3rd Annual Guys Week

The boys and I recently finished our annual week where we give Gretchen some much needed time off as we go do some fun stuff. Here are a few pictures from the week. The music video is forthcoming.

We started the week with camping and fishing at Lake Grapevine. I hope that the boys will continue to enjoy outings like this so that we might make future Guys Weeks into hiking and camping trips.

Tuesday was a minor league baseball doubleheader in Grand Prairie. We stayed for both games, Charlie got a foul ball and Nate tormented the mascot, a flying pig.

Wednesday was a trip to the Fort Worth Zoo. The boys favorite exhibit was the meerkats. Nate wanted to take one home if he could.

Thursday was some pool time with the boys' best friend, Cody. We also had a hot dog eating contest. Charlie was the big winner - 11 hot dogs in 8 minutes (just the dog, no bun). Nate almost disqualified himself by eating his first one before the timer started. He ended up eating 7 by himself.

Friday was Indycar qualifying at Texas Motor Speedway with Gray Gray. The boys really had fun watching each car take four laps around the track, wanting to know the name of all the drivers.

Saturday was an excursion to Lone Star Park. We made an exception for Granny and invited her to come with us. Charlie picked the winner in the fourth race. He was so excited to win his $2.60! He also got a pair of autographed goggles from the winning jockey in the 2nd race.

We finished the week off on Sunday with a trip to Medieval Times, a dinner and entertainment theater with live action knights jousting and sword fighting. Right up the boys alley. By this time, Gretchen was really missing all of us so she joined us for dinner.

Family Vacation: Last Stop, Vicksburg, MS

We spent one night in Vicksburg, MS, to break up the drive home, and it ended up being one of the highlights of the trip. Right now is the sesquicentennial of the 40+ day siege on Vicksburg during the Civil War, so we really enjoyed touring the National Civil War Park. Every state that fought in the siege has a memorial, and there were markings where important battles took place. Dave has been teaching the boys about the battles of the Civil War, so this was a perfect stop for us.

Staring Contest at dinner

Minnesota Memorial

Fire the cannons! 

The Illinois Memorial

battlefield

USS Cairo -- This ironclad gunboat was sunk in the Mississippi River in 1862 and recovered about 100 years later.

Texas Memorial

Iowa Memorial - This memorial was originally dedicated in 1912 and just finished being refurbished. It was going to be rededicated the next day by Iowa Gov. Branstad.

Family Vacation: Second Stop, Dauphin Island, AL

We LOVED Dauphin Island! It's a small island not far from Gulf Shores, but it appeared to be primarily residential and not very touristy, which is just our pace. We stayed at a wonderful condo that had indoor and outdoor pools in addition to the beach, so the boys never ran out of water to play and swim in.

Dave and Nate enjoying some local BBQ ribs. There aren't a lot of foods that Nate likes right now, but ribs are one of them!

Lunch on our patio.

We played a lot of Battleship.

Fort Gaines

Family Vacation: First Stop, New Orleans

Beignets at Cafe Dumond. Charlie loved them, but Nate was surprisingly uninterested. I mean, who doesn't like fried dough with a mountain of powdered sugar on it?

Hide and Seek in Jackson Square

Riding the trolley

Future Photographers

Some pictures taken by Nate and Charlie