Ahh - North Carolina!

The Farrells were able to put together a summer reunion trip to Oak Island, North Carolina. While we were missing some (Megan, Conor and Ryan), it was a great week!

First trip to the beach. Boogie boards - Check. Goggles - Check. 

Here we go!

 Beckett riding the wave in

 Grant in the hammock on the bottom deck.

 Uncle Dave planning out the sand castle for the day.

 Aunt Amy enjoying her ride in. LOVE her smile!

 Grant riding the waves in.

 Mom and Beckett getting dinner together

 The boys on a morning shell hunt

I love this video. Grant is so happy he's skipping. :)

 Very cool patterns left in the sand by the waves.

 Shell Hunt Super Heroes!

 The crew for the week.

 The girl cousins - miss you Megan!

Front - Lindsey and Morgan

Back - Aileen and Jen

 Quick beach selfie.

 A fun game of putt-putt in the 90 degree heat. 

 Putt Putt selfie

 Very tired Beckett very mad at mommy for not agreeing to buy a 5 foot stuffed shark as his souvenir.

 Grant had a cut on his foot from a shell. So Beckett helped him down to the beach for photos. :)

And we are headed home. Great trip!

Grant passed out in the car on the way home from the airport. :)

Copa America!

As some of you might now, there was a big soccer tournament in the United States this summer. We watched the games every night and when we realized the USA would be playing in Houston, we knew we had to try and go.

So Roger surprised the boys with tickets to the game. Little did we know when we bought the tickets that the game was going to be against Argentina, considered by many to be the best team in the world. Their top player Mesi is definitely considered to be best in the world.

 Fully outfitted for the game in stars and stripes! 

Swim Finale!

We had a great summer of swimming this year. Both of the boys really came into their own and were able to enjoy every part of it.

There is a meet at the end of the summer called Invitationals. In order to qualify, a swimmer has to swim each stroke in a certain amount of time. Beckett qualified in 3 strokes - Freestyle, Breaststroke, and Butterfly. Grant qualified in all of the strokes and chose to swim Backstroke, Breaststroke and Butterfly. They each also swam in a relay.

So on July 10th we headed up to Texas A&M University. The meet was held in the Aquatic Center on the University campus. Our team swam against 12 other teams from around the Austin area. It was a really fun day.

Beckett, Grant and their friend Joe ready to head into the aquatic center. 

Here is one of Beckett's races. He is in the silver cap at the bottom of the screen.

The names of the swimmers was posted at the end of each race. Beckett is at towards the bottom with a 3rd place finish. :)

Here is Grant's best race. He is the second from the bottom in the silver cap. 

As you can see - he got 1st place!!

Wide shot of the pool area. 3 pools. One for warm ups. One for the boys races. One for the girls races.

The final culmination of the season was the swim banquet. Right off the bat the boys were able to check their folders and gather the last of the season's ribbons. These are the ones they earned at the Championship meet.

At the championship meet, the swimmers earned points for their team based upon how they placed in each of their races. Beckett received this trophy for placing 1st in the 6 and under category. He earned the most points! WOOHOO!

It's My Jam!

Up at 5:00am
In the pool at 6:30 am
First race at 7:00

Today was our first swim meet of the 2016 season. The boys have been practicing hard for a couple of weeks and today it paid off. They rocked all their races.

Beckett swam in 4 races - Freestyle relay, 25 meter freestyle, 25 meter backstroke, 25 meter butterfly. He won all the races but the relay. We are so proud of him. He didn't outright win any races last year so this was a really big accomplishment for him.

Grant swam in 5 races - Medley relay (he swam the backstroke) 25 meter backstroke, 25 meter breast stroke, 25 meter butterfly and 100 meter freestyle relay. While he didn't win any of the races, he posted faster times, so earned 3 time improvements.

In some of their races, both of the boys swam fast enough to earn a spot in the state Invitational meet in July. So we will all be headed to Texas A&M University. In this meet, the boys will race against swimmers from all over the state.

It was a great beginning to our swim season. They are so fun to watch. Hope you enjoy the videos!

 Beckett on the ready bench before his first race - Freestyle Relay.

 Grant looking over at our friend Greyson. He swims for the other team. Guess he was sizing up the competition. :0

 WINNER WINNER! 1st place!

Our super fast swimmers. GOOD JOB BOYS

Beckett in the freestyle relay

Grant in the 25 Backstroke

Beckett in the 25 freestyle

Beckett in the 25 Backstroke

Grant in 25 Backstroke

Beckett in the 25 Butterfly. He has such a powerful dolphin kick. He ended up being disqualified in this race because he did a little flutter kick in the middle. If he hadn't, he would have had invitational time for this one as well. He's confident he will get it next time. :) As he told a friend the other day - "Backstroke - It's my jam"

Grant in the 25 Butterfly. This was a tight race. 3,4  and 5 place had a difference of .5 seconds.

100m Freestyle relay

Big Update

So working full time leaves little time for anything else. Seems like our weekends are soccer games, grocery store and Costco. I apologize for the 3 months of silence. Here is an update on our craziness in one big post.

For Spring Break we split our time between a fabulous hotel in San Antonio and then a quick trip to Macie and Cap's house. The JW Marriott in San Antonio is our new happy place. 

This is a selfie we took on the golf cart that brings you from your car to the hotel. 

Out to dinner with Macie and Cap. We had to wait for a bit for our food, so we decided to take a bunch of pictures to pass the time - some good, some goofy.

Bluebonnets are a sign of spring in Texas. This year we went a little early so missed their peak. But got a couple of good pictures nonetheless.

Easter is never complete without our bunny cake. Thanks Grant for helping me this year!

A little cuddle time on mom and dad's bed

Grant's 2nd grade field trip to the Austin Zoo.

Swim team began the beginning of May. The boys are really excited for this season. For practice, their coaches moved both of them up to the next age group because they were worried that they wouldn't be challenged enough by practicing with their age group. For meets they will swim with their age group....boys are hopeful this will mean lots of ribbons this year.

Grant and Beckett with our 2 best girlfriends - Kamryn and Ashlyn. I just love these 2!

Every Mother's Day the first grade classes have a Mother's Day tea. The kids spend a month getting ready for it - preparing poetry and decorations. It's one of my most favorite things ever. I cried when I went with Grant last year and cried again this year.
This year Beckett greeted me in the first grade hallway. When presenting me with my crown, he got down on one knee, just like a knight. He is so sweet.

Field Day! One of the greatest days in elementary school. This year they did field day activities for 2 hours. Had lunch. Played in bounce houses for 45 minutes. Watched 5th grade tug o war. What a great day!

Beckett getting ready to squirt his friends in the car wash

Basket made!

Beckett in the Sack Race!

Grant swinging on a rope over the snake pit.

Pull Beckett!

Kids celebrating their tug o war win over parents.

Grant and his friend Collin jumping in the sack race without a sack...they had holes by the time 2nd grade got there.

Grant and Collin battling it out in the obstacle course.

We have 2 more weeks of school. The end is in sight! I am ready for some slower days. We have our first swim meet next weekend (May 28th). Will try to keep the updates coming!