Mountains and Lakes

We had such a great week at Pinecrest Lake with some friends from our life group a few weeks ago. We spent a few days in a beautiful cabin and enjoying the great outdoors. All of it was amazing! The kids loved playing on the "beach" at the lake. We rented a kayak one of the days and took turns checking out the lake. When the adults were done, Audrey decided she wanted a turn, so Ross took her out on the Lake. She did awesome! The boys were busy making their own tide pools, which they thought was a blast.

When we weren't at the lake, we were busy eating, playing games, and looking at the stars and planets and rocket boosters reentering the atmosphere. It was incredible! We saw Saturn and Mars through their telescope. We saw a few shooting stars, and then we saw this huge mass entering the Earth's atmosphere and breaking apart across the sky, which we later learned was a Chinese rocket booster. Pretty cool for a couple of space geeks.

We were back at the lake each day, so we did a little boating, fishing, and hiking while we were there too. It was a great way to spend one of the last weeks of summer. Great friends and great experiences make wonderful memories!

There are more pictures in the album as usual!

Audrey's 5th Birthday

I can't believe it's the end of May, and I'm just now making time to post pictures from Audrey's birthday! I've been working WAY too much lately, which has interfered with my picture taking and blogging. I'll make up for it with a long post with lots of pics! ;-)

We had a family party the day of her birthday, and she celebrated with her friends at school by bringing cupcakes. At the time of her birthday both Jackson and Audrey were big into Pokemon, and Audrey really wanted a Pokemon cake. Fortunately, one of our nearby bakeries had a light-up, Pokemon cake topper that Jackson was SO excited to get for her. It was a fun surprise for her, and she really loved it!

We gave Audrey a choice of having a party or going to Disneyland for her birthday, and she chose Disneyland. We were all pretty excited! We spent 3 days enjoying the magical world of Disney...

After a few warm-up rides, we made our way to the Bibbity-Bobbity Botique where Audrey became Princess Audrey. She chose her hairstyle, nail polish, makeup, and a rhinestone tattoo.

Then her Fairy Godmother-in-training sprinkled her with fairy dust and presented her to the world as Princess Audrey!

Jackson got to participate too, of course! He picked out his hair style and was presented to the world as Knight Jackson.

We spent the first day at Disneyland riding rides and watching parades until our legs were ready to give out!

We started our second day with breakfast at Ariel's Grotto in Disney's California Adventure. Audrey was greeted by Ariel herself! She had so much fun posing for a picture with her. Then several princess stopped by our table to say hello. Snow White was by far the silliest. She had Jackson and Audrey both giggling when she stuck apple stickers on their noses (see the album for that picture!).

We rode as many rides as possible, stopped to enjoy the parades, and made lots of great memories. Jackson's favorite was the Star Tours ride. He was the Rebel Spy the first time we did it, and he thought that was the coolest! Audrey's favorite was Goofy's Sky School roller coaster. I was so excited they both enjoyed the roller coasters since those are my favorite!

It was a perfect way to celebrate our little princess turning 5! There are a lot more pictures in the album.

Our First Ski Trip!

Less than 12 hours after I returned from my leadership training in CA, the entire family and our friends, the Fullilove family, were on a plane to Denver! We spent the weekend attempting to ski at Copper Mountain. It was a first for the entire Taylor clan!

We arrived on Saturday and spent the day acclimating and grocery shopping. We spent a little time playing in the fresh snow, throwing snowballs, making snow angels, eating snow, and attempting to sled. It was fun for a while, but the kids got tired quickly and began complaining...we were worried about what that might mean for the days to come.

That evening Jackson experienced a little elevation sickness, which made us worry even more. Fortunately, we got him hydrated and rested, and he was ready to go the next morning!

We loaded up and got the kids checked into ski school first thing on Sunday. Then we checked ourselves into lessons!

We practiced getting in and out of skis and learning the basics. Then we moved onto a hotdog lift and a little free skiing for practice. Next, it was time for a real lift! We made our way up, and we each made it down the easy green once. Unfortunately, as I was taking the lift back to the top, I could see Ross picking himself up after a fall. I didn't think much of it until I got back to the bottom again and found him debating what to do.

He heard/felt a pop in his lower leg when he fell and was in a lot of pain. I quickly took the lift back up again to find our instructor who rushed down with me following closely behind. The instructor called one of the rescue folks. While waiting, our instructor did an initial assessment and took really good care of Ross. When the rescue guy arrived, he sledded Ross to a nearby warming hut to better assess the injury. We were in luck because he was a Physician's Assistant! After a lot of questions, some poking around, and a few cries of pain, it was determined that Ross likely strained/tore a muscle in his calf.

