Summer Friend Camp

Just about 3 weeks after we moved in we did Summer Friend Camp. They lady we bought our house from put this cute idea together, where each day kids are divided up into age groups and have a fun themed day of activities for 3 hours. Then it rotates to a different house the next day, and on Friday we did one big swim party. I was a little nervous to do this, especially since we had just moved in, I didn't know any of the kids, and well, it's a bunch of 3-4 year olds. But Paige loved it and I'm so glad we did it!

For my day we did Pirate Day! It was mainly boys, and at one point a boy asked me, "Where are all your weapons?" Turns out our dolls and shopping cart toys weren't cutting it :) It was fun seeing Paige build friendships with these cute little kids.

Walking the plank!

Pirate Booty Snack

Jake and the Neverland Pirates

Jumping out some energy

Deacon thought he was one of the big kids

Treasure Hunt

Finding their treasure

Cutest little pirates!

And this is what I did once they all left...

Friday pool party! Such a fun group of moms and kids, glad we got to be a part of it!

August in Dallas

So turns out August in Dallas is well, duh, freakishly hot. The bad part is the locals referred to this summer as "mild"...uh, what's a bad summer?! Luckily we were busy doing house projects (read: staying in AC) and then would venture to the pool in the evenings. And you learn to live in t-shirts and just feel sweaty all the time. I think we were pretty much consumed by doing errands and projects trying to get settled, so I didn't take a ton of pictures this month.

So fun having a neighborhood pool!

 Lounging AC time. These two can be pretty cute together.

We absolutely loved having the Mckinnons and Bulls interning here in TX and had one last get together before they headed back for their second year at Duke. Our fingers are still crossed they'll move back here!

The kids adjusted to the new house. Deacon had the stairs perfected (up & down) in less than 3 days. He also perfected climbing onto the hearth and eating things out of the fireplace...

Paige christened the stairs with a good nap

 Deacon has found the joy of sneaking into his sister's room to play with her toys

They've both struggled with the concept of daddy working from home on some days. This is a picture Ben took while working...Deacon will just stand at the office doors and bang on them or cry.

We attempted to cool down with a local ice cream shop

And this was actually the beginning of September, but Marcus flew into Dallas and then the boys, along with their friend Jon, drove to Austin where they met up with Dillon for the BYU vs. UT Austin game. They had a fun boys weekend and BYU won!

Moving to Texas!

The day finally came for us to close on our house! The timing was a little crazy, and Ben had to reschedule a flight for work, finally sign, and then head straight to the airport, but it all worked out. We actually ended up buying from a Mormon family who happened to sit in front of us when we were visiting a ward. We already knew we liked the neighborhood, had already looked at a similar floor plan, so when they introduced themselves to us and said we should look at their house, it all just kind of fell into place. And an added perk was that they are a super cute family and she loves to decorate, so a lot of our walls were already painted :)

My mom was a life saver and flew with me and the kids from WA to Dallas. The tricky part was Ben had to be in Atlanta for work, so he left our car at the airport, which happened to be at the furthest gate from where we landed, and he wasn't there for when we moved in. Mom and I amazingly managed the airport/car situation in 100 degree heat with 2 kids, stayed in a hotel, and the next day managed everything with the movers. It was stressful, but I was very proud of us! My mom is a work-horse and unpacked boxes as quickly as possible so we could send the boxes with the movers. I was in charge of checking every box number off and telling the movers where things went. (They were a little scary and intimidating). Luckily a friend watched Paige and we kept Deacon in his stroller with a lot of snacks.

We had quite a few issues with the moving company, but luckily all of them were fairly minor. I was slightly nervous to tell Ben the case holding his beloved Coach K signed ball was shattered, but luckily the ball was ok. Phew!

Luckily, after Ben was done seeing the secret Coke recipe vault and going to a Pitbull and Lady Gaga concert at his Microsoft MGX conference.....

...he flew in the following day so we had some help! And then on Monday my sweet dad arrived! We put him to work hanging decorations, building me a bench in the laundry room, installing baby locks, helping Ben with the TV mount, and any other projects I could come up with. My mom organized our entire closet and helped me with every other box. They are both crazy worker bees and would be up at 7 am drilling something or organizing another thing. On top of that they went to countless stores with me: Ikea and Home Depot at least 3 times, every decoration store in town, and then mom and I would go back to those decorating stores at night to exchange without kids. We even squeezed in a trip to the giant outlet mall. 

Tuesday the painters came and we went from light blue in the family room to a darker "charlotte slate" (thanks to my sister-in-law's color help). This is pre-slate color.

We did take breaks to eat out (a lot. Had to try Tex-Mex and Texas BBQ), and test out our new movie room! Our first showing? Project Runway :) Sorry honey.

We were all exhausted by the time my parents left but every single box was unpacked! They were a HUGE help and there is no way we could have done it without them.

And just like that, we became official Texas residents! So far we really like it here. The house is slowly looking more decorated and this is feeling more and more like home.

Summer time on the lake!

I've said it before, I'll say it again, you can't beat a good summer in Washington. We had amazing weather while we were home, and basically lived in our swimsuits. Paige was much more independent this year in her life jacket and trying to keep up with all the older cousins. She is my fearless girl and loved going on the tubes (and fell asleep on them multiple times!). Deacon, on the other hand, was not the best age for the lake. No babies really love the infant lifejacket, and since he could crawl it was a little scary having him on the dock. But, in following grandkid tradition, he loved a good sleepy boat ride.

All the Warning cousins

A new toy added this year... "The Monster"! Paige apparently found it very relaxing and fell asleep while being pulled on it multiple times.

The mini jet skis were also a hit.

Jumping tricks...

Everyone had to take turns helping with this little boy

The kids loved all their cousin time!

I got to see some friends! Elise, Amanda, and Anjelica and I stayed up way too late chatting. So fun to catch up and reminisce with those girls.

And I saw Emma and her cute boys!

We played hard and my kids were usually exhausted from skipping naps and playing in the sun.

I'm also glad I got these sweet pictures of the family dog, Leo. As crotchety as that old dog can be, and as many times as he's nipped at the kids, peed on the carpet, etc, I love that dog. He's getting pretty old, so I was a little teary saying bye to him when we left. We love our Leo.

It is always so much fun staying at my parents'. This time felt a little stressful as we were trying to close on a house and I was sending papers, etc, but I'm so glad we got that time with my family. Thanks mom and dad for hosting us for yet another summer.

Peace out, Washington, time to move to Texas!