summertime

Hi all!  We are deep in the heart of summer and loving every bit of it!  No homework.  No cheer practices, soccer practices or swim practices.  Our evenings are open to do whatever we please which is a rare treat!

Although the girls are enrolled in the Sonshine Adventure program at our church, they really haven’t had a chance to go much.  Which stinks because they really enjoy going.  Sonshine takes them on day trips to nearby attractions, transports them to the library for the summer reading program, and plans special activities for the days they stay on location.  Over the past few years I’ve watched this program really grow into something awesome and I feel the need to do something at the end of summer to show my appreciation to the director and all the young people they have working there.  Fingers crossed I can actually pull something off!  J

After the first day of Sonshine and headed to swimming lessons.

The girls have attended two summer camps.  One was a day camp at Camp Lone Star.  Our church provides transportation two weeks out of the summer (which is awesome!) and allowed me to drop them off at the church versus making the 30 minute trip 2x a day.  You have to be five or older to attend, so there was one unhappy little girl left behind on the first day.  Kelby definitely had some jitters the night before their first day (not surprisingly) but by day 2 she acted like it was all no big deal.  When I picked them up on that Monday and asked them how it was, they almost couldn’t contain their excitement when they told me that Kevyn ordered a diet coke and candy bar from the snack bar and Kelby ordered a RED gatorade and candy bar.  I don’t allow them to drink soda and we try to avoid red food coloring.  Clearly they were enjoying their independence.  Oh well, I guess it could be worse.

The very next week the girls went to family camp with my mom (aka Granny), Aunt Joyce and Uncle Dave at Camp Lutherhill.  The week ended with them coming straight to the July 4^th parade in Round Top.  You can see all that action here.  Lutherhill posts pics from the week online so I stole a few of the girls. 

Between camps and a week of VBS, we’ve snuck off to some nearby lakes and the beach for long weekend trips.  Seriously y’all…  my girls have tans like nobody’s business.  It’s ridiculous.  They’ve also gotten over their fear of the tube.  Memorial Day weekend 2009, when Kelby was 2 ½, I thought it would be a good idea to ride with her on a tube while the boat went really slow.  Let’s just say it didn’t end well and was a total mom fail.  We’ve dealt with the repercussions since.  But, that phase is now over and we love the tube!

my picture.  kelby's edit.

Another fail on my part…  I decided the best way to get in the water one day would be just to jump in since the water was slightly cold.  So I took off my hat and quickly jumped.  When I came back up my sister-in-law reminded me that I had also been wearing sunglasses.  Had.  They were now gone.  I’ll be finishing out the remainder of the summer in some old Ray-ban’s that have seen better days.

We’ve also been able to spend some time in Port Aransas.  Jeff’s family has made it into an annual trip and the girls really look forward to it.  I commented to Jeff on 3.5 hr ride there how the girls have come so far from the days where we had to stop what seemed like every 10 miles.  I remember the first trip with Kevyn being a nightmare!  This year we only made one stop at Chucky Cheese for lunch.  (Which in my opinion is kinda nightmarish.  Bad food and lots of germs.  It definitely was not my pick.) 

Sorry for the bad iPhone pics.  I really thought I was taking pictures with my "real camera" only to find out nothing was saving because I didn't have my SD card inserted...  duh!

Our first evening in Port A.

Grandma took Kelby, Kevyn and cousin Lyla shopping one morning and Kevyn and Lyla both came back with new flip flops.  Kelby however came back with a hermit crab that she named Brittany.  Her name has since been changed to Krabby.  Did you know if a hermit crab gets stressed they could lose appendages?  Not joking.  I read it in the handy pamphlet they send with the crabs.  I’ve used this to my advantage by reminding Kelby when she starts to get loud (which is like non-stop) that she needs to quite down so she doesn’t stress out Krabby.  I like Krabby.  I really do.  So much that that very same day I went back to the souvenir shop and bought Krabby a bigger cage and a friend.  Her name is Patty.  Krabby Patty.  Get it? 

Funny story, on the way home Kelby was reminiscing about her time in Port A and said, “I thought I was going to go to the beach and just come home with some flip-flops….  Instead I got crabs!”  HERMIT crabs Kelby!  HERMIT crabs!

Well it’s time to wrap this up.  We are headed to the lake again this weekend and I’ve got laundry to do and packing to get done.  I hope you all have had a great summer so far! 

weekend getaway - horseshoe bay, tx

happy weekend friends!  we just returned from a quick weekend trip to horseshoe bay.  we stayed at the horseshoe bay resort, but sadly i didn't take many pictures there to share.  the few pictures i did capture with my iphone were mainly of the girls doing something silly ("hey look, we're on a rock!") or other older unnamed individuals doing some crazy shenanigans.   we really did have a blast.  and, as long as they don't review their surveillance tapes and ban us from coming back, we would love to go again.

on saturday after getting breakfast from blue bonnet cafe, we dropped the guys off to play golf while the girls headed into marble falls to sweet berry farms.  holy moly.  that place is awesome.  their website states to try to come before 10 am if coming on a saturday so i was a little worried the fields would already be picked over by the time we got there around 11.  luckily that wasn't the case at all.  they have three huge fields to pick from and although two of the fields were pretty full of "pickers" there were still a ton of strawberries left.

