Halloween 2010

For 2 years now our small group has had a "Front Yard Festival" for Halloween.  Our church encourages small groups to hold these festivals in one of our yards so we can meet our neighbors and be a presence in our neighborhoods.  It's pretty easy for our group to be a presence in the neighborhood since 3 out of the 5 of us live in it, with two of us living next door to each other.  The festival is primarily held in the Renshaw's front yard but occasionally we spread out a little bit into ours.  It's a lot of fun because our group gets together early in the evening for a cookout and we have a fire pit we sit around.  Then when it gets dark and trick-or-treaters come by to visit we offer smore materials for them to make their own smores in addition to our candy.....parents just LOVE us ;)

This year the ladies of the group decided to go 80's style.  

Kenee', Kristan, Meagan, and Me

We decided Kenee' and Meagan were the preppy girls

Kristan was the sporty girl

and I was the artsy girl.......ha ha!!

Matthew and Me

Bryan in charge of grilling the meat.....yummmmmm!

Once it got dark Matt stood over Bryan with a flashlight so Bryan could see if our meat was finished cooking

Neighbor's gathering around the fire pit to make their smores.

Bryan's mom showed Matthew how to make a smore.

Some of us decided to go say Hi to the Brewer group across the street

Matthew going Trick-Or-Treating for the first time!!

I'm helping him pick out candy, aka the candy I like :)

Member's of our small group at the Festival

Matt and Kenee' Dover, Jon and Meagan Dover, Trey, Kristan, and Kailey Renshaw, and Us

Mark Stigers came as Big Bird for the 2nd year (he's in the Brewer small group across the street), he's a huge hit!!

Bryan, Matthew, and I

Matthew with Bryan's parents

My sweet boy

While sitting at my computer today working on this blog Matthew crawled up into my lap.  He likes looking at all the pictures and naming the people he see's in them.  As we were sitting there I thought it was a great photo opportunity so I grabbed my phone.

Here are a few photo's I took (please disregard the ugly yellow hue behind us!!)...

He doesn't look like he's enjoying this too much, ha ha!! :)

But then, as soon as I finished kissing him on the cheek he did this all on his own, no prompting!

SOOOOO sweet!!!!

Even on those difficult days when Matthew is acting his 2 year old self, it's nice to know he loves me :)

The Dallas Zoo, April 29, 2011

On Friday, April 29th, Bryan took the day off from work so we could take Matthew to the zoo.  We figured going during April would mean cooler temperatures and visiting during the week would mean the zoo wouldn't be that crowded.  Makes sense right?!?!  Boy, were we wrong!!  The temperatures weren't that bad, a little on the warm side, but totally doable.  However, I'm pretty positive we were in the park with every elementary student in the city of Dallas!!

As we were nearing the exit for the zoo on I-35 traffic came to a standstill.  I figured there was a wreck or construction but as we got nearer we noticed all the cars were trying to exit the same exit as the zoo, along with SEVERAL school buses.  I looked over at Bryan and said, "You realize what's going on today don't you?  It must be field trip day."  We decided to go on ahead and go to the zoo since we were almost there, we packed a lunch, and we had been talking to Matthew about it all morning.  When we were paying for parking I was curious and asked the worker how many schools we would be sharing the zoo with that day and his reply was 16.  He said everyday that week they had about 2-3 thousand students come to the park, WOW!!  But, we forged ahead anyway!  After we parked we were standing near our car putting sunscreen on and packing all our stuff in Matthew's stroller when another family walked by.  The dad looked at Bryan and said something to the effect of, "We must be the craziest people trying to go to the zoo today."  My thoughts exactly, but it was sure to be a memorable day!!

