Conquering the Footlong Quarter Pound Coney

Since the introduction of the FOOTLONG QUARTER POUND CONEY at Sonic about a year and half ago, Eli has been asking, "When do you think I'll be big enough to eat one of those?"

He decided that this summer was the summer.

One day last week, we headed to our local Sonic so Eli could conquer the Footlong Quarter Pound Coney.

I, of course, forgot my camera so I took these photos with my phone. Sorry.

Looking a little worried about this adventure.



Taking his first bite, not to be intimidated by the sheer size of the dog.



Shunning the use of the fork, he ate with determination. And finally finished it off. Eating the last bite with as much gusto as the first, he conquered the coney.



In a word: Epic

MS 150 Mile Bike Ride

Last weekend Brad rode in the MS 15O Bike Race. He's been cycling for awhile now, but this was, by far, the longest he's ridden at one time.

It was kind of a big deal.

The cyclists rode 102 miles the first day (Amarillo to Canadian) and then 50 miles the next day. He's often ridden 50 miles at once, but never 100. We were going to drive to Canadian on Saturday and spend the night for a little overnight get-away.

He rode with two other guys. One of the other guy's wife was a good wife and dropped them off at the starting line sometime around 6am. I was still in bed. She took these pictures with her phone.

Jack, Brad, and Rich ready to ride.



He looks optimistic, doesn't he?



We left later that morning and caught up with him at the lunch rest stop in Miami. (That's not pronounced Miami like in Florida, but Mi-am-u. This is something I've learned living in West Texas.) He seems to be going strong and this was over halfway.



The race was called off when Brad was 7 miles from the first day's finish line due to three other people having heat strokes. He was a little bummed, but I told him that since he veered 4 1/2 miles off course at the beginning of the race due a flat tire and getting lost, it was a wash. Not sure he believed me, though.

After the first day's ride, we headed to the Canadian Public Pool (we had a free pass from the race) to cool off. It's an awesome little public pool.



It had a slide that this little bathing beauty loved. She even got brave enough to go down without anyone catching her. No pictures of that because I was tired of taking pictures at that point.







Canadian also boasts a neat old wagon bridge. Originally constructed as a way for wagons to cross the Canadian River, it's now just a cool place to take some pictures.















The next morning, the guys (minus Jack who'd had a knee injury the day before and headed home after the race) headed out for another 50 miles. Again, I was a loser wife and stayed in bed at the hotel with my children instead of seeing my husband off. Erica took more pictures for me.



Brad crossing the finish line! Yay!



We were so proud of him!

We worry about what a child will become tomorrow, yet we forget that he is someone today. ~Stacia Tauscher

Show and Tell: A Re-Do of The Menu Board

Remember my MENU BOARD?

It was a somewhat simple project (the only hard part was placing the vinyl letters on correctly) that I absolutely loved. I think I've used it more than any other thing I've ever made. Due to a small accident that caused the glass to break, I had to re-do the front. So I gave a little face-lift.

Now it looks like this.



I like it soooo much better now. The blue frame and the bigger print on the tablecloth give it a real presence in my dining room. Of course, the letters are still crooked, but I don't think I'll ever get that right.

But I still love it...despite it's crooked letters.

Crazy Girl

Just five seconds in the life of Phoebe.

I Might Watch More Baseball If The Players Looked Like This

Since Eli was playing catch the other night with Brad, Phoebe decided she needed in on the action too.



I think it went well.



Or maybe not so much.



At least she looked cute.

The Jersey Shore: The Fourth of July

It seems a little silly posting about the Fourth of July almost two weeks later, but I guess it is what it is. Please don't judge.

This could also be a Show and Tell post because I made the kids some matching outfits for the Fourth. I have a thing for matching children. I just love it.

I used THIS pattern for the boys shorts. It was harder than than I had realized, but came together once I figured a few things out. Phoebe's shirt was another one of THIS GAL'S tutorials. I was not a huge fan of how the flowers turned out, but didn't really feel motivated enough to fix them since I was working on it the day before we left! Procrastinate much?

