The Ride Home

After the concert, we were SO tired!
Because of traffic, it took us 2 hours to take a 15 mile ride!

But, we were SO thankful that Maia's Aunt and Uncle
lived so close by and were generous enough to let us stay the night!

The next morning, we ALL needed Starbuck's...
Even Smurfette!

Lexi took my camera and filmed this.
HILARIOUS!

Jonas Brothers' Concert

Lexi had REALLY wanted to go to the Jonas Brothers concert.
So, when tickets went on sale we went into action!
We asked some of her friends if anyone was interested in going, and her friend Maia & mom, Laura were ON BOARD!
Lexi even bought her own ticket!


Before the event, we got special T-Shirts made - THANKS ROGER!
Here's the back of the T:

We had to go to Arlington, which is FAR, BUT we had a FUN trip!
We stopped and got something to eat:

Parking was a nightmare, so when we finally got to park, we were RELIEVED!
Here we are walking up to the new Dallas Stadium.
It is HUGE!!

At first, we thought this big black thing was a speaker...
but OH NO...
It's a TV screen!
Look how tiny the stage looks underneath!
INSANE!

Awww YES...
The Jonas Brothers!!
Part of the stage came up.

Maia and Lexi having a BLAST!

Me & Lexi!

Here's the end of the concert...
you can totally tell by their faces at how much fun they had!
IT WAS A BLAST!

Here's a run down of the concert via video!

Joe Jonas doing Beyonce's "Single Ladies"!

Opener was Honor Society.
Nobody knew who they were, but the girls liked them.
AWESOME - another BOY BAND!

Next up was Jordan Sparks!
She was GREAT!

JONAS BROTHERS!!
It was filled of screaming and singing and giggles!

Miley Cyrus made a SURPRISE appearance!
It was SO EXCITING!
Here are the girls as soon as she came out.

It was a GREAT night!
4 1/2 hours of music...
LOTS of screaming and surprises ALL NIGHT long!
Truly,... a Night to Remember!

Swim Lessons

The kids took 2 weeks of Swim Lessons to "jump start" our summer!
On the last day, parents can go watch their kids and take pictures.

Here is Lexi taking her back stroke test.

Cooper showing off his back float,... let me tell you...
This is HUGE for Cooper!!
A GIANT leap!

Cooper and his lifeguard teachers.
He REALLY liked them... they ROCKED!

Here's Lexi with her teachers.
She did AWESOME and graduated to Level 4!
GO LEXI!!

Playing Wii

The last night that Cortheye & Cylas were in town,
we had a Wii Bowling Marathon.

We had SO much fun :)

Inflatable Wonderland

We made it to "Inflatable Wonderland". It was 2 hours of crazy, but the kids were WORN out!
Here are some of the highlights:

Cortheye sliding down

Lexi - WHEEEEEEEEEEE....

Cooper sneaking up and scaring me!

Cylas on the slide!

Lexi & Cortheye modeling their CUTE socks!

It was a BLAST!

Round Rock Express Game

My neighbor got suite tickets to the Round Rock Express baseball game.
We frequently go to games, but have never been in a suite.
We were in for "living the high life"!
It was SO nice and we had SO much fun!!

It was AWESOME too because my mom, niece, and nephew
were here for Cooper's B-Day and she even had tickets for them!

Grandma Cissy with all of her grand kids!

Cooper, Bailey, Cortheye, Cami, Lexi, & Cylas

Cylas, Cortheye, & Cooper in front of the RR Express steer.

They even got to play "school"in the suite!

One of the boys took this picture.

Shannon & Me.
Thank you for thinking of us!

Watching the game!

Enjoying Burgers & Nachos.
Aren't they SOOOO cute!?!?!

The girls must be confused...
But, they still look cute!

A Honey Bear bobble head!
I just thought this was awesome!

Chillin' in the AC and watching the game.

"Let me hear you Make Some Noise!!!"
The girls went nuts!
Cylas is to the right of Lexi.
Cooper,... didn't like that part :)

It really was a GREAT time!

Cooper's Birthday Party #1

I can't believe that my baby boy is about to turn 5 in a couple of days! Ugghhhh!!
We had his birthday party at a local water park.
It was not as stress-free as I had hoped!
We were very blessed to have my mom, niece, & nephew in town to celebrate with us.