Bryan and I took Matthew to the zoo last year but he was too little to get what was going on, he just enjoyed getting out of the house ;)  While we were there we did the right part of the zoo which has farm animals, birds, tigers, small monkey's, rino's, etc.  On the left side was a new exhibit called, "Wilds of Africa".  We didn't go through this part last year because we ran out of time so we were going to head to that side first!  I was REALLY excited to see this exhibit because I love seeing animals from Africa.  I've told Bryan my dream vacation is to go to Africa to see Victoria Falls and to go on a safari!!  We'll go one day, I promise!!

Matthew loved looking at all the animals!!  

The scenery around the animals was really pretty too.

This little adventure happened right after Easter.  As we were getting the stroller out of the back of our 4-Runner an egg rolled out as well.  Matthew insisted on carrying it the entire day :)

We took a time out for a family shot!!

The Dallas Zoo has a really cool Giraffe exhibit!  It's a lot like Abilene's where you can feed them, Dallas' just looks prettier.

After we looked at the giraffe's, elephant's, and lion's we went through the gorilla/chimpanzee exhibit.  This part is fairly large and it is all enclosed in trees and bushes.  There's a trail you follow that does a loop through the entire exhibit; basically once you enter you don't leave until you have walked completely through.  When we entered this part of the zoo I noticed 2 police officers drive up in a golf cart.  I didn't think anything of it because I just thought they were there due to the TONS of kids there that day.  As we walked through the trail we enjoyed looking at the monkey's and all the crazy things they do.  When we were about halfway through I saw 2 zoo employees emerge from behind an "employees only" door carrying their walkie talkie's.  Again, didn't think anything of it, until they stopped us and told us to follow them to a secured area because they had a "situation".  Now, if you remember, when the Wilds of Africa exhibit first opened they had a chimpanzee get out of the cage and it ended up hurting some visitors at the zoo.  So I become extremely irritated because I assumed another animal has gotten out of their cage.  At that moment I swore off the Dallas Zoo, I was going to leave as soon as this ordeal was over and I was NEVER coming back!!  However, Bryan, the rational one of our pair, asked the zoo worker what was going on.  She told us there was a robbery suspect who jumped the fence and was now avoiding cops by hiding in the zoo.  He was somewhere in the Wild's of Africa so the police officers had asked the employee's to take all the zoo visitor's to a safe place.

Here's the group of people we were with walking to a "safe place"

We ended up going through that "employee's only"door I mentioned earlier to the backside of the park.  This looked like where employees parked their cars and where the monkey's were housed during the evenings.  At one point our group was split in half.  One group contained the students and their chaperones who locked themselves in the white building in the picture below with one of the employees.  The rest of the group (including us) turned around and headed the opposite direction with the remaining employee.  She said we were going to go into one of the monkey buildings.  As we were walking she was trying to lighten the mood by giving us a "behind the scene's tour", she was really funny and did a great job of keeping everyone calm!  Bryan was really worried because we had no idea what this suspect was capable of or if he was armed and we were in a perfect hostage situation, according to Bryan.  I became a little scared when I saw cops looking in all the parked cars with guns drawn as we were walking.

There were several police choppers circling us, and of course I had to take a picture of it!!

As we walked further the employee got a message on her walkie talkie telling her to lead us to the front part/right side of the zoo.  They were going to completely evacuate and secure the Wild's of Africa exhibit.  So here's a picture of everyone fleeing the scene!  A little blurry but you get the idea...

Needless to say Bryan and I decided it was a great time to break for lunch.  We ate in the big restaurant area and it was funny to watch everyone on their phone's looking up what was going on and to over hear all the chatter. 

After lunch we quickly walked through the other part of the zoo because it was getting close to Matthew's nap time.  Matthew was really cute as he walked through the farm area.  He named all the animals and the sounds they make and was really proud of himself!

As we walked towards the front gate we noticed the other part of the zoo was still blocked off by employee's and security and the choppers were still circling above us.  All the zoo exits were closed except for one that had a security guard standing infront of it.  There were news camera's and reporters lined on the other side of the gates.  The camera's taped us walking out and a reporter approached us asking, "Is everything okay in there?"  Bryan and I both froze, I didn't want to be on the news so I just said, "Yeah, they're handing everything okay." and then we continued to walk to our car.  The further we walked the more we wished we would have said something better, but oh well!

