Fall Fun Times - Part 1

I love me some fall, and as a parent it's an awesome time of year that's full of fun and festivities! Here's a glimpse of some of the good times we had this month. Man, 2.5 year olds are some kind of fun!!!

TEXAS STATE FAIR

This was Marshall's first trip to the State Fair and he was in awe of everything. We had a great day of fried food, petting zoos and glorious people watching!

Marshall on his first ever carnival type ride - the 4-wheelers!

He wasn't quite ready for the initial blast-off



On the Ferris Wheel, the only ride at the fair mom was allowed to ride!



No fear...he would have hung half of his body outside the bucket if we let him.



Look Mom, no hands!



Sorry Big Tex, maybe next year you'll get a smile.



DALLAS ARBORETUM
Our annual playgroup trip to see the pumpkin patch never disappoints! Now, trying to find an orange fish amongst a sea of pumpkins brings a whole new level to the term...Finding Nemo!

NEMO!!!

Our little playgroup friends - Jake, Mia, Hudson, Camryn and Marshall

A little huggin' in the punkin house never hurt nobody!

The three amigos - Jake, Camryn and Marshall

I thought we'd end with a pumpkin squat!

JDRF Walk 2011

This post is crazy late since we had the joy and pleasure of participating in our 3rd JDRF Walk back in September! We raise money and walk for my adorable 8-year old niece Elizabeth who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes 3 years ago. We are her Texas team on a mission for a cure! With the tremendous help from family and friends, the Sugar Shakers raised $1,000 this year and had a wonderful team of walkers...we could not have done it without your help, truly means so much to our family!
 

Elizabeth's Sugar Shakers 2011: left to right - Susan, Barbara, Casey, Creighton with Marshall, Vann with Charlie & Ella, Papa, Gana, Katy and Shayla



Someone was in love with the JDRF Bear!

Marshall taking a swing

A conversation with Marshall...

Marshall is a pretty entertaining guy...he makes us laugh constantly and I know all the playgroup moms like to watch him run, because he even runs funny. He just oozes tomfoolery! So in an effort to capture my 2 year old son at this fabulous stage, I shot a video. Probably more entertaining for family and close friends, but you be the judge...

PS - I apologize for talking so loudly. :(

1st Day of School

Today was Marshall's first day of Mother's Day Out at Woodcreek church and I'm happy to report, he did fabulous! I know this will come as a shocker to most of you, but I'm not a sappy mom so I was thrilled when he walked right in the classroom and never looked back. Ahhh, sweet independence for the both of us!

When I went to pick him up, he was still laying on his nap pad trying to wake up. Miss Jackie said that he was the only one sleeping while everyone was crying or talking during nap time. Our little bear cub still takes a 3 hour nap each day so an hour and a half isn't very long. He's like his daddy...he needs his sleep!

Miss Jackie said he did really well and Marshall gets a little "progress report" so we know what they did that day. Here were her comments..."Had a good day. Had lots of fun with Graham. Enjoyed the playground. He turned aside from playing to listen to a little bit of the story. He talks, I like that!"

He'll only be going one day a week this year and I think it will be good for our little pistol! I'm excited to see what the year holds for him and his little mind...and we're off to a good start!

The traditional "standing in the front yard, first day of school picture." Please note, he did not wear those boots to school although he really wanted to!

A true Southern gentleman in seersucker and cowboy boots!?!

Marshall with Allie (one of his community group girls) he was SO happy to see her there! When Camryn gets to start school in his room, he's going to be beside himself!

Our baby news!!

We're extremely happy to announce we're bringing another Uphues into the world! I'm 16 weeks tomorrow, a month into my 2nd trimester and so far this pregnancy has been similar to Marshall's...easy going but sleepy. The due date is February 17th so hopefully there aren't any major ice storms like this year!?! We find out the sex of baby in 2 weeks and I can't wait! Neither of us are leaning one way or the other, but it seems like everyone wants us to have a girl. I'm honestly happy either way...it's out of my control!

