Christmas Pics

The girls' Christmas pics didn't quite go as planned.  In their defense, Matilda was diagnosed with pneumonia and an ear infection the next day.

At least we got a semi-okay one of all us for Christmas cards.

There's always next year.

Texas Renaissance Festival 2018

We camped twice at the Renaissance Festival this year.  We really do love it and we've taken the girls every year.  (Check out our 2017, 2016, 2015 and 2014 trips.)  We are serious fans.  Ha.

This was also the first trip we got to use our new tent.  It's pretty nice.  It will be especially nice once Mabel's out of the pack-n-play and we will pretty much have two separate rooms - one for us and one for the kids.

We got the tent set up just in time before the rain started for the night.

It finished raining by the next morning.

We did a few shows, but took it pretty easy.

 Matilda got a pretty cool fairy henna tattoo the next day.

The second weekend we went was sooooo cold.  We all camped the first night and were pretty miserable.  We had even got the girls new warmer PJ's and puffy coats for the trip.

Jason's family joined us at the festival the next day, and it was still pretty darn cold.  I was really hoping to find a cloak or hood to add to my outfit, but didn't have much luck.

 After Mabel's nap, I decided that she and I would head home to sleep in our warm beds that night.

The rest of the family went back into the festival for awhile, which was pretty special for Matilda since she got to go in past dark.  Normally we are back at the campsite by then.

Matilda stayed in a hotel with Jason's mom and grandma that night, while Jason and his brothers camped.

Can't wait until next year!

Sam Rayburn

We had a great trip out to visit Ferryn and Steve at their cabin on Sam Rayburn.  It was pretty windy, so we didn't get out on the water, but we still had plenty of fun hanging out at the house.

We spent lots of time relaxing in the hammocks and playing in the yard.

 

 And spent some good time relaxing in the house.

On the way home, we ate delicious Cajun seafood.

The next pictures of the girls at the restaurant crack me up.  They can go from being sweet with each other to feisty in the matter of seconds.  Ha.

Halloween Festivities

This year, we had a whirlwind of a weekend before Halloween.   We had three festivals - Matilda's school's fall festival on Friday, our neighborhood's Halloween celebration on Saturday, and then the fall fiesta at church on Sunday.

This year, Matilda was a pink princess and Mabel was a dog (her favorite thing in the world).

Our friends Shane, Julia, and Ty joined us on Saturday since they live in the neighborhood catty corner to us.  After eating some hotdogs and treats at the park, we actually trick-or-treated down a few streets.  It was Matilda's first real attempt at it, and she had a great time.

Oh, and you know how I love some picture comparisons.  The first is a comparison to last year and the second is a comparison of Mabel to Matilda at the same age.  I thought it was funny Matilda was a cat and Mabel was a dog.

For the church's fall fiesta, Matilda wanted to wear her little red riding costume, so Mabel wore a red cape as well.

Mabel loved the petting zoo.  She was soooo gentle with the animals.  She also loved all of the small game booths that they had.  She was much more interested in those than Matilda was at this age.

Matilda rode a horse for the first time and loved going down a bouncy house slide over and over again.

Actual Halloween night was rained out, but we still had a decent amount of kids come through the neighborhood.  We were bummed we didn't get to sit outside to pass out candy (and eat Chinese food) like most years, but we still had fun.