This past weekend, we went to Vegas to celebrate Papaw’s 60th birthday. We had a great time, but missed the kids at home. Thank you to Banty and Honey for coming to stay with them! :)
Brad, Me, Papaw, Mimi, Uncle B and Auntie M
Brad and I before we went to see Leno.
My camera was hard to deal with because it was dark and it was focusing on the lights behind us! :)
Boots and Banty took a break from having cows on the ranch for a few years, but just recently they got some more. Each grandchild got to pick out a cow to name and be “responsible for”. They loved picking the names out and deciding which cow would be theirs. 
Papa, Ellie, Tate, Daddy and Emmy all ready to go visit the cows
Ok, I hope I got this right…I have a hard enough time remembering the kids names…much less the cows names! :)
Meet Pickles…this is Tate’s cow.
There are a few cows now formally known as pickles, but this is the one he finally settled on. :)
This is Twinkle Toes, Emmy’s cow.
She picked this one because of the heart shape on her head.
Here is Ladybug, Lyla’s cow…
she was napping during the choosing, so the other kids picked hers.
And here is Tinkerbell….Cousin Ellie’s choice.
Shaking hands on the deal! :)
I know, I know…I get the Bad Blogger Award of the Year! I am going to try and catch up today. Here are a few pics from our trip back through Clifton from San Antonio…like a month ago!!!!
Today, we went over to Mollie and Claire’s house for their birthday party. All the girls were in dance together last year. We had a great time catching up and visiting.
The girls…Maddie, Claire, Chloe, Mollie and Emmy
They had a dress-up tea party for the girls. Everything was decorated so cute!
Emmy enjoying some tea
The birthday girls
All the girls enjoying their lunch
Our friend, Paul, gave us some suite tickets to the Mesquite Rodeo a few weeks ago. We decided to take Tate, Emmy and Papa with us. Nana volunteered to keep Lyla for the evening. We had a great time!
Brad, Me, Lyla, Papa, Tate and Emmy before we left for the rodeo.
This was one excited cowboy! He could not believe the view!
Emmy looking down at the cows
He had a great time. In fact, we asked him if he was hungry or thirsty and he would not answer us because he was so busy watching the rodeo.
Our view from the suite
Me and my handsome cowboy!
Since we all have birthdays from July-September, this year Mamaw (my grandmother), decided to treat us all to a night at the Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine instead of buying gifts. I had seen pics and heard of other people who had gone a loved it. We went last weekend and lets just say, it did not disappoint! I think Brad and I had as much fun as the kids. :) 
Every night at 8pm they have a story time down in the lobby where a man dressed like a park ranger comes out and reads a story to the kids. They all go down to the lobby in their pajamas to listen to the story.
Here they are with their stuffed animals Mimi and Papaw got for them.
Uncle B with Brody and Tate. They were all tired and ready for bed!
They have an indoor and outdoor water park for the kids. We mostly stayed indoors because there was a huge area just for little kids (no one taller than 48” could play in there unless they were accompanied by a kid), so that was nice the little ones were not being run over. They had all sorts of splash areas, small water slides and water guns. After forcing Emmy down the first slide, we could not get her to stop going back to get in line. They even went down the intermediate slides meant for the next age of kiddos. Tate wanted to ride the big rapid ride, but the man said he was not tall enough yet. He told Brad he needed to eat more fruits and veggies so he can ride it next time. :) I tried to get some pics, but there is water EVERYWHERE in there, so I got a few of the kids playing.
Uncle B and Brody
This was over by the wave pool. The kids loved splashing and playing here. Emmy even said it was like the ocean, without the messy sand! :)
Waiting for the next big wave!
We got to spend some great quality time with the kids!
Emmy posing for the camera
Going out to sea…
Lyla even enjoyed herself…thank you to Mimi and Papaw for taking care of her most of the weekend! She got to have a camp out in Mimi and Papaw’s room and Mimi would take her up for naps.
This is what the ride home looked like. Lyla was so tired by about 1 Mimi and Papaw took her home, so Brad and I could stay for a few more hours with Tate and Emmy…this was about 5pm…OUT! Thank you to Mamaw for the fun weekend!
