Thanksgiving Part III: El Rancho...

We went to the ranch the day after Thanksgiving to celebrate with my dad, brother and a few friends of William and Claire. 

In an effort to make the three hour drive as pleasant as possible for everyone involved, we intentionally scheduled it around the time Banner usually naps.

We started out strong...

...but things quickly deteriorated. 

But the "best"?  Yeah, the little dude finally nodding off as we hit the Lampasas city limits (i.e. our destination).  Needless to say, it was a looooooooooong car ride.  At one point I watched Banner take an entire Ziploc baggie full of cheerios and dump it - like rain - on his head in protest.  Then, when that failed to get him liberated from his car seat, he started throwing pieces of food at Trevor's head.  He has surprisingly good aim for a toddler.

Doggie photo bomb.

Of course, all was forgiven once we finally arrived and he got to be one of "the guys".  Uncle Yum (a.k.a. William) took Banner for a ride in our grandfather's old pickup, and we hiked to the top of the peak before settling in for our THIRD Thanksgiving feast in 48 hours.  It was fabulous.

Waving "buh bye" to mommy.

Hike to the peak.

The climb up with Claire and Amy.

Scaling the ladder to the observation deck.

My boys.

Trevor and Claire at the tippy top.

Haskell chillaxing post peak.
(Don't worry.  It was empty.)

Friday night was a long one.  Trevor forgot Banner's sleep sacks (he almost forgot the pack n play as well, which would have been a real disaster), so we had to improvise since the backwards sleep sack is the ONLY thing that keeps our toddler from waking everyone up at 3 AM, naked and covered in pee.  So, we put his footed PJs on backwards, crossed our fingers and hoped for the best. 

It didn't work.  Mainly because Banner won't stay UNDER a blanket (despite our best efforts) and got cold.  

Ban was up MULTIPLE times all night, and eventually ended up in bed with us.  He did fall back asleep briefly, but woke up around 5:30 WIRED.  We gave up around dawn, and started our day.  By the time everyone else woke up, Trevor and I had already consumed TWO POTS of coffee on our own.  No kidding.  This was further complicated by Banner's all too brief nap on the way back to the ranch after lunching at Eve's.  By dinner, Trevor and I were barely functioning zombies.  I can't remember the last time bed looked THAT good.

Other than that, though, Saturday was spent going on rides on the "cracker" (tractor), going on hikes around the house pasture, snacking on leftovers and watching college football.

Banner was in heaven.

Trying on Uncle Yum's boots.

Sweeping the walkway between the two houses.

 Worried when Uncle Yum fired up the tractor without him.

 Passed out in the car on the way home from Eve's.

Riding solo.

Watching the Missouri/Aggie game with Claire.

Saturday night was blissfully restful (thank goodness), and the little guy even slept in until 7 AM.  Sunday morning was spent cleaning up the ranch house, trying to wear Banner and his Awesome Pawsome out for the drive back to Dallas, petting the horses and taking one (or two) last tractor rides.

Just a little bit older and grayer than THIS PIC in 2006.

Alley is not amused.
(Really she is just falling asleep sitting up.)

Love him in the noise cancelling headphones! 
They were almost as big as his head!

We had high hopes that Banner would sleep the entire ride back to Dallas (especially after he passed out moments after merging onto the highway), but - alas - he woke up in Hamilton...less than forty five minutes into the drive.  He spent most of the remaining 2+ hours actively trying to liberate himself from his car seat.  Lord help us if he ever figures that out!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

iPhone photo dump (a.k.a. November can't end with 13 posts because I am neurotic)...

The following pictures were some of my favorites from the month, but never made it into a post.  At least, I don't think they did.  My memory isn't what it used to be, folks.

Playing the piano with Uncle Adam.

Timeout.  A necessary discipline tool at this age.
He fake cries well.

Ginger on his nose!

 Playing with Coop and discovering that everyone has a belly button.

There will never be enough sleeping baby pictures.

Post nap snuggle on daddy at Gran's house.

Snack time at Dick's.  Because, obviously.

  

Swim class bliss!

BLUE STEEL!

 And now on to DECEMBER...

I'm too happy, tired and FULL to care if any of the following makes sense...

I don't even know what to say about Thanksgiving.  Mainly because it has been an awesome day THAT JUST KEEPS GOING AND GOING AND GOING AND GOING.

Seriously.

We woke up at 6:30 because we registered to run the 8 mile Turkey Trot like a$$hats.  It was 28 degrees.  I was cold.  As is evident below:

Please stop taking my picture, Trevor.  I can't feel my face.  

Because "I can't feel my face" means "selfie".  Obviously.
Also, why hasn't anyone ever told me that I have a Jay Leno-esk chin?!

I've decided Trevor is suuuuuuper annoying to run races with because he insisted on arriving at the starting line FORTY FIVE minutes early.  And that was with all my efforts to delay standing in the cold for no good reason for as long as possible.  Mentally, I compare it to that time he was in charge of our travel itinerary and got us to BWI SIX HOURS BEFORE OUR FLIGHT TO DFW in 2008.

Yeah, still not over it.

Luckily, the freezing temps got our booties across the finish line in a respectable (if you are us) hour and twenty minutes.  Because the trot was only the beginning of our day, and we still had showers to take, country club clothes to don and a certain little, hyperactive dude to pick up from Gran's house.

