Hinson Hot Spot

Austin Film Festival

2009-10-29T22:13:00.006-05:00

Pics from our weekend in Austin. Tim and I had a great time at the Apollo 13 Screening. It was a great panel discussion after the movie. Ron Howard and Jim Lovell stole the show!

We got stopped on the way in and Michael Barnes from the Austin American Statesman took our picture, then noticed Tim's badge said NASA, then after a brief convo whipped out a tape recorder and started interviewing him! Here's a link to the blog post of the event and our photo. (Yep, TOM and Jamie Hinson had a great weekend)

Link to Blog Post at austin360.com/outandabout

We got to hang out with some good friends after the screening, and while we were grabbing a bite in the Stephen F Lounge...in walks Woody Harrelson. He was there to promote his new film "The Messenger". Here's a really bad picture--he's in the center in the background with the tan coat!Thanks to Kelly Williams for hooking us up with fantastic passes! I would love to go back every year. It was a blast!

Ballunar Festival at NASA

2009-10-25T22:27:00.003-05:00

We took the kids out to NASA to see all the hot air balloons Friday night. They enjoyed watching them get filled up and then "glowing". I forgot my camera, so these are all taken with my phone. Sorry if they're not super great quality!

Painting Pumpkins

2009-10-17T16:52:00.004-05:00

They kids really love to paint. So, after having our patients at work paint pumpkins and seeing how they enjoyed it, I decided to get Ethan and Chelsea some to paint at home. They had a great time going out to the farmer's market and picking out their pumpkins, then bringing them home to decorate.

The kids chillin after school one day

2009-09-27T15:42:00.002-05:00

Lake LBJ Trip-Day 4

2009-07-11T19:47:00.007-05:00

The river in front of our house is shallow enough to walk across to the sand bar. Perfect for all the kiddos to swim. I'm standing in the middle of the river taking this pic!

We ate at Storm's Burgers that night. It was yumm-o!

This is about the time of day when the bats came out! they were cool to watch fly around the river bank!

lake LBJ trip-Day 3

2009-07-11T19:23:00.006-05:00

We didn't do too much today (which was awesome). We headed over to the big city of Llano to check things out. The kiddos loved the big red caboose.

We stopped at the cool bridge and waterfall for some pictures. Ethan saw a big gray crane and started shouting "LOOK Mommy--an Ostrich an Ostrich".

After that we just headed home and did some floatin' and swimmin' in the river. It was nice after being out in the hot sun all day.

Ethan in front of the waterfall

The "ostrich" Ethan was so excited about ;)

Tim and the kiddos by the waterfall

Ethan driving the caboose

They are so sweet!

Lake LBJ Trip-Day 2

2009-07-08T23:34:00.006-05:00

We headed down to the lake (or river, whatever) today for a swim. After growing up going to Toledo bend, it's a fantastic change to be able to see your feet when you get into the water. It's borderline too warm of water, but awesome! Down from our house it's shallow enough to wade over to the other side to the sand bar to play on the "beach". Didn't bring the camera out for a swim today, but got some great sunset photos.

The Great Ping Pong Match of '09

Beautiful Sunset Across the River

Some tired babies after a fun dayMe and my baby girl just a swingin'

Lake LBJ Trip-Day 1

2009-07-08T22:03:00.005-05:00

We got to our house around 5:00 pm. We went out to eat in Marble Falls at the Blue Bonnet Cafe--they have pie happy hour!! When we got back to the house the sprinklers were on and the babies jumped right in....great start to the week!

Ethan with his shark hat on backwards, throwin' gang signs.

view out the back porch of our house.

They jumped right in fully clothed and started playing.

I was so proud of Chelsea for playing in "spraying" water!

Wedding Day!

2009-06-28T22:01:00.003-05:00

pretty sailboat on Clear Lake

Steph and Kelly

Mimi and Pawpaw

Tim and Jamie

OK, not ours, but we had two weddings to go to this Saturday. Luckily one was in the morning and one was in the evening so we could attend both. Tim's cousin Daniel got married on the Spirit of Texas Paddlewheeler in Seabrook. It wasn't too hot with the breeze and once the sun went down. It was a nice evening for a cruise!

