Texas Andersons

It was quiet for a few days.  And then (boy!) did it pick up!

Thursday was my grand opening for Shutter-Happy.  We had a ribbon-cutting with the Chamber of Commerce and then had clients and the community stop by all day.  Ben got to cut the ribbon as we all posed for our picture for the paper.  And then we all got to enjoy sandwiches, sweets, lemonade, good company, and a fun day.  I was so tired at the end but so appreciative of everyone who came to support us.

Friday was a Movie in the Plaza event.  So we headed to the gazebo to watch Evan Almighty under the stars, with popcorn and snow cones.  Yum!

On Saturday we spent the day at Fiesta Texas.  Swam at the water park; rode the train, the bus, a roller coaster; drove the antique cars (and more!)… and had a wonderful time.  Coming home hot and tired, I made our favorite refreshing drinks- strawberry/watermelon slushes!

Strawberry/watermelon slushes:  2 cups cubed watermelon; 2 cups cut strawberries; 1/3 cup lemon juice; 1/3 cup sugar; as much ice as desired.  Throw it all in a blender.  And then enjoy!  (it can make a house full of whines completely quiet!)

Sunday was spent lounging around the house and playing in the back yard.  Evan got to swim.  We went on a bug hunt.  And the boys got to swing, play in the sand box, and blow bubbles.  Then Evan got to have his first messy popsicle.  He was tickled that he got to have it all by himself and make such a big mess!

Yesterday we stayed in pajamas until after lunch.  Play time followed.  And then we headed to the Hungry Horse for Evan’s “last supper.” 

And today I dropped off my little guy at his first day of preschool.  He seemed very comfortable and was very excited.  He walked right in and showed his stuffed animals to Ms. Trish and Ms. Amy and then wanted to play.  So I snapped a quick pic and snuck out the door.  I cried coming home but am now so excited to have time to get a few things done off my to-do list.  (blog, work on print orders, make the surfboards for the parade, make preparations for our anniversary and company coming into town, etc, etc… whew!)

Thursday was SO much fun!!!

The day started with our ribbon-cutting.  Dozens of Chamber members came by to host the event and support us.  And BEN got to cut the ribbon as we posed for our picture for the newspaper.  He LOVED it! 

Then we played host to lots of family, friends, clients, and the community as they stopped by to tour the new studio, grab some snacks, enjoy their time in the photo booth, and visit.

THANK YOU to all who played a part in making this dream happen.  THANK YOU to all who have supported Shutter-Happy over the years.  I am so blessed.  “Do what you love; Love what you do.”

Click here for our You Tube video of my speech for the Chamber reception.

First, we started back to Cub Scouts.  We had our first meeting of the school year, getting back to our friends and that routine.  Then Ben got to spend a few days at Grandmom’s house.  They spent one lunch at Chuck E Cheese.  And it sounds like he spent the rest of the time playing with Legos.  We hung out at La Cantera one afternoon for school shopping, playing at the playground, and getting treats at Marble Slab.  We spent an evening at Curington for Meet the Teacher night.  And this past weekend was his usual last days of summer treat…

Saturday morning, Nathan and Ben headed up to church for a scout fundraiser.  They spent hours serving up bbq and sides to car after car that came to the “drive-thru.”  Then we all headed to Incredible Pizza.  Evan loved all the toddler games.  Ben loved anything that won him some tickets.  We all loved the putt-putt golf and the never-ending buffet.  But maybe the favorite thing was getting to drive the go-karts.  Ben was excited to be tall enough to drive by himself.  And Evan was big enough to ride with Nathan.  “Wheeeeeeee!”  Yesterday was a lazy day, getting to enjoy family time.  Ben cooked us dinner (hamburgers and homemade french fries!).  And then we headed to Sonic for milkshakes.

And today was the first day of school.  Nathan got Ben to the bus stop and sent him on his way.  Then Evan and I headed up to meet him at class so that I could get that all-important picture with the new teacher. 

