Annual Fischer Family Vacation

WARNING! Picture Overload

I tried to pic just a few pics from our recent trip to New York, but it just wasn't happening! There were too many wonderful memories to capture and share! 

Every year, we get to spend a week or more with the Fischer family all together! We look forward to it, and so do the boys. Gavin was counting down the days til he got to see his cousin Lincoln, and the rest of the family. The boys were both so excited to actually go on one of the airplanes they see flying over their heads every day! 

Unfortunately, just a few weeks before our trip, Eric had a work conflict and had to stay behind, instead of going with me and the boys. So I had to really get myself pumped up for flying alone with two kids. Eric and I dread flying with the boys in general, because its a lot of sitting, a lot of restrictions, and alot of us trying to make something fun out of a small confined space 36,000 feet in the air! Luckily, Eric was allowed to go through security with me, and the flight was direct, so I knew if he got me on that plane, and Eric's parents were waiting at the other end, then I was going to survive! 

Here's how the plane ride went: At first Gav was upset because he couldn't sit right next to me, but once he got over that, he was such an angel. Crew was strapped in a carseat, which was the perfect situation because he treated it just like the car. If I had one complaint, it was the BATHROOM BREAKS! I wish I was exaggerating when I said that I visited the 2x2 bathroom in the back of the plane, upwards of 10 times. But I'm not...  

Once we arrived in New York, the boys were over the moon and so happy to see their Nana and Papa! We drove straight out to Southampton, and were in the pool within 30 minutes of arriving! Eric and Ray arrived the next day, and we spent all our time relaxing in the pool, cooking awesome food, and soaking up some sun.

Ray and Jess's house in the Hamptons is beautiful and cozy and spacious and absolutely perfect for our whole family to visit together. The kids wanted to be outside the entire time, and the weather was perfect. We had a few adult nights, and ate some great dinners and walked by some great yachts in Sag Harbor. 

The day before we headed back to Oklahoma, we headed into the city to make the trip easier. It's a 2 hour drive to the city, so we wanted to get that out of the way. We spent the day walking the kids around the city, playing at different parks and shopping/eating our way around. The kids loved it and loved

We visited the 9/11 memorial and found the name of the man who was a hero and helped save so many. He inspired my new nephew's name, Welles. Welles should be here in late August! 

We had such an amazing trip, and love all the places we get to take our boys. They have seen so much of the US, and probably won't even remember it when they grow up, but they've had an absolute blast! Good thing I take tons of pics to document our travels! Thanks so much to our amazing hosts, as always, above and beyond! Until next time...

Let's Build a Fort

Our boys needed a fort. Plain and simple. They are always off pretending and play so well together, so Eric and I thought we would get something fun for them to play on outside. We thought about a trampoline, but Oklahoma winds aren't so nice to them, so we decided to go the fort route. 

Eric and I worked on building the fort for a few weeks before the big construction day, and built several of the smaller pieces first. The morning of construction, we had so many wonderful people volunteer to help! Uncle Ryan, Uncle Justin, Jared, and Davis. It took all day, and the guys didn't get to anchor it down before a random rain and wind storm tried to ruin the fort building. But when it was finally finished, the kids were so pumped to play and swing to their hearts content! Thanks to all who helped...you have no idea how much that fort is a part of our daily play routine!

Peace Out Diapers

Gavin has been telling me every day for the past few months that Crew needs to wear underwear. He tried for weeks to bring Crew a pair of underwear every time I told Gavin to bring me a pair for him.

G: "Crew wants to wear underwear like me, so I brought him these Thomas underwear. He can wear them, he's a big boy."

Remind me NEVER to take the word of a 3 yr old big brother over my own intuition. I just KNEW I should probably give it more time than it took with Gavin. Gavin wanted to wear underwear at just over 2 yrs old. He wanted to wear them so bad he pretty much potty-trained himself...totally not kidding!

But Crew was not so easy. I blame myself, once again, because I dont think he's ready. But now I am committed! And there's no going back.

We started with a few days of a few pee accidents, but I was diligent and took him to potty about every 12 1/2 minutes. :) He got a sucker for pottying, and started getting the hang of it. When I got him to poop on the potty, I thought we were home free! I was sure it was all going to click! Instead he always told me about 30 seconds too late.

Crew would follow me into the bathroom all day long and tell me "GOOD JOB!" every time I went! He would tell me that I get to have a sucker! And when we would spend 20 minutes or more together while Crew sat on the potty, we sang songs and Crew would tell me stories and have me read books.  But inevitably, every day, at some point in the afternoon, he would sneak away and poop. Or he would get all the way out to the playset to play, then tell me "I POOPY!" And I didn't have the slightest chance to get him all the way inside before he had an accident. He literally waits for the most inopportune moment to NEED to go! It's been a quite a bonding experience for the two of us these past two weeks!

Speaking of 2 weeks, after officially 14 days....WE HAD OUR FIRST ACCIDENT FREE DAY! I thought I won the lottery when I put him to bed a few minutes ago and hadn't had a single pair of underwear on the sanitary cycle in the washer! (TMI?....sorry)

This cute little booty is on it's way to rocking underwear like a champ! And I won't be sad to say goodbye to diapers forever! 

Summer Here We Come!

The boys just finished their last day at Mother's Day Out for the school year, and I just had to snap some pics of their cuteness! Each year they perform a few songs or a verse for all the parents, and then we have a small party in their rooms afterwards. Gavin did great singing all the songs with his class, and spent the entire time smiling and singing just for his Mommy! It was so precious. Crew, on the other hand, didn't do so well. He saw me and immediately wanted to come down the stairs to sit with me instead of performing. When he found out he had to stay put, he started crying, and crying, and continued crying until the performance was over! It was sad and cute at the same time. He just loves his Mommy too. :)

Gavin: Over this past year at school, Gavin has learned so much! He now knows the pledge of allegiance, and several bible verses. He's come home countless times telling me stories from the bible, and also recognizes his letters and numbers pretty well. We're working on writing at home, although I know they started working on that at school this year too. We've got a ways to go, but he is seriously excelling so much with everything he's learning.

Crew: Crew was already a talker before he went to school. He's learned some songs and loves to sing every day. He loves to pray each night for all his family members, including Lexi. I honestly think he was the life of the class because he is so loud and bossy! His teachers loved him so much and always had funny stories of Crew's day to tell me when I picked him up!

Precious

Viva Mexico!

For years, Megan and I have talked about taking a fun vacation together. It never really works out when you both have kids and lives and plans of your own. But last fall we FINALLY locked ourselves into a long weekend beach trip! May 1-4th, we spent at the Secrets Aura in Cozumel. The weather was beautiful and we truly enjoyed it! Megan and I even went Parasailing one day, which we will never do again! Being up in the air with only a rope holding you to the boat, and crazy winds blowing us sideways was enough to make us think twice before ever thinking about something like that again! While we were away, our family was participating in the Great Strides Cystic Fibrosis Walk, so on Saturday morning, the four of us woke up and put on our "Emery's Angels" shirts and "walked" from afar! 

The boys got to spend some much needed quality time with their Nana and Papa. Ray and Debbie were so nice to make a trip home just to hang out with the boys for the weekend! And they had a blast! They spend the majority of the weekend outside and totally not missing us! Thanks to Nana and Papa for being so wonderful! 

 It was a perfect weekend to get away with great friends and we can't wait to do it again soon! Now if only we had planned it for 5 days instead of 4! 

We have arrived! 

Our favorite person Adrian and his girlfriend