My "Cella-wella"

2009-06-27T08:46:00.003-05:00

Chelsea pretty much wouldn't get out of her Cinderella outfit on Friday. For a while, she was even jedi Cinderella carrying around Ethan's light saber part of the day...couldn't find my camera fast enough for that one!

Just Playin'

2009-06-23T22:09:00.007-05:00

Ethan and Chelsea were playing in the back yard. The water hose was the choice toy of the day...and Ethan was trying to get Mommy and Sissy. Needless to say they ended the evening soaked from head to toe.

Grands & Great Grands

2009-04-25T23:43:00.004-05:00

Babies crawling all over Mimi

Chelsea had a ball Bouncing with Pop!

Ethan and Paw Paw

From Left to right--Mom Ems (of the Castille Clan), then Ethan and Chelsea's great-grandmothers on my side "Al" and "Girl Grape"

Cousins (& Uncle Kelly)

2009-04-25T22:16:00.003-05:00

This was the closest we could get Ethan to making a normal face in a picture that morning. But, who are we kidding...he's just like daddy in that sense.

All the cousins sitting on the stairs.

Sprinkler fun

2009-04-25T22:08:00.004-05:00

We were pretty pumped that our new house came with a sprinkler system for the front and back yard, we just didn't know it would be so much fun for the kiddies to play in, too!

Not real sure what they're looking at here...who knows.

Soakin' wet cousins!

My baby boy turns FOUR!

2009-04-06T22:00:00.002-05:00

Time sure flies when you're having fun. I can't believe my sweet baby boy is already 4! Since his b-day was the weekend we were moving, it was a little difficult to find all my baking supplies, etc....you can't really even tell that the candle on his cake is a number 2! He didn't seem to mind once he saw the sprinkles.

A few more pics

2009-04-01T21:17:00.003-05:00

First Family Pic in the new house

Kiddos making "snow angels" in the carpet!

It's finally all done and OURS!

2009-04-01T21:06:00.003-05:00

The wait is finally over and we closed on our house today. YAY! Now for the even more fun part....moving!

Waiting on the keys!

Back Patio

Kitchen

First Fish

2009-02-16T20:14:00.004-06:00

Excited to be at the camp!

Tryin' out the new fishing poles.

We headed up to the camp this weekend and took the babies fishing. They had a blast, and both caught a few little fish. Ethan loved his Spider-Man fishing pole, and Chelsea of course had to have her pink princess fishing pole. Add two hooks that are small enough to catch minnows and they were in business...as long as they didn't have to actually touch the fish! My lil' man did ok for his first fish. Look at that grin.

Bricks!!

2009-01-28T08:37:00.002-06:00

Inspections are over and they've started drywall and bricks!! I've ALWAYS wanted a red brick house. Dunno why...

My little Pop Star Princess

2009-01-15T20:11:00.003-06:00

Chelsea LOVES to be "a pin-cess", and by that she means putting on dresses and spinning around. So when "Annie" (their aunt) bought her this tutu, she was super excited. She loves to twirl around in this, and looks just precious...so I thought I'd share.

My baby boy melts my heart

2009-01-15T20:08:00.004-06:00

While it has now officially pretty much only taken me two weeks to potty train my 2 year old daughter, I am occasionally still battling my almost 4 year old son with it (luckily pretty much everyone I know said "boys are just so much harder"). While he was sitting on the potty the other night, he was just looking at me and I was wondering to myself "what is he thinking about". Out of the blue, he just looks at me and says, "Mommy, I like your pretty eyes". Yep, my heart instantly melted! I love my babies....they are just so sweet!

House updates

2008-12-27T22:29:00.002-06:00

View down the hall upstairs from the gameroom to the entry way

It's been a while since we got to take some pics of the house! We've got a roof now, and electrical is pretty much done, the a/c is in....but there's still a long way to go. It'll be done some day!

