Memorial Day Weekend

Angela here!  Hope everyone had a wonderful Memorial Day and weekend!  We stayed busy and spent a ton of time outside.  And my baby girl decided she doesn't want to be a baby any longer.  She is standing, cruising and on the move.  She's 9 1/2 months now and can pull herself up on furniture.  She doesn't like the Exer-Saucer anymore and her favorite trick is clapping.  I fear my days are limited before I have another walker in the house.

Adley moved up to the "big kid" room at school.  She's now with all the infants who are walking and eating solid foods.  Thankfully, she caught on quickly and can smash, chew and destroy any food that you put in front of her.  This mama is excited to no longer have to make baby food in my limited free time!  Daycare even has her taking two longer naps instead of the three cat-naps that she was doing previously. 

On Saturday, we went to the neighborhood pool for a couple hours with the Bockelman crew and my girlfriend Jenny and her daughter, Avery.  The weather held out and the kids exhausted themselves with endless water fun.

Anderson is a great swimmer.  Hudson, well....he needs more practice.  But wherever Anderson swam in the water, Hudson was immediately behind him trying to keep up.  The boys could not be separated.  Even when a bathroom break was needed,  Hudson was promptly there to monitor the situation.  I'm praying Anderson never gets tried of his mini-me trailing right behind him.   

Below is Chris' version on how to monitor small children while at the pool.....

 Adley wasn't too fond of the water at first.  But after observing the big kids, she warmed up soon thereafter.  She liked to watch the kiddos run through the mushroom waterfall and scream.  After they ran through it, she would clap for them :)

 Love and hugs from Aunt Shannon....

 On Sunday, Chris took the kids to the Niederman's Farm for an event that our church was having.  There were food trucks, live bands, inflatables and this crazy trampoline that Hudson adored.  LollyPop and their neighbors tagged along as well.  As for myself, I spent six hours mulching the back yard.  It was a beautiful quiet afternoon for this mama!

Hudson with his honorary grandma, K'ma.

We spent Memorial Day at home, in our backyard, with no major agenda, and it was fabulous.  The weather was perfect and the kids had endless toys to keep them busy. 

Lolly brought over popsicles....mainly for Hudson, but everyone reaped the reward.  Hudson has been doing a great job at using the potty the past couple weeks.  He now tells us when he has to go and seems eager about nixing the pull-ups soon.  Every time he "goes," he has to call Lolly and tell her the news.  He has caught on to the fact that Lolly will bring him a "special treat."  Today, it was popsicles.     

 We got out the slip-n-slide that Mimi and Pop Wilson gave Hudson for his birthday last year.  He's finally old enough to use it, kinda.  The boys didn't quite get the concept to run and slide.  Luckily, Uncle Drew stepped in and flailed them down the slippery slide.

 I think Claire found her new best friend.  She was always by Adley's side, making sure she had a toy or a snack.  They play quietly and perfect with each other, unlike two little boys I know.

And another round of popsicles...

Both my children were asleep by 7pm.  It was a great way to end the holiday weekend!  Quiet and calm.  Hope everyone has a wonderful week ahead.

Soccer Season and Cousins

It's soccer season!  And I'm not biased at all when I say Hudson is the most adorable soccer player one has ever seen.  It's a fact; he can rock those cleats and shin guards like no other.  And he's surprisingly coordinated on the field.  We weren't anticipating much after seeing Anderson and his friends pick flowers on the sidelines last year.  But Hud impressed and delivered.  He had two practices and his first game was this weekend.

It rained all last weekend, so we piled all the cousins in the car and headed to the BoonShoft Museum of Discovery.  It's the perfect place to let the kids run around like crazy, while attempting to throw some knowledge their way and pray that it sticks.  There was even a mini zoo.  Before Adley fell asleep, she enjoyed cruising along the small short windows with her brother...

The kids did science experiments and made glow-in-the-dark bubbles.  They "studied" chemical reactants and reagents, all while learning the important lesson of not drinking the vinegar in the test tube.  Their favorite part was the huge slide and cargo net that all three could climb up on their own.  I failed to snap a picture due to their swift climbing skills.  

Adley is getting stronger by the day.  She's on a mission now and is crawling all over the place.  She wants to know what's going on around her at all times.  She's always swinging her head left to right and back again to watch us all.  She is even starting to stay up a tad bit later in order to bathe with the big kids.  She got to take her first bath with the cousins at LollyPops house last week.

And she now gets to bathe with Hudson on most nights... 

Adley also experienced her first dip in the YMCA pool.  It's a heated pool with a water slide.  Against Chris' wishes, she did not experience the slide, but she was able to lounge in her floatie and watch all the big kids play.

Daycare had a cute Mother's Day brunch on Friday.  Thankfully, my surgeries ended early and I was able to meet Lolly and Hudson for ham and cheese sandwiches, pasta salad, veggies and Oreos.  He was so excited to see us.  And he was funny.  When I asked him what he had done so far that day, he replied: "I didn't wrestle anyone."  Proud moment for this mama.  The day before he was wrestling and ended up giving a kid a bloody nose!  But the teachers said it wasn't intentional and they weren't too upset...still not sure if I believe that statement.  