The party didn't start until the evening, so that was a good thing.
On the way - was Friday 5 o'clock traffic :(
Plus, it was "Rot Ralley" weekend :(
Then we passed two events where police and ambulances were involoved :(
Which = we were late to our own party!!

For all of those that know me well, I do NOT like to be late!
So, I was already stressed!

We got there, and with 2 minutes, the lifeguards blew the whistles...
The pool was "contaminated", ie: somebody pooped in the pool :(
REALLY?!?!?

Luckily, Clarence showed up with the pizza :)
OK,... let's eat!!
Everyone's happy! :)
Now, everyone's done eating and still we can't go in, the lifeguards have been telling us "5 more minutes" for the past 20 minutes :(
My friend, Carie, suggests we do cake :)
It was a HIT!
HOORAY :)
Right after we were done, the whistle blew and back to the water :)


Now, here are pics from the party:


Cooper and his cousin, Cylas

Yes, I know this is blurry, but I thought it was hilarious!
Daisy, Cortheye, Gracie, & Carie floating by in the "lazy river"

Bailey & Lexi

The Maples Mob + Aunt Missy

Cooper, Cylas, Lucas, & Cami
enjoying the water!

It's Cake Time!
His theme was Mario, Luigi, and Legos (HE picked it out!)
So, we did cupcakes... a HUGE thank you to Bridget for the cupcake stand!

YUMMY!

Posin' Poolside...
I think I am losing my dress!

Wondering and waiting for the water to open up!

Then, about 20 minutes before the end of the party,
the lifeguards blew their whistle and we had to get out.... AGAIN.
This time for lightening! :(
By this point, everyone decided to head home.

It was a great party, only because Cooper had a GREAT time! :)
BIG Thank-yous to:
My mom for everything, Daisy for help with the kids and carrying everything!, Granny for help with the cupcakes, Bridget for taking my camera and capturing some pictures, and EVERYBODY that braved the traffic, the poop, and the lightening to come and celebrate Cooper's 5th Birthday!

OH HAIL!

The night that my mom, niece, and nephew came, we had one HECK of a storm!
Thank goodness that we got rid of satellite and have U-Verse (or else we would have had NO coverage of the storm!) However, we are one of the FEW families that did not take shelter in a bathroom or closet... Guess I was just naive to how bad it was!
Luckily we were all safe.


Here is the radar picture!

The girls thought it was SO cool to collect the hail!

The hail hurt Cooper's ears.
The boys were a little scared, but more concerned with playing in the toy room.

Lexi is collecting hail!
Look at it fly in the house!

Crazy Hail!

SEA WORLD!

Went to Sea World this past Saturday with Granny (my mother-in-law).
It really wasn't too crowded! HOORAY!
We had fun.


Cooper & Lexi at the penguin exhibit.

We're just being silly!
Lexi & I rode this ride for the first time.
I was a little nervous only because all of the other times we have been to Sea World THIS ride is broken down. So,.. the whole time, I had bad images of being stuck on it!
I let the kids always pick out ONE thing that they REALLY want to do when we go anywhere, an this was Lexi's choice,... so I had to try it.
It wasn't bad - it was actually pretty fun!

Pirate 4D movie - hmmmmm....!
It's a 3D movie that does some interactive things, dumps water, seat vibrates, etc...
It was OK, but we'll never do it again.
Cooper started crying about 10 minutes into it.
I should have known when the announcer says that it may "scare small children", but thought I would give it a try! HA!

Flamingos!

Watching the Sea Lions...

Cooper and the frogs...

Lexi looking in the aquarium.

It was a LONG, but AWESOME day!
Granny & Lexi sat in the "splash zone" during the Viva Show.
I was laughing so hard at how wet they got.
OH, but I got my pay backs.
Lexi wanted to sit in the "Soak Zone" during the Shamu show.
It was apparently MY turn to sit with her...
well...
whales live in water that is 50 degrees...
So, when that water was dumped on me, it was like ICE water!

I don't think Lexi will do that again either.

GOOD TIMES!