San Diego

This blog is actually not about Parker believe it or not :) A couple of weeks ago, Anthony and I were able to take a vacation...just the two of us...to San Diego, CA. We were very excited since we were WAY over-do for a trip with just us! Our friends Kevin and Caraleigh were getting married in La Jolla, CA- which was the reason for out trip out there. The wedding was at Caraleigh's parents home in La Jolla, and the entire thing was absolutely beautiful. We were very excited to be able to share their wedding day with them, and we had such a great time. Congrats Kevin and Caraleigh :)

Anthony and I also crammed in as many other touristy and fun activities as we could while we were there. We went to Seaport Village, the Gaslamp District, took a Harbor Cruise, went to a Padre's game, went to the beach, went to the Hotel Del Coronado, walked around downtown A LOT, ate at a ton of good places, and relaxed by the pool at the WONDERFUL Marriott resort we stayed at on Coronado Island. We both fell in love with San Diego and the beautiful weather there! We had SUCH a great trip, and we are so glad we were able to go!

Parker stayed with my parents while we were gone, and Anthony's parents watched him one day also. It was so hard leaving him, but we knew he was in such good hands and every time I called to check on him he was having a blast. I was very excited to see him once we got home and it melted my heart when he gave me a big hug and said "Miss you mommy" when he saw me for the first time.

I am attaching some pictures from the wedding and from the rest of our trip. Enjoy :)




THE VIEW FROM OUR BALCONY AT THE CORONADO RESORT




KEVIN AND CARALEIGH'S WEDDING!




US AT THE WEDDING :)




CORONADO BEACH




PADRE'S BASEBALL GAME




OUR SELF-PORTRAIT ON OUR BALCONY :)

Off to the fair we went....

So, we ventured out to the Williamson County Fair again this year. We took Parker last year and had a good time, but this year was even better. He was able to do SO much more this year, and was a lot more into everything. There were several toddler rides that he could do, which he loved. He kept saying "again, again, one more time, one more time." There was also a large petting zoo and he got to ride a real pony! They also had a little "fake farm" set up and the kids got to wear an apron and do various farm activities. They fed the fake chickens, milked a fake cow, and picked fake fruits and vegetables. At the end you took your stuff to the market and sold it for fake money to buy something at the store. Parker picked out animal crackers with the money he made! It was a really cute idea, and Parker seemed to enjoy it! Oh- and I can't forget the pirate bear that Anthony won for Parker...which only ended up costing us $17 in games :) Here are some pics from the fair!

SURPRISE!!!

My friend Rachael,(who I have mentioned in previous blogs) just recently finished her treatments for breast cancer!! In honor of this awesome milestone, my friend Terri and I threw Rachael a Surprise party last weekend! We had a lot of help from Rachael's family and friends in order to pull of such a mega stunt! It was very hard to keep this a secret, but I am happy to report that Rachael was VERY surprised when she walked in the door to see a ton of her friends and family wearing pink and yelling "SURPRISE!" She has been so amazing throughout everything she has been through the past 8 months, and it was so great to be able to celebrate with her! I am attaching a few pictures below from the night!




Rachael, Carl and Evan walking through the front door..."SURPRISE!"





AGD Girls! Sarah, Anne, Terri, Rachael, Shelly, Emily, Jamie, Stacey, Shannon, Melanie!





Rachael's family had survivor shirts made for their family...so cute!






Carl, Rachael and Evan! What a cute little family :)

4th of July

As of a couple of weeks ago, we weren't sure we were going to be able to make it to the lake this year for the 4th of July. As most of you know by now, my mom and Anthony were both in the hospital at the same time (for totally seperate and unrelated issues). It was a crazy and scary time for the Collins and Yarbrough family, and we are glad to have it behind us! We made a last minute decision the week of July 4th that both of them were well enough to make it up to the lake to celebrate! It ended up being a WONDERFUL weekend and I am so glad we went! I think we all needed a fun and relaxing weekend!

We managed to keep Parker awake for the fireworks, which was a task all together. His normal bedtime is 7:30, pretty much on the dot. Well, the fireworks didn't even start until 9. He was asking to go night night before we left, but once we got him out on the boat he was a happy boy and didn't seem to mind that it was past his bedtime. He enjoyed the fireworks for about the 1st 10 minutes, ooh-ing and ahh-ing, and clapping and screaming "Yeah!" After about 10 minutes he decided it would be more fun to walk around the boat and do other things, totally ignoring the fireworks! All in all, he did such a good job for staying up until 10:00 at night!!! Parker loves playing in the Oasis Island (see pics below) b/c it is perfect for him to splash around in. He also still LOVES riding on the boat and helping PawPaw drive. We are so glad he loves being at the lakehouse as much as we all do!

Enjoy the pics below!!!




HAPPY 4th OF JULY!!!!





Here are a few of the fam at the fireworks show...












Here are some pics of parker doing what he loves to do at the lake!

More swimming....

Here are some pictures of Parker swimming in the "big pool"

"Water, outside, pool, swim..."

"Water, outside, pool, swim, water, outside, pool, swim." That is what is what we hear every day from Parker. It turns out we have quite the little swimmer on our hands. Parker LOVES going to the pool in our neighborhood, and is getting more and more brave every time we go. He was insisting that he swim by himself without assistance from anyone, so I decided it was time to try the little arm floaties. I was a little hesitant that he would be too young for them, but they worked great! He can now swim (short distances of course) around the pool without me holding him. He also loves to jump into the water by himself...over, and over and over! If I try and help him do anything these days he tells me "No, Karker do it." (He pronoucnes his name Karker instead of Parker).

One funny pool story. We were at the pool with my friend Mindy and her little boy Jake. All of the sudden Parker started pointing and saying "Fish, Fish." I looked over and the lifegaurd had a bag of goldfish crackers sitting next to his chair. I told Parker that those were not his fish, and we proceeded to swim. A few minutes later Parker got out of the pool, and I just assumed he was going to the side to jump in. Well, I was wrong. He grabbed the lifeguards goldfish and took off running! I had to jump out of the pool to chase him and the fish down. Luckily the lifeguard was just laughing and said "He can have some if he wants." We gave the lifeguard back his fish, and luckily Mindy had some fish with her that Parker could eat :)

The pictures below are from the little pool in our backyard. I keep forgetting to take my camera to the big pool to take pictures of him swimming in his floaties, but once I remember I will post those. He loves playing in the pool in the backyard b/c it is the perfect size for him to splash around and just act crazy! Oh- and one more thing. As you can tell from the last picture, he DOES NOT like any type of sprinklers. We have tried and tried, but he just cries everytime we turn them on and says "No, No, off, off." The only thing we can figure is that he does not like having the water in his face like that? Then again, he will jump into the pool and go under, so who knows!?!?! All I know is the he wakes up asking for "water, outside, pool, swim," and he goes to bed asking for "water, outside, pool, swim!"

Cupcakes

Here are some pictures of Parker making cupcakes. He had so much fun mixing them up and scooping them into the tins. He was not very happy when I had to take them away to put them in the oven, but once he realized he got to eat them afterwards he was OK with it :)