and it's not just about strawberry picking.  they also have the sweet berry express barrel train, the berry bounce (think jumpy jump on the ground), face painting, goats to feed and more that i'm probably forgetting.   neely wasn't a big fan of feeding the goats.  she tried but every time they came in close to her hand she flipped out.  i should also mention that we all really enjoyed their strawberry lemonade and homemade ice creams.  i think kelby had strawberry ice cream, kevyn picked berry berry, and natalie had vanilla.  neely opted for a sucker.  ;)   

after about 3 hrs of fun, i used some of my reliable negotiating tactics and got them back in the car.  and when i called the guys to see what hole they were on and found out i needed to kill some more time, we headed to downtown marble falls to do some shopping.  i warned the guys that the extra time would cost them.

we then spent the rest of the day swimming at the resort which was perfect since natalie and kevyn start swim team practice on monday and i was kinda nervous they would be a little rusty on the first day.  they've been doing "land training" the past two weeks, but monday they will get in the pool for the first time.  i feel a lot better after seeing them swim this weekend.

after a late dinner at the resort and walking around some, the girls were exhausted and we got no complaints when we said it was time to go to bed.

i'm keeping my fingers crossed about that surveillance tape so i can start planning our next trip back!

~becky

spring break 2014

unlike last year, this year for spring break with out busy schedules (and lack of planning) we decided to stay relatively local.  we ended up camping three nights at lake somerville.  we had planned on staying four, but mr. weatherman predicted bad weather for the fourth night so we packed up early and came home.

our days were spent kite flying, trail hiking, fishing, teepee making, bike riding, playground playing, book reading, and lots of s'more eating.  overall it was really relaxing and nice not to be on a schedule.  i'm totally guilty of forgetting that sometimes less is more in the way of vacations (and so much else).

and i'm totally going to use the less is more excuse for the short narrative on this post.  ;)  

you can check out my instagram feed in the right side bar for a few more pics from our trip. ->

this last picture makes me smile.  i was letting neely take a few pictures with my camera to keep her busy instead of trying to climb on the rocks and this is one of the pictures she took.  love it!

~becky

disney cruise 2013

for kelby's 7th birthday, we surprised her by going on a disney cruise.   don't worry, we did a special weekend trip for kevyn's birthday too.  not that she would care, but for my peace of mind.  

we only clued the kids in a few weeks prior.  that was for several reasons.  we had so much going on we honestly didn't even know if we would be able to go.  it was really fun to surprise them and say we were leaving in just a few days.

unlike our last cruise, we left out of galveston this time.  it was really awesome to drive to galveston that morning (instead of flying to florida the day prior) and hop on the boat.  for those of you who haven't cruised, cruising is the ultimate "no-brainer" vacation.  no figuring out how to get to your destination or where to eat.  it's all planned out for you.  i LOVE that.

granny sent a special present for kelby to open the morning of her birthday.  inside were decorations for our stateroom and canned birthday cake THAT SHE MADE.  who does that?!?

at dinner that evening kelby was serenaded by the waitstaff and presented a special cake.

our first port of call was key west.  after doing a trolley tour around town we went to the aquarium.  the key west aquarium was hands down the coolest aquarium i've ever been too.  it was old, small, no frills, and appeared not to be up to code.  that was the cool part.  we were literally inches away from sharks and other sea creatures.  talk about up close and personal! kelby and i spent several minutes trying to get the perfect picture of her leaning over the tank while a shark swam by.  kevyn was not so brave.

one thing that we loved about this cruise versus the last disney cruise was that because we were on a smaller ship, we had a lot more character time.  on several occasions we would just "bump" into a character.  after dinner one evening we ran into belle.  kevyn immediately went in for a hug and belle asked her where she was headed.  when kevyn replied that we were headed for the show, belle asked if she could walk her there.  for a five year old that is infatuated with princesses, this was magical.  i wish i could have gotten a better shot.

castaway key was the second port of call.  and like last time, it did not disappoint.  and again, because we were on a smaller ship, there was no rush off the boat for prime seating.  we were able to casually get off the boat after a late breakfast and find chairs and umbrellas no problem.

so funny story...  a few days before we left kelby was acting really bratty ungrateful and stated she didn't even care about the trip.  i think it was one evening when we were doing make-up work for the coming week.  i tried explaining to her that she should be thankful that she gets to do something fun and that i was sure that many of her classmates would like to skip school for a week and be on a cruise.  she then told me its not that special and that her classmate would be on the same cruise.  whatever.

guess who we ran into.  her classmate.  i mean seriously?!?  she has 18 kids in her class.  what are the odds?!?  that smile is pure "i told you so."

a big thing on a disney cruise is getting all the character's autographs.  we used these autograph books this time and i loved them.  (i would also recommend following her blog here.)

pirate night!  typically pirate night ends with a firework show that is viewed from the deck.  but due to bad weather it had to be postponed.  sooo... the girls headed to the kids club where i was called shortly after i dropped them off because kevyn had become sea sick.  good times.

i had the shirts made from here and my mom made their skirts.

the following morning we had our character breakfast.  and since the princesses would be in the atrium shortly after breakfast, the girls put on their gowns too.

again, after seeing the princesses, we ran into peter pan.  another little boy spotted peter first and was having a very deep discussion with him so kevyn patiently waited back.  after a few minutes, kevyn decided to go on.  while waiting at the nearby elevators, peter yelled at her "hey girl!  i was looking for you!"  he then came over and had a nice long conversation with her.  how sweet of peter!

one evening the show for the night was the premier of thor.  since it was rated pg-13, we of coursed skipped out.  we instead went to the kids club where they had a ratatouille cooking class.

our last port of call was nassau and since it would have been the fifth time we had been there, we opted to stay on the boat.  the pools were practically empty.  it was awesome.

we also watched finding nemo in 3D.  looking really cool in the 3D glasses was an added bonus.  ;)

as usual, we ended our trip dreaming of our next adventure.  i think california is calling us ;)

~ becky