It turns out the police never found the suspect in the zoo and they aren't even positive he was ever in there to begin with.  So, a LOT of fuss over nothing; however, I'd much rather be safe than sorry!!  

In the end we had a great time despite the heat, thousands of kids, and fugitive and it turned out to be a zoo visit I will never forget!!

Catching Up

I was just looking through all my pictures I have saved on my computer and realized I have missed several good blogging opportunities!  SO....the following posts are going to be random and in no particular order.  I may blog a lot today and then not for several weeks....that's life.  I've just realized a lot of life has passed by that I would like to record :)

Beaver's Bend 2011 - Part 2 (finally!!)

Traveling Day - Thursday, March 24th

Ben, Janet, Bryan, and I loaded up the van before picking the kids up from Mother's Day Out.  I have to admit I was a little skeptical if ALL our stuff would fit.  We had 4 adults and 2 kiddo's worth of luggage, 1 Pack-N-Play, a wagon, a child carrier backpack, sports equipment, and 2 bikes!  As I shared my skepticism Ben said, "Don't worry, I'm a master packer!"  

Here's the "Master Packer" and Bryan working their magic  

Everything fit like a glove, why did I ever doubt the Master Packer!!

As our van pulled into the Christ United Methodist Church parking lot we received a few funny looks.  Here we are on a Thursday afternoon rolling in with suitcases on top of a big van and 2 bikes attached to the back!  Never the less, Janet and I hoped out to pick up Marin and Matthew from their classrooms.  As the kids were walking down the hall and outside they were saying, "Yay Beavers Bend!".  

Here's Marin and Matthew all loaded up and enjoying a drink before napping during the 3/3.5 hour drive

After making a pit stop half way through our trip we arrived in Beaver's Bend a little after 6:00 and headed straight to the Brewer's, Brewer's, Caffey's, Arthur's, Burnett's, and Griner's camping area for a group fajita dinner.  The food was really yummy but the company was even better!  It was neat watching all the kids chase each other around in the woods, they had so much fun.  What a great start to an awesome weekend!!

Once we were finished with dinner and hanging out we headed to our cabin to unload the van and to put Marin and Matthew to bed.  Janet and I then headed into town to get groceries at the Super Walmart while Ben and Bryan started our first camp fire of the weekend.  I have to say after going to Beaver's Bend for many years we now have it down to an art form.  Janet and I have a packing list we share every year to make sure we don't over pack.  Since we stay in the same cabin every year we know what items are already there (i.e., plates, cups, bowls, coffee maker, cutlery, pots, pans, sheets, towels).  We also know the layout of the Walmart so we don't waste time wandering around trying to find things.  I'm impressed with our efficiency as we have learned what works and what doesn't work over the years!

Friday, March 25th

Friday morning Bryan and Ben offered to make Breakfast for anyone who wanted to join us.  Ben made the bacon and Bryan made his specialty, Blueberry (and plain) Pancakes.  We enjoyed eating with David, Tracey, and Zachary Griner and visiting with Kristin Brewer.  Again, the food was very yummy!!  

Since the boys made the grub us women offered to clean it up....

After breakfast we went outside to hang out infront of our cabin.  Jeremy, Stephenie, and Sierra; Kelly, and Riley; and Mark, and Amanda came to hang out with us as well!  We stay in Cabin 48 or "The Specialty Cabin" as our group has named it and it is secluded from the other cabins.  Well, secluded meaning there isn't a cabin right next to it.  There is a dirt road that leads to our cabin and the only people who drive on it are the ones going to our cabin.  So it's really nice for the kids to play on since we know no one will be passing through!

We enjoyed the cooler weather while hanging out, playing various sports, and pulling the kids in the wagon!

