June Recap!

WHEW!!! June, you've been good to us. It's been a whirlwind and I don't think July is gonna slow down much more!  

I feel like Greyson has earned two promotions this month: 

1) Master of the Potty:  I'M SOOOOO excited to report that we have finally gained some ground on the #2 situation.  I can't remember the last time he had an accident to be honest. Thank goodness, because we were about to dip into our 401K to purchase more character underwear.  

2) Prince of the Pool: At the beginning of the month, we started swim lessons. And let me be honest when I say that it was the most money we've ever spent to watch our child cry for 30 minutes. I was like LORD HAVE MERCY is this for real?! But all the other moms kept encouraging me, and sure enough, about our 4th swim lesson in, Greyson decided he loved the teacher and loved the pool.  We have been visiting our friend's pool a lot this month, and this child is obsessed! He wants to go swimming every day! And he likes to pick out his own swim trunks. 

Anyway....here's the short of the long for June....

We kicked off the summer with some fun time in the sandbox with our buddy Preston. 

Later, Preston tried to play Superman by squeezing through the stair spindles and onto a landing that overlooks our foyer.  (Nine feet in the air). Fortunately, I walked into the living room because we knew they were too quiet and saw Preston perched up there like a little bird. So we calmly but urgently commenced Operation Save Preston's Life.  The ironic part is that WHILE this was happening Jorie and I were in the kitchen talking about the safety of the spindles in the house she's building and whether we think they are dangerous for the toddlers to get through. #clearly

The successful rescue earned them both suckers. #boylife

We kicked off our Summer O' Fun with a trip to the Heritage Farmstead Museum (they had firetrucks visiting, so DUH) and a Luau themed-Noonday Party! 

SOMEBODY was really into the "hula dancing"...

We checked out the Grand Opening of the new Legacy West...

Greyson loved the fountains that go to the music!

And of course started the infamous Swim Lessons..

In the mean time, I've been working my new gig with the Dallas and Collin County Moms Blog! SO FUN!

You can read all about our Summer O' Fun Week 1 here! 

The next day, we packed it up and headed to Mississippi! 

Mississippi was full of the usuals...family, food, tractors, trains, four-wheelers, etc. For an in-depth recap of our trip to Hospitality State, click here. ; ) 

Greyson came back wanting to be JUST LIKE POP. He put on his camo shirt and got to work on his tractor.  

We made it back just in time for Father's Day weekend. We took a trip to the Arboretum and Greyson's first movie experience, Cars 3! He did great and it was super cute.  Still love the original Cars movie the best! We missed MATER!

The Arboretum is the only place in Dallas you can get views like this! #myhappyplace

The Summer O' Fun Week 3 continued with more splash pads, swim lessons, and trips to the pool. I feel like I've mastered the beach bag packing and also gotten quite the start on my tan, so there's a extra little bonus!

We also celebrated my birthday with a trip to Legoland and Rainforest Cafe, which I adored. I don't know who was more delighted by the roaring tigers and gorillas beating their chests every 10 minutes. For Greyson it was sheer amazement and entertainment, and for us, it was the real opportunity to have a two-handed dining experience. Whoever came up with this strategy is definitely a parent. Thank you, Rainforest Cafe. I did twitch a little bit every time the waiters came out with a Volcano Cake obnoxiously singing Happy Birthday. Jeremie Wells would do it to me in a heartbeat. Good thing we already had cake at home.

We also had a little picnic and drill practice at the Cowboys Headquarters. 

And between all our outings we've had some super fun time at home playing. I know it sounds like we are super busy, but trust me, there's lots of hours in the day with a toddler, and we do spend a lot of them staying home in our jammies....

Watching Monster Trucks with Lambert...

Or reading the Bible with Lambert.....; ) 

OR putting on our fire gear and "oxygen masks" to play firefighter....

I can't tell you how many cats we've rescued from trees.....WHY IS THIS THE MOST COMMONLY PUBLICIZED FIRE FIREFIGHTER PROBLEM??? I'm pretty sure this is NOT the biggest concern of our hard-working Plano firemen. 

So June was a big hit and I can't believe it's already over. Even though the days and weeks are a little longer without Mother's Day Out and other activities, we are having the best time.  It just hit me that I get two more of these summers before this little dude goes to real school and that makes my heart skip a beat. After that, I'm guessing summers are a whole new ballgame. These are precious days.

This is pretty much how we all feel about June.

July is a BIG exciting month for us! Jeremie's company is launching after almost 21 months in the making! AND we are headed to the beach with my in-laws, so I couldn't be more excited about that! 

Clothes are being washed, bags are being packed, and outfits are being matched to color palettes for family photos! I've ALWAYS wanted to do a beach photo shoot!

