ROADTRIP!!!

Last Thursday, Mon and I loaded up Crockett, Braidy & Quin, and LOTS of other stuff and headed to the Hill Country for a visit with Poppa & JJ. We were slighly worried about the 6 hour drive, but with 2 dvd players, lots of trucks and snacks, good music and Crockett and Braidy to entertain Quin, it was actually not bad AT ALL! As soon as we got there it was time for some FUN! We had been promising swimming in exchange for good behavior the whole way, so as soon as we got there, we all put our bathing suits on and jumped into the almost 90 degree water. It was WONDERFUL! Even Quin loved swimming in water that warm! Wouldn't mind doing that everyday! After some swimming and a little relaxation, the boys found Bentley, the cat, and immediately chased him off. They continued to look for him daily, without a whole lot of luck. Braidy was convinced he was in the "forest" :)

The next day, Poppa took us to Landa Park in New Braunfels to ride the choo-choo train! It was so hot, but we loved the train. The conductor always throws nuts to the squirrels, so as the train approached them, they would run up to the train and stand up... was the cutest thing! Next time we are taking nuts to feed them. It was such great fun and the conductor even let the boys ring the bell! They thought that was pretty cool! After the park, we stopped by Naeglin's bakery, which was BEYOND DELICIOUS, and headed for some lunch at Buddy's Backyard. There was a fantastic playground there, so Poppa took them to play and eat outside, leaving Monica, Quin and I to eat a quiet lunch... we weren't quite sure what to do with ourselves :) The rest of the afternoon consisted of swimming, looking for Bentley ("Kitty.... where are you??" is what Crockett learned to say :), throwing ROCKS and running around. These little boys were definitely in their element! On Friday night, Rachy joined us! She even brought her sweet friend, Sara, to play with us a while! We were so glad to see her and catch up... We miss our RiRi!

On Saturday, we went down to the Pearl Brewery for the AWESOME farmer's market they have and then to ride the boat. It was lots of fun, but it was OH SO HOT! It is such a fun boat ride, some really great sights and you get to go through the lock, which is neat, but next time we will wait until DECEMBER to do this! Ha! We were all dripping with sweat, hiding under umbrellas and getting sunburned anyways! When we got off, we had some hungry boys, so we headed to Chris Madrid's for some lunch. Braidy fell asleep at the table... if that tells you how sleepy these boys were! As soon as we got home, Mon and I tried to get everyone into bed to continue their naps, so that we could get in the pool for our daily "lay out" session! I think Poppa and JJ actually deserve the credit for getting the boys to sleep that day :) JJ's son, Jay, and his wife, Kiley, and a few of their friends came over for dinner. We even got homemade Butterfinger ice cream for dessert! YUM! Quin got some too, and immediately broke out into hives... definitely not the strawberries this time!

On Sunday, we ate some delicious waffles for breakfast and just played. The boys watched Woody & Buzz (for the 159th time) and The Lion King and Poppa and JJ offered to babysit while Mon and I went SHOPPING!!! We didn't stay gone for too long, and everyone was swimming when we got back. Don't think they really missed us at all! Chris's dad, Steve, was in town and got to join us for dinner. When he arrived, Crockett had just woke up from a nap, and was a BEAR! Luckily, after walking outside and throwing some rock and stuff and playing with some blocks, he cheered up and had a good visit with his Grandpa. I am so glad Steve understood, he even said he used to know a little boy who was the same way :) (HaHa, Chris!) Rachy also had to leave that evening to go back to Dallas. We were so glad she was able to come.

I am sure Poppa and JJ were so exhausted by the time we left... those little boys were going non-stop the whole time we were there! They were constantly, running up and down the hill, looking for Bentley, feeding the deer, throwing rocks, climbing fences, swimming (in their trunks or even their undies!), watching Woody and Buzz, dumping out the little tiny legos, going up and down the stairs... Just being BUSY LITTLE BOYS! Everyone had a wonderful time, though, and hopefully they will be ready for Quin to join the mix next year too!

Thanks Poppa and JJ for having us and being such great hosts! We had a BLAST and made some wonderful memories!