Austin, TX trip part 1

I am finally getting our TX trip posted! I decided to do it in parts like the FL post since I have so many pics. We headed on Wed, June 15, around 6pm. We had 3 pillow pets, 80 diapers, 1 GPS, 2 grandparents, 2 parents, and 2 children under the age of 5, among other things! We decided to stick the boys all the way in the back so that they didn't distract Daddy as much, and so that Mom and I could be near the doors. They did very well on our drive. It's nice going at night because they do sleep well for the most part in their seats. One thing we learned from our trip is that the state of Oklahoma has as many casinos as Las Vegas, and they need to use the money they earn from them to FIX THEIR ROADS! They were HORRIBLE...I felt like I was on a never-ending roller coaster ride. Bumpy is an understatement. Somehow the boys slept through that, thank goodness.

My cute, ornery-as-the-day-is-long little toddler. Hunter was a trooper on the trip, since he is too young for movies yet and didn't understand what we were doing. We did have some meltdowns, especially on the way home, which was during the day, but all things considered he was a really good boy. Luckily he distracts easily. Like when he realized that if he tips his "no-spill" sippy cup upside down and shakes it hard enough, water will still come out. ;)

My sweet big boy. Holden was great on our drive. He loves to watch movies on his DVD player, play on his Leapster Explorer, have books read to him, and chat with whoever will engage him. We didn't have the car sickness issues that we had on our FL drive, so I'm wondering if those were due to the mountains? He was also good at handing Hunter snacks and keeping him entertained.

We arrived in Texas around 5:3o am. And yes, we are the kind of dorks that go to the Texas welcome area at 5:30am to attempt to take pictures by the star while it is still dark out. You can see how well our group picture turned out. HA!

This one is a bit better. I don't think we look too horrible considering we have been in a van for 15 hours!

The boys enjoying the opportunity to stretch.

Happy little guy on Texas soil.

We originally planned to go to the JFK Museum in Dallas when it opened. As we were driving into the city, we saw a cool helicopter hovering that Holden kept pointing out. Soon we see crowds of people....wearing Mavericks jerseys, jewelry, etc. Come to find out we were about to be in the middle of the Mavericks' victory parade, which the helicopter was televising. Crack me up! Only us! After MANY detours, we gave up on the museum and headed to a Cracker Barrel for breakfast.

Hunter was a big fan of this option. :)

(That is a fruit stick he is eating. Disgusting, right? But he likes them.)

Breakfast pics in Dallas
After Cracker Barrel, we headed to...LEGO LAND!
It was truly one of the neatest places we have visited.

I would highly recommend Lego Land for all ages. Holden had a blast on the rides, building things, and climbing in the kids' area. Hunter enjoyed looking at everything and playing in the toddler spot. We all enjoyed the neat simulations that were built, the rides, and the 4-D movie.

The simulation room was so neat! It was an entire city made of Legos. There were buttons that the boys could push that made things move and light up. The city started in "daylight," but slowly faded to night. At "night time," fireworks went off on the walls. Really fun!
Don't we look hot in our 4-D glasses?
Hunter found them to be quite tasty.
We enjoyed the Bob the Builder movie!

Lego Land was located in a huge mall. Once we were finished, Holden enjoyed the carousel, and Papa took the boys on a train ride. I am glad he decided to take Hunter, because I had no idea how far the train would go, or how long the ride would be! It evidently went clear around the mall. I think I would have freaked out if Holden were off by himself on it! When they returned, Hunter had fallen asleep. Guess he was pretty impressed. ;)

For lunch we hit up the Rainforest Cafe. This was the first visit for both boys. Holden loved throwing pennies in the alligator's mouth!
Can you find the actual monkey amidst these pictures? Yes, we are big dorks.

And we have a lot of fun!

We checked into the Westin by the Dallas airport for the night. Daddy, the boys, and I enjoyed the rooftop pool. It was HOT, but really windy. The pool water was freezing, and Holden loved getting really warm in the hot tub, then jumping back in the cold water. Hunter just liked splashing by the steps.

I'll skip the story about Jay offering to take us back to the mall to do some shopping after he had driven all night and not slept. And the part where Hunter had a horrible diaper rash due to his Augmentin (finishing up an ear infection) and pooped while Daddy had him in the stroller. And the part where I was trying on an enormous pile of clothes in Forever 21 and heard them come into the store because I recognized the screams to be those of my baby. And the part about the super long line to check out and Daddy's temper tantrum, and my subsequent temper tantrum. And the part where we got back to the hotel room fuming at each other because we were so tired and crabby and realized Hunter had pooped AGAIN and all the diapers were back down in the van. Yeah, I'll just skip all that. LOL!

After an all night drive, and a full first day in TX, it was time to hit the sack! Jay, Holden, and I shared a king-sized bed. This is how much space was left for me after my shower.

HA! Bed hogs!

Sweet sleeping baby boy in his pack n' play.


Stay tuned for Part 2!

Memorial Day 2011 (just a tad late!) :)

We had a wonderful July 4th, and hopefully I will be ready for that post while it is still July! Ha! We also had a great Memorial Day, which I am now finally posting. Hey, they're both patriotic holidays, right? :)

Here are the boys in their Americana baseball shirts.

Grammy, Papa, and Memaw joined Jay, the boys, and I for the parade in Bloomington. (Can you tell Hunter has popcorn chicken in his mouth? Little chipmunk!)

