I love summer!

Really, I do!! Everything is more relaxed, the boys are out of school and life is just grand!! Remind me of that in August!! We have been having a great time so far. I think that Cannon has consumed his weight in popsicles so far this summer. He knows where they are in the freezer and that they have to be eaten outside. I took this pic with my cell phone, so the quality isn't great. I was cleaning up while the other two boys were napping and he was being too quiet on the patio...I came out and he was parked in this little chair, just chillin!This picture is so sweet. Carson came running in Friday morning and said, "Mom, you are going to want to get your camera for this! We're all just swinging and being nice!". A rare moment in time!! They are inventing new games to entertain one another...such as pushing the baby around in a trash can. Safe.

We got to head down south and celebrate Ryan's birthday with him. The boys love him and we love him and his parents, so that is always fun for all of us. This year, Doug made this super slip n slide after watching a "how to" video on Youtube. It worked out and the boys loved it! Cade had such a great time that he asked me if he could have his birthday party at Ryan's house! I think that sounds like a GRAND idea!!

In fact, they had so much fun at Ryan's party that it looked like this on the ride home! Ahhh, peace and quiet for mom and dad!

We have some great parks up here in The Woodlands. One of the boys favorites is on the lake with lots of ducks. They could literally spend hours here!!

First stop, feeding the ducks!!

Cannon thought that they were a riot!!

You will notice that Cade isn't in any of the duck pictures. That would be because he had one arm attached to my leg at all times. He did one of his shreiking screams that could be heard for miles when a duck tried to get a piece of bread out of his hand. He didn't get the concept of throwing the bread, but instead would hand it to them. That's my Crazy Cade. He has however learned how to do the monkey bars.

Both boys enjoyed the climbing.

Notice how dirty Carson is here. He slipped while chasing the ducks and fell in a puddle.

Cannon loves the tunnels.

And running!

We have also discovered a favorite pool!! This one is geared towards preschoolers. It has beach entry, which is great for Cannon. Cade can touch everywhere in the pool and there are several waterslides. I braved this and took all three boys by myself here. Impressive, huh? I didn't get great pictures because I was kind of busy keeping up with my boys...mostly Cannon. The other two did remarkably well!

I think that Carson was practicing his Baywatch run here.
The boys taking a little break.

Cannon liked the sprayers and putting his little beach ball in these.

Carson and Cade ran into a little boy from Carson's class at school and they kept going down the big slide all together. They had a blast!!

Daddy went back with us this weekend to check it out. It was Splash Day (aka CHAOS!) and they had snow cones! The boys that it was 100 percent greatness!!We hope that everyone else is off to a great start with your summers as well!!

Birthdaypalooza!

Wow!! Turning 35 apparently comes with quite a fanfare in my family!! It's been fun!! On my actual birthday, we went out to dinner at my new favorite place here in The Woodlands. The boys behaved theirselves, so that was a treat in itself!

Me and my favorite little guys heading out to dinner. Cannon had just woken up and wasn't about to put the cookie down or crack a smile.

Cannon enjoying his post dinner ice cream in my lap (where he is most of the time when we eat out now!).My big Cade having his ice cream too (LOVES IT!).Carson enjoying a little as well, but not quite as enthusiastic as the other two.Then, as if they had not had enough sugar, we came home and had cupcakes that daddy brought home for us. Cannon was in heaven....what a mess!!Round two of the birthday-palooza weekend was at my Mom's house. Some of our friends had wanted to see their place and it is always fun for the kids over there. So, Mom and Larry threw me a little party! It was fun!! We hauled over the big waterslide because a party isn't complete without that! Actually, after Poppy came and picked it up, and then the guys all got it going, the kids played on it for about 15 minutes and were on to other things. Who would have guessed that? The usual jumps by my boys.

It was such a gorgeous afternoon!
Parker liked the slide too!

Cannon and Patrick hanging out in the little pool. They are only four days apart.

Parker doing a little raking.

Carson and Avery in the tree house.

Cutie patootie Arden in the tree house.

My big boys helping me with my candles. Good thing that there weren't all 35 on there...might have required the fire department!

Cannon, again with the cupcake!

Patrick going in for some ice cream.

Parker looking quite cute.

Cade covered in icing.

Carson making a mess too!

Then, on to my Dad and Cyndi's for more celebrating! Pawpaw let the big boys ride on a horse (I was shocked they even wanted to get on there, they normally want NO part of them, other than to admire from a distance).

They had fun!Then, we did a little swimming. Carson is actually swimming pretty good this summer. He just wanted to play in his life vest for a little first to get used to everything.Cade and Pawpaw in the pool.Cannon being Silly on the back porch. He thought it was great fun to thrown things off of here and watch Nana and Pawpaw fetch it for him.And we had some tuckered out boys on the way home!Cade wiped out with his crooked sunglasses and covered in cheetos. I think he had fun!

That, was quite a bit of celebrating!! The celebrating is so much different than it was a few years ago, but I would take this any day over that!! Did anyone notice that it was all about the kids? I had a great birthday and thank you so much to my friends and family who made it so wonderful!! Love you all!