Camping, Concerts and the CMA's

November is shaping up to be just as nuts as last month. Which is great...but geeze I'm tired! Before getting to our fun adventures I wanted to fill everyone in on my latest endeavor - training for the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning. I hate to run. Man I really hate it. Running has always been one of those things that I've always wanted to be good at. So I decided a few months ago that I'm tired of carrying this mom gut around and that I was going to get over my running disdain. So I started running. I ran my first 3 miles outside with out stopping two weeks ago. I still hate running. I'm getting better at it though, and I really enjoy exploring new neighborhoods and having the hour all to myself.

So we decided to be really brave and take the kiddo's camping. I was not the least bit worried about Lennon as she's constantly attached to me, however the thought of taking Lucie aka The Flash to an outdoor location close to water terrified me. We left really early Saturday morning and made it to Beaver's Bend state park in a few hours. This place is AWESOME! Our friends Blair and Lulu (her name is Lucy, but Lennon freaks when we call her that so she is now Lulu) came up to join us and I'm so grateful that I had some help with the girls. The boys skirted off to go fishing and while Lulu and the girls took a nap I did some exploring on my own. I climbed down into the river and did a few minutes of meditating on a big rock right in the middle of a stream. It was amazing and I was able to get some great shots.






The girls loved playing outside though Lucie wanted to play with our campfire so bad. We did all the normal traditions, s'mores, beers by the fire, chased off raccoons and ate blue markers. Wait...that was just Lucie.




Here's Lulu using the leather man (a two pronged fork) to open the wine bottle. It took about 30 minutes but so worth the wait!

The next morning we went on a hike along the river and drove around the lake. Beautiful! The State Park has this great nature center that is home to all kinds of creepy crawly things like, snakes, squirrels, tarantulas, and even an injured owl and falcon. Lucie was is heaven!








Don't get me wrong, I love "roughing" it but I was so excited that they even had a little country store/restaurant that over looks the river. We took the girls and had yummy strawberry cake.
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Mimi Roxie and I went on an adventure with Blayne, Lennon and Lucie to the movies last weekend. We saw Madagascar 2 at the Studio Movie grill and they loved it! It was the first time for the girls to go to the movies and I couldn't believe that they sat through it. Well...not Lucie. Aunt Bibi and Jeff and his son Alec came up later and we all went to Church at Fellowship then took the kids to Fudruckers. Lennon loved her new balloon butterfly, until we got home and Lucie bit it and it popped. Hmmm...I'm really started to notice a trend in this posting.




Sorry these are so blurry ...if you've seen my camera lately you'll know why these look so bad.

Andy and I were so excited the next night when we were able to get a sitter for the kids and go to a concert at the House of Blues. It was AWESOME! We have seen Atmosphere (an independent old school rap group) every time they are in town or down in Austin for the past few years. This was by far the best show yet. One of my oldest and dearest friends Ron from Navarro met us there. We even got to meet Ant the producer and MC!





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Wednesday I was off to Nashville to go to the CMA awards. I was so excited I couldn't sleep the few days beforehand. It was so much better than I ever thought it could be. The Gaylord took about 40 clients and we really VIP'ed it up! Our seats were amazing right above the level where all the celebrities were. I loved Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood's performances ... yes I cried. After the show we walked down to the Wild Horse Saloon and danced until the wee hours of the morning. Ever since I was a little girl I was always fascinated with any kind of award show on TV. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think that one day I would be dressed up sitting watching it live. Too cool! The next night we had a dinner with a married couple - Mark and Tia who are singer/songwriters in Nashville. They wrote and received CMA's and Grammy awards for Kenny Wayne Sheppard's - Blue on Black, Dixie Chick's - There's Your Trouble and LeeAnn Womak's - I hope you Dance. They were amazing and learning about the whole process of how songs are pitched to the artists and the drama that they go through was so enlightening.



I am finally back home and so glad to get to snuggle with my hubby (who is by the way a saint these days going above and beyond to help with the girls) and my rug rats.




Here's Lucie being Lucie.




Love to you all!

P.S. I have heard three different genres of music in the past month in concerts that have all played Bob Marley's -Three Little Birds. Jason Mraz, Atmosphere and Kenny Chesney ... thanks for spreading the word:

Rise up this mornin, Smiled with the risin sun, Three little birds Pitch by my doorstep Singin sweet songs Of melodies pure and true, Sayin, (this is my message to you-ou-ou:) Singin: don't worry bout a thing,cause every little thing gonna be all right. Singin: dont worry (dont worry) bout a thing, cause every little thing gonna be all right!

A Rocking October

October 2008 in the Lopez house was completely insane. Every weekend we had something going on. It started with the Butterfly Flutterby in downtown Grapevine. We dressed the kids up like butterflies and they flapped their little wings down Main Street. So much fun if you take Lennon smearing her butterfly makeup the second we got there and then crying the whole time she was in the parade out of the equation. Poor kiddo. Her face paint was so cute, but by the end she looked like a goth butterfly :)

The next weekend we were off to the costume party that Lewisville hosts every year. The girls were so freaking cute. Lennon was The Little Mermaid and Lucie was Flounder. When I tried the costume on her for the first time she looked like a little boy so I made her a little yellow tutu to "girlie" her up a bit. This event is so much fun. The kids enter the costume contest then they play games to earn candy and cupcakes. I love seeing how cute all the little kids are dressed up!

