Moody Gardens-Palm Beach

Today, we loaded up the kids and headed to Moody Gardens, Palm beach in Galveston.  We had never been there before and Allison had received 2 free tickets for completing the Houston Public Library Summer Reading program.  Of course, she had a little help.

I’m not sure if I would pay full price to come here, but it sure was a lot of fun.  Allison was able to walk and swim by herself in the pool and Will looked so cute in his life jacket (provided by Moody Gardens) and sun hat.

After playing in the water, we headed over to the waterslides.  I think this was Allison’s favorite part about Palm Beach.  She went up and down the slides I think around 30 times!  Will was also able to play, in a small splash pad by the slides.  He would walk up to the shooting water, get sprayed, and quickly walk away to avoid any further water.  Of course,  he went back and forth doing this about 30 times!

I loved sharing this time with my children and making lasting memories.  I told Brad how fast time flies and how quickly our children will grow up.  We need to take every opportunity to make special time for our family.  Normally, Saturday’s are for shopping and running errands.  It felt so good to take a day off and just enjoy being with my husband and children.  No one cried or whined while we were there, so it was a BIG success!

After the water slides, we hit the main splash pad and then went to build a sand castle.  Allison LOVED  the beach and I definitely think we need to plan a beach vacation for next summer.  Will was intrigued by the sand and just wanted to dig his feet in it.  I said to Brad, “Can you imagine how it must feel to touch sand for the first time”!  How exciting!   Below are some pictures with the kiddos.

My sweet boy!


What is he thinking?


Will, what’s wrong?  I think he wanted to go back over to the sand.


Even though he looks uncomfortable in this picture, Will did enjoy the water.  Brad referred to him as Roly Poly!


You can never get a shot with both kids smiling at the same time.  It is absolutely impossible!  Picture #1.  Let’s try that again.

Picture #2, nope not gonna happen. Will is thinking, “forget the picture, I am not going to smile, let go of me!!!”


Father and son having fun.  Hey, that rhymes!




This picture is sooo Allison.  She was trying to spit at the camera, thank goodness she missed!

Dog days of Summer

I am starting to get a little bored with Summer.  I am not traveling anywhere until Labor Day and really don’t have much planned before school starts.  This may seem like a dream, but when you have two active children, this leads to trouble. Trouble meaning tantrums, being mean to siblings, disrespecting mom and dad and wrecking the house so bad that it takes hours to clean up. I have been racking my brain daily to entertain Allison and Will and so far, it has worked but I am quickly running out of ideas.

Today, I found Will entertaining himself in Abby’s crate.  Amazing, who needs toys when you can crawl in and out of a dog crate!

This is how I found Will in our bedroom.  Perfectly content!

 

I think I will crawl out and shut the door to the crate.

 

That was so much fun, let’s do it again!

 

Look at me mama!

Allison and Sydney

 

Last night we had dinner with the McMeans’.  We had such a good time eating Mexican food at La Hacienda and invited them over afterwards.  Sydney and Allison decided it would be fun to paint each other's nails and toes and we discovered them in the act.

Your turn

 

Now it’s my turn.  Will no nail polish for you, girls only!

 

We have a lot in common with the McMeans’ which includes the ages of our children.  Allison and Sydney are two months apart in age and Will and Alex are three days apart in age.

Play dates and salt

Yesterday we had Barbie and Wyatt over for a play date.  Allison and Wyatt had so much fun and got along great.  They played on the swing set, in the playroom, ate gold fish and even made salt dough creations.

Barbie helping Wyatt make his handprint

 

After our art project, the kids were tired and enjoyed watching Thomas the Train and holding hands!

Sweet Baby Will

 

Will turned 15 months old yesterday and I can’t believe how fast he is growing up.  He started walking last month and is now into everything!  Climbing, opening drawers, and even sliding down our slide outside, he has no fear and wants to do everything that big sister Allison can do.  Here are a few things I never want to forget about Will:

1. His beautiful hair-he has the most beautiful strawberry blonde curls.  I love to hold him and rest my face in his hair.  Brad thinks it is time for a haircut but I cannot part with one single curl quite yet.

2.  New words-he can say Mama, Dada, Sissy, ball, Jiggs, Nana(Graham), Bye-Bye, Dog, this.  He sisses “S’s” like a snake all the time.

