Disney World '09

4 Disney parks in 4 days. 358 photos. 12 (ish) souvenirs. 46 character autographs. 2 exhausted parents. 4 days of magic and 2 happy little boys: PRICELESS!

Boxes from Mickey

FOUND: on our back porch! A box addressed to each boy from Mickey himself!

Cole's first find...a little Mickey doll. He anxiously digs to see what else is in there. He found pjs, character tshirts, a Toy Story water bottle and Mickey fruit snacks!

Travis reads his card from Mickey, which congratulates him on growing tall enough to ride all the exciting rides in the parks!

Travis was pumped that he received another box from Mickey this year. He got one in 2007 when he made his first trip. He told me later he was afraid the "box thing" was just for first timers and that Cole would get one, but he wouldn't.

Mom, (ahem!) I mean Mickey, YOU ROCK!

The boys are more excited than ever to start packing.

Soccer Season Opener

The soccer season was delayed by one week due to rain, so by the time game day rolled around this week both boys were way past ready! This is Cole's first year to play and he's extremely enthusiastic. In fact, on the way to the fields this morning he declared himself a "soccer expert" much to Travis' frustration. This is the best picture I could get of the two of them together. Immediately after I snapped this shot, Cole darted away to join his teammates.

Cole plays for the Red Rockets...Travis' team is named the Vipers.

The very picture of focus and attention!

Sadly, Cole's team lost. I couldn't keep up with the final score. There wasn't a great deal of defense on either team. But Cole-man scored two goals and he was delighted with himself.

Travis all sweaty and tired, yet victorious!!! Travis has played for the same coach and with most of the same kids for three seasons now. It's amazing how well they're learning to play as a team. Shayne and I were both so excited with how well they played today, winning 3-2 over a very good team. Travis scored the first goal of the game and was quick to remind me it was also the "first goal of the season!"

Here's to a winning season full of fun memories for both my soccer stars!

4 and 8 Year Portraits

We had the boys' portraits made on Wednesday by Bright Eyes Photography. The ladies were kind enough to show us a sneak peek of the 300+ photos they snapped by featuring the boys' session on their blog. There are three more cute ones on their website...check 'em out!

www.brighteyesphotography.com/blog/

Surprise!

We just thought we were done having babies! As a friend of mine said when I shared the news, "We make our plans and God just laughs!" It's obvious that He wasn't done with our family yet.

We'll have another little Myhand join our family in February 2010.

We can't wait!!

The boys are delighted! Cole is very enthusiastic about being someone's big brother! Travis was quick to remind him that he'd still be a little brother too.

Here they skeptically look over the sonogram images from today's ultrasound. Cole said, "I don't really see a baby, Mommy." But Shayne and I got to see it and it was looks perfect! And there's a possibility we might have to change this blog title to "My Three Sons" soon!

Tutty Bear Comes for a Visit!

Travis' 2nd grade class has a traveling mascot named Tutty Bear. In history this year, they learn about all things Egyptian...so the bear follows that theme. Thus the name...get it?

So, Tutty goes home with a student on the weekends accompanied by a travel journal in which his adventures are documented. The student then shares with the rest of the class on Monday.

It was quite an honor for Travis to be the first to get to bring Tutty home! And I was thrilled because we actually had a fun event planned we could journal about. We had tickets to the UT game so I suggested we take Tutty along. Travis was a bit apprehensive. But I assured him that even in a crowd of 101,000 people, I could be trusted not to lose a stuffed bear. I felt confident. And no, this story doesn't take a horrific turn...we made it there and back with Tutty safe and sound. We got a couple of cute pictures for the journal and I thought I'd share them:

In front of the entrance to the stadium.

From our seats, with an awesome view of the field and downtown Austin in the background.

Hook 'Em Horns

Shayne stumbled on a really great deal on tickets for the Longhorn's season opener. We were able to all attend our first UT game this evening! Travis enjoyed his first "tailgating" experience and Cole enjoyed the chance to perfect his "Hook 'em Horns" fingers he's been working on for quite a while! And we all enjoyed the chance to cheer the Horns on to victory...or at least a solid half-time lead...which was when we decided we'd all had about enough.

Hook 'em!

In front of DK Royal Memorial Stadium

Can you say "cheap seats?" We were at the very top with our own backrest.