As if the costume party wasn't fun enough Andy and I decided to further torture, I mean indulge in fun family memories at the Flower Mound Pumpkin Patch later that afternoon. We put the kiddos in their best holiday garb complete with a little orange bow with a skull for Lucie which she proceeded to take off every other minute. Lennon loved all the cut outs, hugging each one and saying "You're my best friend" . I even managed to fit my big mom butt in the train. The Patch is always great for photo opps, but the bees were really bad this year so we headed home pretty early this time.

At home we broke out the pumpkins, turned on the scarey Halloween music, popped open a bottle of vino and got to carving. The kids LOVED pulling out pumpkin guts and I must say Andy and I showed up with some pretty fancy carving skills this year. I even toasted the pumpkin seeds ... a la Super mom Queenie style.

Could it be ... finally we got around to the real Halloween and trick or treating. This year we were "those people" again and invaded someone else's neighborhood that we thought would give out better candy than ours. Valerie and her mom Sharon thankfully not only fed us yummy salmon and brussel sprouts before we hit the streets but they also put up with my suger indulged, maniac children. You guys know how nuts Andy and I are about the dinner routine in our house so when both the girls had to get up and run around while we ate dinner I about came un-glued. I mean this only happens once a year...well if you take away Easter, birthdays, Christmas, Thanksgiving and Valentines Day so I know I should just chill out :) We only ended up going to about 6 houses because poor little Lucie just couldn't grasp the whole put the candy in the bag and move on to the next house routine. She wanted to eat each piece as she got it and then got very frustrated when she couldn't hold them all in one hand. At one point she laid down on the sidewalk. She also tried to run into every house we went to .. too funny, or scarey. We ended up back at Val's and Lennon handed out the rest of the candy. She's a smart one...one for you two for me :)

Over all we had a great time! October is always such a great weather time of the year in Texas, couple that with lots of free family fun time and even though it was a little crazy at times it always is my favorite time of the year.

Roaring River 2008

Andy and I were so exctied to get to go to the Roaring River State park in early October this year. We missed the past two years of traveling with our friends Val, Bryan, Chris, Laura, Eric and Jennifer due to all these babies under foot :) Val and her brother Chris have been taking this trip to Missouri almost every year since they were small children and now we are carrying on the tradition. The trip was also on the eve of Andy and I's 3 year anniversary so it was even more special to us to be in the place we love so much and got married at. The trip was a great success with everyone catching a few fish...some more than others. The girls drove into Euereka Springs for a pampered day at the spa - it was amazing! We took a mineral bath first in these great claw foot tubs, then they walked us over the to eucalyptis steam closet. I have never seen or experienced anything like it before. It was like a steam room that your head sticks out of. After that we each had a hour long massage. It was a fun and perfect day. We love this trip so much ... the clean mountain air, the over the top views, laughing hard with friends and just feeling like a part of nature. You just can not beat that.

I promise...I really do fish :)
I love this shot of the gang!

Happy Anniversay Andy!

Summer Olympics 2020... here she comes!

Lennon started going to gymnastics at Excite Gym in Flowermound when she turned 2. She absolutely loves it! I still can not believe the apparatus's that they put these little kids on. They rotate through out the hour on the floor, trampoline, bars and beams. Two weeks ago my mom came up and for the first time I didn't have to help Lennon in class because she was the only one to show up for class. I got to sit in the viewing room and watch as my little baby jumped from 10 feet off a platform and land on two feet with a mighty "ta-da". My heart was so full of pride and it was even more special getting to share that moment with my mom. Every week she gets a little better and the teacher says as soon as she's potty trained (that's another story) she can move up to the next level. I PROMISE I will not be "one of those moms", but man I sure do love watching her learn new skills and push her little body to reach a further for that next bar. I hope she will stick with it for a while at least.

It's my party and I'll cry if I want to...

Breaks my heart. My baby, my little teenie sweet precious baby turned 1 years old this August. This has been an amazing year. There were times that I didn't know if we would make it, times where we were so tired and broken and dizzy. Then all of the sudden it got better. This has truly been one of the most rewarding exciting years of my life. Thank you Chucie. You came into this world with jet black curly hair, tiny balled up fists and you changed our hearts forever. Now everyday you find a way to keep making it better for us. We love your "ugly" face, your kisses, your brave little self and your unfaltering love of Lennon. We love that you are so independent yet still come running when the tv goes fuzzy. Happy Birthday Chucie!

Amy ... you have some splanning to do.

Yeah Yeah ... I know! I havne't posted anything for three months. Have no fears the Lopez gang has been busier than ever and I have tons of catching up to do. I'm working on uploading picutures and I promise to have this up to date by the end of the week.

Miss and love you all!!!!