Yes, we’re just now getting the hang of summer fun.  Too bad it’s almost over…

Evan and I had a great time at the last Abendkonzerte of the season, complete with enjoying snow cones and joining in on the chicken dance!

Ben, Evan, and I spent a day with friends to celebrate Lillian’s 2nd birthday.  We started with a movie at the theater and ended up at their house for a great playdate, lunch, and cake.

Emily and I hosted two fun portrait parties at the studio.

We celebrated Madison’s 7th birthday with a party at their house.  All guests were asked to bring their zhu zhu pets… and they had mazes set up for the kids to race their hamsters!  And everyone was told to bring their swim suits so they could enjoy the pool.  It was a great party, and was so much fun to see so many good friends.

The kiddos and I spent an afternoon at the Fiesta Texas waterpark again.  We spent the whole time at the big kids’ area, where Ben played in the playhouse and went down the slides, and Evan and I spent hours in the pool, turning our fingers and toes into raisins.

We took the canoe and swimsuits to Boerne Lake this morning… and spent hours swimming with the fishes.  The water was perfect.  And there was hardly anyone else there.

And other fun summer stuff we finally got to enjoy- we got to some much-needed yard work; we’ve spent several evenings enjoying popsicles out on the swing; we found some frogs out by the pool and got to play with them; we got out the hose and rags and cleaned my truck (and Evan soaked everyone in reach!).

Well, Ben’s portraits were two months late.  So why not Evan’s too?

Location was easy to figure out (I wanted to use the new studio).  But I was waiting on some new clothes to arrive, for his bad haircut to grow out, and for the time to do it.  I finally had the opportunity last night.

One dark shirt lent itself to our black backdrop.  One light plaid was going to look great on the front porch (I just LOVE our front porch!).  And I even threw him in the train conductor outfit Ben wore for a Halloween costume (since he loves trains right now).

As long as I was acting super silly or promising him candy, he did great.  And letting him play with the train during the session worked like a charm.  So, I got some great images, he had fun, and he got to enjoy some smarties. 

Here’s some of my favorites…

We needed a week like this…

Last Saturday we headed to the river.  We tubed for almost three hours and then had a picnic dinner.  It was fun to see the joy in Evan’s eyes every time we got out of the tubes to stop and swim.  He LOVED “fimming.”

On Monday I took the boys to Fiesta Texas, where we spent the afternoon at the waterpark.  (Evan kept yelling out “Feta Tacky!, which is how he’s saying Fiesta Texas these days)  It was a beautiful day, and we had a great time, despite the downpour of rain the last hour we were there.

Friday night was a blast!  It was Movie in the Plaza night, and the movie was The Polar Express.  Heading out to the plaza for popcorn, snow cones, and the movie would have been fun enough.  But they added a ton of games (candy cane fishing, a wreath toss, and a snowball toss)… and they even had SNOW!

Yesterday was cousin Connor’s 2nd birthday party at Planet Party.  All the kids got to play arcade games, jump in bounce houses, zoom down slides, and play with model trains.

Last night was River Mountain Ranch’s family bbq.  There was a clown, games, a one-man band, and burgers with all the fixings.  Despite the heat, we had a great time jumping in the bounce house, playing the javelin throw (with pool noodles!), and dancing (we couldn’t get Evan off the dance floor!). 

Today Nathan drove the boys down to Orange Grove to watch the tractors harvest all of Grandpa’s corn.  The boys ended up getting to ride in the tractor for about two hours and drive it for a little while!  Ben was pretty excited when they got home, couldn’t wait to tell me all about it and show me the dozen of photos he took.

And tonight, we all headed to the creek to feed the ducks and walk the park.  The boys loved feeding the ducks and the dozens of turtles that came swimming right up to us.  And we even got to see the three gosslings from the famous Dodging Duck Brewhaus nest.

(Pics attached are: Ben enjoying a waterslide at Fiesta Texas, Evan and I in the “snow”, Ben jumping in the bounce house, Nathan and Evan doing the chicken dance, and Nathan and Evan on the tractor)