Happy birthday, Dad!

Tonight we celebrated my dad's birthday by trying out a couple new places in the area! We took the scenic drive up through Dripping Springs to Hamilton Pool Road. You get that feeling like you are in the middle of nowhere over there.

We stopped first at a new bar that just opened a month or so ago, Proof and Cooper, to have a drink and hang out. Nico was amused by the chickens and cows out back. Then, our main stop for dinner was just a few miles further down the road, Verde's.

When Nico wasn't busy running around with kids in the open field, he was criticizing his grandpa for eating his birthday ice cream!! (It's a good thing that my dad has now had 5 years to get used to having his birthday completely overshadowed.)

 

 

 

Nico's actual birthday

Even though Nico has had and will continue to have a few different birthday celebrations, we had to make his actual day special, right?

I wanted him to have a little excitement to wake up to first thing that morning...

 

David and I gave him a few of his gifts this morning, a nerf shooting gun and a new hockey stick!

 

 



It didn't take him long to open both up. Objects were flying ALL over the house!!

 

For dinner, my mom and I were in charge since my dad and David had concert plans. We told Nico that he could go anywhere, and he said he just wanted to stay home?!! Sooo, my mom brought over Sonic and we celebrated that way. He must have still been exhausted from his fun Dallas weekend!

 

He did enjoy his birthday cupcake and opened a few more presents from my parents and grandparents!

 

 

We put together his Lego sets and played Operation, and it was a fun night! His ultimate birthday bash with his friends is in a week and a half, so it's pretty much a continuous party around here, if you can't tell.

 

Dallas bound: Nico's Bday & David's Class Reunion

We had a couple different events to celebrate this weekend up in Dallas! We had an early birthday weekend for Nico with Papa and Grandma, and David also had his 20th high school reunion!

 

He slept most of the way there. He must have known it was gonna be a party weekend! I'm still such a sucker for taking pics of him when he's sleeping in the car, because he's just so cute!

 

As soon as Papa and Grandma got home, he wanted to open his birthday gifts right away!

 

He got a toy car, under armour outfit, a spiderman helmet (opened early from Grandma Phil), and........a spiderman scooter!

 

Of course the scooter was taken out right away to cruise around the cul-de-sac.

He then invented a game with his new car to try to steer it into its "garage."

Dave and Cindy are always laughing about his finger point when he talks.

We went to Mia's for dinner!!! Where else?! Nico entertained us at the end of dinner by doing the Madagascar dance up on his chair. Always fun times here. And we even sat at our usual Jimmy/Jerry table.

 

Sleepy time with Sadie. Cindy said that Nico is always wanting to know if Sadie actually sleeps with him, so she had me take this picture to show him. Ha!

After dinner on Friday, we went to one of David's reunion events at the House of Blues. They rented out a room and a Beastie Boys cover band was playing that night too. I felt like I was on a different planet, as they were all sooo pumped over this music and going crazy! I knew a couple of the songs, but I definitely was not on their 80's band level. It was hilarious watching David mouth word after word. He was in his element that night for sure. I wish I would have recorded him. Plenty of laughs.

On Saturday, Nico had the day to himself with his grandparents while David and I were out and about. We stopped by Coach Zea's popcorn store to say hello before driving back by our old home and neighborhood. Can't believe how much has changed in just 2 years with stuff built up everywhere! It didn't really feel like home. We then landed for the afternoon at Kelly's Eastside. It was right next to the Allen Event Center, where David's reunion event was that night. He met up with a handful of his old friends there, and they had a blast catching up and bringing up all of their old memories!

On Sunday, we had David (and Nico's for that matter) favorite breakfast, chipped beef on toast! We hung around the house most of the day before the big plans for the night, dinner at Benihana's. David used to go to here every single year for his birthday with his family. Cool to have Nico joining in on that tradition too!

He had his ice cream at the restaurant, and when we got back to Dave and Cindy's for the night, it was time for his birthday cake!!

 

It was a wonderful birthday weekend for our favorite little guy.

Summertiiime and the living's easy...

We have had a great summer! We have stayed pretty busy, but it has been a fun kind of busy!

Most mornings consist of Nico and David going to the pool. Then before you know it, lunchtime and naptime have quickly approached. I usually come home during or right after his nap to join in on the fun! From backyard baseball to bike rides to going to just about every outdoor patio/restaurant with a playground that we could think of, it's been a fun-packed summer.

We get together with a handful of Nico's buddies on a regular basis...

 

 

Minions movie.

 

 

 

 

One of our go-to spots, Pieous.

 

We couldn't get enough of the Rusty Mule. It's always Nico's pick when we ask where he wants to go!

 

 

 

But we didn't forget about Jack Allen's. Fun happy hour picture here. (We obviously like to get out and about.)

 

 

Nico lives in the pool. Sometimes he even goes twice daily! He has perfected his cannon ball and enjoys fetching objects off the bottom of the pool (shallow end).

Sour gummy worm face. We have had some frozen yogurt dates on Monday nights when Daddy goes to hockey!

He thinks he snuck a fast win past me here.

 

Weekly shrimp and crab boils. Apparently the seafood has been on sale at HEB.

 

We tried out plenty of new places too! There's always something new and exciting to do around here.

Nico had 5 birthday parties to go to the past couple months. It worked out well as a nice way for him to get to see his friends from school!

Even though he spends a majority of his summertime waking hours outside, he still enjoys playing up in his "payroom." (He has a giant room full of toys, who wouldn't?!)

We try to get him to sit still every now and then. It lasts about 10 minutes.

He did get a new big boy bed! He is proud and really likes it. And it's still the same frame from his convertible crib, so all we had to buy was the mattress. The blankets at the foot of the bed cover the nicely gnawed marks from his teething days. It's a Nico original!

Here, we spent an afternoon out at Hill Country Golf and Guitar. This was a super fun place with 18 hole miniature golf, live music, and a restaurant/bar.

Racing down the street. He likes to think he is driving a motorcycle.

 



 Never a dull moment around here, that's for sure!