Florida: Shane's Colonel Promotion

Shane's promotion ceremony was incredibly meaningful. There was a lot of Air Force tradition including the singing of the Star Spangled Banner and the Pledge of Alligiance. The general made very sincere remarks and Shane gave a speech thanking each of us personally and giving us gifts. Afterwards, there was a nice reception and then got to tour a few things around the base like McKinley Climatic Laboratory. It was very impressive and I was honored to be a part of the special day.

Florida: Tubbing

Grant and I spent the weekend in Niceville, Florida with his wonderful Culhane Meadows founding partners. Shane Haughian's promotion ceremony to Colonel in the Air Force was on Monday and so the Haughian's invited us all to their house for a weekend of celebrating.

It was a great break and so much fun! Shane and Heather are awesome hosts. Grant and I flew down early on Saturday morning (thanks to DD and Big John for keeping our rug rats!). I had to crash early on Sat. evening because I was exhausted. I woke up feeling refreshed on Sunday and we had a lazy day at the house and then we took out the boat for some tubbing. Grant and I did better than expected, although Grant had to haul me up onto the tub because I was laughing so hard I couldn't get up by myself.

After tubbing we met the family back at the house and took the boat across the bay for dinner looking out over the water. I sat by Luke and Lexi and we had a fun time talking and Grant mesmerized them with magic tricks.

My Baby Boy is Getting So Big!

I seriously want to hug and kiss him ALL THE TIME! Those sparkly eyes, blond curls, sweet cheeks, little plump hands, button nose... He is 100% boy and 100% joy. He yells and runs to me when I walk in the door. He repeats everything we say and he has zero problems communicating. He talks in almost complete sentences. He is scared of nothing and no one. He isn't pushy, but he has no problem pushing back and setting boundaries with Cadie and JR. His favorites are JR making him cars and planes with legos, Cadie making him tents and playing hot wheels and trains with anyone who will play with him.

I loved taking him to JC Penny for his 2-year photos. None of my kids have every enjoyed getting their photos taken, but Colton hammed it up! Baby boy, I love you so much!

Going Private

Hello small handful of faithful followers! To keep our children's information more secure, I am going to make our blog private. Please email me at erin_walsh@hotmail.com and I will make sure you are added to the "safe" list and can view the blog. Thanks for your understanding!

Hurricane Harbor

We wanted to do something a little special for Labor Day weekend. We looked at hotel rooms at the Gaylord or Great Wolf Lodge, but everything was expensive and looked like it would be really busy. So we decided to do some "staycation" activities around Dallas. On Friday evening Papa and Grant hit the SMU vs. BU game at SMU stadium and Nina and I had a fun evening at home with the kiddos.

On Saturday we went with Nina and Papa to Hurricane Harbor. We got in free with our Six Flags passes and Nina and Papa got in for $10 each! Such a steal. We found a nice spot in the shade by the kids area and we ended up staying almost all day. We all loved the lazy river and Colton kept saying, "Colton swimming!" and kicked around in his floatie. We did the wave pool, kids play area and Nina and I even took Ranger and Colton on a water slide. Right as we were leaving Nina decided to go back and purchase our lazy river pictures. I am so glad she did so that we have a record of our fun day.

On Sunday we did church and Dickey's BBQ and then on Monday we met at DD and Big John's for brunch with the whole family. I ended up feeling like I was able to get some rest AND do some fun long-weekend activities. Win-win!

Back to School

Cadie is in 1st Grade at University Park Elementary School and her teacher is Mrs. Leigh Ann Mewhirter. Mrs. Mewhirter has over 30 years of experience and other parents have shared that we are lucky to have her as Cadie's 1st grade teacher.

The boys are both going to Highland Park Presbyterian Day School. Ranger is going to school Monday through Thursday 8:30-11:30am and his teacher is Mrs. Karen Williams. Colton is in the Toddler III class on Tuesday's and Thursday's from 8:30-11:30am and his teachers are Sara George and Christy Kemendo.

Colton: Birthday Party

We had the sweetest time celebrating Colton's 2nd birthday at the University Park pool. Thanks to all that joined in the party! Papa, DD, Big John, cousin Parker, Deanna, Paul, Carter, Courtnye, Isaac, Collins, Kelly, Kiyah, Candace, Peyton and of course us 5. Colton loves the pool, cookies, Kiyah and presents so he was as happy as a clam.

Papa helped me carry everything up to the pool in coolers and we had rice krispies, cookes, chips and hoagie sandwiches. We had the pavilion in the baby pool reserved so we hand plenty of room to spread out. Plus, no clean-up for mama!

Colton gets his sleek physique from Papa.