Jeremy, Sierra, Ben, David, and Marin

Bryan, Ben, Marin, and David pulling Zachary and Matthew

The wagon is a HUGE hit every year, I'm really glad Matthew's Great Grandparents, Mawmaw and Pawpaw and "The Greats" (Aunt Piper and Uncle David) got it for him for his first birthday!

David pulling Zachary and Matthew with Sierra in the background

Marin, Matthew, and Sierra

Amanda trying desperately to make Riley smile....ha ha!!

Matthew

Jeremy pulling Zachary and Sierra

Matthew took a brief time out from playing so we could take this family photo!

And when I say brief I mean BRIEF  ;)

Matthew, Sierra pulling Zachary, Bryan, Tracey, and I

Sierra pulling Zachary while Matthew pushed from behind

Of course I had to capture as much as I could on my video camera!!  

David Griner documented this moment on his camera :)

Jeremy and Zachary

Zachary and Matthew

Matthew, Jeremy, David, Ben, and Me in the background pulling a few kids in the wagon - I can't tell which ones though

Amanda, Me, Kelly, Riley, and Tracey

Bryan and Matthew

Me pulling Marin, Matthew, and Sierra

Amanda, Kelly, Riley, Janet, Stephenie, and Bryan are in the background

Amanda, Riley, Kelly, Janet and a nice action shot of Stephenie!!

A few photo's of the adorable kids!!

Matthew Stone

Marin Wheeler

Riley Baker

Zachary Griner

and

Sierra Brewer

After everyone was finished playing at our cabin we all went our separate ways for lunch.  The Wheelers and us decided to pack up a picnic lunch to take to the park to eat.  Once we were finished eating we played on the slide for a little bit until it was Marin and Matthew's naptime.

Something we've enjoyed each year (weather permitting) is hiking through the trails around the state park.  We've walked through several of the trails however this year we tried a new one.  Every Sunday we conclude our trip by hiking up a trail to a spot that overlooks the river for a devotional.  This trail makes a circle and we have always only gone as far as the river overlook.  So after the kids woke up from their naps we decided to start at the other end of the trail and end where we have our traditional devo.

Matthew loves to be lifted up into a jump while holding our hands.  The other day I observed him holding his Mickey Mouse stuffed animal saying, "One, Two, Three, Jump" and then he lifted Mickey into the air like we do with him......monkey see, monkey do!!

Bryan proudly carrying Matthew on his back

The Wheeler's

Okay, so, this picture does NOT do the trail justice!  Janet took this picture to document how steep the terrain was; however, it doesn't look that bad here.  We hiked up an incline for a good part of the trail.  At one point we had to walk in a line because it dropped off on one side and went straight up on the other.  By the time we reached the highest point of the trail I was a little winded ;)

At the top, isn't it beautiful?!?!

Bryan and Matthew admiring the view

This is the river we typically go canoeing down at some point during the weekend; however, we didn't do it this year

Ben, Janet, and Marin at our traditional devotional site

Bryan and Matthew walking down the trail to our car

Janet and I hung back to take this picture.  We said we're pretty lucky to have husbands who are such great dads!!

After our afternoon hike we met the rest of the group at the park and then headed into town to eat dinner at Arby's.  I don't think Arby's knew what to think about us, we had 16 adults and 7 kids and took up about 3/4 of their restaurant!!  They were appreciative of our patronage but were probably not sad to see us go!!

Once we got back to the cabin Bryan, Ben, Janet, and I had a deal....the girls would bathe the kids while the boys started our camp fire, then the boys would put the kids to bed while the girls tended to the fire.  

Here's our little monkey's playing around before bedtime.....

