Chicago (Weekend Wrap-up)

This past weekend Kevin and I headed to Chicago!

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Well, Kevin and Colin had a super exciting work conference so Lindsey and I said..."sounds great, we will be there!" And Mk's husband has work there too...so it turned into this amazing wonderful girls/husband trip!

Lindsey and I flew out Friday morning and after a slight delay at DFW (it was ok because we had yummy brunch at Pappasito's complete with a bloody mary) we made it!

We headed to our hotel and then caught up with Mk and hit up the Miracle Mile. 

After a little shopping we headed to dinner at Tanta. It was delicious!

After dinner Juice met up with us! We headed to a couple of bars with everyone...

We found the hulk...and then someone photo bombed up! Oye!

And then we went to Three Dots and a Dash...so sassy. We waited in line for a good 30 minutes...and Kevin was none too pleased...but the rest of us were fine with it. Anyhow, once we got inside we had lots of fun...and waited another 30 minutes to get a fancy drink. but I suppose it was worth it. They incredibly strong and incredibly pretty...and that's what matter, right? I can't answer that since I actually stuck to beer...oh but not an ultra...they were way too cool for that. :)

Anyhow, the next day we did lots of relaxing. Since my internal clock does not allow me to actually sleep in I still woke up nice and early...but since there was no child screaming in the other room I allowed myself to just relax in bed...lay there checking out stuff on my ipad and mixing it up with a little TV...oh yeah, it was heavenly. At about 11am we decided we should meet the world so we got up and out. Kevin met Juice and friends and I went shopping and to lunch with MK. 

And after lunch it was nap time again. Yes, I realize this might sound incredibly lazy and uneventful for someone else, but I LOVED it. After some downtime we met everyone at a sports bar to watch the UT game. 

Hanging out at American Junkie....having some beers!

We had a great time and Mk and I headed back around 11pm. Brian and Kevin stayed to watch them game (it was delayed 3 hours because of rain) but made it back around 1:30am...thank you for the wake up call boys! Anyhow Sunday rolled around and I felt amazing...Kevin and I walked around the city, hit up a pizza joint for brunch then headed to the airport. It was so great to get home and see the boys! Grayson started standing by himself and is really starting to walk so much more! We grabbed some dinner and put the sweet little men to bed! Such a great weekend!

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Oh...and who watched the boys? Well, I give you exhibit A & B. 

Yes, both of our parents were off together...doing a little cooking school...in Bali. yeah yeah. Must be nice!

Lol! It was actually really cool for Kevin's parents to meet up with mine on vacation....but back to us....

and our kids...

So we are so lucky to have such amazing family! Kevin's sister (and family) took the boys Friday night! They went to Michaels work party at BCG and had a blast! 

Afterwards, Lyla read Ryan & Audrey a bedtime story! So cute! Clearly Ryan LOVES it! On Saturday Demaris picked the boys up and headed back to our house with them. They played and went to a halloween party on Sunday! I think they had a great time! So happy that we have such great family/friends that can watch out kiddos! 

Great weekend with K sizzle and friends! 

Mr. Butterfly

Oh dear! We got a butterfly. Mr. butterly emerged and scared the heebeegeebeez outta me! Since it was sitting on our kitchen countertop I was actually standing right next to it when it happened. I heard a fluttering and was like, um what is that weird noise?!? Then I looked over and the darn thing was out! It was around 6:00pm (Monday) and we were about to sit down and eat dinner so I didn't say anything to Ryan. It says that it takes about 2 hours for the butterfly to start moving around so I figured we would wait until after his bath.

After bath time I let Ryan come downstairs and check out his butterfly. He named him Mr. Butterfly..."poopy and elmo" were his other suggestions. Yeah. Since it was suppose to get down to 45 degrees that night I decided we would just hang on until tomorrow morning...hoping he wouldn't fly off overnight.

He didn't. He was there in the morning and all day. Finally after naptime we had some downtime so we planned our release party. 

 

We set him on this flower and then met some friends at the park. 

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As soon as we got back Ryan was so excited to go and see if Mr. Butterfly was still there. And he WAS! Oh dear...now he really thinks he is his pet. Sooooo....we played with him...and decided to keep him another night (since it was going to be cold again!). 

On Wednesday morning before school we brought Mr. Butterfly outside again and said goodbye .

Ryan was satisfied and when we got home from school he ran outside to check on him...and was actually ok that Mr. Butterfly was gone. 

Bye Bye Mr. Butterfly!

That's what he said

So Ryan is getting a bit more chatty and it's super fun! He says some pretty cute stuff so I thought I would start documenting when I can!

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Ryan and Yiayia were playing with Mr. Potato head
R: Yiayia, will you help me put this on Mr. Potato head?
Y: Of course I will, what is the magic word?
R: (so innocently and slightly confused says) Abracadabra!?!

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When he is asking you a question and you say you don't know he says "Oh, maybe we ask mommy/daddy"

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He told his babysitter that Daddy was going to be a Polar Bear for Halloween. When we got home she asked Kevin what he was going to be...which was an odd question and we didn't know where it was coming from and then she explained. Basically Ryan was fairly certain that daddy was going to be a polar bear. She thought it was hilarious. (Oh, and for the record, he never planned to be a polar bear...but now we are thinking he might have to be one!)

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Ryan loves names. First names. Middle names. You mom's name. Your dads name. All of them. And he will ask you or he will ask me. "Mommy, what's her name?" And I always say "Well, we have to ask her"blah blah. So his sitter said that he asked her all these questions and it was so cute. The next morning I asked him what our sitter's middle name was and he looked at me and said "Maybe you should ask her" Snap.