Holiday Identity Crisis

2008-12-24T22:15:00.000-06:00

Putting out the Milk and Cookies for Santa

We were making cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve...Chelsea came out of her room and wanted to be a "pin-cess", so I was ok with that. Then Ethan, remembering that was her Halloween costume, immediately wanted to wear his Spider Man costume. Who am I to stop them? Ethan did a good job on the cookies. When I told him the next morining that Santa ate the cookies, he said "That wasn't very nice". He simmered down when he realized Santa didn't eat ALL the cookies we made!

Can you tell he got "busted" in this picture eating the dough?

Nice try, Chelsea!

2008-12-22T20:59:00.000-06:00

a few days before Christmas, Chelsea decided her feet were cold and these would do...

she ultimately decided they were too big, and that she'd much rather just let Santa put toys in them!

Disney Day 5-Magic Kingdom

2008-11-28T21:17:00.003-06:00

I'm glad we did Magic Kingdom in 2 days. There's just so much to see and do. Lets you kinda relax and take it all in, and actually let the kiddos play, not just drag them from ride to ride. They were so good for the entire trip. I was very sad it was our last day there :(we had breakfast at the Polynesian Resort--that place looks and even SMELLS the same as when I stayed there over 20 years ago!!

Chelsea wasn't big enough to ride most of the rides, but she didn't care. She loved getting pushed around in her stroller, taking naps, and having food readily available, and she LOVED live shows! This was her first roller coaster--Goofy's Barn Stormer. She was so cute saying "weeeeeee" over the humps and dips.

There's a cute little play area between Fantasyland and Tomorrowland for the little ones to play. They had a ball, and it's a good break for mom and dad. I love this second picture...Ethan coming down the slide head first ready to bulldoze his sissy!

Disney Day 4-Magic Kingdom

2008-11-27T20:15:00.001-06:00

We finally made it to the Magic Kingdom for day 4. I totally recommend doing the other parks first, then Magic Kingdom last when you have little ones--it's like the BIG finish!

We had breakfast with Tigger, Pooh, and gang at the Crystal Palace that morning. Chelsea was again shy whenever the characters came around, so that's why I love this first pic...it's like "what? where's Tigger?"

family shot with Pooh

Me, Ethan, Wendy, Morgan, and Ally on Splash Mountain-Ethan LOVED it, rode it over and over. Oh yeah, Uncle Jerret and his dad "paw paw Dan" were on it with us this time, too!

Ethan, Daddy, Uncle Jerret, Ally and Morgan on Splash Mountain

I thought the Castle looked awesome once it got dark and they had all kinds of purple lights shining on it....then the Fairy Godmother came out and started babbling on and on about wanting the castle to be decorated special for Cinderella for Christmas. Boy were we surprised when she finally stopped talking and waved that wand and the lights started flickering on! It was incredible! I had never been to Disney around Christmas before and they sure deck the place out!

Disney Day 3-Epcot

2008-11-26T19:05:00.007-06:00

To start the day off right for Epcot, we all had breakfast at the Wilderness Lodge Resort. It was a beautiful resort, and it was a HUGE breakfast! Highly recommend it!

(me and my sissy)

(Ethan and Chelsea at Epcot)

(Morgan and Ethan in Japan--we ate lunch there)

(Ethan with his Mickey ice cream)

(family pic inside Bruce)

(they had a blast-we closed down the park). We had super-late dinner reservations for the

Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue (click for more pics)

(Chelsea getting ready for some chickin and ribs!)

At the end of the show and meal, everyone starts to wave and twirl their napkins around....Ethan frantically found the nearest one--that happened to be full of food and crumbs--so
bits were flying everywhere! Morgan obviously found it amusing!!

They also bring out washboards for all the tables to play along! It's such a fun show, and SO worth it, even if you have to wait until 9:30 at night to eat dinner!

Disney Day 2-Animal Kingdom

2008-11-24T20:01:00.007-06:00

Chelsea on the bridge-excited to see Mickey and Pluto fishing!

