It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!

We went to the PUMPKIN PATCH as a family!  "Nana" (aka Christina, or sometimes ChristinaBobina) came to Indiana to visit, so a festive trip to the local pumpkin patch was in order.

Actually, it was a pumpkin FARM.

Well, actually, it was a CUCURBIT farm.  I had to ask my mom what that was, and then I looked it up just to confirm.  Just so you know, it's "a member of the gourd family."  So, squash, pumpkins, cucumbers, and watermelons would count.  But there were no watermelons.  Just a whole buncha pumpkins.  Not sure how often anybody needs to know how to use the word "cucurbit," but it's certainly a good conversation starter.  Or stumper!!  Tee heeeeee!

(P.S.  Mom was totally right on about the definition.  How do moms always know this stuff?  Kudos to you, Mom!!)

Both of the boys were almost as excited about the wheelbarrow as they were about the pumpkins.  Although I think Mason would have liked to take one of these 400 pound beauties home!

Sadly, while we each chose a pumpkin, we never managed to get them carved.  I was SO excited about my three cute little white pumpkins. . .I had big plans to paint them.  But somehow, we juuuuuuust couldn't get around to it.  Maybe we'll make pies out of them for Thanksgiving.

Country Music & Honky Tonks

A few weekends ago, Rip and I took our own road trip adventure!  My gracious parents agreed to watch our kiddos for three days, and we were off!

First, we had a DATE NIGHT in Nashville. . .we saw the LAST EVER Brooks & Dunn concert!  Rip got lucky and had two suite tickets offerred to him through work, PLUS a delightful dinner before the concert. 

The concert was so awesome, and I was surprised at how many of the old songs I knew.  The best one?  Red Dirt Road.

The next morning we got up at the crack of dawn, rented a U-Haul trailer, and hit the road for Dallas.  Just my handsome hubby, his big ol' truck, me with my stack of gossip magazines, our iPod loaded with fun sing-along music, and an empty trailer in tow.  And we had an absolute blast!  We talked, sang, and laughed for the whole 11 hour drive.

We were driving as fast as we could to make it in time for Christina's birthday dinner. . .and we made it!  We went straight to one of our old haunts, Papi's, for yummy food and beers. . .

And then we went to the Pickerings for cheesecake, singing, and of course, PRESENTS! 

After all our celebrating, Rip and I headed to our house two doors down for a good night of sleep.  We had to spend the whole next day loading our U-Haul full of furniture and stuff for Rip to take back to his apartment in Nashville, and toys and coats and Christmas stuff for me to take back to Indiana for the kiddos.  NOT the most fun part of our trip!  However, we completed the task in record time, and managed to squeeze in an hour of swimming before having to get ready for the BIG BIRTHDAY PARTY!

The birthday girl had a country music style party. . .complete with Mason Jar luminaries, a dance floor coated with sawdust, and attendees in boots!

We had a great weekend, and surprisingly, we managed to do everything we wanted to back at "home" (meaning our house in Texas!), spend some great quality time together as a couple, AND we got all of our tasks done.  A successful trip to Nashville, Dallas, back to Nashville, then Indiana.

"H" is for "HUNT!"

I had no idea what to do for "H" day, yet knew we really should do something academic around here instead of watching Nick, Jr. all day! Since I couldn't think of a fantastic idea, I took the easy way out and said "H" was for "hunt!" I figured that way Mason could figure out what "H" was for! He has his own little VTech camera, so I had him put it to good use. I sent him and Nana on an outing to find all the objects they could that began with the letter "h". . .

They had a great time, and came up with some good stuff! On his own, Mason found

            

a "Honda"

some "horses"

               

a "Highlights" magazine

and a "hydrant"

And my very favorite discovery of the day?  "H" is for "holding hands."  So sweet, those two!

That's my studious boy. . .practicing his "H's!"  (Actually, we're making him practice before he does something much more imaginative like pretending he's a B-2 Bomber.  A typical day in the life of the Rays!)

"Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler!"