This is what my kid looks like watching Toy Story after being
fed a slice of pecan pie for breakfast by his grandmother.
OMG.

As Gran would say, "wilder than a hoot owl".
I don't even know what that means, but Ban was it.

Not that she did it on her own.  Uncle Spencer helped.
(Not that MY kid needs much convincing to eat pie!)

When we arrived, Banner was just starting to come down from his pie-induced sugar high and poor Gran looked like she needed a nap. 

(I have a bad feeling that the only lesson Gran learned this morning is to only give Banner sugar immediately before returning him to us.  Lord help us.)



Post-race blurry iPhone family photo attempt #1

Post-race blurry iPhone family photo attempt #2

Thanksgiving PART 1 was at Brook Hollow.  We attempted to take another family picture.  It didn't go well.  But Banner was wearing a collared shirt and sweater and I had actually made a rare attempt at blowdrying my hair, so we had to try.  Mimi is a patient soul:

And, yes, I realize that you can't even tell that I made an effort hair-wise.  But I assure you:  said effort was made.

Then it was on to food.  Banner is thankful for sweet pickles.  

This is Banner's first of THREE plates.  Every pickle was consumed.
Banner is to pickles as I am to olives.  No kidding.

The time between plates two and three was spent running around the golf course like a crazed maniac.  A friend of Trevor's from high school tried to convince me that Banner doesn't weigh enough to injure the putting green.  But I'm not so sure.

At least, we calmed down (briefly) to have a deep conversation with Uncle Baaaaa:

Then, it was home to nap (for a mere 45 minutes) before Thanksgiving PART II with Gran and Pop-Pop.  

Banner was running on fumes, with *almost* explains the following videos.

Dancing to Selena Gomez at half time.

The annoying chicken.

And to clarify, no one was able to capture a video that adequately depicts Banner's INSANE energy level tonight.  BECAUSE WE WERE TRING TO KEEP PROTECT HIM FROM HIMSELF, not photo/video document.  But, believe me, Banner was a complete and utter spaz.  

Needless to say, we were home by 7:30.  Banner was bathed and asleep by 7:45 and I am in my PJs at 8 PM.  But AT LEAST I AM AWAKE.  Trevor is snoring as I type, but still clutching the TV remote like his life depends on it.  Like I'd even attempt to change the channel to anything but football.

(Not because I've been trained well, but because I'm too exhausted to care.)

Happy Thanksgiving, y'all!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Obviously, access to slides isn't our problem...

That weird moment when...

...you realize your toddler thinks the ADA sidewalk ramp is a slide that he wants to go down over and over again:

 

Note to self:  take Banner to the park more often.

Because it is a FRAMER that actually ended up in a frame. That is a really big deal. Just ask Hilary.

James French, who photographed my sister's wedding, takes pictures every Halloween, Christmas and Easter in a park over near my father's house.  It is first come, first serve and costs $15.  You pay upfront, and just cross your fingers and hope the kiddo is feeling cooperative and smily.  Because, really: you never know with these pint-sized humans.  The portrait is later mailed to your home address.

I've been waiting patiently for a month for mine to arrive.

I had an idea it was going to awesome because Mr. French was armed with a stuffed Grover doll.  Banner thinks Grover is a blue Elmo, and we all know that Elmo is essentially the toddler version of a happy pill.  The Ban-Man was instantly all smiles:

Taken with my iPhone back on that day in mid October.

And here is the photo that arrived earlier this week:



Love, love, love!

The thing is, I am TERRIBLE at changing out the frames in our house.  I have many of the same pictures on display that I originally put together some 10-15 years ago to decorate various college and graduate school dorm rooms and apartments.  The most current image of my sister - until she got married last year and GAVE US a framed picture of her and Adam for Christmas - was taken when she was 13 on a horse that passed away in 2009.  My mother-in-law got so tired of giving us framers that never ended up in frames that she brought over several randomly while we were out of town, and strategically placed them around the living room.  They are still there, which probably means that she has cracked the code of how to get current pictures on display in our house.

(I just hope she'll come back and swap the images out with new ones as the years go by.  Makes my self induced photo time capsule much more interesting with a  pop of "current" every now and again.)

I read blogs of people who put together photo collages on accent walls, hallways and nurseries, and I ALWAYS think to myself, "What a wonderful idea".  But then I remember that I never got around to framing ANY pictures of our wedding day or newborn pictures of Banner.  So maybe more realistic goal for me is to simply commit to swapping out a photo now and again with a new favorite?

You know, like baby steps?

So, I committed to framing the pumpkin picture above, and found a 5x5 that needed an updated image.  Except the picture already in there had been there for so long that it was GLUED TO THE GLASS.  It took six hours of soaking the glass in warm, soapy water to get all the old photograph residue off.  But I persevered and 24 hours later FINALLY had the pumpkin picture framed and on display in a place of honor.  It looks awesome, if I don't say so myself.  Trevor even noticed it, which is really saying something.

(And, don't worry, I scanned the old image in before ripping it out of the frame for good.)

Unfortunately, the mere fact that "swapping out a photo" took an entire day probably means that the next time I do that again will be around the time Banner graduates from high school.