I think her favorite is Goofy--every time she saw him, she would just yell "Goopy!! Goopy!!"

All the kiddos-Ally, Morgan, Chelsea, and Ethan, before the 3-D Bug's Life Show

My boy with Pocahontas!

Daddy and Chelsea on Safari

Later that night we ate dinner at the beautiful Grand Floridian with Cinderella, Prince Charming, Step Mother, Step sisters, and all. Chelsea just needed a power nap before the party started!

She finally woke up and joined the party-She was telling Cinderella she was a "Pin-cess"

She managed not to sleep through a bowl of ice cream as big as her head!!
That's my princess!!

Drizella tried...but she can't have him!

Disney-Day One

2008-11-23T22:22:00.004-06:00

We went to Hollywood studios the first day. The kids had a blast before we even got to the park when they saw they were going to be riding on buses....they would just jump and shout "school bus, school bus".Ethan actually conquered the Tower of Terror...TWICE! Didn't really like it too much the second time around--they change the rise/fall sequence and it threw him off!(Tower of Terror)

Chelsea loved the Toy Story ride the second time around....slept through waiting in line and the entire ride the first time. That's such a cool ride. (green army dude outside Toy Story ride--I love how he even has the plastic thingies on his feet)

I love 3-D. Ethan was hilarious watching the Muppet 3-D show. He was jumping around, grabbing at things, cackling! Chelsea hated the "interactive" part--anything that blows air or sprays water and she's out.

She loved the Playhouse Disney Live show. She just stood there frozen in disbelief....Ethan tried to charge the stage (but to his defense, he had daddy telling him to move up, and the couple in front of us telling him to "go up"). It was funny hearing the collective *gasp* of us, as well as a few other parents sitting around-but the bouncer caught him and he politely went back to his place and continued dancing.

We got Windows.

2008-11-23T22:18:00.003-06:00

Again...at least it's progress...Sorry the pics are dark, it was getting late.

Some more framing

2008-10-29T15:02:00.000-05:00

OK, I'm a little obsessed...but it's just exciting to see daily progress...i know that won't last long once the "outside" is done.

Framing!

2008-10-26T14:57:00.001-05:00

After seeing a "fine slab" sitting there for 2 1/2 weeks, it was a nice surprise to drive past one day and see something going vertical! This was after a few days of work.

Chelsea's First Haircut

2008-10-02T22:40:00.002-05:00

My baby girl had been bald for so long...but she finally has enough hair that the time has come to at least get it trimmed and shaped up so it can start growing "right". She wasn't gonna have anything to do with sitting in that big, fun car chair, so mama had to hold her....and she had to be bribed iwth a sucker. Other than that it was a piece of cake.

My pretty little blonde angel!
(nope, not even one red-headed baby)

Paradise Lost :(

2008-10-02T21:26:00.004-05:00

Growing up in Southeast Texas, you get used to a few things. You know which routes to take to places with the least amount of "stank" in the air from all the refineries (or at least where to hold your breath), Friday night football rules over education, you will more than likely be wearing shorts on Christmas (and probably need mosquito spray). You know that there's a Tex-Mex eatery just around the corner (every corner), and that you more than likely have been to each one of them "onced" or "twiced". And you by golly always hit Crystal Beach on Spring Break or for easy family vacations.

It's sad that a part of our history is more than likely gone forever. Hurricane Ike has literally changed our coast line. Geologically, the beaches are in different places, and little islands in the Gulf are gone completely.
The First picture is a general aerial pic of the Bolivar coastline taken after Ike. The second one, unfortunately, is where the Pink Paradise once stood. The while neighborhood is just completely washed away. Guess we gotta find a new family vacation spot!!

Our little beach friend

2008-10-02T21:12:00.003-05:00

The Good ol' Pink Paradise had a lot going for it. It was a huge cabin and could house all of our family under one roof...it was pink....and there was a paradise on the bottom level consisting of a hammock, 6 baby swings, 2 baby pools, a bouncy house, and every beach toy imaginable. The kids (and their mama and daddy) had a ball.

