To Memphis: Meeting Reese and James' Birthday Party

Mid June we took a road trip to Memphis to finally meet baby Reese and to celebrate James' 2nd birthday! It was a short trip, but the kids had a ball. We love it here in Texas, but we certainly miss being near our families!

We were eating dinner one night and happened to look out the window--this is what we saw...a skid steer! Uncle Josh works in the landscaping business and was able to bring this baby home to my parents' house for all the boys to see! Anthony is REALLY into all types of trucks right now, so it was a fantastic surprise!

going for a ride with Dada



Uncle Josh just scored a million cool points!

One tradition the boys always look forward to is riding Papa's tractor! Well, actually, it's a riding lawn mower, but the kids think it's wonderfully exciting!

Anthony made it very clear--"I like the green tractor better than the yellow tractor (referring to the skid steer); the yellow tractor is too loud!"

Now, it's Lucas' turn to ride with Papa...he's waving "hi" to the camera.

thanks, Papa, for the special tradition

can't forget James! He loves it too!

I told Lucas to give baby Reese a kiss--can you see how he's cutting his eyes at me, like, "Are you serious, Mom?"

I LOVE this sweet smile!

handsome James pulls the wagon

Lucas loves playing with the rocks in the driveway

they enjoy having all this land to run around on!

a couple days later we celebrated James' birthday with a Thomas the Tank party plus swimming

lots of fun splashing around

what a fun whale pool!

the whole group of kiddos--anthony and lucas, james the birthday boy, and some neighborhood friends--taylor and lawson

anthony had a blast pushing this dump truck down the slip n slide

i took a break from the excitement to feed sweet baby Reese...

i ADORE this adorable outfit!

she's about 2 weeks old here

time for presents!!! the chaos begins...but it sure was fun!

sweet james getting ready to blow out his Thomas candle...i love that face--like he can't believe it's actually his special day.

Lucas is ready for his piece of cake!

(notice it's the normal "Lucas face"...i love it!)

Anthony was thrilled to sing Happy Birthday to his cousin

before we left the boys did a group hug in the bay window at my mom's home

this is their special spot to jump and dance around

Lucas adores James

one more picture of sweet Reese before we head home

a couple of quick movie clips of the boys' dancing in the window...James wasn't too sure about it at first

now they're all getting into it! i love how they watch and imitate each other...james copies lucas; james copies anthony; lucas copies james--too funny!