I love the look on Travis' face as the Longhorns raced through the smoke to take the field.

Is this not the sweetest thing? Shayne and I just kept looking at each other in disbelief with a lump in our throat...I almost forgot to grab the camera and snap a picture. Glad I did, because it didn't last long.

First Day of 2nd Grade

A few scenes from Travis' first morning of Second Grade:

Outside his classroom door.

Which cubby is mine?

With his new teacher, Mrs. Gresham.

Taking a break from organizing his desk "just so" for a picture.

One last smile...enough MOM!

Have a great year buddy!

Little Traditions

There's a little bronze statue in the courtyard of our church's preschool that I just LOVE! As you can see it's a little boy reading a book. It also serves as a marker of how time marches on. I always have the boys pose beside it for an annual picture as school starts.

Here are some "first day of school" pictures of years past:

Travis in 3K

2005

Travis in 4K

2006

Cole in 3K

2008


Cole in 4K
2009

First day of Pre-K

Today was Cole's first day of preschool for his 4K year! He had a great day. When asked what was the best part, he replied, "All of it!" He made a new friend and played pirates on the playground. Sounds like a great start to me!

With Ms. Kathy, his new teacher

Taking responsibility and putting away his things.
This is a year of growing up and getting ready for Kindergarten!

Fiesta Texas

We took the boys to Fiesta Texas for one last hurrah before school starts. Why do we always wait to go in August? It was 102-degrees.

My navigators...three men and they all had to have a map!

Travis and Daddy exiting the first coaster of the day--Boomerang.

Travis is tall enough to ride most of the mid-range rides...but still a year and a few inches short of all the really BIG coasters.



His favorite of the day was the wooden roller coaster--The Rattler!

Mine and Cole's favorite moment of the day--

chocolate milkshakes at Johnny Rocket's!

Green/White belt

Indiana Family

Shayne's grandparents with seven of their eleven great-grandchildren.

A whole lotta little girls...

Travis and Cole with their all-female cousins.

Miranda, Courtney, Camrynn, Callie and Chloe

Louisville Sluggers

During our annual trip to visit Shayne's family in Clarksville, IN the boys had some free time on Friday afternoon and decided to tour the Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory across the river.

That's one huge bat!

Amazingly, no one has gotten whacked in the head with a bat yet!


Fresh from the factory...
Travis posing with his brand new customized natural wooden bat!

And Cole chose to have a black one.

K'Nex Coaster

Travis finished assembling his roller coaster kit that he'd been working on for a few days. He worked feverishly at first and then lost motivation assembling the track. So I promised if he'd complete it (as opposed to pieces being strung out all over the living room) I'd post the pictures on the blog. So here it is...

Mommy/Travis Days '09

One of the great benefits to Cole attending daycamp is that it gives Travis and I the opportunity to have some time just the two of us to do things we wouldn't ordinarily get to do with Cole in tow. We call these days, Mommy & Travis "adventure days" and plan them out each summer. Here's a link to what we did last year: Mommy/Travis Days '08

This year we had a great time: visiting the Texas State History Museum and the State Capitol; bowling and playing arcade games; seeing Jungle Jim and his bug collection; swimming in Barton Springs and exploring InnerSpace Caverns.

Here are some pictures from our favorite adventures:

Barton Springs Pool is a natural spring in Zilker Park near downtown Austin. It's 68 degrees year round and even though the temperature on the day we visited would top 103 outside the water, it was still COLD! But since it's a natural spring, there is all sorts of stuff to see in the water...thus, the mask for spotting fish and creatures.

Travis decided the best way to get in was the diving board. And yes, it's COLD!!!

InnerSpace Caverns is a cave underneath I-35 in Georgetown that was discovered while they were drilling to build the interstate in the 1960s. We took the 1 1/2 hour tour that let us explore the caves on foot.

Most of the cave is "hands off" but this is the one spot you could touch.

It's so dark it's tough to get a good picture, but it's really beautiful.

Hitting a jackpot on the arcade game at the bowling alley.

Travis studied Texas History last year in First Grade, so we went back to the Bob Bullock Texas History Museum this year, then walked over to the State Capitol.

Astounded in the rotunda...

And since these were "adventure" days, I outlawed lunch at McDonald's or Chick-Fil-A because we eat there all the time. The result was that we ate A LOT of pizza...