However, we had a few uninvited guests that stayed with us upstairs. At least they were tiny and cute, and only came out late at night. They ain't dumb....6 kids ages 4 and under drop a smorgasbord of food on the floor!

More Belated Beach Pics

2008-10-02T21:07:00.002-05:00

Belated Beach Pics

2008-10-02T21:01:00.003-05:00

Very Belated Beach Pics.

Ethan Loved the sand and, of course, digging. That boy loves to dig.

Since Chelsea wasn't having much to do with the water and sand so far this time around...this is mainly what you saw her doing.....eating....and eating.....and eating. Seriously, she'd sit at that table for almost an hour poundin' back some food!

YAY!! It's finally started!!

2008-10-01T14:53:00.001-05:00

Our house has finally started! It's just a pile of dirt and boards in these pics, but at least it's a start!

Big Dave's Fourth of July Bash

2008-08-02T22:28:00.001-05:00

I was so happy to get to see LB for the first time since she up and decided to move to North Carolina. I'm glad we could get together at her folk's place up in Jasper for the good ol' Big Dave's Annual Bash! There was some good crawfish eatin', some good treats, fun times swingin on the horsie swing, and of course, riding Big Mabel!!

Beach Trip 2008-Monday

2008-06-29T19:00:00.005-05:00

"Pink Paradise"--our cabin for the past 2 years!!

We got there on Monday and decided to go down to the beach that evening after dinner to at least check out the seaweed situation and fly some kites. Ethan was DYING to fly his Spider Man kite. The beach was much cleaner than last year and the kids had fun with the kites.

Chelsea even flew her tiny "Hello Kitty" Kite!

A storm rolled in later that night

Swimmin'

2008-05-30T19:20:00.003-05:00

Prissy Splashing

Ethan in the Sprinkler

Say Cheese!

CANONBALL!!

Ethan's Birthday BAsh

2008-04-20T23:06:00.004-05:00

(Ethan enjoying his "crunchy" tacos)

I can't believe my baby boy is already 3!! He was so excited for his birthday, mainly for a party. He had 3 requests for his party. He wanted a choo choo train cake, balloons, and presents. He later added that he also wanted tacos, and they had to be crunchy!! My boy loves him some cake and tacos!! He was so excited, he was telling me he was ready for his party about a month before--he even though the Easter party at school was his party, and who am I to tell him it wasn't!! (At least I warned the teachers).

My little barefoot birthday boy!

She's a Natural

2008-03-31T17:10:00.005-05:00

The other day we were at our 2nd of two parties, and Chelsea started doing this dance (to her own tune, of course). I was so mad that I didn't have a video camera, but when we got home, she started doing it again, and I remembered that I at least had the video camera in my phone, so I got a few seconds of it. She's a natural....takes after her mama :)

Easter

2008-03-23T17:34:00.005-05:00

After church we found a spot that had some beautiful full azalea bushes and took the photo op!

Chelsea snagged both baskets and took off when them!!

Ethan and his "nocalars"--notice he's looking in them backwards!

That's my babies.

They love each other so much.

So Sweet.

I can't go on!!

2008-02-26T11:44:00.003-06:00

The kids were eating lunch today, so i was making dessert for tonight. Ethan got up, was over climbing the cabinets to wash his hands, I was just picking up the kitchen, etc. I noticed Chelsea was a little bit quiet, thought she was just taking her time eating her PB&J. Thought I'd see if she wanted some applesauce or something. My guess is that she'll get some later........after her nap!
Poor baby.

Fort Worth Zoo

2008-02-25T12:53:00.006-06:00

Ok, this was over a month ago when we went to go visit grandaddy up in Fort Worth, but I'm slow at getting pics from the camera to the computer sometimes.

Ethan LOVED the otters (which happens to be my favorite, too!)
(if you enlarge this picture you get to see Ethan's plumber booty!)

Glad we were standing back from the rhinos-lot of bathroom functions going on at that time!

