We had a weekend jammed back with activities. Tanner, I'm pretty sure, had the most fun. Oh how we missed Uncle Kenneth. Seriously. Love him!!
About a month ago, some friends were over, and one of them looked like "Uncle" Scott. Tanner got SO excited, and came and told me, "Mom, my uncles are coming over! When is Uncle Kenneth and Uncle Austin going to be here??" I didn't have the heart to tell him...
When we first got to Dallas, he had to wait a few days too. I had to keep reminding him, Kenneth will be here tomorrow. And then when he woke up, the first words out of his mouth were, "Is tomorrow today? Is he going to be here??"
When we first got to Dallas, he had to wait a few days too. I had to keep reminding him, Kenneth will be here tomorrow. And then when he woke up, the first words out of his mouth were, "Is tomorrow today? Is he going to be here??"
Roadtrip
I drove down with the kiddos, and then Anthony met us in Dallas after his Dental Conference was over in Phoenix. On the way down, it was just me and the kiddos vs the road. When it comes to roadtrips, I'm not against bribery - we stopped and enjoy Tanner's favorite ice cream along the way -- Blue Birthday Bash!
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The next morning, I was exhausted. We were the only ones there...and I desperately needed a shower. When I came back, this is what Tanner was doing. The kid was hilarious.
We also got to celebrate Cassidy's 11th Birthday! We just love this girl around here. When Tanner got the invite in the mail, he was ecstatic and carried it around with him wherever he went. I'm pretty sure he told complete strangers how he was going to Cassidy's birthday party.
Cassidy had her birthday party at a roller skating rink. When Tanner first heard, he wasn't real keen on the idea of roller skating. Instead, he had this brilliant idea, "I'll just take my scooter and ride it around!"
Pretty much the entire time of wheels he spent screaming at the top of his lungs.
Luckily, Brooke couldn't have been happier, just chillin' in her own set of wheels, staring at the lights and passersby and exchanging smiles. She can get a smile out of anyone.
Unlike her cousin, Madison was lovin every bit of roller skating.
Cousin Madison
We also went to Ft Worth to visit cousin Madison, Aunt Kristie, and Grandma. Aunt Kristie was 38+ plus weeks pregnant and had been on bed rest -- so Grandma was staying with her to help out. Unfortunately, we were just a few days shy of baby Kadynn's big arrival.
These two use to spend a lot of time together when I worked part-time, thanks to Aunt Kristie who took such could care of them. Now when we get together, they take full advantage and play 110% of the time when we're all together.
Which left lots of time for Grandma to hold lil Miss Brooke. Aren't these two so cute??? We've missed her so much! Tanner was so confused how we were staying at her house but she wasn't there. But luckily, we still got to see her...but it's never enough :)
I think Madison got a little practice taking care of babies with Brooke. She's going to make such a great big sister.
Friends
Tanner loved being reunited with all his Dallas friends. He even asked if he could have his 5 birthday party in Dallas so his friends could all come. Aside from his cousins, we really haven't met any new BFFs for Tanner to play with...so we need to keep trying.
Here's Tanner and Brynlee...who've grown up doing pretty much everything together. Playdates, Church, Preschool, etc. That's what happens when you're moms are BFFs too.
Except Brooke was getting a lot of attention too. Everyone wanted a chance to play with her and she was eating it up, laughing and giggling right on command.
One afternoon I visited a friend from work, Talita, who just had baby Avery.
I tried to hold her like a newborn cause she's so little, but she didn't like that one bit. She's as strong as can be and wanted to look at all the action. Brooke, on the other hand, just wanted her hair!
I couldn't wait to see her again ...but really, Tanner just couldn't wait to go to his friends house. The whole time he kept asking, "Is it time to go to Johnner's house?"
There were other friends we visited too...just didn't snap any pictures. Darn it. And next visit, I'm going to have to stay twice as long so I can visit twice as much. I only got to see a few close friends and there's still people I didn't get to see. And I felt like we were running from place to place to place when I would be the happiest person visiting one friend or family member for the entire weekend and have them all to myself.
Family
And of course, we spent tons of time with family. It wasn't planned -- but it ended up that all of Anthony's siblings were in town.
On Friday night, I got to meet up and have dinner with Brendan and his girlfriend Rachel. They're the busy people I know, balancing work and school, but still took time to drive 1+ hour plus to meet up for dinner. I had a good time talking to Brendan, mostly chatting about his upcoming internship with Deloitte. And the kids. They always get tons of attention from him. I'm blaming him on the reason neither my kids went to bed before 10 pm on Friday night.
Brooke loved being the center of attention.
But hands down, Brooke's favorite person on the trip was Grandpa! She's a bit of a mommy's girl [huge understatement] and usually can't leave my arms. But when it came to Grandpa holding her, she was always all smiles!
We played several intense games of Tap, Tap, Oink. The best family game ever!!
Random silliness.
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And we even got to see Casey, Crystal, and Eliana in town for dental school visits. Keeping our fingers crossed he'll get into Baylor, just like Anthony!
There's just so much to love about Anthony's wonderful family. Each of them have played just an integral part in Tanner's life...and I hope we'll always be super close to them at heart.
Tanner had so much fun...he wasn't ready to leave. Tanner was telling Grandpa, "We never moved to Kansas. We live here now!" Sometimes, it felt like we never left. And being in town, just reminded me of all the amazing friends and family we are blessed to know.
