Another Boy is Three!!

The littlest of us is now a big three years old! Nolan hit his third birthday a week or so ago on 10/4. He's a little rougher than his brothers, a little feistier, a little blonder, a little shorter, a little smaller than they were at that time, but a lot of fun, a lot of smiles, a lot of mischief, a lot of looking up to his brothers, and a lot of everything to us. He's a smart kid and catches on to things quicker than we can believe sometimes. He's becoming an expert swimmer, an avid gamer, a decent listener, and a picky eater. Often referred to as Seed, here he is, Nolan Matthew:

And always the singer! Happy Birthday to our boy!

Burning into Fall

Fall has arrived in South Texas, but the heat has yet to leave. Actually it hasn't been horrible, you just don't go outside when there's daylight. The boys have been doing a few things outside though, and have just been enjoying the fall months!

Enjoying a soccer match...

Nothing beats a beach evening!

Waiting for brothers...

Getting a cut...

And always enjoying time down by the water!

School Year 2015

This post is about six weeks late, but it's here now. The boys started the school year sometime back at the end of August, with Paul going into 3rd and Adam as a kindergartner this year! So far everything has gone quite well. Adam wasn't too thrilled with being away from home (and Mom) for the first few days, which can be expected, but he's settled in now and his teacher had only good things to say about this quiet, well mannered child (which is exactly how we know him too... right). Paul has always enjoyed school, so it's just another year for that kid.

 The kindergartner!

The third grader!

Off to school with no tears (from the boys anyway).

The joy of homework!

Go Wildcats! Friday night lights... popcorn, drinks, football, good times.

The Republic is Born!

It's been a while since we've been to a battlefield! We went to a lot on the east coast, but unfortunately, Nolan wasn't around to remember them. So at some point we'll probably have to go back, but for the time being, there are a few to see right here in Texas! We remembered the Alamo, watched the massacre at Goliad, and now we've finally been to the place where Texas won its independence. When we were in Houston a couple of weeks ago, we stopped by the San Jacinto Monument and battlefield, where the rebels from Texas finally beat the Mexican army and won their right to form the Republic of Texas. Overall, it wasn't quite as impressive as I'd hoped. I think they were trying to return the area to what it would have originally looked like, so it was mostly just overgrown swampland with a few roads and parking lots through it. The museum was a bit lacking as well, but the monument was cool. As is everything in Texas, it was big, even taller than the Washington Monument. So we took the elevator up for a look, and then got drenched while walking around the grounds.

That's a tall monument.

The sun was blinding at first, and the humidity was a bit high.

And then the storm clouds rolled in... but don't worry, they won't be here for a few minutes, so we have time.

Um...

Nevermind, we don't have time. Just got a little wet.

Just another fun visit to another park! Except this one for some reason was lacking in cannons... there must be a few other battlefields around here, so I'm sure we'll find them.

Dirt tracks and Houston trips

A couple of weeks ago we took the boys to the dirt track races in Corpus Christi to watch the cars go round and round and into each other and off the track. It takes a lot of noise to drown out these kids, but those cars managed to do it for a few seconds at a time. It was a nice, warm summer evening for the races, and the kids had a good time. Nothing like burning oil, loud exhausts, and stadium food.

Then the next weekend we had to drive up to Houston so I could go to some training for work, and Becky took the boys to the Children's Museum. Other than the massive amount of people (which is everywhere in Houston), the museum had some cool stuff and the kids had a blast.

The long trip home...

It took a while, but I finally got through all the photos from the summer vacation. After Becky and the boys stayed in Montana a couple of weeks, they made the drive back to Salt Lake and met me there for the long drive home. We got to spend a couple of extra days with Andy and Kelly, hit the new aquarium, and then said goodbye to the north and headed back to Texas.

Got to hang out with the Clayburn girls one last day before summer vacation was over!

And then we stopped at the four corners of Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, and Colorado on our way home. Summer was good, lots of travel, lots of family, lots of new things we saw. But now it's back to reality, school, work, fall sports, and on and on! Until our next long drive...