We'll be keeping the name a secret until the birth like we did with Marshall, which just gives me a reason to procrastinate and drive Creighton crazy. We didn't decide on Marshall until 2 weeks before he was born, and he was late! (We called him Ulysses until then, sweet memories!)

Since I was the baby of my family, I swore I would NEVER let me 2nd born play 2nd fiddle...but unfortunately my plans are failing me already!!! Although this blog post is slightly delayed, I pray it isn't an indication of my future actions.

Our prayer is for a healthy and happy baby with a specific list of: good eater and sleeper, loves and adores his brother and grows to be a Godly man with discernment and a heart for Christ! 

We'll keep you posted along the way. Right now, Marshall's not quite sure what being a brother entails, but he absolutely believes he has a baby in his tummy too! Love it!

Frontiers of Flight Museum

In an effort to beat the heat, our weekly playgroup outings have been indoors for quite some time. We went to the Frontiers of Flight museum by Dallas Love Field last week and Marshall was in aircraft heaven! Here are a couple of pictures from the trip.

First time sitting in an airplane seat

Hanging out by an A-7 with Egan - sorry, horrible lighting

Marshall checking out the A-10 Warthog, like Uncle Andy's!

Oh my, an ejection seat!!!

They had a great play area where the kids could fly a plane, too fun!

Summer Fun

Since I've been a MIA blogger lately, I wanted to post a couple of pictures of our recent adventures this summer.



For Father's Day we took a trip to the Automobile Museum at Fair Park. Marshall & Austin had a blast!



July 4th Family Reunion in Tyler, it was a small group this year since we were missing the purple and yellow families.
(I'm in the red family...it's like Where's Waldo!?!)

We found a new favorite indoor safari park with trains, jungle gyms and ball bits, oh my!

We learned that Marshall doesn't like to wear pants with his rain boots...truly the coolest kid ever!

Chowing down on some watermelon...one of his favorites!

Me and Betsy at our high school band reunion...once a band nerd, always a band nerd!

Marshall taking an impromptu nap at 10:30am, while I was taking a shower. Boots, trucks, pacis, monkey lovie and all!

Nothing like snuggling with a monster bus!

Just got back from a fabulous weekend in Bryan, TX with some of my favorite DG sisters! Just like old times!

San Antonio Trip

Ahhhh, the Texas Hill Country...one of our favorite places in The Lone Star State. We thought it was only fitting to take Marshall to San Antonio for a little family vacation to begin his love affair of these beautiful hills...and cedar trees!?! We stayed at the beautiful La Cantera Resort and loved every minute of it...such a fabulous hotel with such nice people. The kiddie pool was perfect for hours of fun and mommy enjoyed the outdoor yoga classes.

Marshall enjoying the view from our hotel

 We planned a nice mixture of seeing the sights and relaxing so our first outing was a day downtown at the Riverwalk, El Mercado and the Alamo...or as Marshall likes to say, "Aa-dee-mo." The riverwalk was the perfect place for a professional boat and duck spotter...and weren't we lucky to have one with us! He just thought it was the coolest, as did I when I was younger and I'm happy to say it hasn't lost its charm.

No time for smiling when there's boats and ducks around!

So many friendly people offered to take our picture at the Riverwalk, but you can't be picky in haste...hence, the closed eyes! 

Creighton & Marshall on the bridge (don't know why blogger flips the pic, sorry)

At the Aa-dee-mo!!!

We enjoyed tons of great Tex-Mex when we were there, but there was one place I had my sights on the entire time and that's Po-Po's! It's in Welfare, TX outside of Boerne and it has some of the best chicken fried steak I've ever eaten! Not only is their food awesome, but the building itself has tons of history and it's literally oozing with "decor."

I feel as though Dixie should be playing in the background as you read this. :)

Did I mention decor...good thing there are no earthquakes in Welfare, TX!?!

If you ask Marshall what his favorite part of San Antonio was, he'll tell you the zoo! It was a wonderful end to our trip and we can't wait to go back in years to come!