Chelsea just like to say "oooooooooooooooh" and point at the flamingos.

Chelsea and Grandaddy at the end of the day at home.

Can I please?

2008-02-07T22:08:00.001-06:00

Please can we call someone?

Pretty Please?

What if I show you my foot?

Bubbles!!

2008-02-07T21:47:00.001-06:00

We had a fun morning playing with the kids in the back yard. We got them some bubble wands so they could play their hearts out!

Maybe she'll figure it out soon.

Look how sweet they are!

Ethan really likes his bubbles!

Chelsea dancing to her own tune!

They decided they needed to bark at the neighbor's dog.

Chelsea Plays Peek A Boo

2008-02-07T21:28:00.000-06:00

So I missed the whole month of January with postings. I'll make up for it....
And i thought Ethan's Christmas picture had a lot of cheese!

Crowded Wagon

2008-02-06T21:43:00.000-06:00

Brady came over to play for a while. They all decided to pile in the wagon for a ride.

Family Christmas Photos

2007-12-30T20:31:00.000-06:00

Round 1 of adding tons and tons of Christmas pictures......getting ready for Church Sunday Morning before Christmas.

Our sweet babies cooperated so well for these pictures! It was amazing.

Family photo

Mommy and Chelsea

Mommy and Ethan
(he can already "cheese" just like daddy)

Daddy and Chelsea

Daddy and Ethan

More to come......

Ethan and Oscar's Last Hoo-rah

2007-12-07T20:48:00.000-06:00

My best friend busted the oh-so not good news that they will be moving to North Carolina for at least a few years. She has a son that is a month apart from Ethan, and since we have NO other boys in our family, I am quite sad to see Oscar go (for Ethan's sake). Soooo, we all met up one night at Lupe Tortilla's so we could hang out and the kiddos could play. I didn't get a shot of Chelsea and Libby together...Chelsea had been yackin' all day and I didn't want to get Libby sick.

Sweet little Libby!

Ethan and Oscar promptly found the ramp....my boy loves him some ramps!!

He apparently wanted to make sure Oscar loves ramps as much as he does!

My dancing elf kids

2007-11-20T21:03:00.000-06:00

Go check out this link!!
http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=9561317927

OK,I was having fun with this, so I decided to do the whole fam!! We're oh, so very talented.
http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=9561480360

Halloween

2007-11-19T15:07:00.000-06:00

Here's a few of the peeps in their costumes for Halloween. Ethan was, of course Pablo from the Backyardigans. Chelsea was a little fairy princess. (we borrowed a recital costume from my niece). They made the round all dolled up. They went to a birthday party, a festival at a local college, and our church fall festival. We had a great time. Ethan and Chelsea getting ready to go to a birthday party

Chelsea at the Festival
(looking like the diva she is)

Ethan and Kent

Ethan and Bella

Me and my little blue fairy princess at Church
(yes, we borowed 2 costumes)

The fam

Chelsea had a plan

2007-11-19T13:59:00.000-06:00

Chelsea has finally figured out how to get the cats to play with her......very smart I'd say. Everyone knows that yarn (and jewelry making) is actually ancient Chinese kitty torture!!if you enlarge this first picture, you'll notice

Gatsby in the background looking like a Jawa or something!!

Cheerio--not much going on in that head of his...

I guess Gatsby just wants his eyes to glow in every picture!

OK, that's enough fun, now how do I get myself out of this mess? she asks.

Playing in the yard

2007-10-26T20:13:00.002-05:00

Chelsea didn't want to be left back on the deck--she wanted to come play with her brother.
she says "Pretty please help me down"

So, being the good big brother he is, he "helped" her down alright!

She made a good recovery, though!

Ethan proceeded to climb the slide!

OK, she's a little bit precious

2007-10-10T23:28:00.000-05:00

These are the proofs from Chelsea's 1 year picture. I know, I know, she's adorable!!

