Kidfest 2011

Warning-if you did not attend kidfest or you are not a grandparent this will bore you to tears.  There are WAY too many pictures below but I have an addiction which does not yet have a 12 step program.  If you chose to read on. . .you have been warned!

This year kidfest was, as always super fun.  And since I skipped blogging thru half of February, all of March and April and most of May I’ve made up for it with the pictures in this one post.  The one HUGE bummer this year is that Charlie got really sick with a very serious case of croup and they had to cancel at the last minute.  Thankfully he is better now but we sure did miss the Hirst family!  And of course we were very sad that the Oldenburg and Francis family couldn’t make it.  Jackson commented about a thousand times about how much he missed his sweet cousins

Without further ado, here are the many pictures from kidfest 2011.

Kids love this old phone for some reason. . .and Baron is no exception to this rule!

Jack playing in the hot tub.

Bear was on clean up duty with the shop vac.

Sweetest little cleaner around.

Did I mention that Aunt Mandy now has 3 new dogs?!  So, in addition to Heidi and Mattie we got to meet Goldie, Hooch and Ember.  The boys loved playing with the dogs.

The boys loved both of the bounce houses.  Only Aunt Mandy would buy TWO bounce houses.  She’s the most fun ever!

Baron loves dogs!

Friday night the Patterson’s arrived and Jackson was THRILLED to see Rachel and Reagan (and their parents).  He loves those girls!

The kids were so sweet giving hugs and kisses before bed.  And then of course they needed to wrestle a little.

Both Danielle and Mandy had bought super cool water balloon stuff.  The kids had such a fun time filling them up and throwing them.

The men were put to work for the weekend.  Jay and Jimmy did tons of cleaning and all of the cooking the whole time.  Jimmy made ALL off the meals and drinks the entire weekend.  Danielle and I got to play with the kids thanks to our awesome hubbies (who also did quite a bit of playing with the kiddos).  The guys were able to have a guys movie night out which they thoroughly enjoyed.

Mandy had tons of arts and crafts stuff for the kids to do.

We were of course excited to see Kelsey and Josh (who live next door).  I can’t believe Josh is going to be a junior next year. . .

Sweet and mischievous Reagan.  Can you see why Jack and Reagan are so tight?!

Bear loved Danielle and Jimmy.

The guys surprised the kids by jumping in.

Baron had such a great time and pretty much smiled all weekend.

What sweet daddies with their sweet kiddos.

Jimmy made this awesome (and spicy) salsa that we devoured.  It was way too spicy for Jackson but Bear LOVED it.  After I quit feeding him with a spoon he just started dipping his hands in the (almost empty) bowl and licking it off.

Pirate bounce house.

Baron loved Kelsey’s dog too.

Jack got along so well with the Patterson girls.  It made for such an easy weekend.  We were there 5 days and there was only 1 time out.  That’s record breaking. 

John showing a beetle to Kendra and Kayla.

She asked to hold the bug. . .

All kids love Aunt Mandy.

Jimmy and the kids (minus Baron) spent a lot of time fishing and shooting Rachel’s pink bb gun. 

After enjoying some target practice Jay asked Jackson if he wanted a bb gun for his birthday (fyi-mommy has already vetoed that gift) and he replied, “no, I’m bored of bb guns.  I want a shot gun like Jimmy.”

I wish I had been able to go to a fun place like Mandy’s when I was a kid!

Happy kids.

Almost any time I pull out the camera Baron makes this face and says, “cheese!”

Back when Danielle and I lived together at Baylor we never imagined these 4 little blessings that would complete our lives!

Mandy had stapled paper to the fence so the kids could decorate with paint, colors and markers.

Jackson tried writing Jack below and you can see that sweet Rachel (who likes things a certain way) immediately crossed it out and wrote it properly below. 

Reagan’s art. . .

Sweet mommy and daughter.

Jackson was using the water balloon fill bottle to garden and water all of the plants.

Kidfest is not just for kids. . .Zie (the Patterson’s dog) joined in on the fun too!

Jack and Reagan were pretty inseparable.  They played “spy” a lot and just hid and spied on all of us laughing hysterically when we would notice them.  By the way Reagan is 6 and barely taller than Jack.  And he’s definitely heavier than her.

Jay and Jimmy cleaning and fixing stuff.

My almost 4 year old. . .I adore this little man.

Mandy wasn’t able to make Bear’s first birthday so he got some awesome gifts while we were there.

Bear and Rachel played on the piano quite a bit over the weekend.

Pig did a good job of sharing her home with the kiddos.

Bear’s favorite thing all weekend was playing with Pig.

Sunday we got to tour the bakery.  The kids had a FANTASTIC time.  Mandy is the best tour guide ever and explained everything and answered all of the kids thousands of questions.

After the tour Jackson said, “mommy, is Mandy the coolest girl in the world?”  Of course I said yes

Jackson adores Aunt Mandy and was hanging on every word.

Precious little girls!

Mandy gave Jackson some dough and the kids got to follow it all the way through production and then see their final cooked product.

Jack got to pull the cord to open the door to the freezer.

Reagan was fascinated.  She said this was much better than “cooking class,” which she had wanted to attend but was too young for.

When we first drove up Rachel said, “mom, I think you and Hillary need a building like this that says Presents from Alex!”

Jimmy was very excited about his loot.  He made out with two bags of cookies.

No, we didn’t mess with Jimmy while he napped.  Although I know Danielle was tempted.  Back in the college days he wouldn’t have looked the same when he woke up!

Danielle (who is WAY more fun than I am) hosted a “Pirate Poop Party” for the kids.  That’s all I will say.  Well, that and that Jackson is still talking about how much fun it was. 

Baron was not thrilled about the party. 

Swimming with the big kids was so much fun.

Jimmy made awesome goat cheese burgers on our last night.  And yes, each of my kids ate TWO. 

Jackson said Rachel would be his wife and Reagan was going to be his Mother-in law. . .

These two couldn’t have gotten along any better.

Both girls (8 and 6) were so sweet to my boys.  I just hated to leave.

The guys playing old school video games.  It reminded me of our good ole’ Baylor days.

I always love the pictures from meal time fun.

Both girls were so great with Baron.  At different times each of them asked to “babysit” him.  And they were awesome babysitters!

Rachel asked for a special picture with Bear.

And here is our final picture of the weekend.  It was too hot to do our usual picture outside since we had all just showered so this worked.  What a super fun weekend.  Thank you so much to Aunt Mandy the most awesome hostess ever and to the Patterson family (who I actually feel related to).  I thank God (and of course my dad!) so much for my 4 years at Baylor.  If it weren’t for Baylor I would never have met Jay, Danielle, Mandy or Jimmy.  I love you all and your awesome kiddos. . .and yes, the pets too!