Friday, June 7, 2019

Family History Dept Summer Party at Murray Park


They of course loved all of the bouncy houses and didn't want to leave when the night ended!
 


 
Nolan was so excited to get his face painted (although was a little disappointed that they wouldn't bend the rules this year and paint him like Darth Maul). I was happy with how well Branson did with it though! N asked for a snake, B asked for Batman :)


  

Nolan requested one last picture before getting in the bath :) 

Wednesday, June 5, 2019

Nolan Finished His First Season of Soccer

From the moment I told Nolan I'd signed him up for soccer he was NOT happy about it. We had a few weeks to try to get him excited, but really I think he just didn't know what to expect so he just didn't want anything to do with it. Finally a night or two before the first game we took him to get some cleats and found some red ones! He got a little excited about his new "spikes" and a bit more excited to find some black "armor" (shin guards). We threw in some red socks and hoped it would be enough to at least get him to show up to the field. Still, this was his face on the way to the first game 😊

By the way, it was NOT easy for his father to buy so many red things. It must be love.


Game time! 

The league we signed up for (mostly because we didn't realize we were behind signing him up and it was one of the few leagues that hadn't started yet haha) has a 1/2 hour practice, then 1/2 hour game format, which I think is perfect for this age.

Here's Nolan and dad practicing the first day. I think he did great!



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Running around the field. 

One funny story from this season -- It usually took some bribing to get him to get in there and kick the ball, but he'd been doing pretty well for a few weeks so I thought he was getting to like it a bit more. Then one day he'd had a sleepover at Gm and Gp Bailey's house the night before then went to his soccer game. After the game in the car he announced that, "this is the best day ever! We got to go to Gm and Gp's house, we had french toast for breakfast, I got a new toy, I got to play a Transformer game..." Then Justin interjected, "and you got to play soccer?!" At which Nolan wagged his finger and said, "no, no, no, no. That wasn't part of the fun." 🤣 Is this kid even MINE?!!



Gm and Gp Bailey came to every game AND brought extra treats for Nolan. Every week they brought his favorite, apple juice (really the only juice he drinks). After one game he announced, "If I could have apple juice every day I would do anything to get it!" 😂

He wasn't a big fan of stretching (must be the Mathews in him) and doesn't really know how to do jumping jacks yet. We'll have to work on that. 

  

Overall I think it was a great season! He learned a bit, got to run around, got lots of treats, and hopefully had some fun too. I was surprised that a few days after the last game he asked me when his next game was and acted disappointed when I told him the season was over. I'm not sure if he misses soccer or is sad he won't get treats anymore, either way, I signed him up for another season :)

Friday, May 31, 2019

Las Vegas Trip

We took our annual May trip to Las Vegas this last weekend. The only thing we for sure had on the schedule that we HAD to do was go to Wet 'n' Wild. Nolan has been talking about it for weeks!

A few days before I got a couple texts from my family telling me it'd only be about 75-80 degrees the day we planned to go and we might want to rethink it. Well Nolan has been so excited that there was no way we could change our minds so we told them we didn't think it would be that bad and went anyway.

Well...it was that bad. The water was absolutely freezing and it was a rare cloudy, windy day! I was the biggest wuss and maybe got in up to my knees, but that was it haha. Paul (he drove down with us a day or two early just so he could come to Wet 'n' Wild!) and Mallory immediately started going on the slides and didn't seem to mind the cold that much, crazies. We took the kids to the little play area and after getting in once they were both clearly taken aback by how cold it really was. Nolan commented that he was miserable and that he didn't want to go there ever again 😔 I felt so bad and thought the whole effort was a total flop.

Luckily though the boys seemed to get used to the water a bit and after 1 1/2 - 2 hrs the sun came out which helped a lot. Thank heavens! Oh and Nolan really only wants to go on the bigger slides if he can go on dad's lap, but that wasn't allowed. So we honestly spend the majority of the time in the tiny kids pool with 3 'slides' (you had to kind of scoot your way down them) and the wave pool. Still, they had a blast and at the end of the day Nolan had changed his tune and said it was one of the funnest days ever!!