I hope your Summer O'Fun is a blast and you are making some great memories too! 

Summer O' Fun Week 2

We spent the larger portion of Week 2 in The Mighty Mississippi. My sweet Grammy is not doing well and we usually take a trip there in July anyway, so we went ahead early!

Since J had to be at work early, we had a LIIIITTTLE extra time in the airport.  (Like 3 hours extra.) If you haven't had the blessing of spending 3 hours in an airport with a toddler, I suggest you put it on your bucket list. It'll bring you closer to Jesus. 

I do feel like someone has given Greyson an extra shot of Kryptonite these last few weeks (or is this the new normal?), so he was extra rambunctious. Thank goodness the flight was on time and we made it to MS with no problems. (Despite the problem with the blinking button I noticed the pilot was having before take off.  I wish I didn't do this. I watch the cockpit like a hawk, as if there's something I can do about it.) 

When we got to MS, we went straight to my Grammy's house and got some energy out in the backyard. Greyson was already making CC work for it. (I'm on the patio sippin' lemonade like, "Hey, this is the grandchild you begged me for....")

Greyson loved Grammy's house (because it's awesome) and he found the "toy closet". Most of these toys were ones I played with which were the same ones my MOM and her siblings played with! So we had retro hour! He was amazed.

My Mother-in-law came to get the little cherub and a lot of our time was spent at the nursing home over the weekend....

And my Grammy would NOT BE HAPPY with a bad picture of herself, so I'll share with you my fabulous Grammy.....

YES MA'AM. Isn't she lovely?...

Meanwhile, I'm getting pics from Nona like this.....

And this....

                                         

                              

      And this...

If baby wants an entire train track, baby gets...

They had a BIG time and I'm so thankful for me DEAR DEAR in-laws. 

My mom and I did manage to get some time away. (I even got a toddler free shopping trip to Old Navy...you can read about here.) We also hit up a concert in the park and dinner one night! Although the circumstances were heavy, I did enjoy some long overdue one on one time with my Mama. 

                           

We sort of look alike. ; ) 

On Sunday I headed to my in-laws to pick up the little bambino....he spotted me pulling up from the "Ranger".....

I spent the next few days at my parents house, where the country fun continued....for real....both of our parents houses are like big amusement parks for G, complete with ATV's, shops, tractors, etc. 

My dad has a HUGE work shop...(seriously, their neighbors call it the Taj Mahal) and Greyson is completely OBSESSED with it.  It has every tool and machine imaginable. Greyson calls it the "POP SHOP" and that's where he wanted to be ALL DAY ER'DAY. And listen, while I'm not a 100% girly-girl, there's only so much tool identification and fake screwdriver/hammer work I can handle. #wherestheteaparty

Pop was eating it up though.

There were many rides on the tractor.

Look at those sweet hands. Pop and Greyson's birthdays are just days apart. I remember on Greyson's first birthday, Pop telling him: "Greyson....you're ONE...and I'm SIXTY-ONE." I feel like this picture is just priceless!

CC's popcorn machine is always a main attraction too..it's the little things, right?

My "hair girl" is in Mississippi, so I figured I'd get a trim while there. (Once you find a good one, there's no turning back!) My mom was with Grammy and there was no way that I was taking G with me alone to the hair salon.  So Pop tagged along and we grabbed some lunch at McDonald's and he was in sole charge while I went across the street for my hair cut. I could tell he was a little nervous, which I thought was hilarious, being that he raised 3 kids of his own. (He's says he has amnesia from it all.) He did great and took G to Dollar General and Fred's, and of course they came back with a new toy. 

By the end of the weekend, my Grammy was back at home, but is still doing rough, so we'd all appreciate your prayers. It was hard to leave her, but we are certainly glad we went! Greyson ended our visit with her by rolling around on her bed and making her some "toast" with the little plastic toaster she gave him.  Sweet memories tucked away in my heart.  : ) 

We got back on Thursday, just in time for Father's Day weekend! 

We hit up the Arboretum on Saturday and had a big time with Dad......

Again...gorgeous background available but not much cooperation for a family photo.....I give up.

I did catch this little gem...these two are BEST BUDS and I love watching them together.

On Sunday, we rolled the Toddler Dice and took G to his first movie, Cars 3.  We could probably all quote the original Cars, so we couldn't wait to see the new one! G sported is "Mater" shirt and off we went! 

The movie was so cute and Greyson did incredible.  Perhaps it was the 20 pounds and 2 gallons of lemonade that kept him busy, but nevertheless, it was a good experience.  He squealed and laughed through all of it! Another checkmark on the Summer O' Fun Bucket List! 