As you can imagine, taking pictures of all three kids was a major undertaking. And we didn't get very many really good ones. Here are the (very) few I got that were even remotely good.











We watched the fireworks from THE BOARDWALK. It was a pretty darn good show. I've been to several really good fireworks shows and this ranked right up there.



We ate ice cream and pretzels, we bought glow sticks, Eli convinced us all to "listen" to the weird noise a toy gun made when in reality it shocked you, Phoebe flipped out during the fireworks, Carrie was pooped on by a seagull. It was fun.



Proof that I did actually go on this vacation. It may be the only picture I'm in from my camera.





While I missed our friends' annual Fourth of July PARTY, we made a few memories for ourselves in New Jersey. And the best part is, this is my last vacation post. Yay!

The Jersey Shore: On The Boardwalk

This post has taken way longer to write than it should have and it seems it's been sitting as a draft forever!

First, it was the editing. It just takes a while. No way around it.

Then it was the uploading. It was s-l-o-w. And I didn't even have that many pictures! Sheesh.

So here are our pictures from the boardwalk. The boardwalk was everything I had hoped it would be. Iconic. Touristy. Full of food and junky magnets to bring home and remember your time in New Jersey. I loved it. We spent several nights there just walking up and down, eating pretzels and ice cream.



I cannot tell you how mad I am that this picture is blurry! If only I had my camera on the automatic setting. If only I were a better photographer. If only...

But I still love this picture. And I still love that my parents not only love each other, but still enjoy being around each other after all life has thrown at them.



These next pictures weren't actually taken on the boardwalk. There was a small children's fest on one of the downtown streets Tuesday morning so we took the kids for something different to do.

There were balloon animals.







And face painting. (And yes, I'm well aware that's Eli's arm. He didn't want his face painted.)







And that was about it. :) It was something to do, though.

The last night we were all together, we went to one of the amusement parks that dot the pier. I'm not one much for amusement parks since I don't like fast rides or tall rides or rides that spin around or rides that drop or rides that are jarring so that pretty much just leaves the carousel. But the kids had been begging us all week long to go.

I'm not sure Lincoln was enjoying this "baby ride" as much as his older cousin. When we put them on it, we didn't realize it spun around the corners so fast!



I have a thing for ferris wheels. I think they are so old-fashioned looking and pretty. Like a remnant from a simpler time. I don't ride them, of course (they fall into the "tall ride" category), but my sister, Shane, and my parents' did. They are in this picture somewhere.



A couple of nice, artsy, albeit accidental, pictures on the carousel.





Then a few rides that were more Lincoln's speed.





Then we hit the boardwalk on Saturday night with Erin to play miniature golf...because Eli had been begging to do that, as well. Noticing a theme? Our children like to do fun things and we don't.

Eli "helped" his sister get her form down. Thanks, Grandaddy, for teaching Eli!



Then Daddy had to help Phoebe because she was still a little wonky on her swing.



After trying (several times) to use her miniature golf club backwards and putting 23 times on a single hole, we gave up taking score and just decided to let her play each hole the way she see fit. It was way more fun that way!



Sweet Erin was actually a pretty good miniature golfer. We had so much fun with her!



If you've stuck with me this far on all my vacation posts, thanks! I feel a little like those annoying friends who pull out the slide projector of their vacations when you only politely asked how the trip went. But while I love (and I mean adore-more-than-a-good-Sonic-Diet-Coke-with-lime-and-maybe-it's-even-a-tiny-obssession kind of love) when people comment on my blog, this little blog o' mine is a scrapbook of sorts for my children. Since I don't actually scrapbook, this is the only way I capture our lives on a daily basis. Brad puts each year into a book for me at Christmas (he's so great, right?) and my kids love to look at all the pictures. So thanks for joining us on this little adventure. I promise there's only one more vacation post left to go.

Maybe.