After wrapping his leg, they got us a ride back to the resort, and helped Ross inside. The instructor stayed with us through the whole experience! Once we were inside, he helped us get all of our ski gear put away, and then helped Ross to the bar for a beer! Needless to say, he got a nice tip for taking such good care of us.

Ross is convinced that tip is why the instructor came back a little while later and offered to take me down another longer green run since our lesson had been cut short. I'm convinced he would have done it either way!

Ross spent the rest of the trip recovering at the resort. The silver lining was that he was able to take some pictures!

The kids did great in ski school! Their instructors not only thought they did well learning how to ski, but they also complimented them on their behavior and treatment of one another!!! They said they've never had a brother and sister that took such good care of each other! At the end of day 1, Jackson was doing well with the basics of stopping and going, and Audrey was very close to being able to stop on her own.

The next day, we got the kids dropped off and Ross set up at the resort. I joined Emma, Chris, and Clara for a day of skiing. It was a lot of fun! Since Clara is still relatively new to skiing too, the pace was slow enough for me to keep trying out new things and better get the feel of skiing. Clara gave me a hard time because that meant I fell a little more. I kept telling her, "you're not learning if you're not falling!" I'm not sure she bought it though.

Since Ross was not able to join us, he was also available to hang out with Clara when she needed a break. That meant Emma could take me on a little harder (still green) run. I had one particular fall on that run where I just couldn't find a way to get up! Of course, I eventually did with my new instructor, Emma's, help. The last part of that run was actually the toughest for me because it was so steep...I was doing ok until the very bottom, and Ross was there to catch it on camera! (The pics don't actually show the steep part of the hill though)

At the end of day 2, both kids were working their way through the cones and stopping well! We checked with the instructor, and he thought Jackson was ready for the green run! Audrey is, unfortunately, still too young for the lift. However, we were all so impressed with how natural she looked in her skis and going through the cones.

Jackson was beyond excited though! He loved riding the lift to the top. About halfway there he looked out and exclaimed, "Wow! It's so beautiful up here. It's so peaceful." It snowed the entire time we were there, which meant the tree limbs and everything around us were blanketed in snow. It really was amazing!

Jackson did great going down with Emma's help. She skiied backwards almost the entire way. When she wasn't backwards, she was "helping" Jackson go a little faster down the slow parts by essentially carrying him. He loved that so much, she took him down the last part of the run so he could go really fast!

The kids and I had an incredible time learning to ski and can't wait to go back someday. We're all bummed Ross wasn't able to join us more, but he says he's willing to try again!

There are more pics of me falling...I mean all of us skiing in the album!

Old MacDonald Farm

In mid-October, Jackson's class went on a field trip to Old MacDonald Farm in Humble, TX. Audrey and I joined them for the fun! There were lots of animals to pet, a train to ride, a dirt pile to play in, a huge fort to run around on, and a pumpkin patch!

I was impressed with how well the animals handled the craziness! There were a lot of kiddos running in and out of each pin and even jumping and screaming at times. Jackson was determined to make sure each animal had plenty of hay and that each of his friends did exactly what they were supposed to...hmmm, I wonder if my controlling nature is rubbing off on him?

We saw one goat that escaped from it's home. It was having lots of fun visiting the other animals and occasionally chasing a kid...we steered clear of it!

I'm not sure Jackson will ever grab a bull by the horns, but he wasn't afraid to grab the horns of a goat!

Audrey really enjoyed hanging out with the big kids, and they loved having her there. They were extremely helpful to both her and me! They made sure to show her what to do with each of the animals, held her hand when she got scared, and had lots of fun running and playing with her!

They also got to ride a horse! Audrey was a little too nervous, but Jackson was all about it! He did great being guided around the ring.

Jackson and Audrey rode the train twice because they loved it so much. It took them around all of the animals, but I think they enjoyed waving at the people the most. After our last train ride we found a spot by the horses and free range deer to play a little and waive at the next set of passengers.

The farm was a great Fall experience, and they each got to take home a small pumpkin! There are more pics in the album!

From there we met up with our friends, The Fulliloves, and headed north to Dallas to spend the weekend at Great Wolf Lodge. Unfortunately, I didn't take ANY pictures while we were there, but we had a ton of fun!

10 Year Anniversary

Ross and I had our 10 year wedding anniversary on August 17th! We took a 5 day trip to California to celebrate! Nana and Pop split the time with the kiddos so we could get away, and we are so grateful! It was a perfect getaway for us!