By the time we finished taking pictures and switching duties, the fire left very little to be desired.  Neither Janet or I had ever built a fire so we started "winging" it.  We found sturdy logs and started to make a teepee.  Then we found smaller branches to put underneath the teepee to get the fire started back up again.  By the time the boys came back from putting the kids to bed this is what our fire looked like.  Janet and I were so impressed I figured I needed a picture to document the occasion ;)

Saturday, March 26th

As tradition holds, most of the boys play golf Saturday morning while at Beaver's Bend.  This year all the boys played except for Jason and Ben, they went running instead.  At the time Jason was training for a half marathon and Ben wanted to run with him.  During and after running Ben realized he missed running and decided to train for the marathon with Jason.  I'm so impressed with people who run long distances.  I would LOVE to do that some day!!

While the boys were entertaining themselves with their sports, most of the girls gathered the kids together to play.

We played with PlayDough

We played cards and with other toys

Then it came time to try to gather the kids for our yearly group photo.  At this point all the kids were playing outside and since we were all in the same place (not scattered throughout the cabin) we thought it'd be good to take a break for a picture. 

Most of the kids cooperated

Sutton, Zachary, Clara, Sierra, and Marin  

But as you can see Matthew did NOT want to stop playing

Sierra and Marin

Sweet Friends!

After the first picture attempt we decided we'd let the kids play more and try again later.  All the kids had a lot of fun riding their bikes/scooters, being pulled in the wagon, running around, and just being kids!  It's really neat watching all of them becoming friends themselves, I guess they really don't have a choice though ;)  This whole group has meant so much to Bryan and I through the years and it's really cool to watch our group dynamic change year to year as more kids are added and as the current ones grow up!

Here we are attempting a group photo, again!!  Sometimes I wonder if the dads think the kids just wander over in a group and we shoot the pictures so I decided to post the process :)

Step One

Stephenie with Sierra and Marin

Step Two

Tracey added Zachary

Step Three

Laura brings Clara and Matthew over in the wagon

Step Four

Kristin adds Sutton to the Wagon

Step Five

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!

All the moms run over and start shooting pictures with their cameras (look at our reflection, ha ha) as we sing, chant, make crazy faces, whatever it takes to get them to smile and STAY STILL!!

Clara, Sutton, Matthew, Zachary, Sierra, and Marin

I'm imagining Sierra tell Zachary, "They make us do this every year, next year we're revolting, okay?!?!"

Right after we took the last photo Matthew got hit in the head with something, he wasn't hurt, he was just stunned so he started crying.  Plus it was lunch time and nap time so it didn't take much to upset him!  Zachary became really concerned for Matthew and asked his mom (Tracey) if he could pray for Matthew.  Tracey picked Zachary up and took him over to Matthew, Zachary put his hand on Matthew's shoulder, and Tracey began to pray for Matthew.  SO sweet, brought tears to my eyes!

This is one of Elena's friends who came with her on the trip.  She enjoyed pulling all the kiddo's around in the wagon.  At one point I told her she's good at entertaining the kids and she told me, "I get that all the time"!!  I had to struggle not to laugh, especially since I saw Janet smirking out of the corner of my eye ;)  She was really cute!!  She kept telling me she liked Matthew because he just sat in the wagon and let her pull it everywhere.

After play time it was time for lunch and naps!!  Janet, Marin, Matthew, and I enjoyed eating with Tracey and Zachary at our cabin while the rest of the group went back to their own cabins.  This is the Griner's first Beaver's Bend experience and it was really good to have them there!  Over the past year I have had several opportunities to get to know Tracey better and I know my life is better for having her in it!

Once the kids woke up it was time to go ride the train, one of the highlights of the trip!!  The park has a train that goes through the woods along with horseback riding.  This was right before Matthew's "choo choo train" obsession so it'll be neat to see his reaction to the train next year!

Clara, Matthew, Marin, and Sutton waiting for the train

Front Side

Back Side :)

Clara, Matthew, Marin, Zachary, Sutton, and Sierra

It's Here!!!

We had the whole train to ourselves!

Me, Bryan, and Matthew (showing his goldfish, gotta love boys!)

