Cade is 75 months old

Good grief! I just had to use a calculator to figure out how many months old my son is! What a grown up guy! As I admitted in a previous post, I did not blog or document at all the kids on their birthdays this year. So each one is getting a special blog post this month.

Cade is 6 years and 3 months old. He absolutely cannot wait to be six and a half. I'm not sure what happens at this age. He probably hopes it means he will be old enough to watch the new Transformers movie, but sorry, guy, that won't happen for awhile. Our little guy is growing up a lot, which means that we are having to tackle some tough parenting issues, such as limiting game time, not allowing him to watch certain movies, and horror of all horrors, making him eat vegetables. We talk him through each decision and have yet to say "because I said so". Cade questions EVERYTHING, so we usually have to have our reasons ready ahead of time before we talk to our six year old! We have our work cut out for us, as this kid misses and forgets absolutely nothing.

Here are some stats about Cade Asher:

He weighs about 54 pounds and has grown over 2 inches since November. He likes to wear "comfy clothes" (dry fit shorts and shirts), but would honestly rather be naked.

Cade loves:
Queso, strawberries, bacon, pineapple, queso, the color black, Ninja Turtles, the "gator show" (I don't even know the real name because I refuse to acknowledge that Chance and Cade like that show), the Cougars, queso, jumping, running, all types of exercise, playing at the pool, doing anything Daddy is doing, and more queso.

Speaking of exercise, Cade has started attending the Cougars' Elite Camp this month. Elementary kids were supposed to be able to come starting July 1, but Cade was the only one to show up! So he works out with the 7th graders and does an awesome job. The height difference between him and the 12 year olds is astounding... it is hard to believe he will look like that soon! Cade loves getting to know the athletes, and we are so thankful that the boys and coaches are so encouraging to Cade. Our old neighbor, Hayden, is also in the workout group and it is amazing to see how much he has grown up!



Cade also started attending the "big kid" karate class last week. He is doing very well in Karate for Kids and is learning the new material very quickly!



As much as Cade loves working out, few things make him happier than being at home and playing with his Ninja Turtles. We have been searching long and hard for a new character named Rahzar. My mom finally found it at a Target in San Antonio and mailed it to him. He was beyond excited when he opened it and could not stop smiling or looking at it!



Of course, there are still some things that Cade does not love. These include getting ready somewhat quickly in the mornings, being bothered by Annie while he is eating breakfast, running out of pineapple, and of course, being in pictures when he is not in the mood. I'll post more about our fun visit to campus later, but here is what happens when Cade is forced to be in a pic with Mama instead of Daddy.



We love you, buddy! Thank you for teaching us how to be parents! God has blessed us with an amazing son and big brother.

The Thinkery

Our family fun Fridays have been great this summer! Last Friday we went to Austin to see my friend Kelly and her kids at The Thinkery. This is Austin's awesome version of a children's museum, and (along with the great company!) were definitely worth the drive down there!

I'm always so happy that Cade plays so well with Owen and Adler, even though we don't see them very often. Each kid is pretty content to do his or her own thing, with occasional interactions... just the way they like it! It was so great to hang out with Kelly, too! We had no idea that our summers would end up being so busy and it would take us until the middle of July to see each other.

The first stop at the Thinkery was the water room. There was lots of splashing do to, and I was so glad that Kelly recommended that the kids have extra clothes! Annie's favorite part was the water wall; she could have played there the whole morning!



Then we went to the very fun outdoor playground and fountain. I'm not really sure if the fountain was meant to be a water playland, but all of the kids there were playing in it, so ours joined right in! I know Cade's eyes are closed in the pic, but it was so good otherwise!



The rest of the museum had really fun areas that focused on different aspects of science, plus a reading room and a playroom for toddlers. The kids all had a great time, but it was so crowded that we could not get any pictures. After everyone worked up a big appetite, we walked to a food truck area to get lunch. It felt so "Austin"! Our food was tasty and the kids had fun playing in an old airplane hanger afterwards.

Time for mandatory group photos! Thanks to Chance for making all of the kids smile!



The boys were running along a wall and when Kelly and I tried to take pictures of them, Owen said "Head down!" and both of the boys dove down to get out of the photos. Silly boys!



Our last stop was a park with the friendliest ducks in the world. I mean, we actually petted the ducks. Pretty fun!



It was so great to hang out with the Langdon clan! Hope to see you again before summer ends!

15 Months on the 15th of July

Time has been flying by since Annie's first birthday! She has grown up so much, but she is still our little baby girl. Since April was such a crazy month, I realized that I didn't do much of a post for either kid's birthday, and I didn't do birthday pages in our family photo book either. Oops. We threw 2 really good birthday parties and I finished my semester, though! So, here is a more detailed post about Annabeth Cate now that she is 1.25 years old!

Stats:
Annie weighs about 24 pounds and has 10 teeth. She wears 12-18 month clothes. Her little belly pokes out of her shirts as she grows out of them and it is cute, but I'd rather it be covered, so she is about to get a whole new wardrobe of 18-24 month shirts. She wears size 5 shoes and can put crocs on by herself. Her hair doesn't stick up straight anymore, but she cannot stand a clip or bow. So, our solution is a top ponytail! It is very spunky, which fits her little personality perfectly!