Uncle BJ and Paul were such good sports and took the boys down the kiddie slides since there was no way momma was getting in that freezing water!



 Where's Nolan?!

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Nolan loves donut runs so he and I went to PinkBox and brought some back to share.


Somebody has been having too much fun. We were worried about him falling asleep on the bed where he could fall off, but he didn't move from this spot for almost 3 hours! The funniest part though was when I went to check on him at one point he wasn't on the bed. I was so confused and found him laying on the floor. It didn't look like he'd fallen off, just that he'd gotten down and decided he wasn't ready to get up just yet haha.

Fun in the backyard with Gp Mathews 💗

Sneaky Nolan soaked Gp's bum when he wasn't looking, little stinker 😅😇

Another night we went swimming in Uncle BJ and Aunt Kirsten's pool which is always a blast.


Logan and Branson would get out of the pool, come over to Gm Mathews for a Cheeto or a drink, then get back in. Too cute.

Branson and Cousin Paul teasing each other.


Also, it was while we were swimming that we announced to everyone that we are expecting Baby Bailey #3! They're super excited 😁

Nolan always looks forward to after swimming when Uncle BJ lets him play with his awesome legos. It was sure fun to watch N (and BJ) in their element.


 These two were SO cute together on this trip. They really started playing with each other and it was adorable to watch. B loves cousin Logan!

Unfortunately I don't have a picture, but one night we went over to Granky's for a visit and he and Nolan had the cutest exchange. I said to Nolan, "you know how you have one brother? Well, ask Granky how many brothers and sisters he has." So he turned to Granky and asked him. Granky looked at him and with a smile said, "10!" Nolan's eyes got a little bigger and he fell on the couch as if he was passing out from shock haha. It was adorable and so perfect!

Me: "Ask Granky what his favorite color is."
Nolan asked.
Granky: "Red"
Nolan got a big smile and told Granky that was his favorite color too!
Me: "Ask Granky what kind of toys he had when he was a little kid."
Nolan asked.
Granky told him he didn't really have toys, they just played outside with sticks and rocks and with friends.
Me: "Ask Granky what kind of chores he had when he was 4 years old."
Nolan asked.
Granky: "We had to pick up the chips."
Me: "Nolan, do you know what chips are?" ::shook his head no:: "dried...poop!"
Nolan again falls on the couch as if he's fainting.
Me: "So when I ask you to pick up your toys, that's not as bad of a job as picking up dried poop, right?! haha
Me: Did you know when Granky was little if you had to go to the potty you had to go to a little room outside of the house?! And do you know what they used for toilet paper?
I picked up a newspaper next to Nolan and held it up to him.
Me: "Newspapers!"
Nolan again acts like he's fainting haha.

Anyway, it was an adorable conversation and Nolan was completely engaged which made me so happy and probably made his great grandpa Mathews happy as well. Family history is fun!!

The sad part of this visit was that Branson was absolutely terrified of Granky. He didn't even want to be in the same room. He just bawled and screamed and tried to wiggle out of our arms if we tried to pick him up. It's so strange, I'm not sure what's causing it. He'll do the same thing to Brianna's fiance Brady too. He knows him and loves him, but when he hasn't seen him for a few months it's like he's terrified all over again. Weird. I felt so bad, but Granky took it in stride <3

The cute thing was that Nolan made up for it in spades. He was so fun around Granky - had a conversation with him and even showed him his Transformers game on daddy's phone. And, the best part was when Nolan went in the back room where Branson was crying in a corner, grabbed his hand and gently started guiding him out to the living room, all the while saying things like, "Granky is our super grandpa, he is in our family and loves us so much!" Branson even allowed himself to be led at least part of the way down the hall (then he freaked out again when he got too close). Still, it melted my heart to see Nolan so tender and kind like that.