Christmas Day

Twas the Night Before Christmas...

 Twas the night before Christmas...

 ...and the Summers' boys were on a sugar high!

 But Santa still came!!

 Walker's side- an easel, Spiderman castle, remote controlled Thomas, marshmallow gun, socker boppers, and a Jake and the Neverland Pirates battle boat.

 Jake's side- a Razor scooter, an Eagle Talon castle, a beyblade dome, Ninjago set, socker boppers, and a marshamallow gun.

 

 

Christmas Eve is also my birthday!  The boys surprised me yesterday with a pretty necklace and dress from my favorite store...they did so good!!  It was good thing they gave me my gifts yesterday because Tyson woke up with the stomach bug this morning, so the boys and I just did our thing for most of the day while he recovered.  Luckily, Tyson started feeling better this evening, so we went to our friends, the Wensyels' house where they fixed me a birthday dinner and Tyson gave me a cake.  I hate that Tyson was sick most of the day, but it still ended up being a great birthday!!  And most importantly, Tyson got to be home the WHOLE DAY for the first time since July!!  Jake even asked when he saw Tyson in bed this morning, "you mean daddy is going to stay home ALL day?" :)  Happy birthday to me!!

 



 The birthday girl and her boys!!

Tyson at the Bowl Game

Once again, I lifted these pictures from our rivals' website.  I think the photographer knows I do this because he keeps getting lots of pictures of Tyson. :)

I'm so upset that I didn't get any pictures of Tyson after the game with my own camera.  We were rushed back to the buses. :(  Apparently, his players even dumped Gatorade on him, and I missed it.

The Beef O'Brady's Bowl

Sand sculptures :)

 

 Coach Callahan and Jake

 Wrestling before practice

 The beach bash!!

 Knightro's shield is shielding it, but Knightro had on swim trunks.  Jake thought it was super cool. :)

 Ball State vs UCF in the belly flop contest. UCF won. :)

 Tyson's Aunt Ann and Uncle Ward came to visit us one night after our awards banquet.

 :)

 On the St. Pete pier.  Our hotel is the pink one in the back left.

 These pictures are a little out of order, but this is us relaxing in the courtyard before Tyson's practice and meetings.

 Beach bash again. :)

 Game time!!  The boys weren't being very cooperative for pictures.

 Walker and "G Mama"

 My cousin, Trey...the ultimate babysitter.

We just got back from St. Petersburg, Florida where UCF beat Ball State 38-17 in the Beef O'Brady's Bowl!!!  Seriously, this might have been one of the most fun weeks in my life!!

We left for St. Pete this past Tuesday and had a jam packed itinerary the moment we got there.  There were several functions that the boys couldn't go to, so my cousin, Trey, came along and babysat and helped me out however he could.  He was a huge lifesaver! 

First up when we got to St. Pete, the players and coaches and wives went on a "VIP Player Cruise" on this awesome yacht.  We had dinner on board the ship, and then the players from both teams had a dance contest.  It was hilarious!  I wish I would've had my camera...those boys could really get down!

On our second day, the boys and I went to the aquarium on St. Pete's Pier that morning, and then we went to the Beach Bash with the team that afternoon.  The water was a little chilly, but the boys got about ankle deep in the water and just enjoyed playing in the sand.  The last hour or so of the beach bash were mostly contests between the two teams- dance contest, sexy legs contest, belly flop, and hula hoop contest.  Again, it was HILARIOUS!!  I haven't laughed that hard in so long.  As you can imagine, they got the big ole lineman up there for most of the contests, which made it even more hilarious.  It was all fun and games for us, though, until Jake somehow managed to get Walker's head stuck in the railing overlooking the pool.  It took some maneuvering, but we finally got Walker's head "unstuck" right before it was time to get on the bus and head back to the hotel.  Speaking of the hotel, we stayed at the Vinoy, which was absolutely fabulous!  Between the accommodations, the bowl gifts, the service- we were spoiled rotten.  It's definitely not a lifestyle I'm accustomed to, but I feel like we definitely deserved all of it after the season we've been through!  Ha!

Getting back on track, we had the UCF Football Banquet later that night once we got home from the Beach Bash.  Tyson's dad's twin sister, Aunt Ann, came to the hotel to see us after that, which was a special treat.  Love her!

Thursday was the day before the game, so the activities kind of started to slow down as the team got down to business.  The boys, Trey, and I enjoyed exploring the area around the hotel, though, and even went swimming in the pool that afternoon.  Tyson and I even got to go on a date that night, too. :)

Friday was "Ladies Day Out."  We went to the Dali Museum and got treated to a nice lunch, and then it was GAME TIME!  Actually, the game was at 7:30 pm, which partially explains my children being grumpy for the pictures.  Ha!  Tyson's mom and uncle Johnny and cousin Brittany joined us for the game, which was a pretty neat experience.  The game was at Tropicana Field- an indoor baseball field.  Pretty cool.

After the Knights' victory, we celebrated pretty hard once we got back to the hotel.  And then we woke up this morning and came back to reality.  10 and 4 baby!!!  Not too shabby!!!  Go Knights!!    

The "Real Santa"

After we went to Light Up UCF this past Friday night, we walked over to the UCF bookstore to see Santa.  According to Jake, this Santa was the "real Santa."  Tyson started laughing and said to me quietly, "yes, the "real Santa" is at the UCF bookstore on a Friday night at 9pm."  Hahaha!

As you can tell, Walker had a much better experience with this Santa.  He still wouldn't go too close or let Tyson put him down, but he did at least get near Santa without clawing Tyson's skin off and screaming bloody murder!  Ha!  Walker even told Santa what he wants for Christmas- a "Spiderman castle." ;)  Jake did fabulous as usual and told Santa what he wants for Christmas- a beyblade dome and an eagle talon castle.  Sweet boys.  Sweet "real Santa" at the UCF bookstore. :)

Christmas Party and Ice Skating!

  Knightro Santa

 Walker and Zoey riding the train

 Jake and Tyson's 1st time ice skating!

 Walker dancing away while Jake ice skated.

Last night, we went to the UCF Athletic Association Christmas party.  We had the best time ever!  I didn't get any pictures from the actual party (other than the Knightro one), but they had the best food (and drinks) and activities for the kids.  They even had "babysitters" there for us , however, our kids were glued to Tyson since we haven't seen him much at all in the past...oh, five months. 

After the party, we were provided with tickets to Light Up UCF; Walker got tickets to the train and Jake chose to ice skate.  This was Tyson's and Jake's first time ice skating, and I think they did pretty well!!  Jake did have a few crashes, one specifically into the wall that busted his lip and ended his ice-skating session pretty quickly. Hahaha!