The Basses take Disney

 

We went to California for to visit my brother and Lauren and to see their  new house in the Hollywood Hills.  It has a gorgeous view and I can see why they love it there.  It was so nice to be with them in their hood.  Franklin and I double dated to lunch at Chateau Marmont, and went to see Peter Gabreil at the Hollywood Bowl one night.  It was so much fun!  We also went to brunch on Sunday at The Sunset Tower Hotel on the Sunset Strip.  The restaurant was next to  their rooftop pool so guess who begged to take a dip in his shorts.  Jason loved that DF was living large in Hollywood, and he sure was!!

 

While we were there and DFB had just turned 4 we had to take the opportunity to take the short drive from LA to Disneyland.  It was all of our first time and it was a magical place!  David Franklin loved every single thing and was thrilled to be there.  We went to California Adventure Park the first night and stayed late (especially for us).  We went to Cars Land which was really cute but ended up being quite disappointing....we waited in line for 2 hours for the Cars rollercoaster and the main ride there and when we got to the front of the line, the ride broke down.  Mega bummer, but DF had the best attitude about it.  He even said, that was the ride we almost rode when he saw a picture of it the next day.  Excited that we "almost" rode it!

 

My mom came with us. She wanteded to visit Jason and Lauren, but she also wanted to see the kids at Disney.  We were so glad she was with us because Nora ended up with a fever, ear infection and a sore throat and was not herself the whole trip :(  Poor thing has never been well on a trip like that her whole life! Mammers and Nora hung out a lot while we took the big boy on as many rides as we could.  Disneyland was wonderful and had lots of them to do that was great for their ages, especially David Franklin's.  Nora was the cutest little Minnie Mouse though and got to ride rides and showed no fear at all! 

 

We had breakfast with the characters one morning and that was super cute!  We saw Minnie, Chip and Dale, Captian Hook, Cinderella's Fairy Godmother, Tigger and Eore, the Monkey from the Lion King, and Max (Goofy's son; I had no idea Goofy had a son).  We also saw Goofy and Donald Duck in the park.

David Franklin's favorite rides were Buzz Lightyear, and the Mickey Moust Roller Coaster.  He loved the teacups as well.  While Nora was a little young (and not feeling her best), it was not as much fun for her, but David Franklin enjoyed every single second and drank up all Disney had to offer.  I have never seen him so excited in my life, which is a blast to see as a parent.  I think it was more fun for us to see him having fun than it was for me when I went to Disneyworld as a kid myself.  It makes Franklin and I so happy to see our kids happy! 

 

 

 

 

Kissing baby girl cousin in YaYa's belly :)

 

 

David Franklin Bass is 4!

Can't really believe that my angel boy turned 4 years old today! Man, this age is FUN! He was thrilled with every little thing including the balloons and said 10 minutes into the day that "this was the greatest birthday he ever had!" He meant it! He wore a superman shirt and cape to school with his batman rain boots. He loved his outfit for school that he picked out.

We had cupcakes with his class, tennis lessons, and then had a few of our big buddies over for cupcakes again! We ended the day with dinner at Purple Cow with MeMe, Grandpa, and Mommie Boo.
It was a special day for a special boy that we love dearly! Our superhero that is!!

School party in Mrs. De Witt's class; gotta love him sitting in between the pretty girls!
 

Nora loves going to his class, she can't get enough of all there is to see and do!

The outfit that he chose to wear to school today.

Family roots/ Grands time

Nora and I went to Chicago to visit Grands Ellen. She has recently moved there to be closer to Uncle John and family. She lives in a nice retirement home and her apartment is exactly "her" and covered with photos and nick-naks. Grands had only met Nora one other time, almost a year ago. It was a brief, hurried visit so I wanted them to have more time together.
We flew up and stayed with my uncle John and Joanne and had the best time with them and my girl cousins. It was a "Johnson girl" weekend! I love that part of my family and hardly ever get to see them. They welcomed us so wonderfully and took care of our every need.
I love my Grands Ellen and miss her SO much that laying my head on her shoulder while she scratched my head was the highlight of the trip for me. Loving on her was the whole reason I flew to Chicago. When I was little I can remember crying when we would leave her house. It was like a movie scene- I would hold my hands up on the back window of our minivan in tears as we drove away. Well, I'm 32 years old and am still crying when I tell her goodbye! She is one in a BILLION and makes me feel so loved and adored when I am with her that it makes it hard to leave her. With her, I feel safe and like I'm 8 years old again. I love that she is bold and unafraid to be herself and standout all the while having the most loving spirit.
Nora got to be loved and adored by the Chicago Johnsons and her Great Grands too which was fun for me to experience.
We missed DFB and Franklin but they had an adventure of their own. His first over night camp out with 3 other dads and boys his age at the farm in Glenwood!
Family roots, heritage, and history from all sides, all perspectives, is important to Franklin and me and we love sharing that with our children.

James, Ashton, Avery, and David F all in the Caddo River on their first campout with their dads!

The county fair and the Razorbacks

We went to the county fair on Wednesday night and I didn't get many pictures because we were busy, busy! We got to see Mrs. De Witt and her cow and goat at the fair. She is DF's teacher this year so he was excited to see her! David F wanted to ride every ride, and play every game, and see every animal. Really every.one. We ran all over that place and had a late night (for us) and he still didn't get to do it all. It was really fun and got me very excited about taking him to Disneyland in Oct! It was a harder night for little sister though, she wasn't tall enough to do anything and there weren't many options for us to go with her but I did take her down the fun slide on a potato sack and that helped her spirits.

We also went to Fayetteville this weekend and I have even less pictures of that unfortunately. The one of DF shows the highs and lows of Razorback football!! There weren't many highs this game at all, in fact the cheering pic is basically when they took the field.
We got to see so many friends and do so many things! It was a sad game but we enjoyed being with Meme and Grandpa and going to my dads farm on the way home on Sunday.

We are all pretty worn out today. I'm enjoying the rain, a cup of pumpkin spice coffee and loads of laundry on this lazy Monday!

David's birthday party

We had a pool party at the lake this afternoon and we sent a cupcake in flight to Heaven! We wrote messages on the balloons and sang happy birthday and let them go...It was a particularly windy day today and it landed in a tree, so don't tell David Franklin... Hopefully it broke loose! ;)

I'm not sure if they celebrate their Earthly birthdays in heaven, in fact, I don't think they do. But, we love celebrating David and it sure brought joy and comfort to us.
I had this sweet poem sent to me today and loved it...
"I thought of you with love today but that is nothing new. I thought about you yesterday and days before that too. I think of you in silence I often speak your name. All I have are memories and your picture in a frame. Your memory is my keepsake with which I'll never part. God has you in His keeping I have you in my heart."

DRJ's 30th

Today would be David's 30th Birthday. We love and miss him very much. We have monkey cupcakes that David Franklin wants to send to heaven this afternoon. He actually asked to send 3; one for uncle David, one for Jesus, and one for God. (Sorry, Holy Spirit). I love this precious boy of mine.

Fish Camp

We went to Fish Camp with the Herndons last weekend and had fun family time together. We all caught fish, the men dove hunted, and we watched the Hogs play. We also spotted a gator right out from that dock- scary!

Getting away, even if for only one night was so nice!