Last vacation of the summer...

We spent all last week drinking fruity cocktails by the pool.  We ate, played with our boys, and had a good time with Anthony's parents. It was wonderful.

Our annual "sitting in the tree" picture.  We take pictures in this tree every year that we go down.  The picture-taking session is usually mass chaos, so some of my pictures are blurry.  I take what I can get when dealing with these two.

Things started off okay...

And then deteriorated rapidly. 

Over it. 

Checking out the ducks.

Hanging with the grands.

Practicing some golf.

Yes, the boys matched. 

 

So long, summer...

Every summer I think to myself, "This is going to be so relaxing.  I'm going to have time to do all sorts of things with the boys."

Wrong.

Between trips, swimming lessons, birthday parties, a wedding, and other things, summer has flown by.  I wouldn't necessarily classify it as "relaxing," but it has definitely been fun.  And now that fall, AKA the-world-stops-because-it's-football-season, is right around the corner, things don't look like they'll be slowing down any time soon.  But that's ok.  We love it.

Sam starts KINDERGARTEN on Monday

KINDERGARTEN.

I die.

And Alex will (attempt) to go to his sweet little program for 2 mornings a week.  That's if he will actually stay without screaming his head off until he makes himself throw up.  We'll see how long I have to stay up there until he'll let me slip out.  Maybe by December?  Fingers crossed.

With school beginning, we had to have shots.  Lots of shots.  They both actually did quite well--I was amazed.  Promises of ice cream and a new Skylander will do a lot to take off the edge.

At 18 months, Alex is 26 lbs., 8 oz.  & 2 ft., 8.5" long.  He's around the 75th percentile for both.  90th for his head circumference.  The big head thing is not new to us.

He's babbling quite a bit now--Mama, Daddy, Mimi, Gandy, Papa, Sissy, doggy, okay, bye-bye, ta-ta, cacka, (cracker) cookie, etc.  It's no surprise that he knows the word "cookie." He is very strong-willed, but incredibly affectionate, and he's still sucking his thumb.  (Which I secretly think is adorable, but I don't look forward to breaking that habit.)  He's also a biter--usually only when he's tired or really frustrated.  He's started to bite Sam occasionally, but honestly, a lot of times Sam deserves it.  :)

And Sam.

Also, very strong-willed.  Very.  And he loves to try to negotiate with you.  Sometimes I think that he thinks he's on "Let's Make A Deal."  He would be good at it.

The kid turned 5 in May, and he is 4 ft., .25 inches tall and 48 lbs. His height is off the charts---he's grown 2 inches since February, and our pediatrician said he's the height of an average 7-year-old.  I'll be interested to see if this is a continuing trend.  He's still a picky-eater, which is unfortunate because his Dad and I will eat just about anything--raw kibby, fried chicken livers, cabbage, etc.

He's still obsessed with firetrucks.  And if there was a contest where you could win millions of dollars to identify dinosaurs, I would shove him in front of a mike in a heartbeat.  Ever heard of  "Micropachycephalosaurus" ?

Me either.  Until last week.  When he told me.  And then I looked it up.  To make sure he wasn't making it up.

 Teddy Grahams + Alex = happy

Fun night at the Mullen Foundation for us.  

How to entertain 2 boys when your husband won't be home for another hour and you've hit the wall:

The reverse camera feature on the ipad.  I look horrendous, but they were super happy.

Bath time.

Fishing.

 

And I leave you with "Nothing says Sunday brunch like eating a biscuit in the window at Julep." 

"Somewhere in Middle America"...

Anthony and I both graduated from MSU.  To say that he is a fan is the understatement of the century.  I try to keep things in perspective, but goodness, I do love my Bulldogs.  I'm pretty sure I've mentioned it on here before, but when we were in college, the baseball team made it to Omaha for the national tournament.  We both went.  We ran into each other.  We started dating.  Obviously, some headway had been made before the school year was out, but it was at the College World Series that decisions were made.  Call it our DTR.

:)

I was unable to go to the Starkville Regional because I was co-chairing our church's VBS. I had to get things ready, so leaving for the weekend wouldn't have been the smartest decision.  Instead, Anthony and his dad took Sam for the weekend, and they had a blast.

I'm sure people get tired of hearing about it, but Dudy Noble really is such a special place.  The Left Field Lounge, the fans, the food.  I'm glad Sam got to see it at its best.  

Cheese!

Celebration picture.

Having fun with a friend.

Snack time.  Complete with backwards baseball cap.

I would love to have been able to approach this crew back in 1998, show them this picture, and tell them that between all of them they will have 11 children. (so far!)  I'm pretty sure they would tell me I'm a liar.  They haven't changed a bit, and I still love them dearly.  

We were unable to attend the super-regional in Virginia, but we held our breath through every pitch.  We debated heading to Omaha after that win, but just couldn't decide if we needed to spend the money.  However, when the last out was recorded against Oregon State, I couldn't even talk to Anthony because he was on the phone booking flights.  He had booked hotel rooms the week before.  "Just in case," he said.  Good thing he did.   

 

I was actually on a girls' trip when we were in the final game of the semi-finals.  All we had to do to advance to the championship game was win.  A friend took this picture of me watching the Oregon State game.  I thought I was going to vomit.  Also, I'm not half-naked.  I have on a bathing suit and a cover-up.  

Moving on.  

I drove back from the coast on Sunday, got home around noon, and we flew out to Omaha Sunday at 6:45.  I'm pretty sure my children didn't remember what I looked like for awhile.  

They have banners of famous players up all around the stadium.  Our very own Will Clark was represented.

The bracket.  If you look closely, you can see who the final teams were.  

Bonus of going to Omaha:  Your brother, who lives in Alaska, (yes--Alaska)  flew in to see a few games.  We got to hang out with him a bit.  He and Anthony tried their version of the statue outside the stadium.  

The line to get in.  It curved all the way around the fence.  I couldn't even get a good picture that showed exactly how incredibly long it was.  

It was surreal to say the least.  I mean, Mississippi State was playing in a National Championship game.  Yes, we had been to the CWS before--8 times before, but we were actually in the finals.  It was nuts.  So much fun.   

Me and my "little" brother.  

Not only were we in Omaha watching our dawgs play for a title, but it was also our anniversary.  How fitting, right?  Anyway, we laugh about it, but Blake (see above)  has the best luck EVER.  Things just fall into his lap.  The night that we knew we were headed to Omaha, Anthony called Blake, who was already there, and asked him to be on the lookout for reserved tickets.  Boy, did he ever come through.  We literally had the best seats in the stadium. 2nd deck. Club level.  Access to bar and food.  Right behind home plate. 

Happy Anniversary to us.  

 Yep.  Best seats ever. 

I picked up this little gem.  The t-shirt shops were having so much fun coming up with new shirts for MSU.  I love this one, and I also got one that says, "Omaha.  Starkville North."  I was blown away at how many of our fans made the trip.

Alas, we all know how this ended.  Our Bullies couldn't pull through.  However, I don't think I've enjoyed watching a team more.  Between their videos, the Bench Mobb,  (2nd "b" is silent) pink backpacks, beards, power points, and a pitcher with a killer mullet, it just doesn't get much better.  Now that we've been to a championship series once, we know without a doubt that it can be done again.

And let's not forget.  It's not bad watching a bunch of cute college dudes play ball.  Admit it.