Then came the big soccer game this weekend.  Hudson actually scored a legit goal!  Again, we weren't expecting much.  But he was cute.  Whenever the referee would call a break, Hudson made a point to runnnnn over to the sidelines and give us each a high five.

Hudson and Anderson donning their soccer gear.

Adley was all gussied up for the big soccer game...then she fell asleep for an hour and missed it all....

 By the time she woke up, we were inside the YMCA playing on the jungle gym...  

The evening consisted of everyone coming over for bubbles, Star Wars and pizza.  These kiddos can't get enough of each other.  Can't you tell by Anderson's expression and level of excitement?!?!

 

 Two of my favorite people.  They adore each other.... 

Until next time.  Hope all the mamas out there had a fabulous Mother's Day!

Boone Family Reunion

Angela here!  We survived a fun and crazy trip to Gatlinburg last week with 22 of Chris' nearest and dearest relatives.  He has family in both Florida and Colorado and this was the second year of the Boone Reunion - with DeeDee being the matriarch of the group.  We had a great start to the vacation with Hudson and Adley leaving us speechless on the car ride down.  Perfect doesn't even describe their behavior.  Adley took a two hour nap followed by a three hour nap.  I even had to do the pinch-her-nose-to-make-sure-she's-breathing technique because she was being so quiet.  Hudson looked out the window and "counted trees" for the first two hours before I gave him the iPad.  I told him the iPad was charging and he actually believed me.  I'm praying his innocence lasts a very long time.

Everyone filtered in last Wednesday and we all stayed under one roof in a beautiful cabin in the Great Smoky Mountains.  There were eight little tikes, all under the age of five, all excited to see their Great Grandma DeeDee.  Hudson is the youngest boy and Adley is the youngest girl of the cousins and Hud was so excited to spend endless amounts of time with the big kids.  He followed them everywhere.  If they laughed, he tried to laugh louder.  If they ran, he tried to run just as fast.  He even skipped naps.  This made for a rough first day of vacation for him, as he tried to adjust to the hectic schedule.  We all went for a hike in the woods on Thursday and he had a meltdown.  He couldn't run or play or pick up sticks for his "treasure bag."  All he wanted was for mommy to hold him.  Poor guy was pitiful.  But pitiful always makes for a good picture! 

Chris kept wanting to "Michael Jackson" my baby girl by holding her near creeks, rocks or bridges.   He always says she "needs a better view," and no injuries have occurred (yet), but I quickly go into mommy-panic mode when he takes Adley on an "adventure."  Luckily, I had a slew of mommas helping me regulate all three of my children.

There were endless activities planned for the kids....water guns, bubbles, bath time finger painting and glow sticks just to name a few.  They loved each and every activity.  And seeing them all congregate together was actually entertaining.  Each child had a unique personality and it was sweet to see them interact with one another.  Except for the meltdowns, crying and whining moments; those were not sweet.  Those moment were loud and happened often, but thankfully they were short-lived.

Aidan, Claire, Anderson, Wesley, Hudson, Aubrey and Emery (Baby Adley was napping)

Squirt gun pic below. The kids loveeeed shooting each other and the adults.  But once they got wet themselves, they cried and fell apart.  It was hilarious to watch (thanks to the glass of wine keeping me company!).

Hudson was a good big brother on the trip.  He was very protective of Adley and always made sure she was happy.  When another cousin got close to her, he would quickly run up and put himself between the two and shout, "That's my Baby Adley!"  He's good at sharing, as long as it's not his little sister.  And notice his gentle technique with holding her....

Bath time is always a fun time...

On Friday we headed to downtown Gatlinburg for putt-putt, mirror mazes and a cable car ride to the top of the mountain.  At the top was a mini amusement park and a playground that the kids got to enjoy.

On Saturday we traveled into Pigeon Forge, which I thought was much more kid-friendly for the age group we were herding around.  The kiddos had a ton of fun on different rides and enjoyed the sites.  We even did a family ride on the Ferris Wheel.

Hudson got a "horsey ride" on the carousel with his daddy.  He loved it so much we had to do it again.  I'm amazed that he's still obsessed with horses.  I'm going to have to put him in riding lessons once he gets older.

Once Adley woke up, she loved all the excitement as well.  She took over an hour nap in the stroller.  I can't help but to say she was again...perfect!  I keep telling Chris she's saving all her non-perfect moments for her pre-teens years.  I'm anticipating a total diva in about a decade, so I'm soaking up all her sweetness now while it lasts.  

The final evening of the trip consisted of a photo shoot.  Surprisingly, the kids did very well (Claire had a few "moments," but again, those make for funny photos).

DeeDee with all her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Claire and her "moment".....

The entire crew!

And Hudson ended the day by playing with stamps...

It was a great trip and I feel blessed to be surrounded by such wonderful people that love and care for one another.  I'm hoping we can continue the tradition.  And if I get a vote on the location next year...I pick Turks and Caicos!!