My sweet boy turned 8 a couple of weeks ago. I can’t believe it’s been 8 years since we brought him home from the hospital. I can’t imagine life without you kiddo. Connor, you are loving, kind, thoughtful, and curious. This age is so much fun! I thank God every day that He gave us you to raise & nurture on this Earth. We are truly the luckiest parents ever…obviously we are to have a sweet boy like YOU! The time goes by so quickly and before we know it you’ll be a teenager. As much as I rush through the day to day I find myself reflecting more recently on the past. Those days where I was glad I took extra pictures or a little video to capture a memory. Those are my most treasured things now.
Connor wanted to have a bowling/laser tag party and Main Event was the perfect place to host it. He’s really into Roblox, but I honestly don’t know much about that game, so we went heavy on the bowling theme and light on the Roblox. LOL! We invited 10 of his friends from 2nd grade (if you were not invited, please don’t kill me…but birthday parties are expensive…so we had to dwindle it down to a small list!) I promise if we could have invited 100 we would!
We also had the joy of driving a Toyota Avalon Hybrid for the week! I love reviewing cars, and I honestly think Connor loves it more than I do. He thinks it’s so exciting when we get to test out new wheels for the week. The Toyota Avalon was BLUE, Connor’s favorite color too! I had an Avalon for 11 years and I absolutely LOVED that car. I never had a single problem with it and to this very day it’s my favorite car I’ve ever owned. It was nice to see how the Avalon has changed since I had mine…and boy has it changed. It was super quiet and much more sporty than the Avalon I remember. I drove it for the entire week and I didn’t even use half a tank of gas doing all the things I would normally do during the week.
Smooth steering and control
A must have for any (and my next) car….I don’t know how I’ve lived so long without a back-up camera!
The Avalon was FANCY- Look at that wood grain finish and the mix of tan leathers.
Another cool feature was the cup holders. At night they lit up so you could see where to place your drink! It’s the little things people 🙂
It’s already 80 degrees in Texas, so I really enjoyed the air conditioned seating.
All packed up and ready to PARTY!
I loved how smooth and easy the Avalon was. It rained the entire week and this car handled rainy weather like a piece of cake…or cupcakes…like the ones seen here???
These bowling cookies turned out so cute! 
Connor and his Dad
Connor and me 🙂
The kiddos all had a great time bowling and doing laser tag. Our party host at Main Event was named Connor too and had curly hair! He was so good with all the kids and I highly recommend them for a party…they did not pay me to say that either! We had a great experience and just wanted to say THANK YOU!
I bought a sparkler candle and oh my goodness…I didn’t realize how much that thing was going to SPARKLE! All the kids starting screaming and yelling. It was super cute and Connor loved it.
Thank you Toyota for a fun week in this fabulous BLUE Avalon! Thank you everyone for coming to the party and celebrating Connor with us we are truly blessed by all of you.
xo- The Branch Family
One of our favorite places to go and walk around on the weekends is Best Buy….well, actually I would say it’s more Terence’s, but there are so many things for me to look at as well!
I really enjoy being a bit higher up off the road in an SUV. For some reason this makes me feel more “large and in charge” while driving. 
The automatic trunk opens and closes with a push of a button. You know those days when it’s raining outside and you have your hands full of 20 things and can’t dig through your purse for the keys? Just press the button on the trunk and “viola” it opens for you! 
Of course Connor’s favorite thing was the TV. Oh my goodness I’ve never had a more quiet car than when I was driving this Highlander! LOL! It comes fully equipped with headphones and a remote. Roadtrips would definitely be much more smooth with these fun extras.
The dashboard and command station have everything at the press of a button. This car was sooooo COMFY y’all! I didn’t find myself reaching and extending for things or pressing certain buttons because they were all within an arms reach.
That third row seating is a definite bonus too. I could car pool ALL the kiddos in this Highlander! The third row also folds down for extra storage, so the next time we need to pick up a bulky item…like shelves for the garage…just pop that seat down.
Do you ever find the smallest things to be your favorite as well? This little shelve that was in the front dash was my FAVORITE thing! My phone is usually sliding all around my car, but I found it so easy to just pop the things I needed right there on this little shelf. 
What can you see at the DFW Auto Show? The answer is just about everything. You can see all kinds of makes, models, and even get inside them to see how comfy they are!
I think someone is hinting at something….
Before:
Bake and let cool:
