joining in the fun...

Now that Crew is totally mobile, and fairly stable, we're letting him explore and be part of the "boy action" around here...

William and Hudson rigged up a ball on a string, and then used their plastic bats to hit it to Crew. Crew thought it
was fantastic!

Yes, William is beating Hudson with the bat.

and this is Hudson going for some revenge...

Crew loves the Plasma Car.

and here, he is trying to get Hudson's baby BumbleBee Transformer out from under the car

It's non-stop action around the Dennison house these days. It's exhausting, crazy, and loud around here, but it's also a whole lot of fun!

Freedom!

Crew missed out on all the evening fun (yay for babysitters!), so we had to take some patriotic pics before the "real" fun began...

I just love these 3 little people!

We celebrated Independence Day with friends from church, and it was so fun! We headed to the Botanic Gardens in Fort Worth to the Concert in the Gardens. Every day during the month of June the Fort Worth Symphony puts on an outdoor concert. Each day is a different theme. The last 3 days of the concert, which are always the 3,4,5 of July are patriotic themed, followed by one of BEST fireworks displays in the city. 

We headed out there with a massive picnic in tow:

and all the kids had a blast waving their flags, devouring lots of food (mainly cookies and carmelitas), getting into mischief, and just generally having a fantastic time while preparing for the music to start

This is Hudson with Sarah, his fiancé...

As soon as it got dark, the we busted out the glow sticks/bracelets/necklaces:

and the concert wrapped up with an AMAZING fireworks show

What a perfect way to celebrate the freedom we enjoy so much! We already can't wait until next year!

Nine Months

Well, we've breezed through yet another "birthday"...and life just continues to get crazier.

Like most 9 month olds, Crew is B.U.S.Y.

He is crawling EVERYWHERE. He is now climbing stairs...and he's getting faster by the day. He pulls up to everything he can get his hands on, and even cruises around things. In fact, today, he took 1 little step to get from an ottoman to a chair. I'm not going to count it as his first steps, because I really think it was an accident.

He's still not the best eater. He loves anything savory, and he likes pureed fruits. He's not a fan of veggies, but I'm not giving up! He is starting to prefer feeding himself table food, which is nice. He eats Greek yogurt for breakfast every morning, and he LOVES it.

He thinks his brothers are HILARIOUS, when they're not attacking/smothering/man-handling him. He's still a momma's boy, although he has more sections of time of being a daddy's boy...I think because of me being gone a few times during June.

He is happy about 99% of the time. If he's crying, there's usually a good reason.

His stats: 20lb (40%), 28inches (40%), and 18inch head (75% ha!).

William at 9 months:

Hudson at 9 months:

Food for my Soul

Well, it's about that time again. Our 9th annual Girls Trip ended last week, and it was, yet again, superb. We all agreed that it was one of the best yet. Of course, the location (Fowl Cay, Bahamas) wasn't too shabby...but I think we all just NEEDED to be together. I titled this post "Food for my Soul" because when I am with these girls, I feel like it really is food for my soul. We get to "re-live" college, laugh like we never do unless we're together, eat to our hearts content, relax, share what's going on in our lives, etc. It's one of the things I look forward to the most every year.

Melissa's dad, Pinky, generously offered to take us to the island again this year. How could we refuse??? Angela was back from Cambodia, so she was able to join us, which was extra special because she hadn't been on Girls Trip in 3 years! Melissa's sister, Katie and her friend Sarah also joined us, and they were a great addition.

This was my 4th trip to the island, and it never gets old. Seeing the islands from the plane is amazing every time. Every year, we hope to see Johnny Depp...this year, we FINALLY did!

 We spent our arrival day hanging out on the island...it's even more beautiful these days. Melissa's uncle, Norman, has been living there, and he is taking AMAZING care of the island. He has built a tikki hut, lots of signs, and just has generally been making the island feel like an amazing resort.

 Of course, we had to visit pig island, lunch at Staniel Cay, and pics at Sampson Cay

 Something new for us: swimming with nurse sharks at Compass Cay! I was pretty nervous, but when in Rome, right? It was fun!!!

 One of our favorite things to do after a day out in the boat/snorkeling/exploring, we love to just sit on the beach. We talk for hours about what's going on in our lives. And of course, we do LOTS of laughing.

 How can you go to a remote part of the Bahamas and NOT go snorkeling? The snorkeling there is amazing!!

 Pinky is so good to us. He takes us cruising all day long on the boat. It's a BLAST zooming around, checking out various islands, snorkeling in different areas, looking at all the fancy yachts, etc.

Uncle Norm has started having visitors to the island paint a sign for the side of the shed. We painted one (well, Ash, Ange, and Melis did most of the work), and it was so cute! I can't wait to go back again and paint another...

I say it every year, but as I get older and have more babies, the more I realize how much of a blessing it is to get to take a trip every year with some of the best friends a girl could ask for. I am so thankful that these amazing girls have been placed in my life, and I look forward to many more years of Girls Trips ahead of us!