Memorial Day Weekend

Today is the girls last day of school, and we couldn't be more ready! After having a long weekend, we are so ready to be done with school! Mostly because I'm tired of fixing lunches- ha! 

Our Memorial Day weekend started off celebrating Megan's birthday. 

DJ worked to set up the kennel for our pup and then I found him spraying down two girls on the trampoline. 

Sunday morning, we tried a new church, had lunch, and then made our separate ways to birthday parties. Gretchen had a sleepover party with a friend so DJ dropped her off, and spent a few hours taking Megan on a bike ride and hitting up the pool, and I took Adalyn to a party for one of her classmates. 

Her party was at the All Abilities Park in Round Rock, and I had heard of it, but we hadn't been. After going, I know we'll be playing here throughout the Summer! 

She was one of the only girls in her class to come, so she tried hard to keep up with the boys until her BFF arrived. 

There was a zip line, and she had SO much fun! 

Once her bestie arrived, she was a happy camper! 

After the party, we were super hot, so we called DJ and had him and Megan meet us for ice cream. 

Monday morning, we got up early and headed to Houston to watch the Cubs play the Astros. We took Gretchen to Cubs games when she was little, but Megan and Adalyn had never been, and we haven't been in forever since we rarely had the chance to make it to a game when we lived in Oklahoma..... Indiana was a lot closer for us, so we would try to go once a year. 

DJ brother in law is getting treatment at MD Anderson, so they were there this week for his appointments. DJ's dad and step mom also made the trip down, so we all met up at the game! 

This is us hiding from the balls during practice.

And these were the guys watching, hoping a home run would come there way. 

This little one, headed down to the sidelines with her cousin to get some autographs! 

While everyone else watched on the sidelines (is that what they call it in baseball?) we sat down and watched. 

And then we made it to our seats, which were way up high! 

Their Memorial Day celebration was so special, and totally brought tears to my eyes. We're so thankful for those that sacrificed for our country. 

This girl knows the Longhorns symbol, so she made up one for the Cubs. 

Just three girls watching some baseball. 

At the beginning of the 8th inning, we made our way down and finished watching the last two innings. The Cubs scored 2 home runs and made for a close game at the end! 

All of the fam! 

After the game, we had dinner then headed back to Austin. I found this selfie of Adalyn on my phone. 

Tuesday morning, these girls headed off to school in their #Charliestrong shirts. We sure do love Uncle Charlie and we're praying for him to make a full recovery. 

Again, to everyone that gave the ultimate sacrifice- thank you. 

Let's Get Away

Last week was DJ's collegiate sports video association convention over in Anaheim, California. He flew out on Monday and I met him there on Wednesday. It's been several years since I've had the chance to travel with him to his conference, and I'm so thankful that my parents were able to come down to keep the girls so I could go. 

I arrived in Anaheim around 3 and rested until it was time for his awards dinner and casino night. 

DJ has been in charge of the awards ceremony the last two years but took a break this year. We were able to catch up with several friends that we've met throughout his years as a VC, and even a few of his former students who went on to their own careers in college football. 

Thursday morning, we woke up to rain but that didn't stop our plans of heading to Disneyland! I have to admit, I was so excited about Disney, but mostly because we were getting to experience it without our kids! I know that sounds awful, but there was no major planning on our part. We didn't have to book character meals, we didn't have to ride tea cups or Dumbo or try to calm whiney tired kids. 

We had planned to arrive to the park at 8, but didn't make it to the park until 10 because of the rain. Everyone I had talked to said to just go during the rain and enjoy it because lines would be super short, but since we knew it was just us and we'd have the entire day, we decided to wait until the rain stopped. Literally as soon as we arrived, the rain ended and the day was gorgeous! 

