Vacation 2: San Antonio Family Reunion

Our second family trip of the summer was for a wonderful family reunion with my mom's family in San Antonio. It was such a great time. Our family stayed on the Riverwalk, which was such a fun time in and of itself. Scarlet is really big on the water right now. It seems to be her very favorite thing at this age. So, she loved that she could wake up and see the water every morning.

Waylen and I talked quite a bit about how great this age is especially with Scarlet because she is really for the first time getting excited about seeing new things and having real experiences. I told Waylen that I think adults are so lucky - we get to have two childhoods: one that we go throught but have a hard time remembering and the one we get to go through with our children and experience the fun all over again for a second time. Sometimes I think we're having more fun than our kids ;-)

Here are some of my favorite photos from our 4-day, activity-packed stay.

Cousin Connor gravitated toward the kiddos and seemed to like holding Will.

All the parents of little kiddos took them to the San Antonio Children's Museum. It was a blast and the time just flew. This is a great area where the kids could push balls through an air system that directed them through tubes and then back out again. I think Lainey is yelling up one of the pipes in this pic.

Momma and Will

Scarlet loved the ball area. She enjoyed turning all the widgets and knobs and watching how it all worked.

Next, it was on to the grocery shopping area. The little ones got their own grocery carts and went shopping through aisles with boxes of foods and plastic fruits and veggies. Lainey was very serious about this part.

Go, Scarlet, GO!

Aubrey and Scarlet were so funny to watch together. They were both so generous and kept helping each other load baskets. The parents and grandparents had just as much fun (if not more) watching them.

My little explorer...

Climbing through the maze. Hi Scarlet!

This was absolutely hillarious. Elijah and Scarlet spent quite a bit of their time milking this cow. The utters contained water and worked just like a real cow. Elijah (the little engineer) quickly figured out that the utters could be removed, so he pulled two off and stuck them to the bottom of the other two. We laughed till our sides hurt.

Will was involved, but was finding his own amusement in the dolphin we brought.

That night, we all went to a Mexican food dinner at La Hacienda. It was a huge restaurant with a great outdoor area for the kids to play.

This is the sight first thing every morning.

She would talk to the fish with Daddy and tell the ducks to "wake up!"

We took a boat ride eventually. I wish I could say that it was fun, but it was just too hot for the kiddos.

This was the view from our room. You can see the Alamo directly behind Scarlet.

Most of the reunion was hosted by Uncle Mike at his house in the evenings. This is a great pic of great Aunt Kathy tickling Lainey.

I think Lainey, Lance and Scarlet played in the pool for over two hours. It was a great big hit!

Will was just a bathing beauty in the sidelines with Daddy.

Great Grandma, Amy and Will.

Somehow water balloons made it out near the pool and then it was on! The kids went through all of them in less than 15 minutes.

Family portrait.

The last morning we were there, we had a chance to spend quality time with Aunt Mary and Uncle Steve. We had a wonderful time. Thanks guys!

Bye Bye 'Tonio...We'll be back!



The Big Backyard Project

Sooo...many of you have been to our home at least once in the three and a half years we've lived here. Chances are, you've seen it with a large back porch, but little creativity going on in our back yard. We tried planting grass, but the St. Augustine just didn't take, so it's been a wonderful muddy mess for our two dogs to romp around in. Until now...

I'm so excited to share the before and after photos of our big backyard project. We had flagstone laid to cover the cement part of the existing porch, and then extended that flagstone out into the yard to create a large living space complete with a firepit. We, of course, haven't been able to even remotely get close to using the pit yet, but look forward to many chilly Fall and Winter nights by it roasting S'mores with the kiddos.

Waylen and a member of his work crew spent about two days once that project was complete working on an arbor or pergola that covers the seating area and provides some much needed shade. Enjoy!

Before... it hurts me just to look at it.

Another before, but up close...

And another...

And another.

Ahhhh....After!

The firepit.

Waylen's pergola with our new patio furniture. We've already being enjoying dinners outdoors.

You can see our little buddy enjoying the breezy shade under the ceiling fan.

Just because ;-)

Vacation #1: Galveston

For years, Waylen's family has taken trips to Galveston for a week each summer. There are quite a few of us that go including aunts, cousins, second cousins, etc., and we set up camp in two houses that are next door to each other on the sandy beach. This was our first trip there since 2008 and I think we were all ready for the adventure; especially since this would be the first time we were going with kiddos. I know I was really looking forward to seeing the ocean and all its greatness through Scarlet's eyes for the first time.