And while it's hard to believe, this is actually the BEST picture I could manage once we were actually inside the theatre. 

And that's it for Week 2! We're still kinda slow goin' during Week 3, but we're having fun! 

Hope your Summer is great so far!

May Daze

WHEW!!! Did anyone else feel like this at the end of May?!

A little upside down?...This pillow kills me. I realize there's a 50% chance of it being correct when I throw it on the couch but I feel like it's upside down 100% of the time. 

I don't even have school aged children, so I can't imagine how worn out YOU PEOPLE feel.

I will say, that as busy as May was, it was a SUPER FUN month! (I'm sure you're as glad as I am so you don't have to hear me moan and groan about potty training again. I'll admit, May wasn't much better in the #2 category, but June is looking up.  We've gone back to good ole fashioned bribery.) 

Anyway...so here's to you May!

We started with the most darling Mother's Day Tea at Greyson's school. It was quite a challenge to manhandle a 2 year old and gracefully wear my "prettiest tea dress" as the class invitation requested. But I did my best and immediately removed my heels once we got to the car.

Greyson's first priority was making it to the cookie table once I got there. 

I couldn't believe it was my THIRD Mother's Day. This little guy fills me heart and has probably taught me more than I will ever teach him. 

Our anniversary usually always lands on Mother's Day weekend, so that weekend, we also celebrated our EIGHT YEAR ANNIVERSARY! We left the babysitter in the sandbox with G and peeled out on two wheels! We had the best time at Trinity Groves in Downtown Dallas! We spent some time looking at the view on the rooftop bar at Saint Rocco's and then had THE BEST seafood meal at Amberjax. 

I didn't think we were doing big gifts for our anniversary, so I found this darling little bucket at a gift shop that had cards inside to fill out with what is on your family bucket list. We had the best time talking about our dreams/goals/trips and filling the bucket! You can read all about our Bucket List here!

Jeremie ended up surprising me with a MacBook Air for anniversary/Mother's Day, so you can imagine what a winner I felt like for giving him a tin bucket. #oneup #thereisalwaysnextyear

I actually cried when I opened the MacBook. For the past few years I've been using a super old PC that would rival the size of the 1991 Macintosh Classic. I called her Bessie.

The school year ended faster than two shakes of a lamb's tail it seemed.  Greyson looked like he was 12 years old on the last day.....TEARS....

                         

We didn't mean to be twinsies, but we were totally rocking the seafoam green and denim shorts. 

That Saturday, we were looking forward to sort of "celebrating"the beginning Summer, but instead we woke up to this...

Greyson's eye was swollen shut from a mosquito bite...his little skin reacts so horribly! He's had it before on other parts of his body.  I was 99% sure it'd be fine and go down....but it's his EYE. I just couldn't risk that future conversation of "Sorry, Greyson, your eye is permanently damaged because Mama didn't want to ruin a perfectly good Saturday...."  So off to the Saturday Clinic we went. They pretty much told us: "It's a mosquito bite" and recommended some Benadryl.  Two hours and $40 later we moved on with our weekend. #kids #parenting

After looking through more pictures of May, it seems that we spent half of it at our new favorite park, Jack Carter Playground! It's the BEST for toddlers! Everything's so low and easily accessible for the tiny tots! 

The sandbox has been in full swing too......

And on the MANY rainy days in May, we played "Castle" with the pillows on my bed...

I KNEW my 72 throw pillows would come in handy one day...

May was also the Month of Outdoor Dining for our family! We LOVE the new Boardwalk area and Hub Streat in Plano!

Summer time means playdates and we had our fun share.....

The Playdate Co. in Richardson with Dallas Moms Blog playgroup!

Then our first splash pad visit with Collin County Moms Blog playgroup!

For Memorial Day, we booked a last minute staycation at our favorite downtown spot, The Adolphus Hotel. This is not sponsored....but the Adolphus is totally remodeled and beautiful! Their rooms, pool, and famous lobby are absolutely gorgeous! We had the best time taking G to Trinity Groves, The Rustic, and Klyde Warren Park. You can read all about our Memorial Day staycation here!

Now that ALL the schools are out, it's finally time to OFFICIALLY kick off The Summer O' Fun! 

My friends and I met at....you guessed it...Jack Carter Playground this week and swapped ALL our ideas for our Summer Bucket List! (Print yours here.)

I hung the banner......

And we're ready!!!!

Over the weekend, I compiled everyone's destinations/ideas/inspirations, and put them into one post! You can see the entire list here!

And that was May! I can't believe it's already Summertime but I couldn't be more excited!

Hope your Summer is off to a an amazing start! Here we go June!