BFFs

P.S. - post 31 - I made it through the whole month!

Daddy's favorite car

Cheers

Working on his bike

Caught in the Rain

We may have picked a bad time for a bike ride

Nap Time

My Four Year Old

Maybe I'm in denial that Max is 4. Maybe that's why I haven't completed a good birthday post. No, I think 4 is going to be a great year! Here is what you love at 4: cars, your cousins, your grandparents, books and puzzles, Play-Doh, swimming lessons, playing outside, and school. You are funny and the sweetest thing is when you say "Hey....(waiting for a response)....I love you!". You like to wrestle and be tickled. You definitely have a mind of your own. You are perfectly average size-wise - 40 3/4 inches tall and 37 lbs. You don't really like to talk to people unless you know them, and even then, especially if I'm there, you often don't want to talk to them. You like being 4! I am excited to see what the year brings and how you grow and change.

To celebrate Max's birthday, we went bowling with family, his request. We came back to the house for cake and presents and the kids had a little time to play. It was a fun, low-key celebration.

He wanted an ambulance cake, then a blue police car cake.
This is what we ended up with.
He did the placement of the cars.

Car Show 2013

Matt took Max to the Houston Car Show today. They went last year, and Max still talks about it so he was excited to go again. 

Apparently Max got several compliments on his driving skills, both when he was playing the game and when he was driving the Jeep. Makes Matt so proud. :)

Foggy morning

Nice day for a walk

Day 21

Today is the 57th Presidential Inauguration

Pictures from my trip to DC in 2007 when Ellen lived there

Day 20

Our church has ducks

Day 19

Teaching

Day 18

Donut date, post-doctor (4 year old
visit=3 shots=plenty of treats!)

Day 17

And this was waiting for Max when we all got back home...

San Diego

We went to San Diego, minus Max, to celebrate our 10th anniversary and see Baylor play in the Holiday Bowl. We've never been to San Diego, and we really liked it. We saw a lot in our 3 days there. Of course one of the highlights was seeing the Bears play a great game against UCLA! We sat by a neat couple who talked to us the whole game - the husband graduated 50 years ago and they were celebrating their 50th anniversary!

So a breakdown of our trip....we left the day after Christmas and arrived in the evening. We were kind of tired from flying and from Christmas so we just ate and then went to a movie ("D'Jango Unchained") after we had checked into our hotel. We had some of the best french fries ever at the Bare Back Grill. Apparently the owner is a Baylor grad or something and was offering a discount to anyone from Baylor. The next day we went to Old Town in the morning, ate lunch at a Mexican food restaurant there, and then spent the afternoon walking around Balboa Park. We thought about going to the zoo since it's supposed to be so great but then decided we didn't have time just in the afternoon (it was also a little pricey!).

Victorian Houses by Old Town

Balboa Park

We stopped by the beach on Coronado Island before we went to the game.

The next day, our anniversary, we drove up the coast to Torrey Pines State Park and La Jolla. We hiked a couple of trails in Torrey Pines and got some beautiful views of the ocean. It was a neat place. La Jolla was great too. We ate lunch at a little cafe and then went to a park on the beach, where we saw seals! We weren't expecting that at all so we spent some time watching them play. From there we went to Green Flash Brewery for a tasting, then back to the hotel to get ready for our anniversary dinner. We ate at Flemings Steakhouse (because we had a gift card from the one in Houston). It was delicious, but we saved room for dessert and stopped for Nutella crepes at a little dessert shop. We came back to find champagne and chocolate covered strawberries waiting for us at the hotel...such a nice gesture! We couldn't have asked for a better day to celebrate 10 years!

Before we flew home the next day, we went to the Hotel Coronado. It was built in 1888 and is a classic beach resort. It felt like going back in time. 

We had a great trip and Max had fun with both sets of grandparents! 

Day 15

an intense game of Chutes and Ladders

Christmas #1

We spent Christmas and Christmas Eve at home and with Matt's family. Christmas Eve, we went to dinner with them and then to Christmas Eve service. We got a few pictures of Max by the tree before church. 

And he took a picture of us

We were at home Christmas morning. Max was excited about his presents. We enjoyed overnight French toast for breakfast.

Then we headed over to Matt's parents' house for more presents and more food! Max had plenty of new toys to try out. Matt's aunt, cousin and grandma joined us for Christmas dinner.

Day 13

Happy Birthday Ellen!

Day 12

Birthday shirt

Day 11

(Yesterday and the day before count because they had a lot of pictures)

Max and his school buddy, Bryce

Polar Express

Another thing we did before Christmas was ride the Polar Express. Max loved the movie last year, and we'd heard about the ride they do at the Texas State Railroad in Palestine. It was a lot of fun. I wish it was closer (and less expensive) so we could do it every year! Max really liked wearing his pajamas and seeing the conductor and Santa on the train. 

We made it into a weekend camping trip. We were afraid it was going to be cold, but we ended up wishing it was cooler...it was close to 80 on Saturday! Texas...

We found some things to do in Palestine before the train ride, like a visit to see Santa at his workshop. That was Max's first time this year to see Santa, and he was just a little shy this year. Here he is waiting to see Santa and give him his letter.

It was a fun weekend and definitely worth the trip!