Indy Car Race ~ Texas Motor Speedway ~ June 11, 2011

Steve is a big Indy Car fan and tries to go to the race at Texas Motor Speedway each year.  This year, we decided to make a family event out of it. Brock and Ryan were so excited to finally get to go to an Indy Car race!  It turns out that Brock REALLY liked it and Ryan was bored.  It was fun getting to enjoy something with Daddy, though.  Steve's brother, Allen, and his friend, Teresa joined us, too.  Here is my favorite driver, Helio Castroneves...

...and Steve's favorite, Tony Kanan.

Our race car family!

Great Wolf Lodge ~ June 10 - 12, 2011

When we decided to go to the Indy Car race, we also decided to make a little vacation out of it.  So, we booked a room at the Great Wolf Lodge.  We got a Wolf Den Suite that had a seperate little room decorated like a cave with bunkbeds and a TV for the kids.  They thought it was awesome and loved the bunkbeds and the kid's TV!  Here they are as soon as we got there in the bunkbeds watching the TV.

This is what their little "room" looked like from the outside...

...and inside their room.

One of their favorite things to do was MagiQuest.  It is basically a scavenger hunt around the hotel.  The kids buy a wand and a book and go around the hotel hunting for clues to become a "Master Magi."  It took A LOT longer than we expected and was much more in depth.  But they really liked it and...eventually found all the clues and became Master Magis.

Outside the sweet shop in the hotel.

Snuggling with my boys in bed...

...and they couldn't let a sweet moment go without making a goofy face for the camera!

Another picture of Ryan LOVIN' the bunkbeds.

The main attraction at Great Wolf is an indoor water park that only hotel guests can enter.  It was great and we all had such a good time.

Boys will be boys!

Ryan showing his strength!

Anytime we go on vacation, we make the boys save up their chore money so they can buy their own souveniers.  They have to work to earn the money before we go and then they buy what they want.  Ryan used his hard earned money to buy "Wolfie." 

Brock used some of his money to buy a Matchbox race car replica of J.R. Hildebrand's Indy Car.  He brought the rest of his money home and bought a couple BeyBlades.

Dallas Zoo ~ June 9, 2011

A wonderful friend, Jessica, took us to the Dallas Zoo.  It is a great zoo...they have done a lot of improvements to it and it is really nice now.  The animals gave us a good show, even though it was incredibly hot outside.

Our friend, Payton, with Brock and Ryan.

We bought some lettuce to feed the giraffes and the kids thought that was really cool to feed them...

...and pet them.

The lion exhibit was beside the cafe we stopped at for lunch.  One wall of the cafe was windows where the lions decided to take a break from the heat.  It was amazing to see them this close up.

Ryan curled up beside the lion.

High fives all around....

Brock, Luke, Ryan & Payton

Brock showing us his muscles.

They even got to ride a pony!

They had a petting zoo, too, with goats.

Jessica took these next two great pictures of Ryan.

The zoo also had this stream that kids could play in and cool down.  Since my boys are little waterbugs, they loved splashing, playing and running in the water.

Inside one of the shops was this huge chrystal.  Brock and Ryan both have a much smaller one just like this at home, so they thought it was really cool to see one this big.

It was a memorable, fun day for the boys and I...and we got to share it with some wonderful friends!  Thank you Jessica, Payton and Luke Larson!