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Ryan says "yes" in the cutest way. I know that may sound odd, but I have had multiple people tell me how adorable it is! I don't know quite how to describe it in words but trust me, it's cute.

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He also believes that daddy can fix anything! And with only batteries...this was actually a while ago (maybe even a year ago???) but he was out walking with daddy and he saw a dead bug on the ground. He looked at it and said "daddy, that bug needs batteries". ohsocute!

Weekend Wrap up

So...I may have failed to post last weekends round up so I am just going to do one big ol roundup- how do you like that? Good.

Big things happening here!

First of all - little G took his FIRST steps!!!! We didn't get video of the first ones but Kevin did whip out his new white iphone to capture some after...although he didn't perform as well. Kevin isn't super quick with his phone yet sooooo...Anyhow, he was SO pleased with himself!!! It was adorable! I really wish I had good video...but I will soon!

So before I keep going I will back up to last weekend...since I never posted anything. oops! Anyhow, last Thursday night Kevin's parents watched the boys for us (they just returned from Montana - yay!) and we had a little date night at the arboretum.

The weather was beautiful - we had a little picnic, some adult beverages and listened to some live music with an incredible view. Fun stuff!

Last Friday evening I had a girls night out. We headed to HG Sply Co for some paleo inspired food and topped it off with some beers at the Truck Yard. Lots of fun!

Yummy beet margarita...perhaps too yummy for me to handle!

The next day was TX OU game...which in years past has been a HUGE weekend for us. All the boys get up at the crack of dawn to start tailgating and the women have a super fun shopping day...it's greatness. However, this year the men decided going to the game wasn't worth it...since the Longhorns haven't been doing that great. Some fans, right??? They ended up regretting their decision (obviously) and Sarah had to finally kick them all out :) Next year back to the regular game plan!!! Anyhow, it was still a lot of fun and the boys and I also headed over there for a little fun.

Ethan taught Grayson how to play pee-a-boo with his little hands - it's adorable!

That night Jen flew into town! I have been so excited to see her - haven't had some girl time with her in forever!!! We had so much fun catching up over pizza and creating a plan of attack for our shopping the next day! Jen is 6 months preggo so our focus was on baby Kate!

Sunday morning we started out with a walk on the Katy Trail down to Company Cafe. (I got my favorite - the beat. It's simple and I love it.) We had a yummy brunch with the boys then headed back home for naptime just before the rain set in. Kevin actually had to go in to the office so Mary graciously came over to watch the boys so that we could do a little shopping. We hit up Baby Bliss and PBK. It was so much fun shopping for a little girl!!!

Sunday evening we hosted the family dinner and go to eat at our new dining room table! It was so nice for everyone to have a place to sit!

Grayson was so excited to sit at the table with Ryan. 

And Ryan was excited to have Audrey replace him. lol. 

And the big kid table. 

Fast forward to this weekend.

Friday night Kevin and I were excited to lay low. My sister-in-law is on a girls trip so Kevin's parents were helping out at their house Friday afternoon. After the boys woke up from their naps we walked over there to hang out with Gigi and Audrey. 

When we got home Ryan and Grayson opened their Halloween cards from Yaya & Papu. Ryan LOVES his cards...because they have music. He walks around when them and has almost learned all the words to the purple people eater song!

On Saturday Kevin played golf with his buddies and I headed to the spa with mine! Lucky us! We had a sitter come and watch the boys. We didn't really have plans for Saturday night and ended up doing a last minute dinner and football watching with the Botterman's. 

Blake and Grayson playing

Ryan's soccer game was moved to Sunday at noon...and only five of the kids could actually make it....which  meant that the same five kids had to play the entire time! It was comical - I love three year old soccer! 

Grayson just chillin on the sideline...drinking all of Ryan's water. 

Grayson and Hayes...trying to escape

All that hard work paid off - blueberry muffins and bananas! Big hit!

We came home and ate lunch then headed upstairs for naps...

Gigi and Papa came by to say goodbye - they leave for their three week trip around SE Asia tomorrow morning. Yes, so now both sets of grandparents are going to be in SE Asia. I know they will have a great time...they are meeting up in Bali!  Grayson didn't show off his new walking but I am sure he will be more comfortable with it by the time they return!

The Butterfly Guy

At Ryan's new preschool The Butterfly Guy did a presentation for them!

It must have been a pretty cool presentation because Ryan was pretty excited to tell me all about it. When I picked him up from school he started telling me about the butterfly guy. He said he saw a bunch of butterflies and caterpillars. (I am not sure how much of this is actually true...but I know there were at least some butterflies). Heck, he even mentioned the word cocoon. Ryan explained that the butterfly man caught the butterflies with his net...as he told me this he pretended to have a net and he swooped up to catch some himself.  It was pretty darn cute and I was really happy that he was actually sharing some info with me! Everyday I ask him what he did and he usually responds with, "I just played with my friends". ha!

Anyways, since he was so taken with the butterfly guy I decided that I would go ahead and buy one of the live monarch chrysalis' that they were selling so that we could watch a butterfly emerge at home.

Here it is

Here it is today (10/20). As you can see it is already starting to turn black! You can actually see the butterfly inside of it which is pretty cool (you can't really tell in this picture). Anyhow, I am wondering when he will emerge...I am hoping we will actually be here to see it! 

Ryan loves his butterfly but he really wants a net. I am pretty sure he thinks it is his new pet that he will just chase around all day with a net. hmmmm.....