A Field Trip to the Ft. Worth Zoo

Mark and I tagged along with Matthew for his class field trip to the Ft. Worth Zoo today.  The weather could not be more perfect for outdoor fun!

All the kids love to see Mark.  They think he's the greatest thing ever and think he'll do whatever they ask him to.  One of them actually asked him to be Superman. Haha!

We got there really early.  Mark just played with his blanket while we waited.

Then his posse arrived.  He got NO attention! :-)

This little guy came right over to us.

Mark was so happy to be part of this little group!

We went into the aviary right when we got in because we knew the birds would not want to eat if we went later.  We got a couple of birds to sit on our stick, but I couldn't get pictures because I was holding Mark.  He tried to get the bird to come down by screaming, "Here! Here!"

Lunch stop.  There were squirrels all over this area and they were not shy.  They would come over begging for food.  Mark got a kick out of them.  He did a lot of squealing because these squirrels would come up so close to him.

Championship Weekend

This weekend was all about soccer!!! Michael had a soccer tournament and it was fantastic.  His team won the U11 Championship, of course, but most of his games were nail biters.

He had his second game Saturday morning. When we got there, I wasn't sure he would be able to play because he was complaining about his stomach and dry heaving.  He felt better after some water and rest, and ended up playing very well.  They won 3-1.  We grabbed a quick lunch and hurried home to get ready for Matthew's team picture/baseball game.  

Matthew and Mark set up camp and shared snacks during Michael's morning game on Saturday.  They were so sweet to each other. 

Matthew' team started off so well, but they ended up losing.  We need a win badly.  very one is hitting well, but there's some bad mojo going on. We have 2 more games in the season left, so let's hope we win them both! 

Michael, Mark and I didn't get to stay for the whole game because we had to get Michael to his 2nd soccer game of the day in Carrollton.

Michael with his buddies (aka the other older brothers) chilling at Matthew's baseball game.

Everyone enjoying the sunshine and a good baseball game

Snacking and keeping score

This was one of those games where if the other team had won, I would have said that they deserved to. Our team needed a win or a tie to advance to the semi-finals. The boys played well, but they were down 2-1 with less than 2 minutes to play.  We were all ready to pack it in and head on out. 

Then something amazing happened - one of our boys scored a tying goal on a bobble with less then a minute to play! I have never been so happy with a tie in my life. We were still in it. However, they were going to have to beat FC Dallas Premier, the 2nd best team in the state, to advance to the Championship game next.  

M was not optimistic. They've played this team twice before.  They tied the first game and lost badly in the second game, so the odds were not in our favor.  Second best team in the state, people!  They shut out all the other teams they've played in this tournaments so far. 

But our boys did not care.  They came to play and they played hard.  They scored the first goal, but FC Dallas Premier came back with one of their own. Our boys scored another goal and FC matched it. We were tied 2-2 with seconds left to play and I was bracing myself for overtime and a possible heartbreaking loss.  But then another amazing thing happened - one of our boys scored the winning goal on a free kick!  Our boys just beat one of the best teams in Texas! On to the championship game!

And it was another stressful game.  At least for me.  I don't know if they were tired or what, but the boys just could not get it together.  The other team scored 3 straight in the first half and we were kind of stunned.  But then something amazing happened - our boys came out fighting in the second half!  They were tenacious and went after the ball hard every time.  Their passing finally came together and they scored 4 straight goals to win it! I was so so proud of them.  Our parents went crazy and I was one of the crazies.

The awards ceremony

Trophy Time!

Sweet Victory!

What an exciting and an exhausting weekend.  We have to do it all over again next weekend because Solar is playing in another tournament.  Their first game will be against (drum roll, please) - FC Dallas Premier.  Here we go again.

Friday Fun Day

We had a lovely Friday. It's the time of the year when I want to spend as much time as we can outside before it gets too hot and too buggy.

Mark had his playdate this morning with his little buddies Austin and Jaxson Paradise Pond at First Baptist Church in Grapevine.  It's basically a huge room with an indoor playground, jump house, and lots of little areas where they can play dress-up and build stuff with blocks and legos. What an awesome place to take them when the summer heat hits!

He was all over the place - jumping, climbing, running, screaming and just having a great 'ole time in general.  He threw a huge fit when we had to leave. "I not want to go.  I need to go play!"  Luckily, there was another kid there that felt the same way so I was not the only one trying to extract my child from this place.

This was the only picture I got during his playdate.

