Impromptu 4th of July Weekend!!!

We decided to surprise the kids with a very random mini vacation to San Antonio for the 4th of July weekend. We started our day out with breakfast at McDonald's of coarse, then off we went. Our next stop was Sea World. We didn't tell them a thing, just drove into the park. Maci, a kindergarten graduate and excellent new reader, saw the signs as we approached and began yelling to Payton that we were going to Sea World!!! They were super excited! Payton wanted to see some real, live dolphins! Maci didn't care what she saw, she was just overcome with gratitude for getting to be there. Payton was a little bit of a pill while we were there, but overall adored her time there. Maci was AMAZING, and boy did she soak it all up! Blake was the world's greatest baby, never let out a single whimper our entire trip! Alan and I adored getting to be there with our wonderful kiddos. Its kinda great getting to be the mom on these kinds of trips. Anyway, We were at the park until closing and then headed to our hotel. The girls slept together and didn't make a peep...weird! :) The next morning we went to The Riverwalk. We had breakfast at a Starbucks there and then spent the day walking, and walking, and walking! It was fabulous. We had lunch right on the riverwalk and then continued on with our walking. We toured the Alamo and Maci loved hearing all about that part of Texas history. We finished up our time in San Antonio with a little ice cream while we came up with a plan to extend our little mini vacation. We headed out to Gruenne, TX to have dinner at The Gristmill. It was a completely wonderful end to a completely wonderful weekend! Once we got back to town, we spent July 4th with Ron and Cindy. We enjoyed an afternoon of swimming and a delicious meal at Papadeaux. Just in case you couldn't tell, I simply adore my sweet family and all the fun we get to have together!

very early morning at McDonald's Maci just announced that we were at Sea World Sea World SweetiesBlake loved the water park...he got to walk all over all by himself, he thought he was so big!watching the sisters come down the water slide...he's so easy goingMaci on the big slidePayton on the big slideDo you see that little hand sticking out of that huge tube? That's Payton...a teeny little thing on an adult-sized water slide!!! The lifeguard had to take the tube off of her head so she could get out...so funny! Man is she fearless!Maci looked a little better coming down that huge, very dark slide...An example of what you probably should look like coming out...the girls were so tiny! They all LOVED it though!Riding some rides...We were waiting for the Shamu Rocks show to start and Blake got a huge kick out of watching these ducks and flamingos up so close. He's clapping for them!The Main AttractionMe and my sweetie on the RiverwalkMaci is taking a much-needed break for a minute...I am pretty sure she walked so much this weekend that she got a little dehydrated. She was an amazing little trooper!S T I N K E R!!!Lunch in a great location!ssshhhhh...don't tell anyone, but she is sneaking the ducks and pigeons some of her french fries!I love him!Remembering The Alamo...someone is less than impressed! (of our entire weekend, this is one of only two fifteen minute naps in two days!!! Now that is a trooper!)Bubba is cheering on the girls as they explore behind our awesome table at The Gristmill.My beautiful children posing for a picture after a wonderful meal at Papadeaux with their Grandparents!

I cannot wait for the chance to take my sweet family on all kinds of adventures.

The Rest of June...Its August, so I am gonna hurry through this one!! :-)

In backwards order: June!

Alan had to go to Minnesota for work and so we did what we could to keep ourselves busy so as not to miss him terribly!!!

Orange Leaf helped a lot!

Baking was a must!
We made our own pizzas.

Blake was so sad that daddy was gone, so I introduced him to Oreos!!!

We told Blake that if he'd start walking, we would get him some really cool kicks...he did, so we did!!! Way to go little dude!

We got the girls all signed up for soccer, they are trying out their new soccer outfits to see if they work ok...they worked Great according to Payton!

For Father's Day, we met my dad in Brenham at the Airport Diner. We had a great time visiting and watching the cool planes land and take off. My mom has some really cute pictures of that! (My camera stayed in the truck...not smart!)

Then we had a cookout with Alan's dad. (And did a little swimming too!)

I really wanted a cute family pic, but Alan snapped this one while we were waiting for him to jump in the pic...I LOVE it!

Me and the father of my beautiful children...I adore him!

Payton was in ballet this year...adorable! Here are some pics of her recital, and more importantly, her recital flowers!!!

Blake learned a new, hilarious move...he gets in this position and scoots across the room on his head...we love laughing at him!!!

LA Times: good friends, good food, great trip!

We got our summer started out on the right foot this year! As soon as Maci finished up her last day of kindergarten, we packed up the family and headed out to Louisiana to spend time with our dear, dear friends, the Drake's!!! We met in college, but have remained very close through our "grown-up" days! It is so much fun getting to be part of each other's growing families. Anyway, they had an amazing time planned for our family when we arrived! We had lots of playtime and catch up time. We got to go out on their awesome boat, eat snow cones, choose from 100's of popcorn flavors for a little girl movie night, eat awesome (so they tell me, I had a burger) sea food, make homemade ice cream, etc etc etc!!! It was a wonderful time and we hope they will let us come back again sometime soon! Here are some pictures, but since I am so far behind on this blog, I will leave them in the jumbled up order they are in!

Me and My Friend, Stacy Movie Night: TangledPlaytime with Lily
Homemade Orange Ice cream with Kris

Pretty girl on a boatStacy letting Facebook know that we were having more fun than them!! :)

Blake and Alan in the Tchhekjhekjekhtah River (Never could have spelled that one, but the name is not important!!)

Blake decided sleep would be better than trying to figure out why he was caged in that life jacket, and why we were flying across the water, and why it was so stinkin hot...he escaped!

Little beauty after dinner

Sweet baby girl waiting for ice cream

Post dinner pics with Lily

Brothers do not cooperate!!

Chillin!

Me and my guys...lucky girl!

Cute little dudes!us and our babiesThank you so much for the wonderful memories!!! Can't wait to do it again!