We arrived in San Francisco early in the afternoon on Saturday. We dropped our bags off at the hotel and went exploring! We started in Union Square where we did a little window shopping. Then we wandered into Chinatown where we checked out more stores and bought the kiddos their own kid-friendly chopsticks. We'd made reservations at a small French restaurant called Cafe Claude, which was a perfect anniversary dinner spot. The food and wine were delicious, and they treated us to a glass of champagne to celebrate! From there we made our way to Magician Peter Morrison's show, which was very entertaining! He involved the members of the audience quite a bit. Ross managed to avoid getting up on stage, but I had to dance with him. The dance of course was a lot of silliness that ended with a never-ending trick! It was a fun start to our trip!

The next morning we found a great place for breakfast called Stacks, which seemed to be a popular place for the locals. We got there just in time to snag a table. By the time we left there was a long line of folks waiting. It was good that we got there when we did because we had big plans for the day! We had signed up for a 10 mile Streets of San Francisco Bike Tour. Our tour guide, Beebe, was awesome! We got to see Golden Gate Park, Haight-Ashbury, funky street art in the Mission, Victorian architecture, and a historic “wiggle” route used by the city’s founding missionaries.

The street art was pretty impressive! Almost every piece had a very clear message. Beebe explained how the artists are responsible for maintaining their pieces. They will often get "tagged" by other folks, and it's up to the artist to fix it or even choose to leave it if they think it adds to the message. These were a few of the ones I found to be the most interesting.

Here are a few more pictures from the tour. I had the best bike...it was pink! It was a lot of fun to ride through the different areas of the city. We were amazed at the temperature differences in different neighborhoods. The fog, obviously, made a huge difference in the temperature, and it was much thicker in some neighborhoods than others. We learned a lot about the city's history and how it has become so well known for different eras. One of our last stops was at the Victorian homes in the picture, which are called the 7 Painted Ladies. One of them was the house from the show Full House. The park we stopped in to see these homes also gave us a great view of the city!

After grabbing a late lunch, we hoped in the car and headed to Healdsburg. To get there, we drove across the Golden Gate Bridge. I managed to get a few photos from the car. The close up foggy pictures are actually from the drive back, but I think it's pretty interesting that the far away pictures with the fog covering the top of the bridge and the picture with the clear sky were within a few minutes of each other...

We got to Healdsburg just in time to check out the square and visit our first tasting room, Topel. The wines were great, as well as the staff. We talked about our plans for the trip, and they gave us some great advice! The lighting was gorgeous when we left Topel, so we had our own mini photo session in the square where I got to share some of the tips I learned in my mentoring session. We ended up with a few really nice pictures of each of us.

The next morning we walked to Wine Country Bikes for a 25 mile bike tour of the Dry Creek Valley. We were both a little nervous about doing this long of a ride especially after a decent ride the day before. It was great though! Our first stop was at Dry Creek Vineyard, which was beautiful. They were celebrating their 40th anniversary, which meant we got a good deal on some great wines! We also enjoyed a delicious snack on the property before hitting the road again.

Our next stop was the Zichichi Family Vineyard, which is a much smaller operation. They don't do a wine club and sell most of their wines before they're made, which we learned is called selling "futures". The most memorable part of this stop was getting to do a barrel tasting of the future old vine zinfandel, which we decided to buy a bottle of!

Our last stop on the tour was at the Quivira Vineyard. This vineyard also does some biodynamic farming and raises some animals, so they have a beautiful garden at the front of the estate with vegetables and flowers, as well as a pig, a chicken coop, and honey bees. We got to wander through the estate and take a few pictures of the giant sunflowers before enjoying lunch at one of their picnic tables. Our tour guide was amazing through all of this! He was the perfect host for the day, and we felt like we'd made a new friend by the end of the day.

We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening checking out more of Healdsburg, trying a few more wines, and enjoying another delicious meal. We actually joined our first wine club too! We really enjoyed several of the wines at Thumbprint Cellars, and decided joining the wine club would be smarter than trying to find a way to carry MORE wine back to Houston with us.

The next morning we hopped back in the car and made our way to Sonoma Canopy Tours in Occidental where we did a little zip-lining through the redwood trees! We had to pass "ground school" to be able to go up in the trees, and unfortunately, one of the sweet ladies that was signed up for the tour wasn't able to join us in the trees. She was 87 and was there to celebrate her 91 year old friend's birthday! The 91 year old got to join us. They were both such an inspiration! Apparently, they try something new every year.

They called the first of seven zips the "bunny zip" like a "bunny slope", which was a perfect way to get rid of any nerves you may have!

The next few zips got progressively longer. The longest was over 800 feet, and the highest point was 200 feet when we zipped across a gorge. I think the highest platform was 94 feet. We learned a lot about the trees and how they grow to survive there, as well as that they sway in the wind! The views were gorgeous, and it was incredibly fun!

