Birthday Parties

This weekend we went to Aransas Pass for Autumn and Abby's birthdays. We were so excited about the fun we were going to have! Autumn and I became great friends during college on our trip to Europe. Since then we have been the best of friends even though we live pretty far away from each other. Also, Abby is three months younger than Piper so they are super friends too.

Back to the trip...we piled into the Sequoia and off we went...only an hour behind schedule. Now it usually is about a 4 hour trip but much to our dismay it took quite a bit longer. On this journey was me, Piper, Will, Stacy (Autumn's cousin and my good friend that lives here in Bryan, her son, Jaxson...who just turned 2, and Stacy's mom, Ginger (Autumn's aunt). I was pretty proud of us for getting us all in with all our stuff and not feeling like we were packed in like sardines. Off we went with the boys watching a movie and Piper in the very back with her own stuff...she was set...I made her a bucket 'o stuff with markers, coloring books, snacks, her travel computer, dolls, bottles, snacks, drinks, wipes, napkins and her own trash bag...oh yeah, she also had a DVD player that was Stacy's that had headphones. She thought that was fabulous. The trip wouldn't have been so bad if the boys were able to be more content but they were always wanting something...something to eat, a drink, a different movie, or Will would take Jax's blanket and make him mad so Jax would touch Will and so forth. The movies were good for a while but the boys got tire but not tired enough to be able to go to sleep. Will had a blow out in the middle of no where and we all had to suffer the consequences of that one. We should have stopped at the McDonald's in Schulenburg but thought for sure there would be another McD's with a playground in one of the next little towns...there weren't so they couldn't play off any energy. We made it in almost 6 hours and were glad to get there...at almost 11:00 pm...way past every one's bed time. Piper and Abby were so excited to see each other and couldn't wait to get in their dress up and play...but that would have to wait. Need sleep for the big day tomorrow.

Abby's birthday was awesome! Autumn had a "Princess" come to paint faces, ponies to ride, a pinata, cool prizes, a sand box, a bubble blowing grill and an awesome unicorn cake that she made herself!! It was a hit. A funny story: The princess got there in her tiara and ball gown and got ready to paint faces. She was talking to Abby and was calling her "Madame" because she was definitely into her roll of being a princess...which the girls loved. Anyway, Abby...who is totally cute and brilliant said..."My name isn't Adam, it's Abby!" We all cracked up laughing because that was pure Abby right there. From that point forward the princess had to correct herself and make sure she called Abby by her name. Totally cute!

The kids had so much fun and Will was covered in bubbles and sand from the minute he walked out the door...and was in heaven, especially when the ponies showed up. I couldn't keep my kids off of them. After Abby's party, we had a dinner party for Autumn. It was sort of a surprise...she knew we were all having dinner at her mom's but she didn't know it was really a celebration for her. Autumn turned the big 30 this year and is celebrating by going to the New Kids on the Block concert...and going back stage. She is super excited and most of us think it's kind of quirky but only Autumn could make the NKOTB seem cool. It was fun and took us back to our youth b/c we played trivia and her mom had all her old things she collected...dolls, comic books, music, a puzzle and such. We had a fabulous time and wished we could have stayed longer. Our trip back home was much more uneventful and the boys napped some of the way so it was much more peaceful.















**On another note: As you all know, Will loves lizards and Autumn's hubby, Nick loves lizards too. They have quite a few lizards and snakes and such at their house...the big iguana was Will's favorite. Nick even showed Will his special lizards that not many other people get to see! Thanks Nick for making Will feel super special this weekend! He loved them all.