Words:
Hi, bye, Mama, Daddy, Bubba, puppy, kitty, bath, ball, uh-oh, yay, and duck
Signs:
Eat, more, please, all done

Loves:
Watching construction out of our front windows, swinging, slides, bubbles, riding in a car cart at HEB, row your boat, ring around the rosie, what does the fox say, squeezies (fruit, not veggie), strawberries, bananas, yogurt, peanut butter sandwiches, books, being independent, cuddling, blowing kisses, our pets, all dogs, and of course, Mama, Daddy, and Cade




Non-loves:
When there is none left of a snack (or sno cone) that she likes, riding in the car for more than 10 minutes, having her face wiped, being told no, meat, veggies other than carrots, sitting still, and being quiet at church.



We are unbelievably grateful for all of the joy and love that Annie has brought into our lives. She is a little more, um, adventurous than Cade was at this age, so we are adjusting to the craziness and grey hairs that come with that, but it is so fun to see the world through her enthusiastic eyes. She started gymnastics and music this month and is really enjoying both! She is also very affectionate, and is quick to give a hug and kiss, even after she has gotten in trouble for something. We love you, Annie!

Fun with Friends and Family

Summer is finally getting a little more lazy! When I say lazy, I don't mean that we sit around all day (ha!), but we have fewer planned activities, so we have more time to hang out with family and friends.

One great place to hang out with friends is the pool! Chance is quite the hero at the pool and spends lots of time throwing Cade (and sometimes his friends) into the water. The boys love it! Here are Chance, Cade, Annie, Jace, and Jackson in the pool. Jace and Jackson's mom, Kristy, got some great shots of Chance tossing Cade! I'm so glad to have such a strong husband!



Garrett and Cade just realized that they have been friends for FOUR years! When you're 6, that is a lifetime! We've had some fun times with Garrett recently, like his birthday party at Powersports (where Annie was suddenly old enough to sit at the big kid table, and I almost cried), an afternoon at Grand Station, and a sleepover.




So, Cade and Garrett have been friends for four years, but my friend Katie and I have been friends for THIRTY TWO years now! We met in the 3 year old class at Cross Lutheran Preschool, and attended elementary, middle, and high school, then college and grad school together (not the same program, but we both stayed at A&M almost as long as we could)! I could probably do a gigantic blog post on photos of Katie and me throughout the years... we have certainly made some fashion statements together! I'm so very thankful for her long-lasting friendship and the fact that we can pick up a conversation like we just talked yesterday even when it has been months. Anyway, I got to visit Katie and her husband John when I went to a conference in Dallas last weekend. It was so great to see her!! We regressed to our younger years and gossiped, ate way too much pizza, and gossiped/traded life stories some more. It was fabulous to see you, Bader!



While I was at the conference, Cade and Annie spent a fun day and night with Nana and Papa. They ate all their favorite meals, got lots of love and attention, and Cade took Annie on a joy ride!



Thank you, Nana and Papa, for helping out Chance and me during our summer where we aren't really off of work!

Dallas - Xavier's Birthday, 4th of July, and Lots of Swimming

Our Dallas trip was packed with fun this year! We were blessed with pretty mild weather, so we were able to spend quite a bit of time outside. Papaw took Cade with him for some of Snow's walks, and we had fun playing Jenga on the back porch. Chance says that I play Jenga with the trash every week, but sadly, my skills do not extend to the real game.




We went to Brookhaven Club for a fun afternoon of swimming with lots of Locklears! Unfortunately, we did not get a big group picture, but at one point, there were 20 people in our group! It was great to see lots of aunts, uncles, and cousins. There are several pools there to keep everyone happy... a shallow pool, a splash pad, and a big pool with a diving board. Thanks to Mel for the great pics!





Our next adventure was at the Gaylord Texan! Xavier's birthday is July 2nd, and all he ever asks for is to see fireworks for his birthday. Three of the four cousins were finally old enough to stay up for the fireworks this year, so a great adventure awaited! The hotel was beautiful, and the waterpark was lots of fun.



All the kids and grown ups played hard in the sun, and Annie was especially exhausted on the bus ride back to the hotel!



After naps and showers, we were ready for a tasty Mexican food dinner and great chats with the family! Our All-American girl ate an All-American dinner of mac and cheese, and she learned how to drink out of a straw!



After Chance took Annie to bed, the rest of us went up to the roof of the parking garage to wait for the fireworks! There was a DJ playing fun music and we danced away the time while we waited for the big show. It was so fun!



This picture isn't very good, but it is the first shot of Cade watching his first fireworks show! He and Xavier were so patriotic waving their flags the whole time!



The next morning, we had breakfast at the hotel, and Austin amazed Cade with a program on his phone where you can blow up people's faces.



We closed our trip with more time at the pool! The feet you see in the air belong to Cade and Zoe. They had a great time comparing water tricks!



Thank you for the fun trip, Papaw! It was so fun to see all of the aunts and uncles and make great memories together!