Dress-up

In July, Rowan had to go home from Grandma's house in one of Grandma's shirts, since he got his clothing all wet and dirty. The next day, Rowan refused to take off Grandma's pretty shirt, and then decided he would try on his Build-a-Bear's spiderman outfit. Ta-da!

4th of July

Let the fireworks begin! For the 4th of July, we went to my brother Chad's house. We gorged ourselves on food (appetizers & BBQ), played some outdoor games, watched fireworks, and then ate dessert. Chad's neighbors had dueling firework shows, and his next-door neighbor probably spent close to $15k on fireworks. We could also see the Leander & Cedar Park firework shows from his front yard. We had a great time, but we went home exhausted.

3rd of July

Most patriotic family! (Check out our trophy)

On the 3rd of July, we went to our neighborhood festival at the community center. Usually, it is in the park after we do a little neighborhood parade, but it was moved inside this year, and the parade was cancelled due to rain. We still had a good time at the festival. The boys jumped, ate popcorn, got animal balloons (Yoshi & T-Rex), and surprisingly, we won most patriotic family!! I guess my obsession for us matching, that I inherited from my mom, paid off. We then went to my parent's house, swam, and then the boys ate patriotic donuts in the bath. Yummy!

Louisiana Swamp Boat Tour

Here Big Boy! (you can see him coming in this pic)

Big Boy came right up next to the boat, until he touched it, like they were hugging.

Look at that Beauty-the pics don't do him justice!

Big Boy is right next to the boat-far right.

We were in Louisiana for my birthday, and I was able to celebrate by going on a swamp boat tour to search for alligators. I loved the whole thing-our super old tour guide who grew up on the swamp, watching the boys drive the boat, seeing my cute boys in their alligator hats, getting to sit in the shade, watching as "Big Boy", the alligator, who the tour guide has been feeding for 15 years, come when called (here Big Boy, here Big Boy-as he bangs on the side of the boat), watching Big Boy (9 feet long) caress the boat with his body and eat the chicken and ice cubes that were fed to him, etc. Afterwards, we ate at a seafood place that was having a movie filmed at it-called Shark Alligator, or something like that. I'm sure it'll go straight to the sci-fi channel, which my momma loves, unless it stars Big Boy. My camera's battery died on the tour, so I didn't get any other pics of our Louisiana trip like all of the eating we did-Gumbo, steaks, mashed potatoes, all-you-can-eat King Crab Buffet at the Casino, etc. I wasn't feeling well (anemic, high blood pressure, nausea, heartburn, pregnancy, too many pills/vitamins), so I stayed home with Rowan and Kevin's parents while the rest went 4-wheeling on the beautiful beach there. My sister Heather and her boyfriend, Billy came with us, and no one could believe all of the different, new foods that Billy tried like gumbo (thumbs up) and fried alligator (thumbs up). We were glad they were able to go with us. Well, it was another successful, fun trip to Louisiana, and we can't wait to go back!

Exercise Benefits Bunco

My Mom

Part of the Buffet

A quick workout after dinner

The Beautiful Bunco Babes

In June, my mom hosted Bunco at my house. This year, my Bunco group has picked a charity to sponsor each month instead of using the monthly $5 contribution for prizes. We also each pitch in a little more, depending on the needs of the charity. My mom decided to focus on benefiting others through exercise, so she used donations to purchase a CD player for her "Senior Circle" ladies to exercise to and to sponsor underprivileged children doing youth sports at the local YMCA. My mom and her friends love working out at the Senior Circle, and my son Hayden has benefited tremendously from his participation in sports at the YMCA, so I know both gifts are going to good causes. Both groups were very grateful for our donations, too. We've had so much fun doing Benefit Buncos this year!!

Ella Turns 2

Ella turned 2 in June, and we went to her Puppy Dog Birthday Bash. The boys had a great time, of course. And, Ella looked so darling, of course. We love partying at the Giard's house!