The Celebration Continues

The day after Lane's birthday we loaded up the car and headed to Mansfield for Lane's birthday party, plus Spring Break and Evin's birthday.  Before we left, Lane got to take his new cop car for another ride since his time was cut short the night before due to it getting too dark.  He absolutely loves this thing!  

 

It was especially cute because he had his K9 Unit ready to come along.  ;-)

I had to drag him out of the police car with the promise that Daddy would bring his cop car the next day when he drove down, and that he would get to celebrate his birthday at Mums' house that night.  Mums had his presents waiting for him and he was ready to tear into them the minute we got there.

Beckham helped out with the un-wrapping.  Can you see him??

A new play rifle!

Every cowboy needs a rifle!

Getting some shootin' lessons from Mums

His cowboy influenced birthday gifts continued with a stable full of horses, which he gave names to that night.

And a horse truck/trailer to carry his pets in.

Also, some real walkie talkies!

Gifts not pictured are a new larger suitcase for Lane with his name embroidered on it, his cowboy belt he opened before the rodeo, and a subscription to High Five magazine, a magazine for kids.  Thanks Mums!  These gifts in addition to all of his gifts he opened from Gran and Pops on his real birthday made Lane one happy guy!  (From Gran and Pops were the Playmobil Knight castle with all the extras, a new cowboy costume with a holster and guns, a Playmobil construction site, and a Mickey Mouse farm set.) 

What a lucky boy to have such generous grandparents!  Next up...Lane's birthday party!!!

San Angelo Rodeo

I was so excited to take Lane to the San Angelo Rodeo the last weekend of February!  He had been to the stock show and loved it, so I figured he'd love the actual rodeo.  All of the Snowdens were planning on going and Tiffany was able to get us some tickets for a great price.  My cousin is the principal at Wall ISD and the Hawks Girls Basketball team made it to the State Tourney in Austin, so they weren't able to come after all.  We ended up switching places for the weekend...we went to San Angelo and they came to Austin!  We were sad to miss them, but Mom, Lane, Kathy and I went ahead and went Thursday night to see the show!

My mom gave Lane an early birthday gift for him to wear that night.  A new cowboy belt with a real belt buckle!  It was also "Tough Enough to Wear Pink Night" in honor of breast cancer awareness, so he wore a light pink button up with the rest of his western gear.  He looked adorable!

Excited for the show to begin

An attempt at a shot with Mums and Kathy.  They turned out kinda dark.  :(

Taking it all in.  His favorite parts were the bull riding and the girls precision riding team called the San Angelo Ambassadors.

He lost interest here and there, which is typical Lane.  For a while he was only interested in playing with his lasso, rather than watching the events.  All in all I think he really enjoyed it, though!

A few pics with Mommy!

 

Sitting with Mums

The rest of our trip was spent playing at Kathy's, doing a little shopping, watching a movie, and playing at the park.  The weather was really pretty on Saturday so it was nice to play outside!

Lane loved this digging contraption.  He called it his excavator.

Goofy guy

The three amigos!  Lane, Kathy, Mums

Climbed a tree for a few photos!

Allllmost 4 years old!!!

Nice and comfy, watching a movie before bed!

We had a fun trip and headed back to Austin on a CHILLY Sunday.  Thanks, Kathy for having us!

Mom ended up following us to Austin and getting to stay 2 nights with us before going back to Mansfield.  While she was there she was kind enough to help me clean and organize ALOT of my house.  We went through a bunch of junk, got rid of some items, and put away lots of things that needed a place to be stored.  As always, she helped with laundry and house clean-up, which is always nice!  Especially with a new baby on the way!

Mom took this cute picture of Lane and Scout.

Reading a book before bed.  Lane had started feeling poorly and developed a nasty cough!  I told him to "look sick" here.  haha!

Saying goodbye to Mums on Tuesday.  Both dogs were desperate to come along!  Finley was desperate to get away from Scout, and Scout was desperate to come enjoy Mums' big backyard!

Big smiles until she got in her car to drive off.  Then Lane started with the alligator tears.  This boy hates goodbyes!

Fort Worth Stock Show

On Friday, January 31, we took Lane to the Fort Worth Stock Show.  With his recent cowboy obsession I figured he would love it!  He wanted to wear his full cowboy gear, but I talked him out of his toy red cowboy hat with the promise that we would look for him a real cowboy hat when we got there!  He still sported his bandana, vest, badge, and boots and looked pretty cute, alright.  Mom, Mitch and Kori decided to come along and even Evin got to come out for an outing!  She has been staying home a lot lately during cold/flu season since her immune system is a little more sensitive due to her heart surgeries.  The last thing she needs is to get sick!  She seemed to like being out and about and enjoyed the sights.

 Lane and Mitch looking at the horses.

Love Lane's smile here!

 

 Evin checking out the horsies

Taking a ride in a covered wagon

We told him to smile and this is what we got...so angelic.  Haha

Little E taking it all in

 

We headed inside to the vendors and I immediately spotted a booth that had kids hats.  We found a cute straw one for Lane and the man even fitted it to his head!  Lane looked so adorable in his new hat! 

 

Evin found one in her size too!  She decided she prefers bows and headbands to cowboy hats.

After looking at the big horses earlier, Lane decided he wanted to ride a pony.  I was a little surprised he wanted to, since the last time he claimed to be "scared."  When I asked him if he wanted to ride he calmly said "sure!"  The lighting was a little weird in the tent, so I converted most of the pics to black and white.  My tiny cowboy looked like a pro!  Then his boot fell off halfway through and he had one little socked foot hanging off the saddle!

Whoa, boy!

A cowboy and his grandma

 We walked by some more vendors and found these really cool horses on wheels.  They had pedals that you bounce up and down on and the horse rolled pretty fast.  Lane caught on quickly and loved cruising around.  If they weren't almost $300 I might have bought him one!

Evin tested out the zebra

Driving a 4-wheeler at the exhibits

 

We purchased Lane one last souvenir before heading to our last stop of the day.  He got a practice lasso and was thrilled.  (Although, I will say he threw a fit to get a cowboy gun set along with the lasso and wasn't successful.)  He held it with him the rest of the afternoon, swishing it around and whipping a few strangers' legs.  We went to the Kiddie Barn last, which had some baby animals in cages to look at.

Lasso in hand, checking out the goats

We stopped for a few pictures on the way to the car.

 

So proud of his new lasso and hat.  All of these poses were 100% him.  I kept saying "Be still and smile at me!!!"  He didn't really mind, but the pictures turned out even cuter than if they were force posed by me!

It was a fun filled day!!