We also walked up a spiral staircase around one of the redwoods to a couple of sky bridges. I loved the structures and was impressed with how they managed to construct them in a way the trees accepted them.

To end our adventure we rappelled from a platform to the ground. One of our tour guides was nice enough to take a picture of Ross on his way down since I went first! Did I mention I was the first one to zip and the first one to rappel? I was impressed!

We drove back to San Francisco after having lunch in Occidental. We were depending on our phones for navigation at this point. However, we weren't getting a good signal, so we just drove. We ended up seeing more beautiful scenery and eventually got our navigation going again and found our way to our hotel near Fisherman's Wharf. We walked from Pier 39 to Ghiardelli Square and back while taking in the sights, sounds, and smells of this major tourist attraction.

We wandered through a few galleries and shops before deciding we were ready for a break! We found a spot to rest and enjoy another glass of wine on Pier 39 and did a little people watching. Once we found some energy again, the sun was beginning to set. We caught a glimpse of the Alcatraz prison and the sea lions before stopping for a bread bowl of clam chowder for dinner.

When we headed back to our hotel we stumbled into one of Rodney Lough's photography galleries. We were both in awe to say the least. It was inspirational in so many ways to me and a great way to end our trip.

We had an incredible time but were also eager to see our kiddos when we returned! I think back on our wedding day, and one of the things I remember is my mom reminding me that the wedding day wasn't intended to be the best day of our lives. She reminded me that this was just the beginning and the hope is there will be even better days to come. After 10 years, I can say there have definitely been even better days, and I look forward to many more!

If you managed to get all the way through this lengthy post and are interested, there are more pictures in the album.

San Antonio Trip

A few weeks ago we met our good friends, The Tims, in San Antonio for the weekend. We rented a great house and spent a day at Sea World and half a day at the San Antonio Zoo.

The Olympics were going on at the time, so we had lots of fun talking about how amazing the athletes were and teaching the kids about the different activities. Jackson and Audrey were beyond excited to see Carter and Graham. Jackson and Carter showed each other their dance moves while Audrey took care of Graham. If you can't tell Carter and Audrey seem to like each other too...

Saturday morning we made our way to Sea World and started the day with Shamu! We were all impressed by how amazingly strong, powerful, and smart the killer whales are.

At this point we were all hungry and ready for a little break from the heat, so we found a place to eat. Then we made our way to a playground and checked out some alligators along the way. From there we watched a little of the ski show before heading to the Azul show! It was another incredible show with dolphins, whales, birds, acrobats, and entertainers. It was also at this point that I realized we might already be in trouble with Carter and Audrey...

When that show was over, Jackson and Carter played a little hide and seek in the trees before we made our way to the Rockin' Elmo show. Audrey managed to pass out in my arms on the walk. She caught a 20 minute nap before the show started, which was perfect timing for her and gave me a great workout. The kids loved seeing the Sesame Street characters in person!

After watching Elmo and his friends rock it out, the kids changed into their swim suits and played on the "splash pad," which was HUGE! We should have brought our suits as well because there was really no way to stay dry and keep up with your kids, which is also why there are no pictures of the water play. Somehow we managed though. It was an extremely hot day, so the water was a must!

When we were finally able to get the kids out of the water and back into their clothes, we went to watch the dolphins playing in the water just before their feeding time, which meant they were jumping and playing a lot!

Our final show of the day was the sea lions. They were a great way to end the day, especially since they made fun of a lot of the other shows. We were all exhausted and laughter was what we all needed!

We all crashed hard that evening. When we awoke, we headed to the San Antonio Zoo to check out some land animals. First up was a train ride through the surrounding area, which the kids loved! One of the highlights of the zoo, which I didn't get a picture of, was the hippos. We don't have hippos at the Houston Zoo, so they were fascinated by them, and also thought they were pretty funny...good thing they were behind glass! They loved it all, but mostly we all loved getting to spend some time with Heath, Barbara, Carter, and Graham!

There are more pictures of all the fun in the album.

Labor Day Weekend in Grapevine

We met up with our good friends, The Tims, in Grapevine, TX for Labor Day weekend this year. We rented a 1940's house that was perfect for our stay...aside from a little plumbing problem the first night that the owner had taken care of the next day.

We got there Friday night, got settled, enjoyed some delicious pizza from a local place down the road, and spent the evening catching up.

Saturday morning, we enjoyed relaxing a little before getting everyone ready and heading to Grapevine Mills Mall with the intention of taking the kids to Legoland or the aquarium. The mall opened at 10. We arrived at 10:15 to discover long lines for both places. We were told it would probably be 5:30 before we could get in, so we came up with plan B!