Ethan and Ella's outing

2007-10-09T19:54:00.000-05:00

Ok, so this was totally back in August, but I keep forgetting to put these pictures up here. Ethan's COOL aunt Stephanie took him and Ella to see the Wiggles when they came to Houston (ain't she brave?!) They totally had a good time. Aren't they cute? Ella and Ethan before the Show

Ethan enjoying the show

Toot toot chugga chugga big red car!!

Saturday at the Park(s)

2007-10-09T19:48:00.000-05:00

Miss Chelsea

Just like mama with her sunglasses!!

They play sweet together

A couple of Saturdays ago, we decided to have a "progressive park day". We started out at one park by the baseball fields, then ended up at a school playground near the house. It was a beautiful day and the kiddos needed something different to do besides hanging at the house.

My baby girl is ONE!!

2007-09-02T20:13:00.000-05:00

I can't believe how fast this year has gone. It seems like just yesterday, we were bringing my baby girl home from the hospital. My how time flies. We had her b-day party Saturday at our house. I had such a good time getting ready for it, and a great time seeing everyone! Chelsea didn't do a face plant into her cake like Ethan did, but she did a great job.What's this? (with Ethan in the background wondering if she's gonna eat all that!)Oooh, I got some on my finger....should I eat it??

Mmmmmmmmmm, that's yummy!!

You want some?
I think I'm getting full!

2007-08-18T20:35:00.000-05:00

Ethan was being a good big brother tonight and wanted to help give Chelsea her "night night" bottle. Now, she's almost a year old and can hold her bottle herself, but who am I not to let him help. Although, you can note the nonverbal cry for help in this last picture as he was trying to love on her and give her sugars. Funny how it's cute or sweet when mommy or daddy give her hugs and sugars, or hold her ankle when she's trying to crawl away, but if her bubba does it, she screams bloody murder!!

Last Beach Pics (for now)

2007-07-31T14:02:00.000-05:00

For some reason, Ethan and Paw Paw

decided that he needed to go for a wagon ride

in the ocean. It was a little wierd seeing it bob up

and down over the waves. Ethan wasn't quite sure

what to think about it, but stuck it out to see where

it was going. In true "toddler" style

Ella and Macey were chompin' at the bit to give

it a whirl as well, but they didn't know what to

think about it either and it true "girl" style quickly

vocalized their dislike.

Ethan Loves wearing his sunglasses.

I had to put a picture of the whole family up here to prove that we were all actually on vacation. We had such a good time. Yes, my sunglasses are large and obnoxious, but I had to have something that covered my hideous black eye that I had gotten the week before!!

I was so glad Chelsea didn't shy away from the sand and the water. I was a little afraid she would think the sand was "icky" (which, if you've been to any Texas beach, it probably is--but she doesn't know any different). She had been to the beach before in Galveston, but you never know what they'll like one day to the next.

This last picture says it all. Passed out on the ride home, still holding a balloon......trying to keep the party going!!

Watering Paw Paw

2007-07-31T13:46:00.000-05:00

Ethan and his cousin Ella had a great time playing at the beach on Sunday. They would just run to the water and fill up their bucket or watering can, and run back and water the seaweed! Over and over and over. I wish I knew their criteria for choosing a spot to water. Sometimes they decided they needed to water Paw Paw. Macey even got in on that action! The kids played together so well and entertained everyone!

First time to fly a Kite

2007-07-31T13:41:00.000-05:00

My little man loves kites! He was so excited when his cousin Macey had one at the beach and he got to fly it for a while. We attached it to his little life jacket and let him run around with it for a while. He liked being able to swim and fly a kite at the same time!

Asleep in the ocean 7/25

2007-07-31T13:35:00.000-05:00

Well, after she finished her bottle and lounging around a while, she decided to go for a swim. After about 2 minutes of floating on the waves, she crashed. I just let her sleep there for about 10 minutes while I held on to her ankle. Pitiful, ain't it? Again, it must be so hard to be a baby.