After we left Paradise Pond, we drove over to Grapevine Mills because I had to return a couple of things. Of course, we had to do a little shopping too.  We had lunch at the food court and Mark got to ride a horsey on the carousel. He later told his G-pa that he got to ride the "white horsey." He loved it, of course.

After we got home, I was hoping he would nap.  He fell asleep on the way back, but woke up when we got home.  I decided that we needed to clean the garage up a little, so we did that.  He loves to help me sweep.  We each have a broom - he "sweeps" the driveway while I sweep the garage floor.  He has a green frog dustpan. I have to "borrow" it in order to use it because it's his "green thing." He says, "Hey, you want to borrow my green thing?" I love his sweet little voice.  I wish I can bottle it it up forever.

We only had about twenty minutes between when Michael got home to when we had to leave to go to the first game of his soccer tournament so we had to get ready quickly!

Michael did really well and his team won1-0.  He got to kick a penalty kick.  I was so nervous for him. Unfortunately, he missed even with both my fingers crossed.  Then at the last few seconds of the game, he had an awesome shot attempt.  It missed the goal up high by inches.  But we had so much fun watching him. Mark and Matthew also had fun sharing a snow cone.

My little man in action!  Love him so much.

Matthew enjoyed his snow cone.

Matthew is so sweet to his little bo-bo sometimes.

Hugs!

Mark had so much fun with Daddy.

We went to Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner.  I'm not sure I would go there again.  The boys had a great time with their wing nut crowns though.

Oh - I went to clean up their toy room this morning and here's what I found. Apparently, there was a battle up there.

And the blue team lost. I love it! This has to be the work of my little Mattikins.

What We Did - Week 16

Day 113 - Thur.
My oldest baby ready to head off to catch the bus.  It was a beautiful morning, but it turned into a drizzly day.

Day 114 - Fri.
Having fun digging in the sand at the Perot Museum.

Day 115 - Sat.
Keeping score (for the 1st inning anyway) at Matthew's baseball game

Day 116 - Sun.
Happy Easter! Peeps pop!

Day 117 - Mon.
We picked up Matthew's eyeglasses.  Isn't he super cute?!

Day 118 - Tue.
Mark loves this statue at the Square.  Whenever he pass by it on our way to story time, he has to stop, touch and tell me that the little boy's Daddy is "tying his shoes and playing bouncing ball."

Day 119 - Wed.
Mark and I went to the mall and came home with some family picture shirts for the boys.  I'm not sure if these are the final colors, but it's a start.

Uneventful Easter Weekend

Mark and I hosted a playdate at the Perot Museum on Friday and he had so much fun! He loves the museum and constantly asks to go.  I thought that it would be a pretty light day there, but it turned out that I was wrong.  I didn't take into account that it was a holiday weekend.  It was so crowded that we just hung out at the children's area of the museum.

This was the second time that he played in the sand pit.  It was very hard to get him out when it was time to go.

And his first time wading in the little river thing in front of the museum. He was soaked, but he was having such a good time, I let him do his thing. Yes, that's my finger in the picture. 

I didn't have a change of clothes for him.  The only thing I had for him to change into was my pink striped shirt so I put it on him.  He thought it was the funniest thing to be wearing Mommy's shirt. He loved it. He wanted me to take a picture for Daddy.

Matthew had a baseball game Friday evening.  We survived the game and then went to dinner with the Gs at Wildwood Grill. 

Then there was another baseball game Saturday morning.  They lost again, but it was a much more enjoyable game. 

Michael and his buddy Jackson started to keep score on the big board.  After one inning they decided that it was boring so they left.  I had to take over.  I think I did a pretty good job!

Saturday was so beautiful that we spent most of our time outside on our patio.  I love this time of year when the weather is great and the bugs are not out yet (about 2 weeks out of the year).  We had dinner outside.  The boys' friend Jayce joined us.

I found this selfie on my computer.  How cute are these boys?

I dropped the ball when it came to Easter this year.  I had planned on taking the boys on an Easter egg hunt on Saturday at the Delaney Vineyards but by the time time we were done with Matthew's baseball game and had lunch, I was too tired to pack them up and make the drive to Grapevine.  We were just going to wait for our neighborhood egg hunt and petting zoo on Sunday.  It turns out that the neighborhood egg hunt got moved to Saturday because the organizers thought that it would on Sunday.  I obviously did not get the message and we missed it completely.

Fortunately, the Gs pulled through and got the boys Easter baskets. We went over for an Easter lunch and then came home.  

Mark loved his first taste of Peeps pop. Big brother did not mind sharing.