3.  He can climb up the outdoor play set ladder and go down the slide all by himself.  Scary!!!

4.  He is on zinc, has not made the switch over from formula to milk, and we are trying to get him to eat more finger foods but we have come so far.  Will looks very healthy and I know one day, he will be eating everything in the house!

5.  I love cuddling up with him to give him a bottle in the rocker.  He is so cuddly and I enjoy this special time just with him.  Also, he goes down for nap and bedtime super easy as long as he has his stuffed dog, blanket and nunnie (pacifier).

6.   He is always happy and loves Thomas the Train.  He squeals when it comes on TV.

7.  He enjoys playing basketball and can even dunk the ball into the basket.  College scholarship here we come!

8.  Will loves bath time and crawls all over the place in the bath tub.

9.  God is good and has truly blessed me with my sweet baby boy!  Thank you Lord Jesus.

A Day on the Farm

This past weekend, we went to Columbus, TX to visit an old acquaintance of my dad’s.  His name is Ed Alley and you would never guess where these two men met.  The year was 1969, and it was Vietnam.  My dad had enlisted into the U.S. Marine Corp. and was shipped off to Camp Pendleton, the Marine Corp. Recruit Depot in San Diego, CA for boot camp training. At the time, my dad was scared to death of Ed, see Ed Alley was one of my dad’s drill instructors.  This man was tough and intimidating.  His job was to break young recruits down and build them back up.  He was there to teach them how to survive in combat. 

A few years ago, a man in my father’s boot camp class decided to search out his old buddies and former drill instructors.  He contacted everyone he could find and set up a boot camp reunion.  So far, they have had two reunions in Branson, Missouri.  Both, have been wonderful experiences for my father.  Though their lives may have taken different paths, they all have a common bond.

So, over the course of the last two years, my dad had gotten to know Ed Alley and the two have become friends.  As my Mom said, “you never know God’s path for your life and the people in it.”  I know my dad never dreamed he would see the man he feared most during those days much less been invited out to his farm. 

Mr. Alley, Dad and Allison in front of Mr. Alley’s smokehouse

 

 

We toured Mr. Alley’s farm and saw horses, cows, cardinals, big grasshoppers, jackrabbits and lots and lots of deer.  The black horse is so thin because he is over 50 years old!

 

The kids enjoyed playing on Mr. Alley’s tractor, especially Will.  He wanted to drive it and cried when I took him off of it!

 

I think my Allison is a country girl at heart!

 

Before leaving, the children and I took a ride on Mr. Alley’s mule and went down to the pond to see if we could find an alligator Mr. Alley had seen earlier, No Luck!

 

Allison got to try on Mr. Alley’s “Smokey hat”.  How surreal for my Dad.

 

We had a wonderful time on the farm and hope to go back over Labor Day.  Mr. Alley is so nice and hospitable and it was an honor to meet him.  Thank you Mr. Alley!

Being Cool

We took this picture today on our way to my parents house to celebrate my dad's 62nd birthday.  We were going swimming, and Allison decided she would wear her goggles like sunglasses, all the way to their house.  It was hilarious to see her so serious about her goggles and the fact that she was going swimming.  It was as if she was going to fly out of the car and land in the pool!  Swimsuit on-check, diving sticks in hand-check, goggles on eyes ready for a big splash of water-check!

This reminded me of those embarrassing photos my parents have of me and how when we are kids, we all think certain outfits, accessories and hair styles are so cool, yet looking back we laugh at how cute, yet silly we really looked.  For me, it was the E.T. pajamas that were yellow and blue with E.T.’s face plastered on the center of the shirt, my brown braided belt that went with everything and looked just right when the end was flipped over, any picture from junior high, Units(you remember them because we all wore them in the ‘80’s) and most of all my silk blouse that looked like every color in a rainbow had been splattered all over it.  This fabulous shirt was worn tucked into a red suede skirt, classic!  Oh how I am glad I do not own a scanner for I would never live these moments of fashion disasters down.

I can’t wait to show Allison this picture above when she is about 13 or 14 years old and at the age where she knows everything, and I know nothing.  I will tell her how adorable she was and reminisce about her days as a 3 year old.  I cherish these young years with her, watching her develop into a young lady.  She has her personality, good looks and a definite since of style!