Don't be too impressed. . .I have absolutely no idea how to pronounce that! But I DO know that it means "Let the Good Times Roll" in Louisiana-speak. (Okay, it's really French, but that's WAY outside my comfort zone.)



We GOT to EAT 'da CRAWFISH!



Our super cool neighbors, Dameian and Jerry, host a crawfish boil every spring. This is the first time we've ever been able to go, so we had to start with a little lesson. . .



Rip needed NO assistance with the nasty little buggers. He knew precisely the strategy. . .



The kiddos were more fascinated with the live crawfish than the cooked ones. . .they loved getting sticks and trying to get the crawfish to grab on with their claws. Well, all the kids but Mason. Look at the horror on his little face. . .


Admittedly, tearing the heads off crawfish isn't exactly my thing. I have a phobia of any meat "on the bone," and the full skeleton of a crawfish definitely falls into that category. So I stayed close to the table with chips, cookies, and hot dogs. Me and The Boo.



We had a great afternoon hanging out with our neighborhood friends and letting the kids run wild. I may not have loved the main course, but I absolutely loved the party!


"Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler!"

Happy Anniversary, Baby!

A few months ago, Rip and I celebrated our seventh wedding anniversary. As couples tend to do on anniversaries, we went out to dinner together.


While we were out, Christina was here with the boys, and Mason started saying HE wanted to go on an anniversary date. The two of them made tentative plans (yes, that's our Mason Ray, makin' plans on his own!) to go out for dinner. And dancing, because as Mason said, "that's what people do on anniversaries." I'm not quite sure where he got that idea, but it does sound nice, right??


As promised, a few weeks later Christina reminded him of their plans for an anniversary date and gave him a few restaurant choices. Drumroll, please. . . . .. and Red Robin it was! That morning, Mason and I were talking about how excited he was, and he said the cutest thing. "I need to wear a tie, Mommy." Oh, he's going to be a lady-killer someday. The immediate issue was that we own zero dress clothes. None. We don't go to church regularly (okay, ever. You caught me!), we don't go to formal events, we haven't had any weddings this summer, and as such, we only have shorts and t-shirts for our boys.


I went on a mad search for a tie, and ended up with a tuxedo shirt and bow tie from our neighbor, Jacquelyn. Put it with a pair of shorts, and PRESTO! Dressy outfit with a tie. Close enough. As our crazy luck would have it, Christina showed up in a white dress with a black tie in back and black bows on her shoes. They matched!!!!!






"Nana" had to drive, but Mason was a true gentleman, held her hand, and opened the door for her.



Now that's true love!

This is the life!

Oh, we can't do or say anything without Mason picking up on it. The other day, he got himself all set up in this lounge chair, kicked back and said, "aaah, this is the life." !!!!! Give the child a beer, and he would have been a dead ringer for Rip.

I won't get in the pool with both kiddos by myself. Mason thinks he knows how to swim, but absolutely does not, and as you've heard me say (write?) previously, he is absolutely fearless. He'll jump off the diving board and go all the way to the bottom. Luckily, Rip's always been there to pull him back to the surface! (or Poppa Ray!!) Anyway, that's why I wouldn't get in the pool with him without another adult. I'm afraid I won't be strong enough to keep up with him.

So imagine my surprise the other morning when I was looking for Christina and the boys, and found them out back! Check this out!




"Nana" is amazing. She tackled something I as a mother wouldn't attempt, and she did it WELL! She got Mason set up in his little floaty suit, blew up Brody's crab floaty, got all of them sunscreened up, and was having a blast with them in the pool. I'm impressed with that girl everyday, but this one really topped all! I wonder all the time what I would do without her. Luckily, I haven't had to find out. But I dread the inevitable day that I do have to learn. She's such a special person. . .as a friend, as someone we consider family, as our home's "Director of Childcare," as my helper, as our neighbor, and as a pseudo-daughter to Rip and me. We adore her.

And then I got to go back inside to a quiet house. Yes, this IS the life!!!