Girls' trip to Napa!

I got to take a trip out to Napa to see Ali, who is working out there. I flew out on Friday and returned Monday morning. We had a lovely time! My first night in town, we ate at a French place that Ali is very fond of. I even ate escargot (not a favorite of mine, by the way) but I am always game for a little adventure! We called that an early night, as we had a big day ahead of wine tasting. I was SO excited. I did feel a little guilty that my first trip to Napa was not with Chris, but now when we do go, I think it will be even better. So Saturday was a full day and started at Joseph Phelps (top right pic), and it was amazing! We then headed to Alpha-Omega. This was one of my favorites. I think lunch was next then to Cuvasion and then to Dutch Henry. Seriously a full day!! Got back to the hotel in time to nap. Dinner was another French restaurant. A really cute place to eat, with lots of character. We then headed to a bar where there was live music and took that in until quite late. The next morning came early. We packed up and hit one more - Merryvale. This was the most amazing, guess we saved the best for last. Thanks to a friendly relationship between Ali and the tasting guy, we were treated like absolute royalty. We had our own tasting, inside a barrel (middle pic), complete with food to compliment each flavor. It was really quite an experience! I actually joined that one, so we will get to enjoy Merryvale wines for years to come!! Thank you Ali, for showing me such an amazing "first time" in Napa. Can't wait to go back...

Sweet cousins

Dave and Sabrina took a week-long trip to Mexico this summer and Jax and Savanna stayed with the (senior) Andrews. We thought it might be nice to give them a night off so we took all the kids out to Chuck E Cheese. That was actually plan B; we were planning to see some dancing dinosaurs over in Arlington, but that got rained out. But no kid turns down Chuck E Cheese, right? We went to the one over in Arlington, and it was totally dodgy. There was a guy passed out in one of the booths!! Yikes! So we just sat somewhere far from him and had a great time! The kids play so well together. It is really amazing. They just love each other so much, and I think we are really fortunate!

No place like home!

Well it was a long 8 weeks. But certainly it was worthwhile. We demo'd the entire upstairs. The only room that remained structurally the same was the kids' bathroom. We took it from 3 bedrooms upstairs to 2. The master was made into an actual master suite, and it's beautiful. After 8+ years of marriage, we finally have nice (matching) bedroom furniture! The kids got to "pick" their furniture so they are super excited too. We are happy as can be with all the work, and to be back in our own home. We were at my mom's from April 20 - June 20. The kids really did great, but as everyone knows...there's no place like home!

Charis and Price turn THREE!!!

My sweet angel babies are just growing up so quickly! They are both such characters! And boy were they excited for their birthday party. Coincidentally, this fell on moving day too, which made for a pretty crazy day. We decided to do their birthday party at My Gym again this year. This actually ended up not being so great. The girls working the party were a bit too high-strung for a kids' birthday party. It was awkward. But the kids did not know the difference and had a blast of course! It was, however, the end of our long relationship with My Gym. It was good while it lasted. The party could not be scheduled at an ideal time so we tried to get them to nap early and as a result they seemed to be almost falling asleep when the party started. So crazy. But we had yummy Chick Fil A nuggets, a fruit tray, and cupcakes by April (from our hometeam). And they got some neat gifts as well. We are so grateful for the generosity of our friends!

Chris' birthday....35!

Wow, 35 sounds really old. I feel like we are still 25, or maybe even 30, but 35? Ouch. We got 2 grown-up nights out to celebrate Chris' birthday. The first was at Central Market. We had dinner on the patio and listened to music by Brad Thompson (who played for our 30th birthday party).

Our second fun night out with friends was at Axiom sushi in Montgomery Plaza. Super-fun evening! We are so blessed with great family and great friends. (Pictures are reversed from the order of the descriptions.)

Nash Farm

Seems like we had a lot of animal-centered activities this summer. Nash Farm is a "working farm" in Grapevine. It was open to the public on certain days this summer so we took advantage. We'd pack a lunch and head over. There were cows, a "hay ride", a corn field, scarecrows, a little garden, chickens, some old tractors...all sorts of stuff. But by far the most exciting time we went was when there was a petting zoo, complete with goats, and PRICE GOT TO MILK ONE!! It was so cool. Charis wanted no part of that, but she cheered her brother on! It was a really neat experience for him.

Family Vacation 2010

The first weekend in June we headed back out to the Hideaway Ranch in Granbury, Tx, just about 1.5 hours away. The kids were so excited to go on "vacation". Our cabin had a loft, which of course, Chris and I slept in, and the kids shared a double bed on the main floor. The first night the Smarts made steak for everyone. We provided breakfast tacos both mornings. On Saturday we took the kids to Fossil Rim. We skipped this last year because the kids were too young. But this year it was perfect. They just loved it!!

The kids just squealed with delight as the animals came and ate from our car. This is a picture of a giraffe who had his whole head in our sunroof eating from the bag of food. It was so wild!!

That night we did a hay ride, which the kids loved as well! There was a cow that just kept following us around. The kids giggled and giggled. There are llamas which roam free as well as dogs and cats. This was a really super weekend for us!