Ben's Trophy

We got the opportunity to spend a weekend at a lovely ranch in South Texas with the goal of turning Ben into a true deer hunter.  Things didn't look too promising with the rain from Hurricane Patricia working its way into Texas, but early on Sunday morning, Ben brought down his first deer with a beautiful shot.  Look at the excitement on our little hunter's face after he tracked it and found it on the ground.

 


 What a beauty!

 

 Ben was so proud to show it off to everyone at the ranch and we were so proud of him for a great shot and putting food on our table.

 

 The weather didn't put a damper on our fun, and we were still able to do a little fishing and spot all kinds of wildlife - lots of deer, turkey, quail, wild hogs, roadrunners, rabbits, and even a bobcat.  Alex and I sat in a stand together to watch the animals a few times and he was fascinated by the green jays.  (not my picture, but the birds were beautiful like this)

Of course, sometimes the animals get a little boring, so we had to look elsewhere for entertainment!

The boys made a few other catches to make our weekend complete!

October Fun

Alex got back on the football field grabbing flags with other 7-year olds.  He was extra excited to find out that Matt would be coaching his team this year.

 

 The games are so much fun to watch.  Some of the plays are really impressive and some are downright comical.

This guy caught a great pass during his first game and then he ran toward the wrong endzone!  I laughed until I cried :)

I loved watching this backyard practice with both boys.  Not sure why Ben felt that he'd be better without a shirt, but whatever works...

 Now that they're back in school, suddenly I have two bookworms and I love it!!  It's challenging keeping them stocked in books but I'm thankful for places to borrow or swap books nearby.

 

Ben already got to take a field trip to the district's outdoor learning center and I was happy to get to help out.  It was a really impressive classroom and I loved looking around at everything before the kids showed up.

After viewing all the stations, the kids got to listen to the director and meet the pet corn snake.

 

I can't remember ever watching Ben touch a snake before, but he liked this one and asked for a pet snake afterward.  Uh, no.

After a movie one afternoon, the kids and I checked out the new Gallery Furniture and I couldn't believe how much fun we had (without even looking at furniture!).  The monkey exhibit was very entertaining.

The main atrium has some gorgeous parrots, a cockatoo, and a toucan.

And who wouldn't love enormous chairs?

I think their favorite part was the giant mattress-trampoline.  Or the free Blue Bell.  Thanks for a good time, Mattress Mack!

Ben has gotten really good at his ripstick and lots of other kids are getting them as well.  Alex, always marching to the beat of his own drum, decided that he wants to learn to use his rollerblades.  He's doing great in the grass :)

 Sweet boys!  So impossible to get a good picture of them both.

Back to School

All too soon, school started for these guys again.  Hello, 2nd and 4th grades!  We were too rushed getting them settled in class to get any pictures at school since it was our first time meeting all the teachers.  They both have two teachers this year and I think they're all wonderful.

 

 We went to celebrate a successful first week with a little Baskin Robbins.  Think they enjoyed it?

But thank goodness a few days later, we found gold (lids) at HEB...Blue Bell returned!  We survived the drought all summer and went shopping before school to make sure we got our limit of Blue Bell.

Success!!

Days like this call for an ice cream breakfast.  There were no complaints about going to school on this day!

Dog Days of Summer

Casey loves summer, though some parts are better than other for her.  Swimming?  Only to be done when forced...

 

 Getting a nap in the warm sun?  Yes, please!

She finally learned how to sit back on her haunches.  Most of the time, it's adorable!

But sometimes it gets really annoying.

She even found a youtube channel that was pretty darn interesting!

Family Portraits

For the first time, I planned ahead and booked a local photographer and packed some nice clothes to get family portraits on the beach.  I thought I'd be dragging all the guys into a torturous evening, but it turned out to be a really fun experience and priceless keepsake!  We did them on our first evening in Rodanthe so the rest of the week I never worried about trying to get a nice picture of anyone.

Our photographer met us at the house and headed out to the beach to get his camera adjusted to the lighting. Alex followed along with him, ready to have his picture taken.  This boy is not shy!

 

 Ben took a little longer to relax but we got some great shots of him, too.

Awww...hard to believe we met 16 years ago!

 We made this sandcastle earlier in the day so it was pretty fun including it in the pictures.

 

 The evening was ideal for pictures and the lighting was perfect.  This was my favorite shot of the group.

This series made me laugh out loud.  First, the posed picture with the parents talking in the background....

...but the photographer noticed that Matt was about to get wet!

I got such a good laugh that the kids turned to see what was so funny.

 

 

It's extra special having all these pictures because they're taken exactly where we spent our week, so there are lots of memories tied in each location.  This was along our path to the beach.

Gotta love a good tickling picture!

At the end of the shoot, he told the kids to get their feet wet, knowing they couldn't stop there.

We had two wet, but happy boys when our evening was done.

It was such a wonderful experience and a perfect way to capture the memories of our trip!  If you're ever in the Outer Banks, look up Coastal Shots.