Crazy Weather

Wow I'm so behind on blogging again and our 13 day trip might take weeks to write about.....I better get busy.  We had some really crazy stormy days in February and Al was out of town a lot which always makes time go by really slow.  Alex and Cole love to eat at this pizza place by us called Pie Five where you get to make your own pizza so that's what we did Friday night at 5pm :)   Cole's personality constantly makes us laugh, you just never know what he's going to do.  This day he wore his sunglasses around everywhere because clearly it was sunny and warm :)

Al continuing his 100 day running challenge in the freezing cold windy Frisco weather.  I finally talked him into investing in some running pants :)

More snow and a snowman with Dad!!

Our favorite mall, Northpark but Alex and Cole call it the turtle mall because they have this random pond with turtles.

Oh man the terrible twos are crazy sometimes.  You just never know when this kid could break down and how do you get mad or reason with them in public places.  I think this day he wanted me to carry him, he wanted more juice samples, and he wanted to push that dang little cart.

A mommy/Alex afternoon yogurt date which we need to do more because he is still talking about it 2 months later, love him.

I decided I wanted to get rid of the bunk beds (the ceiling fans freak me out) and I thought it would be better for them to share a room.  We just happened to be in Pottery Barn Kids one night and they had this bed as a floor model on sale for half price so Al said if we could find another one to match at that price we could do it and we found one!!   I put them in the same room for one night and realized it was too soon, so we put Cole back in his room in a toddler bed and I'll give it a few more months.  I'm not ready to give up Alex's nap/quiet time.

Grandma Cameron came and watched the boys for 13 days while we were on our vacation and I don't think I'll ever be able to do tell her how thankful we are.   It was hard to be away from them that long, but made it a little bit easier when we knew they were in good hands and happy.   Cole doesn't look that happy in this picture, but I know they loved their time with Grandma even though they didn't sleep for her!!

Snow In Texas

On Friday it snowed all day long and it was so pretty. It made me homesick for Utah and I was really wishing I could look outside and see the mountains.  We don't own any snow clothes, but we had coats, hats, mittens, and Hunter boots that seemed to do the trick.  The boys were so excited to play in the snow.   

Nothing is better than eating fresh snow.

They loved it.

Running through the snow and throwing it at each other.

Before they came inside each of them made a snow angel.  

Al was originally supposed to come home Saturday morning, but he switched his flight to Friday night because the entire city of Dallas shuts down when it snows.  His flight got delayed a few times before he decided he was going to rent a car and drive home from Houston.  On his way out he saw that there was a flight on Southwest that was about to leave to Dallas Love Field so he bought a ticket and got home around 11pm that night, thank goodness.  Saturday morning was filled with lots of fun including a Snowman with Daddy.

Ice Storm

I've heard people talk about Dallas ice storms for months and we finally got to witness our first one.  Everyone gets a little crazy and fills up their cars with gas, goes grocery shopping, and prepares to be stuck at home for days.   Sunday night it started raining, but it was really raining ice.  Monday morning everything was covered in a thick layer of ice.  Al is doing a 100 day running challenge with his former boss Rob but the ice didn't stop him and he still drove to the airport that night and somehow got on a flight.  

All schools were cancelled and kids were out sledding on whatever they could find, so funny.  Al took Alex and Cole out for a bit and lasted about 3 minutes until they were cold.

Days at home are long for us since we are so used to getting out everyday.  I went to Target the day before to buy some groceries and also stopped at Best Buy to buy the new Disney movie that just came out, Big Hero 6.  We built a big fort, watched movies, colored, played with toys, and watched more movies.

Alex is at the best age right now.  I love everything he says and does.  He is so much fun to talk to and hang out with.  Mama will you take a picture of me with my stuffed animals-Alex

On Wednesday morning huge snowflakes were falling from the sky so before Alex went to school I took some pictures.

Every time I take a picture I say look at the camera and smile and they look everywhere but there or  one of them looks and the other one doesn't.

Candid shots always end up being the best anyway and I'm love how these turned out.  

I think this one is my favorite.  I love the way Alex has his shoulder up and Cole is looking up at the snowflakes.  

They are seriously so cute I can't stand it.  I just love them so much and so so grateful I get to stay at home with them and watch moments like this.  Stay little forever

Cooking Class

Look momma I drew a picture of you-Alex

Trader Joes used to be my favorite grocery to shop at but recently I hate it.  Cole thinks he needs one of their mini carts to push around and I finally had to give in since Alex was with us this day.  Sometimes I feel like Cole behaves better when Alex is around and is easier to reason with.  Shopping is definitely more stressful with 2 little kids running around the store with mini carts.  Alex behaves perfectly and pushes it right by my side, but Cole is a different story.  

Every time we got to Costco the boys ask me if we can eat.  Cole loves their hot dogs and Alex loves the pizza.  Too bad they don't have anything mommy loves :)

A spontaneous mall trip with Dad to activate our cell phone for our trip around the world!!  I found a floor model bed for Alex's room at Pottery Barn Kids and Al agreed that it was a good deal, so no more bunk beds for his room.

