Mason Memories

Henry's Baptism and Great Wolf Lodge

December is always a busy month but a fun month. It's the birthday month for my cute boy so it makes it a good month.

These two.

Hot chocolate is his fave. Made with chocolate (almond) milk and marshmallows of course.

McClain's birthday weekend we loaded up for North Carolina to spend time with Uncle Daniel, Aunt Rachel, and cousin Henry before hitting up the Great Wolf Lodge. These kiddos are troopers in the car by now.

Love seeing these three together.

McClain was so gentle with Henry.

Our family loved worshipping at Uncle Daniel's church and seeing him baptize Henry. What a special day.

The cousins.

Thankful for this Mason clan.

After the baptism we loaded up, ate lunch downtown Durham, and then headed to celebrate our birthday boy.

There it is.

The lodge was beautiful and it was a perfect time to go. It was decorated like a winter wonderland and full of Christmas decorations. Truly magical.

The indoor water park.

The kids loved getting into the pjs, after a full day of swimming and sliding, and sitting on Santa's lap.

The bunk beds in the wolf den were a huge hit.

I'd say our little superhero had a good fourth birthday. McClain you are such a bright spot in our family and we love you buddy.

Thanksgiving in Alabama

The week of Thanksgiving we hit the road to celebrate Turkey day with Grandmother and Grandaddy.

We enjoyed a relaxed time catching up and also celebrating Grandmother's retirement. Lucy Mills loved time with Grandaddy hitting tennis balls in the driveway.

There is a great park not too far from the house. The children had fun teaching Grandmother how to climb to the high part. ;)

Grandaddy brought bread along so we could feed the ducks and geese.

On the drive down, we stopped at Academy Sports to let the kids walk around and stretch their legs. McClain somehow talked us into buying him this sword. He is obsessed with swords and all week long kept telling us "thank you for buying me this." He carried it everywhere including to bed.

Such a fun grandmother who buys toy cars and gets on the floor to race them with her loves. (Can you tell McClain doesn't like to wear clothes?)

And a trip back home for Travis also involves a trip down memory lane. He found his old high school letterman jacket. Cool babe.

Thanksgiving in beautiful Alabama.

Grandmother and Grandaddy planned a fun trip to take everyone to see Christmas lights at ???? We went on a trolley ride to see all the lights and decorations, and at the end got to go inside and sit on Santa's lap.

Cheesin' with the Gingerbread Man.

Thanksgiving Day we enjoyed a delicious feast with family. It was so good to see the kids' Great Grandma.

Happy Thanksgiving!

iphone pics from fall...

Oh my...there are so many undocumented moments that need to be remembered from the end of summer and fall of 2014. Get ready for a long post and bucoos of pictures.

We have gotten every penny out of our annual zoo membership. There is so much to do and see there that we can mix up the adventure every time we visit. Lucy Mills loves the rock wall and was a natural climber on her first go at it.

Pretending to be those silly gorillas we just saw.

Feeding the birds nectar.

All aboard for the train ride.

Pony rides.

Feeding the giraffes.

Looking for sharks inside the beautiful aquarium.

Aunt Tutu moved to Charleston almost a year ago, but at summer's end I enjoyed a sister night out with her downtown King St.

Burger King lunch dates with friends after preschool and homeschool.

Love them.

My college friend and former roommate Amanda came into town from Tennessee with her two girls. We loved our visit with them. Our two oldest girls hit it off great.

So cool in Mommy's shades.

Yippee for one last beach trip in September! Even Maggie was pumped.

Our happy place.

Daddy giving our girl a few practice hits on the courts.

Pop Pop's new puppy, Sam.

Birthday party fun.

Watching movies in Mommy and Daddy's room.

Healthy check-ups at Dr. Joey's. Stickers in hand.

Chick-fil-a lunch dates with sweet school friends.

Friday night football games with our favorite cheerleader Faith.

Adventures in Target. "Do you wanna build a snowman?"

He just makes motherhood fun.

Our annual October trip to the pumpkin patch with friends.

Picking out our favorites.

Hayride with my loves.

And for comparison's sake - a look back of the last three years of pumpkin patch field trips. They are growing up.

Two sweet little skeletons.

How cute is this guy's school pic?

"Look Mom, it's the Tower of Babel."

Another fun fall time event was the State Fair. The four of us went on a Thursday right after our Classical Conversations morning. It was a great time eating corndogs and riding roller coasters.

The dudes rode together.

And the ladies sat in front.

Friday morning doing school. We have a designated school room but sometimes the dinning room table works perfectly so that I can sit side by side and help.

This girl loves her Maggie Mae. She is such a good mama to her.

We took the kids to their first ever Carolina football game! (Hulk got to go too.)

Tailgating food is yummy.

Thanks for including us Pop Pop.

Outside Williams Brice.

My fellas, ready to watch the Gamecocks play.

He loved it.

Both children loved the football game and actually kept up with the what was happening. When necessary we would dig into a bag of peanut M&M's or take selfies with Mama.