We bought tickets to come back on Monday and decided to let the kids ride the carousel and go to Build-a-Bear, which was a hit! Then the dads graciously took the kids back to the house for a nap while Barbara and I did some power shopping. We got the boys some matching pajamas for that night, which they loved. Here's a shot of the kiddos with their animals, which were named Hunter, Mr. Giggles, and Ah-Ah.

Heath cooked breakfast for us Sunday morning, and we just let the kids play. Then we made our way to the Grapevine Vintage Railroad where we rode in one of the old, Victorian cars to the Stockyards in Fort Worth. It was a 1.5 hour ride one way, and the kids did really well. Their attention was captured by the cowboys that were "robbing" the train! Who knew you'd be given money and a badge when you were robbed on a train?

Here are a few of my favorites of Carter on the train.

The Stockyards were filled with fun. There were rodeo clowns making balloon animals (or swords in our case), a petting zoo, a "jail", and of course, some longhorn cattle amidst all of the stores and restaurants. Each of the kids made their best mad, prisoner face in the jail including Ross.

After watching the cowboys drive the cattle down the street, we watched a gun fight between the local marshall and some riff-raff. The guns were a little loud for our kiddos, but they really enjoyed it despite being startled. The marshall killed the riff-raff at the end, and I think Jackson felt bad for them because he decided they needed a hug, which they gratefully accepted. In return they gave him a spent shell, which he loved!

The next morning we loaded up our stuff and headed back to the mall to get in line for Legoland. The timing worked out perfectly, and we had a blast on the rides, watching 4-D movies, and of course, playing with legos! I didn't bring my camera with me to Legoland, but it was a lot of fun. Jackson and Ross made a car and tested it on the ramps while Audrey played with big, soft legos.

We left at lunch time and headed home. The kiddos crashed while eating, and we had a good trip home despite having to make a slight detour for a wildfire in the median of I-45. We saw 3 wildfires on our way home, and two of them looked very serious. It made all of the news feel much more real to be so close to some of the devastation...praying for everyone involved, as well as for some much needed rain!!!

As usual, there are more pictures in the album.

Disney's Animal Kingdom!

By Sunday morning we had the routine down and got to Animal Kingdom before they opened, which meant Mickey and Minnie greeted us, along with the crowd, at the entrance. Emma and Ross spent the previous evening planning our adventures for the day, and it worked out great again! The kiddos and adults enjoyed their rides!

Without a doubt the highlights were the safari ride and The Lion King show! Pictures don't do the show justice, but here are some from the safari ride.

Animal Kingdom didn't take as long as Magic Kingdom, so we were headed back to New Smyrna aroun 2 PM. The kiddos napped in the car, and we all enjoyed a little down time at the rental house before heading out to dinner by the water and another trip to the beach.

The entire trip was a huge success, and we are all so thankful the shuttle launched on time and we were able to do so many fun things in such a short time! We all laughed hard and played hard. Jackson and Clara are great friends now, and we've got some wonderful memories to take with us!

To see more pics of the fun, check out the albums!

Disney's Magic Kingdom!

Saturday morning we woke up early again and headed to Orlando. Our destination for the day was Disney's Magic Kingdom, and it lived up to the hype. We all had a blast! Emma was our planner for the trip, and boy did it pay off! Another friend of mine, Whitney, passed along some invaluable information about what to do, how to plan, etc., which I passed along to Emma. With that information, Emma planned a full day of fun activities for the kiddos and adults. We did most rides and shows together, but we also took turns watching the kids so the adults could ride the roller coasters. It worked out perfectly!

Apparently, I was taking too many pictures because I got the hand!

Don't worry though...the hand doesn't stop me!

In case you were wondering what hot and tired looks like, here you go!

They recovered just in time for the afternoon parade, and we had great seats!

Jackson and Clara were both mesmerized by the parade as by most things at the park. Jackson's response was to become very serious and study what's going on, but we did manage to have him wave a few times.

We rounded out the day with a visit to see Mickey and Minnie while Clara went to see the princesses. Jackson was so excited while waiting in line, but when his turn rolled around, he got a little scared. We managed to get a picture with Jackson in between us and Mickey and Minnie on either side. This was pretty typical for the trip. Jackson didn't want anything to do with the characters!

When all was said and done, we had two exhausted kiddos and four exhausted adults! We made our way to Downtown Disney for dinner before heading back to the rental house, but the kiddos crashed in the car, which was good since we did it all over again the next day at Animal Kingdom!

There are more pics in the album!