Holden's preschool buddy, Catherine, and his swimming buddy, Robert (her brother) :) and their cousins met up with us for the parade. I love how patriotic they look. Angie always has them all decked out. :)

Hunter enjoyed the parade MUCH more than last year! I remember my dad running away from the loud sirens/drums with him to a shady spot. I think he was around 3 months old then. (?) This year he watched everything with interest, (of course eating the entire time) and liked alternately waving and chewing on his little flag. Sorry for any of the flag respect codes that he broke. :)


The parade was a little disappointing this year. It was much shorter than usual, and I think the kids got about 2 pieces of candy each. Not that candy is what Memorial Day is about, but when you are 4 it is an exciting aspect. We wondered if the economy played a role in how much smaller it was? We did enjoy seeing some of our favorite things. Holden and I always like seeing the Shriners men in their little cars. The bottom left pic. is a very disappointed boy holding up his meager bag of candy. Ha!

Some pics of the boys in our backyard. I couldn't quite get one of them both just smiling normally, but they are still cute.

Playing in the backyard. Holden and Jay went out early before the parade and got some new BLUE sand for the sandbox! Holden is thrilled with anything involving the hose.

The public pools opened Memorial Day weekend! We couldn't wait to enjoy some family swim time! Holden still loves the Polar Bear slide at Fairview.

Swim fun with Robert and Catherine.


Hunter was content to sit with Daddy and his big green bucket.

Love our boys!

The boys had a great time in the sand area, too. I know it is messy and kinda gross, but it is worth it to see them enjoy themselves so much. Hunter took his first major steps here on this day...he had been taking 1 or 2, but not consistently. He was very motivated by the sand! I will say that he was absolutely ticked off when I had to rinse him off in the FREEZING cold sprayers when we were done. Poor baby! He kept gasping and screaming. Wish they had warmer water! Holden has always hated it, too, but he's finally old enough this year to realize he has to rinse off and to be resigned to that fact. :)

Back home for a cookout with my parents and Jay's parents. Memaw got the boys a new sprinkler ball for their bdays. Holden LOVES it! Most of these pics are blurry because he was in constant motion. :) Hunter enjoys water but on his own terms, just like Holden did at that age. He is not a fan of being sprayed yet.

Remember that disappointed candy picture earlier? My parents felt so bad for him that they went out and got him a whole bagful of candy. Just what the child needed! Lol!

Hunter chilling in the swing with Pepaw and Memaw while Holden has his sprinkler time.

The boys topped the day off by playing in their newly filled sand box. The blue sand is a big hit. With them. Not so much Mommy. :) It does not stain, but it seems to stick to their little bodies more than the regular kind. Or maybe it just shows up better?! Especially on Hunter, who tends to drool and then end up somehow smearing it on his face and getting it in his mouth, hair, and down his clothing. It sure is patriotic looking though!

May Mish Mosh

I am plugging away at posts, trying to catch up. :) Almost done with May! Too bad it's only July at the moment. This summer is just FLYING by for me!! Being a teacher, I look at July 4th weekend as kinda the halfway point. I literally was in shock when I realized last week that it was almost upon us! We had a fabulous trip to Texas...can't wait to blog about it! But first, some fun May pics that I didn't want to exclude.

Jay and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary on June 19th, while we were in Texas. 7 years! In some ways it seems like yesterday that we walked down the aisle, and in other ways it seems like a lifetime ago. So happy to be Mrs. Hobson! :) Since we knew we'd be on vacation, we decided to celebrate on April 30th, which marked 12 years since our first date! Jay surprised me with an overnight to the Marriot in Uptown Normal! His mom stayed with the boys. I feel bad because I kinda gave him a hard time about it. I am not the best person to surprise, since I like to plan and be in charge of things. Hunter had been having a lot of sleeping/ear issues and I was worried about leaving him. Of course he survived without me, and I did really enjoy our little get-away once I was out.

We enjoyed a really yummy dinner at the hotel restaurant. It had the comfiest seats ever! There were pillows all the way around behind us.

I try to get a picture each year in the spring when our tree is flowering. It is such a short period of time that it looks this gorgeous. I got this ONE shot of both boys before Hunter crawled out of the picture. :)

We had cooler weather in the beginning of May. Love these of Hunter in his footy pj's. Holden was "helping" Daddy with yard work, but it was too cold for our little one. He watched with rapt attention for over an hour at the front door.

Mother's Day weekend, the boys and I went to the zoo with Grammy and Papa. It was a really pretty day to enjoy it. (I remembered these pictures today, actually, as we were there with my parents again. We had a heat index of over 100 degrees. We were all a sweaty mess and I did NOT take any pics! Ha!) Love the two below of the boys and their grandparents.

Feeding the goats.

The zoo had a little stage for their "Critter Shows." Holden LOVES to go up there when it is not in use, and make up his own performances, which he often involves all of us in. Hunter enjoyed some walking practice with Papa. (By the way, he has since become a full-fledged walker! He began right before our TX trip, and really took off while we were there.)

My sweet baby boy

Excited about the otters
Holden getting a lift from Grammy and Papa

I can just hear him saying, "Swing me! Again! Again!"

A trip to the Miller Park Zoo would not be complete without a ride on the carousel!
My little scuba diver. Lol! The zoo lab has a dress up area that Holden just loves.

Hunter playing at the park

Papa made Holden's day by treating him to a round of putt-putt golf.

More to come...