I've been trying to plan more one on one time with Alex and Cole.  Al took Alex to Top Golf on a Saturday afternoon. While they waited for a bay Alex got to play Xbox connect, eat chips and salsa, and drink lemonade.  They called me while they were waiting and he sounded sooooo excited.   

I'm not sure what sport Alex will enjoy, but I could see him as a golfer or tennis player, maybe it's the blonde hair.  Either way I'm glad he got to spend some one on one time with his Dad.  I think it's important for kids and makes them feel special.

That night Al and I had a cooking class on sautéing and pan sauces at Central Market.  We learned how to hold a knife, cut an onion, sear a steak, and make banana flambe.

Here we are with our instructor who had cooked for so many influential people including George Bush.  It was a fun evening and it's always good to learn more about cooking.

Valentines Day Part 2

We had a romantic lunch together at In n Out.  Cole and Alex call it the grilled cheese place, but they love it since they get hats, stickers, and yummy food.  Plus it's in their blood since they are California boys :)  Cole discovered his love for ketchup during this lunch and it was so cute watching his little chubby fingers dip his fries in it.

Our next stop was checking in at the Hotel and trying to get quick naps in. We had to be to the Stockyards for the cattle drive at 4pm!!   At 3:45 we got pulled over for going 80 in a 50 and the worst part is it was a major tollway that is identical to a freeway.  When the cop came over and Al rolled down the window Alex said look mamma it's a Cowboy, seriously so funny.  The cop still gave us a ticket and as we pulled off he pulled over another car!!  Happy Valentines Day  We made it to the stockyards with about 1 minute to spare and there was maybe 10 cows in the cattle drive.  I was envisioning about 100 cows and at least 10 minutes of entertainment.  Oh well :)

We had about 4 hours to kill before the rodeo so we walked around, hung out on the grass practicing selfies with our selfie stick.

We paid $5 for each kid to get their picture on a bull, but totally worth it because look how cute they are.  My little Texas cowboys in their skinny jeans and converse.

Another Tex Mex dinner for the books.  We love our chips and salsa!!

Doors opened for the rodeo at 6:30 and we were there with some funnel cakes, churros, and an hour and a half to kill before it started.  I haven't been to a rodeo in years and I've never been to one in Texas!!

Cole is a nose picker and thinks it's funny, thats a habit we need to break fast!!

Poor Alex was so tired especially since he didn't nap.  He fell asleep in my arms around 8:45 and we left the rodeo around 9:15.  

Cole woke up crying around 1am and it lasted for awhile until we got him to go pee.  The joys of parenthood.   Sunday morning we slept in until 9am!!  Alex was up at 7 or so and opened all his blinds in the living area, turned on the lights, and colored pictures until we woke up.  Al went to grab breakfast and then met us at the pool.  I hope we can find a house with a pool and then they need to learn to swim asap!!

Our last stop in Fort Worth was the famous water gardens I saw all over Pinterest.  They are these huge fountains downtown that you can walk to the bottom of.

I kept thinking one of them was going to fall in, but they listened pretty well and we all survived.  It was fun day in Fort Worth minus the ticket so just remember don't speed on their new tollway.  

Valentines Day Part 1

We talked about going to Austin for Valentines weekend to run the half, but decided at the last minute to not go since neither of us had really trained.  We had our Valentines dinner the night before at Bistro 31 in Highland Park Village.  I had some of the best scallops I've ever had, yum.

As we were finishing up our dinner this guy walked by that I went to high school with so I grabbed his arm and said hey didn't you go to Cottonwood?  Sure enough it was him and so random.  13 years later and I recognized him which I don't think he remembered who I was, but it was still fun to catch up for a bit.  

You never know how Cole is going to sleep.  For some reason this age is really hard with sleep and I remember Alex being so much worse.

Happy Valentines Day with their mini dinosaurs, new books, swords, chapsticks and Be My Valentine Charlie Brown DVD(they love Snoopy right now)!!  Holidays are so much better with kids.

Valentines day breakfast.  This was the only piece of heart shaped bacon that turned out.

We decided to spend the weekend in Fort Worth which is about an hour from us.  We went to the zoo that morning and had so much fun.  Their elephants, giraffes and hippos were all next to each other, it was awesome.

The weather was so amazing it was almost like being back in Pasadena.

The most exciting part of the zoo trip was while we were feeding the birds I had Alex sitting on the edge of a railing that had water below.  When we went to leave his shoe got stuck on the railing and fell into the water below.  I looked down and was like oh no and he started crying.  Luckily it was just a big bird cage and not where they kept the alligators.   

This nice zoo worker found his net and scooped up his shoe for us.  Al went to the bathroom and dried the shoe with the hand dryer and wha la good as new :)   

We took the train back to the front of the zoo and they loved it.  Cole says chugga chugga chugga chugga choo choo in the cutest little voice.  His love for trains is the best!!

and a family photo in front of the fort worth zoo!!!  I'm so glad we went when it opened because there was probably a mile long line of cars to get in the parking lot.  Early bird catches the worm :)