to hang out by the waves!

 The boys were anxious to jump in the water and had a blast trying to body surf and dig holes to put all their captured creatures into.

 Sarah and her boyfriend, Devon joined us at the beach and the boys had a blast playing with the "big kids"

 Joaquin loved digging up crabs and clams and showing me his treasures!

 I'm not sure if you can see it, but Uncle Bobby found a sweet baby crab and brought it over for the boys to hold.

 Kathryn took this photo of us in the water.  It is pretty difficult to get two crazy happy boys to sit still in the water long enough to get a family picture, but Kat did a great job!

 Daddy teaching the boys how to body surf the waves.

The boys building a sand castle / moat / big hole in the sand...

Kathryn, Sarah and Devon hanging out 

 Back and the house the boys found a shoebox full of Mardi Gras beads and they had hours and hours of fun with them.  Uncle Bobby was kind enough to get in on their bead games.

 Sunday afternoon we all headed to the Texas State Aquarium.  Here are Sarah, Mary, Bobby, Ian and the boys outside the entrance.  It was hard to keep the boys out of all the water activities long enough for a photo.

 The entrance to the aquarium is under a huge waterfall!  The boys loved it!  The aquarium houses all gulf coast marine life, so it was neat for the boys to learn about all the things that live in this area.

 Mary bought the boys little fish to feed the Sting Ray's in the feeding tank and that was a highlight of the trip for sure!

 We all had a blast!