I did a little research on their Max Pass system, since it's different from Disney World's Fast Pass, and it was super easy to use. As soon as we walked in to the park, we scheduled a max pass for Thunder Mountain Railroad and basically walked right on. Afterwards, we rode Pirates of the Caribbean, did the Haunted Mansion, and then saw the line was super short for Splash Mountain so we headed that way. And y'all, we got soaked!!!  Like, we had to ring out our socks and dry off in the bathroom with the hand dryers. 

We landed a Max Pass for space mountain, and grabbed a quick snack. We probably had to wait the longest for space mountain, but that's because they had to shut down the ride a few times. 

After space mountain, we headed to the Nemo submarine ride while waiting on our next max pass for Matterhorn Bobsleds. 

We ate a late lunch, went on Buzz Lightyear, rode the train, walked through toon town, met Mickey Mouse, and decided to wait in line for Indiana Jones. We had scored a max pass for it, but it wasn't for 9:30, and by that time we had basically ridden pretty much everything we really wanted to ride. So, we waited in line for Indiana Jones, then went on the Jungle Cruise. 

We finished off our evening with a dessert, and rode the Snow White ride and the Pinnochio ride. I mean, we seriously rode a ton of rides! 

We stayed for the fireworks but because of the wind, it turned out to be a light show, so we decided to call it a night and head back to the hotel. 

Friday morning we got up, and ubered to Huntington Beach. 

We walked the pier and watched the surfers and volleyball players on the beach. 

We brought our swimsuits and a towel, but it was chilly! 

So, we opted for a yummy lunch instead! 

We decided to walk through the town and went to the surfers museum. 

Then we decided to book a whale trip over in Newport Beach. 

We arrived about an hour before we were scheduled to leave, so we grabbed a snack and walked by the water. 

Since we knew it would be cooler out on the water, we bought long sleeve t's and set out on our adventure. 

Cheers! 

Unfortunately, the water was rough! The captain of the ship made the call to turn back around for safety, and even though it was a bummer, he totally made the right call. 

This guy loves to be on the water. 

We asked someone for a local restaurant recommendation, and they highly recommended Bearflag. 

DJ had salmon and I had fish tacos. 

They were so good! 

Saturday morning, we slept in and boarded our flight home.

I'm so thankful we were able to take a few days and get out of town. It definitely did us good after the year we've had with moving, starting over in Austin, and trying to find a new normal here in Texas. 

Top Golf

Well friends, May just got started and it's already been a hectic month! I totally went MIA on the blog because I just didn't have a ton of time to sit down and write. Gretchen's been busy with tech rehearsals for her play; Megan's been busy with gymnastics; work for me was busy this week and even though it's not football season, DJ's been busy getting his office and moved and doing all the other things! Addy's just been along for the ride! Ha! 

Gretchen came home from school on Thursday with not one, but TWO lost teeth! I don't even think we realized they were loose! 

Addy lost a tooth a few weeks ago, then Gretchen, and Megan's just lost one too! The tooth fairy should just move in with us!....... Oh, wait..... 

Last Thursday evening, we took DJ's video staff and students to Top Golf as an end of the year celebration. We have tried to do this the last several years, and some years, we're able to get something scheduled and other years, we aren't able to, but it's always our goal to get the staff and students together outside of football and let them know that we are so appreciative of all they do! 

It's because of them, that DJ has been able to make it to a few of the girls events throughout the year, or leave work a little early to help me shuffle the girls to event to event. We are so thankful for them and their dedication! 

I mean, this guy loves golf, but doesn't get to actually play as much as he'd like.

She loves to throw the "hook 'em" anytime she can! 

The girls had a blast! We rented two bays, and had a ton of food! 

I love this guy and his dedication to his job!

And again, he couldn't do what he does without these people! 

Thank you to the best staff in college football video! 

(Psst- I say that every year, because we have been so blessed with everyone that has worked with DJ throughout the years! I keep up with many of his former female students and he keeps up with others, and it's been such a journey to see them move on to working on football themselves or getting other jobs, getting married, having families... we are just so appreciative of all of them!)