Nathan and Charlotte's Visit

Ashley is going back to work!  She got a job at Nathan and Charlotte's school teaching 2nd grade.  She is so excited!  Since she's been out of teaching for a while, she had to take some "new" teacher classes last week, so we decided it would be great for all if Nay Nay and Charlotte stayed with me for the week.  Well, Pearce has been looking forward to this and the time finally came to go pick up Nay Nay and Charlotte!  We met Ash in Waco to get N and C.  I had several fun things planned for us for the week.  As soon as we got back to Austin, I decided to go ahead and take the kids to the club to swim.  N and C loved our club pool because of the kids' area, big twisty slide, and huge pool!  I just love how Pearce is such a good swimmer now  He used to not want to come up to take a breath, but now he swims, takes a breath, and swims some more!  That night, they played dress up with the costumes Nay Nay and Charlotte brought.  Nay Nay was so sweet to bring Pearce a Spider-Man costume and cape that he had outgrew and Charlotte brought her cheerleader outfit....they had so much fun running around and using their imaginations!  I had made a chicken and rice casserole that Nathan loved!  He and I ate on it all week!  That night, they ALL, including Sissy, slept in our bed and I slept in the guest room.  They were so sweet to Sissy, especially Charlotte!  They loved having her sleep with them :)  On Monday, I took them to Blue Hole, one of Pearce's favorite water spots!  N and C loved it and we all had so much fun swimming and sliding down the waterfall and watching dumb older kids jump off the rocky cliffs.....where there is a sign that says "NO JUMPING!"  We even saw a girl gash her foot on a rock when she jumped.  I don't think P, N, and C will ever jump from a cliff now!  After the kids were finished swimming, we got dressed and went to Hat Creek Burger which is right next door, for a burger and for the kids to play on the outdoor playground.  Tuesday we went roller skating.  It was the perfect activity to do on a HOT day!  We stayed for 3 hours!  Nay Nay was so sweet to say that Pearce taught him how to skate, but it was actually Nay Nay who encouraged Pearce.  We had gone before and Pearce did great after a while, but it's like he forgot that knew he could do it.  It took a bit of encouraging from N and C and some tears from Pearce, but he finally got the hang of it again and they all had a great time....I even skated and had fun, too!  Wednesday, we went swimming again and pretty much spent the whole day at the pool.  Charlotte is a bit of a picky eater....like won't even eat a peanut butter sandwich.  So I asked her if she could have anything she wanted for dinner what would she want.  She said Taco Bell....a soft taco with meat, cheese, and sour cream only :)  So, Taco Bell was our dinner one night and little Charlotte ate her taco :)  Thursday was our birthday celebration day for Nathan.  We went to Catch Air to play and they LOVED this place!  What's so funny is that there was a little boy there that was being rough and throw a big ball at Pearce which hit him in the head and Pearce started crying.  Nathan ran to Pearce and checked on him and then came over to me to tell me he was going to go find that boy and tell him he hurt his cousin and that he needed to be careful.  A little while later, Nathan came and told me that he found him and talked to him....and might have "accidentally" thrown a ball at him :)  The other funny thing is that there's a big tall metal slide there where you have to climb up the side to get to it and then climb over the platform to go down the slide.  Pearce did it once before and that was it.  He was always too scared to do it again.  Well, leave it to Nay Nay and Charlotte to convince him to try it again, help him get up it, and then that's all he wanted to do!  After a couple times, Pearce didn't even need any help!  So, after Catch Air, we went to Toys R Us for Nathan to pick out his birthday present.  I told him he had $20 to spend.  He said, "Well, I haven't gotten to go to Toys R Us in a loooong time, so it's going to take me a while to look around and pick something out."  Hahaha!!!  Nathan finally decided on a toy and then I let Pearce and Charlotte pick out a little something, too.  Pearce got a superhero guy and Charlotte got fake glasses :)  Then we had to get Nathan's birthday treat.  He wanted to bake cookies, so when we got home, we baked cookies and then sang Happy Birthday to him and I let them pig out on the cookies!  We really had such a fun week together.  All three of them get along really well and are very patient and so loving to Pearce.  The only hard thing for me was fixing 3 of everything.....3 cups of water, 3 lunches, 3 dinners, 3 snacks, phew!  In the mornings, they told me that Nathan would wake up Charlotte first, and then they two of them would wake up Pearce and then all 3 would come to the living room and play on their iPads until I woke up.....that was awesome!  On Friday, we swam one more time at our neighborhood pool and then left to meet Ash in Waco.  As soon as we got to the Starbucks there, Pearce had tears in his eyes :(  We got them each a snack and let them go potty and then it was time to say goodbye.  Oh my gosh, I have never seen Pearce so genuinely sad in my life.  It broke my heart!  I'm not exaggerating when I say he cried non-stop for the first 30 minutes of our trip back.  He kept saying "Why can't Nay Nay and Charlotte stay with me?  Why did they have to leave?  I want them to come back."  Pretty soon, I was crying too.  He calmed down but then he would start talking about them and start crying again.  It was a rough trip home :(  He's fine now, but it just shows how much he totally adores his cousins, which I love so much!!  I think Sissy was a little sad, too....she just wanted to sit in Pearce's chair the rest of the day when we got back :)  Nay Nay and Charlotte, you can come back and stay with us anytime!!!!!  Orrrr.....Ash......would you like to have Pearce come and stay with you????

Mani and Pedi for little Miss Charlotte :)

Pie Face game!

I had to make a quick stop in Sephora....Charlotte was in makeup heaven!  I told her she could choose one lipstick to sample....she chose the brightest one!  The boys wanted to put something on, so I said they could put on clear gloss....I accidentally picked out a plumping one which totally stung their lips!  So, I said they could get a spray of cologne to smell like a man....they loved that, LOL!!

Sad, little boy on the way home :(

Sad little Sissy :(

 Oh, I almost forgot this funny story!  I was in the middle of making them dinner and Pearce came up to me and said that Nathan didn't like it when he called him Nathan....or "Nafan" as Pearce was saying it.  I wasn't paying a whole lot of attention when he told me this and I assumed Pearce meant that Nathan DID like it.  Anyway, a little later they were taking their baths and Pearce said "Nafan" to which Nathan said, "Pearce, remember, I told you not to call me that.  You say Nay Nay."  Pearce said "Oh, sorry Nay Nay."  Later I asked Nathan about that and he said he wants Pearce to call him Nay Nay forever :)