The Martins Visit the Texas Rangers

We decided to take a quick trip to Dallas during the Labor Day weekend to catch a Rangers game.  We've also decided that as a family we want to visit all 30 major league parks, so this is the first one for the entire family to visit.  To say that our trip was eventful would be a little bit of an understatement.  We left Little Rock on Saturday morning and checked in to our hotel, which as our luck would have it was hosting an S&M conference.  Before you scroll down looking for those pictures - there aren't any.  However, we do have a few from the game.

Here's our family picture at the game.  We had great seats, the sky was cloudy, and there was a great breeze for most of the game.  Simply put, you couldn't ask for a better night at the park.

Our better luck is that it was Star Wars night at the ballpark.  In the first picture you can see a bobble head which was given to the first 1500 or so folks to enter the park.  The one immediately above is Ross clowning with... well, I don't know.  I quit watching Star Wars after the Jedi fought back many years ago.  But Ross knows who it is and this guy was kind enough to pose.  Noticeably absent was Avery, who was desperately clinging to my leg as I took this picture begging me not to get any closer.  The fact this picture exists at all is a sheer testament to Apple products and my balance.

As we checked out the ballpark we cruised to the center field area and found the Nolan Ryan statue.  Of course the kids had no idea who he is, so I had to (wanted to) show them the video of Nolan popping Robin Ventura in the face repeatedly although he was about 20 years older.  It was awesome, and still is.  That's not the point.  The point is we found the statue of the coolest Ranger ever and the kids held still just long enough to get a picture of the strikeout and no-hitter king.

The girls went for a round while running some errand and found the upper deck.  Avery was quite stoked about this, which would have been nice to know before I bought the more expensive tickets.  Needless to say she loved the view and surprisingly did really well at the game.  She has deemed it a success and still wants to go see other parks.

Seriously I was very proud of the kids; they did really well at the game.  Probably the highlight of the night came in the top of the ninth with the Angels down by two.  When they got a runner on first I casually mentioned to Scarlett how funny it would be to see the Angels hit a homerun and the game go into extra innings.  The words had barely left my mouth when a laser shot scraped the top of the left field fence and the game was tied.  We left with the score tied, and heard the game end in the car in the 10th inning (Angels win).  A fun time was had by all and I can't wait for the other 29 parks!

Dance Recital

Avery was super excited to perform at her dance recital. It is all she talked about for weeks. The night of the rehearsal was also picture night. She turned on the charm.

The day of the recital was so fun for her! She made good friends Parker Grace from day 1.

Aves had a grand group of supporters there and loved getting so many flowers!

As soon as she finished the recital she was ready to hang up her dancing shoes and start martial arts. She liked dance and it was a good experience, but she's loving her new adventure. 

Martial Arts Testing and Board Breaking

Ross has been moving along quite nicely with martial arts. He still loves it! At the previous testing he was selected as student of that period for the best demonstration of the life skill they were learning - kindness. That meant he earned a pizza party with the added bonus of breaking his first board!

He was a bit nervous going into it. Mr. Cowan was great and they decided he should kick instead of use his hands. I got a slo-mo video b/c it always happens so fast when I've watched other people. Ross was stoked! 

Lemonade and Cookie Stand

Ross and Addison joined forces again for a Lemonade and Cookie stand to make money for Walk for the Waiting. They set their goal at $10,000! Double last year's goal. 

This year they had a new addition of selling t-shirts. As soon as I picked them up I had Ross try his on. They were a huge hit! 

They sold around 125 shirts. Everyone supported their great cause! 

Cookie production started in full force the first weekend in February. We baked a lot of mom's b/c she has a double oven and with so many orders that definitely came in handy.

I think in total we made about 1800 cookies/ pecans. Poppy made most of our candied pecans! People loved them! 

I think this year should be called the year of media. Project Zero made a video about their venture last year and why they raised money. 

Meredith Mitchell with KTHV also came to our house and did a segment on the kids. 

When Ross saw "Lemonade With Purpose" scroll across the TV he was beyond excited! 

Their first lemonade/ cookie stand was hosted by Capitol Bistro. They had an awesome turnout even with cold temps AND they were surprised with KARK Pay It Forward award. Ronald McDonald was there and they were given $250 to go toward their goal. 

Then started the neighborhood stands. See the Dads doing their part bringing in the customers! :) 

So many friends helped out this year!! It has been awesome to see so many get involved! 

Their last stand was planned for a Sunday morning after church. Well the electricity was out, which meant no church but there was a function that night at Larry's Pizza and the kids were ready to take donations. They are quite bold about it and don't have any hesitations when taking around their donation bowl. It helps that they are cute and they can tell people what they are collecting for with such conviction. 

In the end they raise $10,704.90. When they were interviewed at church the day after the walk they said the goal for 2018 was $15,000! We will pray it happens! One thing I learned this year is to never doubt God's blessing on a pure heart and a great mission. 

Easter Weekend

Easter weekend was excellent! Such fun and great time with family and friends. The Saturday started off with going to Mrs. Tamey's for an Easter party. Thanks to me for staining Avery's Easter dress so got a play one and I rushed on Saturday to make her 2.0. She was excited about it b/c she could wear the play one all day! 

That afternoon we went to the Egg Dash and met up with even more friends. 

We ended the day with family over for playing and BBQ. Ross made these cute bunny treats for dessert. 

Easter Day. Yes the Easter bunny came, but we are always sure to remember the reason we celebrate. 

We went to church with Mom and even were able to get Tyler with us for the day. 

Sometimes I let too much get packed into a weekend, but when I pack it with family and friends we make tons of memories and in the end it is worth it!