Janet, Marin, and Ben

Ben and Marin

There was a park across the street from the train depot so we decided to go play a little bit before our annual cookout....

Laura, Clara, Ben, and Marin swinging on the swings

Everyone playing chase through the playground

The girls watching the boys being chased by the kids!

After playing in the park everyone came over to our cabin for the cookout.  This is a fun tradition that gets the whole group together since we are spread out doing our own things throughout the weekend.  The kids have fun playing with each other and I enjoy talking with all the ladies about various things.

Bryan, Matthew, and I by the river outside our cabin

Matthew playing

The men around the grill

Ben, Mark, David, Jeremy

An action pose...I think I have a picture of Ben like this every year!

Angie and Rebecca

This was their first year at Beavers Bend too!

And their husbands lovin' on each other :)

The Wheeler's

The Griner's

The Brewer's

I absolutely LOVE this picture so you get to see 2 family photo's of them!!

The Arthur's

The Stiger's

The Caffey's

That night after all the kids were put to bed the group decided to have a girls/boys campfire.  All the girls gathered at our cabin for our fire while the boys gathered at the other group's campsite where we had our fajita dinner the first night.  I had SO much fun talking with all the girls.  You just never know what's going to come out of some of their mouths...Laura...JUST kidding!

Laura and Tracey

Stephenie

Oh, how sweet

Me, Stephenie, and Kristin

Me and Stephenie

Janet, Amanda, and Kelly

It was really cold that night and our fire's smoke was blowing everywhere.

Here's Tracey taking cover, ha ha!!

Okay...so...it's like this...we ran out of dry wood for the fire so Laura was trying to break a big log in half.  She first tried slicing it in half with the ax we had, which didn't work plus it was a major bad idea as far as safety is concerned. So, Stephenie and Laura had the good idea of putting the log in between these 2 trees to try and break it in half.....

Except it didn't break...

Laura stood on it instead and tried to shimmy it down until it wedged between the trees and broke because of the pressure.

And it still didn't break :)

Needless to say we ended our fire but had a lot of laughs anyway!!

Last Day - Sunday, March 27th

Like I've said before, our group ends our time together by having a devotional at an overlook on a hiking trail.  However, Sunday morning we woke up to drizzle and 30 something degree weather.  No one wanting to hike and sit outside for an hour or so in that kind of weather.  So we improvised by having the devotional in our cabin since we have the large meeting area.

Ben just happened to have a song hymnal in the van.  It was fun looking through it and singing old songs we liked.  We had ourselves a good 'ole fashion sing along, which was good entertainment while Janet and I packed up our stuff!

Here's Ben song leading to an audience of 1 :)

After everyone arrived we settled into our spots.  We had a line of kiddo's on the floor....

Bryan, Matthew, and I

Jeremy starting our devotional off with a few words

After Jeremy spoke we sang a few songs.  Ben recorded us singing 728b which sounded awesome in the big room, you can listen to it by clicking here!!

A sweet picture of Janet and Marin!

Another tradition (among all the many others) is to take group pictures after our devotional before heading home!

Here's the Wheeler's and us, except Matthew was being a little camera shy

Janet and I

The Baker's Small Group

Baker's, Caffey's, and Arthur's

It was so nice to have the Caffey's and Arthur's with us this year!!  I hope we didn't scare them away and they come back next year!!

Stephenie, Sierra, Kelly, and Riley

Our group this year, look at that size!  SO awesome!!

After everyone left Janet and I finished packing and cleaning our cabin while the boys took the kids to check out for the weekend and reserve our spot for next year.  Once the boys and kiddo's came back Marin and Matthew started playing basketball with a beach ball and aerobie....

Then they decided to sweep up all the dirt outside like their mommy's were doing inside, too cute!!

This is the final shot of the weekend and only one word sums it up...SUCCESS!!!!!

Thanks again group for a fabulous trip this year, already looking forward to next year!!