Labor Day

We spent  the day yesterday with the Rowntrees out at 3Trees Ranch.  We had a relaxing and fun time, more pictures to come.

Back to School

Makena's first day of School (just Preschool, but still very exciting!) She flew out of bed and even helped pack her lunch.  Let's hope all this enthusiasm continues.

I forgot to take pictures in her classroom, but will get them soon.

Beach Trip

A few weeks ago, we took a long weekend to go to Port Aransas.  Neither of our kids had been to a real beach before, unless you count Volente Beach at Lake Travis.  Marshall loved the beach, he especially wanted to taste everything there.  Makena was happy staying near the car and as far away from the water as possible.  She was worried about sharks and catfish getting her.  We didn't run into any catfish, but we did see a couple of dolphins/porpoises (not really sure which one) jumping out of the water right past the waves.

Taste testing the sand for us.

Mr. Cool

This is where Makena wanted to stay, right next to the car.

Early Morning at the Beach

Evening at the beach.

We had to get our picture by the mermaid.

This is great beach hair and lots of fun to get all the tangles out.

Marshall showing off his new shark tooth necklace.

The Boy Loves His Cake

Marshall is my little cake monster.  I have never seen a little one actually EAT all the cake and most of the icing like this little guy. He also LOVED it and points to baked goods in the grocery store now.  There is no hiding the good stuff from him anymore!

Russell family pictures

My whole family got together this summer to take pictures up in Grapevine. Here are a few of the pictures.

Kiddie Acres

In July, my parents, Anna (my niece), and Amanda came to visit. We took the kids to Kiddie Acres. We had been wanting to go check it out for awhile. It had all the old classic kiddie rides and was nice and shaded. The girls loved it and it was perfect for them. They both actually rode a pony for the first time.

Happy Birthday Marshall!

It's hard to believe but Marshall turned ONE last Friday! We had a whirlwind celebration with a playdate with friends on his real birthday (Aug. 6) and then his party on Saturday with family. One thing I discovered about Marshall this past week, is that the boy LOVES cake. I will post video soon, but he can put away the cake and just inhaled it, ALL of it!

View from the Front Seat

Makena has been taking Bear for car rides lately. Here is a picture of what I see when I look in the rearview mirror. Marshall making sure Bear is safe.

Birthday Countdown

Here are some of our attempts to get a picture of Marshall for his birthday card.The winning picture.
Nathaniel started using all types of hats, I didn't include all of the options.

Nathaniel was not a fan of the hat with the "boa".

Summer Cousin Fun

Here are some pictures from a recent trip to visit family in Dallas.

Makena and Anna playing in the Slide N Slide
Nathaniel and Marshall waiting for the train ride.

Aunt Alicia, Uncle Tree, and Hudson

The Pinkalicious Girls

Swim Lessons

Both of the kids are in swim lessons right now. We are back to city swim lessons after our fiasco with the fancy swim school last summer. I am really hoping Makena makes some progress or I don't know what we will do. As you can see, she wasn't super cooperative for pictures. We are also doing swim lessons in the evening so Nathaniel can take turns swimming with Marshall too.

Marshall's First Haircut

Doesn't he look handsome? Marshall did a great job sitting for his first haircut. I was a little nervous because Makena's first hair cut was a scream fest, but he did great, minus a few head bangs into the steering wheel on the airplane.

Makena at 4!

Four
Three

Two

One

On April 27, my little girl turned 4. I cannot believe that it has been four years. It truly has flown by and this will be her last year before she starts Kindergarten! She continues to amaze me with what she does, says, and learns. I can also already tell that four is going to be so much better than three!! Whew!