Bumps, Bruises, and Boy Badges

Thanksgiving is a good reminder of how incredibly blessed we are. Our holiday tradition is to celebrate in Glamis.

Decked out in new riding gear, Braden was ready to go. He resembles a bobble head bouncing around on his quad with this giant helmet.

Hope what his shirt says has some truth to it because it's likely Braden will have lots of scars. He burned his finger on his quad...just the first of a few owies, or "boy badges," this weekend.
Fortunately, there were no injuries involved when Braden pretended to drive Stella around on the Rhino.

Look Ma, no hands! This kid is full of tricks!

Braden loved the front row spot at the drag races. Loud, dusty, fast vehicles of all shapes and sizes....what boy wouldn't love this?!

It's really no wonder why Braden ended up puncturing a hole through his lower lip with his teeth....

Braden was a bit delirious hanging out at the campfire with a cup of hot cider....with a bandaid across his chin.

Braden was bummed to leave the dunes. He threatened to stay there instead of coing home with us. Fortunately, a train distracted Braden and Pepper as we headed home.

Happy Birdday

One of Braden's favorite activities to do with Papa is feed the birds up at their cabin. Papa is the bird expert of the family. He has joked that he keeps all bird feeder companies in business. Soooo....when Braden was asked what he wanted to get Papa for his birthday, he said he really wanted to get Papa a bird. What's up with Braden wanting to get animals as birthday gifts?! (I received a live mouse for my birthday). Matt caught a bird with his bare hands, with the help of Braden of course. A quick trip to Petco for a bird cage and bam...a perfect birthday gift for Papa!

Who looks more excited about the sparrow?! We did let the bird go free....hope there's a market for slightly used birdcages on eBay.

Just in case Papa didn't like the live bird, Braden picked out a flying bird that he and Papa could shoot with a laser gun.
Braden guessed Papa was turning 10 this year. He wasn't positive, so he put 24 candles on the cake just in case he was off by a few years.
Braden loves birthdays...anyone's birthday! Happy birthday Papa!

No Boys Allowed

For her 50th birthday, my Aunt Therese envisioned a peaceful day with her female friends and family members. She invited us all over to her home to celebrate and enjoy some "girl time." Then reality struck and some of the kids couldn't resist joining the party! Braden didn't want Marcos and baby Moises to be the lone males at the celebration, so he happily joined me.

Testosterone?! Being surrounded by girls sure brought out the "boy" in Braden!

Aunt Therese talked about the fact that her Boston Terriers tear up her yard....those dogs ain't got nothin' on 5 rambunctious kids!
Since when does "Everyone say cheese!" elicit this response....!?

Keira, Emma, Marcos, Ali, and Braden were pretending to be jungle monsters.

Braden may have been the most wild monster of the bunch!

He's quite possibly the cutest little tree hugger though.

Does Aunt Therese look rejuvenated and relaxed after her big day?! We'll all start working on babysitters for your 51st. Happy Birthday!

Park Punks

The nice fall weather summoned us to spend the afternoon at the park. Braden and Jett had lots of fun together.

Braden didn't pause long for photos because he was too busy mastering his climbing & balancing skills.

Flashing back nearly two years to a photo taken at the same park, it looks like the boys didn't really know how to share.
Jett was wondering where Braden's spiky hair was. Back then, there was a bit more pestering than playing that took place.

What a difference a couple years makes!

They both have their serious "game faces" on. They were about to race down the slides.

Braden couldn't resist the opportunity to pose with the Park Princess, Lila.

Season's Greeting

Desert season, that is....We went on our first Glamis trip this weekend & Braden loved every minute of it. After all, what's not to like about sand, sand, and more sand?!

I was trying to get Braden to admire the sunset, but he just wanted to show off his muscles.

There's something about the sand that made Braden extra goofy. He was really excited about his birthday gift...
Braden was like a pro on his first quad ride....with the exception of one full-speed plow into the trailer. It sent him over the handle bars, but this tough kid ended up with just a bruise on his chest. Nothing a bit of juice and a cookie couldn't heal!

If Matt and I weren't riding along on our quads, we got quite a workout chasing Braden on foot!

And they're off...Braden was hopeful he could beat Daddy.

A high five and knuckles after the race. Looks like it was a tie!

After an exhaustive day riding his quad, Braden relaxed in the sand. It was a hot weekend, so it was almost like being at the beach....well, without the water.

Semper Fi

Our plans to spend the weekend in Glamis fell through at the last minute, so Matt came up with a costume for Braden that ended up being quite cute. He loved hanging out with his buddies Luke, Drew and Jett. Braden was a bit of the odd man out considering they were all dressed as superheroes, but he had no qualms about being the lone soldier.

Braden was the most handsome Marine I've ever seen! His grandparents and great grandparents were in various lines of the military (Matt's grandma was even a Marine!), so they probably would've loved to have seen Braden in uniform.

Braden gave us his best "oorah!" with his tough guy stance.

Unfortunately, my camera broke, so those are the only photos we captured!

Hamin' It Up

Braden's preschool created a farm atmosphere, complete with a petting zoo and animal-themed activities, for the harvest festival. The children in Braden's class made their own pig costumes.

Braden wasn't thrilled about wearing pink, so he kept his black shirt on underneath so that no one mistook him for a girl.

Braden was a pro at all the games, including pumpkin bowling.
All game playing was halted when Braden spotted the cutest bunny at the festival.

Braden had a hard time focusing on the camera when he was standing next to Addison.

Braden and Hunter oinked until their bags were filled with treats.

Xander and Braden decided to take a break from all the fun. Braden told me to make sure to get the red boots in the photo. He gets quite a kick out of all of Xander's crazy boots!

Boys Club

Braden's newest cousin was eager to enter the world, so he decided to arrive a week early. Miles Daniel is the latest addition to the Nelson family, born October 26. Braden is quite exited to have another boy in the family since he is outnumbered with 3 girl cousins.

Braden was intrigued by his tiny cousin. I caught him touching his itty bitty feet a few times when he thought no one was looking.

We got Braden and Charley to sit still for, oh...about 3 seconds! Granddad looks pretty proud!

We strolled through the streets of downtown Seal Beach. The weather was absolutely gorgeous. All our walking made Braden hungry, so we stopped for his favorite meal.

Pizza is Granddad's favorite food too!