Vacation, Part 2

I'm so, so sorry. I took a TON of pictures in Big Spring. I've been narrowing them down ever since, and I still have too many.

I forgot to take any pictures the first day, so I missed my chance to get any of Matt's brother Daniel. Funny that I should notice the pictures I missed when I still have this many, isn't it?

Anyway, we started the pictures with a photo shoot for all three boys. This was the first time we got to meet Corey (sorry if I misspelled that--please let me know if I did), so of course we took tons of pictures.
Yes, Matt got a decent picture of me with the boys, and I know I would catch lots of flak for not including it.

And this was the best one of all three boys. Patrick was being a little less than cooperative (go figure!) and Nathan had lots of fun looking at everything going on, not the camera. Thank goodness Corey is so photogenic!

How cute are these two together? Nathan was very curious about his cousin.

Did anybody guess that Nathan is a bit ticklish? Grammy had fun checking out just how ticklish he is.

I also took some portait-type pictures of Corey. I got a lot of good ones, but I think this one is my favorite. (By the way, if you're reading Jennifer, did you get those pictures yet? Do I need to burn a CD and send it to you?)

Boys and their toys...sigh. Gramps, Papa, and Nathan are all fascinated by that cell phone.

Gramps might as well be called the dog whisperer. The sad part is that this isn't even all the dogs that were there. Tootsie and Mitzi didn't make it in the picture. (And for those of you wondering, all six dogs were great with the kids. The biggest dogs are actually the most gentle, too.)

Patrick showed off his stripping skills as soon as the photo shoot ended. We couldn't keep him in clothes for the rest of the day. As for the expression on his face...I have no idea. :)

He's serious about riding that Harley. It makes a grandpa proud, doesn't it Papa? He's just missing a leather diaper.

Patrick had lots of fun with his great-grandparents. They both have a way with kids.

Gigi has the touch. She managed to get Patrick to sit still long enough to read a whole book. For Patrick, that's quite the achievement.

I LOVE this picture of the two of them. They are so photogenic, and they look so happy together.

For something different, we tried Nathan in the swing that was out more for Corey's sake. He had fun, as you can tell, but it didn't quite relax him the way it does for Corey. Patrick really thought that swing was cool, too.

Patrick kept wanting to wear these sunglasses, but he wore them on his head as often as he did on his face. And he never wore them outside. The things we'll do for fashion.

Papa and Gigi have a nice, lush, huge yard, so we took the boys outside late one afternoon to see if we could get a few pictures of them together. We have so few decent ones after all. For once, I think we got some pretty cute pictures. This is my favorite. I particularly like the pine cone that Patrick insisted on bringing inside with him. Somehow it didn't quite make it home, though...

Hmmm, I don't know about this picture. Neither does Nathan apparently.

That same evening, we drove up on the "mountain" (I think it's really just a big hill, but humor this Houstonian) that overlooks Big Spring for some more photo ops. If you look closely in the background of several of these pictures, you'll see some of the booming metropolis of Big Spring.

Aren't they cute? I haven't gotten too many pictures of Nathan with his daddy lately.

Nathan and Gigi are taking in the view. It was super windy (what, in west Texas on top of a mountain?), so you'll have to excuse the women's hair in these pictures.

Papa did a great job taking charge of Patrick and making sure he didn't run right down the side of the mountain. Patrick, that is, not Papa.

Because clearly Patrick was determined to get somewhere he wasn't supposed to.

Patrick and Daddy are taking in the view. By the way, you may notice the sky. Never, ever will I find a sky that compares to the sky in west Texas. It's always bluer and bigger there.

I attempted a group shot, too (I'm behind the camera, before you ask), but obviously it's easier said than done. This was actually the best one I got. At least both Matt and Gigi are looking at the camera, right?

They're not as close to the edge as they look. I promise. But that is typical of Patrick, isn't it? Let's get as close to the edge as possible and then lean over it. That kid's going to give me a heart attack one of these days.

Yes, I did hand over the camera for a few minutes anyway. I'm not overly fond of the picture, but I'm blaming it on the wind. Nathan, however, posed perfectly as usual.

At the very peak of the mountain is a playground. You didn't think we could leave before letting the boys play some, did you? These are the stairs to the playground.

The three generations of men swinging. I'm not sure who was having more fun here, Patrick or his daddy.

The kid looks like he's having fun, doesn't he? You can credit this photo to Papa who took over for a few minutes so that I could reclaim my own childhood in another swing.

Nathan was a little less thrilled about the whole idea of swinging in a big boy swing, but he obliged long enough for a few pictures.

Then Patrick tried the big boy slide. I managed not to have a heart attack with this one because he clung to both his grandparents' hands the whole way down. I'm not sure whether he loved the slide because of the rush of cruising down it or because he got to hang on to his grandparents as he did so.

And tomorrow, our weekend in San Antonio. I promise not quite so many pictures from this leg of the trip!