Red, White, and Blue

I have a lot of fun dressing my kids up. I'm not in a picture, but I was wearing the same outfit as Brayden. Cheesy, I know. Brandon wasn't down with wearing the same outfit as Kaleb though...haha. Some of our celebration for the fourth was a day out at Sea World. They opened the park for members only an hour before the park actually opened and it was awesome. We actually got to lazily enjoy the "lazy river." The kids love the "Lil' Gators" water park, jumping off of turtles, and sliding down whales.

We had a lot of fun.

Ever since last year, every time Brayden saw a flag she would bring up the memory of having her toenails painted like the flag. She was so excited to do this again. She counted down the days. This is something I've done on myself ever since high school...maybe even junior high.

It's amazing, once again, she stayed still long enough for me to do this on her.

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I had heard about these fun red white and blue drinks from the Family Fun magazine and wanted to try it out.

What you do is fill a clear glass all the way to the top with ice. First you pour in Cranberry juice, then blue Gatorade, and finally Diet 7up or Sprite on top. The colors stay separated due to the sugar content in each drink. I added blueberries to make it more fun. I took too long trying to take these pictures cause they started to blend after a bit.

We had a barbecue with our friends...and let me tell you, a barbecue in Texas is unlike any other.

Creamed corn, peach cobbler, grilled stuffed jalapenos, smoked brisket and sausage, and of course, Rudy's (those of you who have been to Texas know what this is) bbq sauce to top it off. The smell alone is delicious.

I realized that this is one thing I'm going to miss about this place.

Brandon made the jalapenos, and I contributed with the dessert...

A fruit pizza made of pie crust, and cream cheese frosting. It was very yummy.

I had to get a picture of the "jean" diapers that were too cute to not try out.

Their color went along with the holiday.

And here's a picture of the other end. This is Kaleb's latest "cheese" face.

We tried to light sparklers but they didn't work too well. They were the "morning glory" kind. Either we got a couple of duds or we were the 'duds' that couldn't' figure out how to keep them lit.

Oh well, the kids loved the little "popper" thingies which is what we used to keep ourselves entertained while waiting for the fireworks show.

Brayden was so excited to be "up" even when it's dark outside and she couldn't wait for the show. Once it started, however, she freaked out and she watched a movie in the car (which was parked right next to us) and the three of us enjoyed the show...sort of....

...Kaleb braved it out, but only like this.

We have a similar picture of Brayden from last year.

Poor kids.

We keep them up past their bedtime to freak them out with fireworks.

Once we got home Brayden enjoyed the fireworks that were going off surrounding our neighborhood. She wasn't afraid because they were in the distance.

Now we know what we're going to be doing next year....

Stay in our backyard.

Brayden had her first "dance camp" last week.

She packed her bag with her dance shoes, and water...and then she put a book in there. I tried to tell her to leave the book but she said,

"No mom. It's CAMP, remember? I need to bring a book."

Okay then.

Every day for an hour a day I dropped her off. Before too long she didn't even want me to walk her to the door. She made me stay at the car and I watched her walk to the door all by herself.

*sniff*

At the end of the week, her teacher, Miss Nanci, threw a pajama party for all the girls.

They ate treats and goofed off.

And then watched High School Musical.

They lasted maybe 20 minutes into the movie, and then the three year olds wanted to run around, but we had to get home for bedtime anyway.

They were all so cute.

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America wasn't the only one who had a birthday last week. My birthday was on the 8th and we went bowling!

Brayden is just showing off some of her dance moves...ballet style.

We all had a lot of fun with this.

I had fun mainly because I finally got smart and left the bumpers up for myself.

I was mainly shocked at how "into" this game Kaleb got. I thought I was going to have to keep him from running up the allies and all over the place,

but he was so focused on the game. He was determined to carry that 6 lb ball by himself. If I wasn't worried about his little toes I would have let him cause he seemed to be able to do it.

I included these next pictures to show Kaleb's face watching the ball...

...still rolling...

...still rolling...

...and I still don't think it made it to the pins yet, but Kaleb is clapping for it.

(They wouldn't let us use the flash...which is why the pictures are dark and a little blurry.)

Final Score:

Kaleb 55

Brayden 61

Denise 101

Brandon 108

Once we got home we ate the delicious "Tres Leches" cake that Brandon made. It is so good. I'm still eating it.

I've enjoyed my age this last year...mainly because some of the 25-29 year olds around here thought I was younger then them and were shocked to find out I wasn't. The best was the one who thought I was 23.

I am loving it.