It did not disappoint!

As we drove into Galveston and took a right at the Seawall, Scarlet caught her first real glimpse and yelled, "Oh! Hello Ocean!" It was as if she knew what she had been looking for and was overjoyed to finally discover it. The words made both Waylen and I very happy.

The trip was really great for everyone. The weather cooperated for the most part and it was an extremely relaxing time. Scarlet LOVED the water and woke us up with those words every morning. She was hard to keep dry and clean most of the time because as soon as we changed her out of her bathing suit, she was right back in the water again...in a clean dress or shorts.

It all went by way too fast and I'm already looking forward to our next beach trip!

Here are a few of our favorite pics from the week:

A view of the house (our was the one in the middle and Cindy's sisters stayed in the blue one to the left).

What the house looked like right after breakfast and right before everyone headed down to the beach.

 Cousin Kendall loves Will.

Scarlet loved her personal-sized beach chair and that it had a cupholder just for her.

Will chilled by the waves as well.

Can't forget about Daddy.

Scarlet loves her cousin Tyler a bit too much sometimes. There were hurt knees, shoulders, heads, and feelings from a few too many hard hugs over the week-long trip.

Kendall and Scarlet helping Aunt Krista make dessert one night.

We took an awe-inspiring trip to the Rainforest Cafe. It was our first time there and it was a HUGE success.

 Will wasn't sure what to think...

 So he tried on a few different emotions...

But Scarlet loved the fishtanks. 

She loved everything else about it as well...even the thunderstorms.

 

Outside with Daddy. You can tell how humid it is in Galveston because I couldn't keep my lens from fogging up when we were outside.

A little flirt already...Will with cousins Kendall and Karli.

Running on the beach with Gumball and Addison. 

Waiting for the water to really reach her.

"Ewwww momma! Dirty." Sand between the fingers.

Scarlet and Gumball

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...Daddy and Will

Scarlet got a bit sick about half way through our trip and couldn't go in the water. Instead, she would sit on the porch with Aunt Debby and yell at all the kiddos.

Kendall joined her on the last night.

The view from our deck at sundown. Goodbye beach, we'll see you soon!

My Baby Can Read!

You may have seen all their commercials on TV by now - it's the "My Baby Can Read" DVD set that allows you to teach your 12 month to 5 year old children how to read. I was skeptical and definitely didn't want to put pressure on Scarlet or set expectations too high, so we've approached it like a game that's elective for her to do. What I've found is that when I don't put the video in on a particular day, she will bring it to me and remind me.

So far she has about ten words that she can read very well (nose, mouth, eyes, dog, hi, elephant, wave, tiger, baby, and gorilla). In fact, she knows them so well, she plays with me by pretending she is reading other words that she knows like you can see in this video.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

I'm THIS Big!

Will is about to turn 6 months (tear, sniff, tear). I recently took him to see his pediatrician for his checkup, at which they weighed and measured him. We had bets going, but no one came anywhere close to his actual stats:

A whopping 21 pounds and 26 inches!!!

He is the same size Scarlet was at 12/13 months!

The doctor told me she would chart his progress...if the chart only went that high (apparently he is somewhere around th 120th percentile for both height and weight).

I will call him bruiser and he shall be mine!

Let's Splash!!

Yes, it's us - we are back from vacations and finally updating the blog! Get ready for a few, but I'll try to space them out.

Scarlet is a true water baby. There are some mornings where the first thing she asks me is: "Water, momma?" I believe that she would play in her kiddie pool or the water hose all day if I let her. I don't, but she would. Here are a few photos of her adventures in the hose and slip n' slide from the beginning of summer.

Cooper loves the water just as much as Scarlet, so she has fun spraying them both.

This is the look we get when we ask her to smile. "Cheeeeeese!"

Let me just get this little speck of grass off my foot.......

Waylen went on this particular morning and bought her a slip n'slide. It had this little water fountain at one end that fed into the rest of the line. This was the last photo we got of that piece because it burst from the pressure of the water shortly after...quality control people.

I'm running...

But I am NOT slipping or sliding.

Just splashing!

I also love dandelions and how all those little fluffy pieces fly through the air.

It was important for daddy to experience it too.

Happy Girl!

My lounging beauty sat in the shade and took in the sights.