Queen of the Beach 7/25

2007-07-31T13:17:00.000-05:00

Chelsea obviously thinks she's the queen of Sheeba or something. This was our first day out at Crystal Beach, and she quickly made herself at home in her little bikini on the lounge chair, drinking her milk. Not even one year old yet and she is already kicking back on the beach with her bottle. Too bad I didn't have a little umbrella to put in it for her. Although, she may start to expect such service if I had done that!!

Little Monkey

2007-07-02T14:37:00.000-05:00

It seems that Chelsea is starting to get brave in her old age!! She's decided that standing beside the table and pestering Ethan while he eats isn't enough, now she has to climb up onto the table and get into his cheerios. I think the only thing that's bothering him at this point is that she's blocking the view of his Little Einsteins. He knows she's not going to eat his food. That would mean she was eating something solid. Heaven forbid!

Hanging Out

2007-07-01T22:44:00.000-05:00

There's not much else on the planet that can melt a mama's heart than the smiles of her children. Just looking at their faces can banish stress, rid all other cares in the world, and make you realize how lucky you are to have such precious babies. Ethan is a total sponge these days. Every day he amazes me with how much he is learning. I love to hear him sing "twinkle twinkle little star" while he's playing, and see how excited he gets when he's done counting to 10 and starts clapping for himself. I love to see his little hands start opening and closing real fast when he sees something cool. Chelsea is growing so fast, too. She's getting into everything. She already knows how to pester her brother, squeal like a little girl, and learned how to say "uh-oh" over the weekend. Every day brings something new that I always look forward to.

Beach Outing

2007-06-23T19:57:00.000-05:00

Today we went to the beach with a group of friends. We went to Galveston and headed for Beach Pocket Park on the suggestion from others. We got to Park #3, unloaded--all the while some lady was in the parking lot on her cell phone with her kids griping about the beach being "broken" or something......who knows, right? Well, after paying $8 to park (strike one), one would think the beach would be alright. Strike two--the bathroom facilities are ALL broken and we were redirected to the nice Porta-Pottys downstairs. Strike three--that place was NASTY!! There was massive amounts of stinky seaweed all over that beach--you couldn't even get to the water. Well, we overheard cellphone lady say that the machine that combs the beach for seaweed broke and only Beach Pocket Park #1 had been cleaned, but that was down by the stables and there was stinky poo everywhere. Well, we decided to check it out (at least our pass worked for all three places). We loaded up all the gear and kids in all our cars and headed to Park #2--just as nasty, #1--also just as nasty. At least we were able to go to yet a Fourth place and get our 8 bucks back for parking (after the guy working in that office got off the phone with his boss and gave him the "silent finger". Classic. Apparently he disagreed with what was said on the other end) Whatever. It's just getting comical at this point! We finally decided just to head down to Stewart Beach (which was also $8 to park, but who cares). All this happened fairly quickly, so at least it didn't ruin the day. We had a GREAT time hanging out with friends and all the babies at the beach. It was a perfect day (for me, anyway) to be at the beach because it was very overcast and actually very pleasant temperature-wise. One cool thing that we got to see was a water spout. (okay, I'm a nerd, so i posted a link to info on water spouts) We were in the water and saw the rest of our group flailing around trying to get our attention and started pointing at it off in the distance--but it was pretty much dissipated by then. Then after saying "that's soooooooooo cool" a few times, it decided to re-form!! Sweet! Gotta love this picture of Ethan playing in the water at the beach with a waterspout/tornado in the background. Quite possibly might earn us the parents of the year award, right!! There wasn't any way we were giong to get that boy out of the water at that point anyway! He was having way too much fun. He and Chelsea had a blast. They both loved it. I was a little worried that they might be afraid of the waves or the water, but they just cackled and had a ball. Ethan learned how to trample sand castles (as you can see in that first picture) Chelsea just floated around like she was queen of everything and watched brother jump the waves! Needless to say a good time was had by all, and we didn't even have to worry about getting a sunburn, or getting swept away to Oz! I'm just glad to know that they like the beach and that they should have fun next month on vacation. Basically, the lesson we learned for the day is to ASK the dude (or dude-ette) at the entrance if the beach is full of seaweed or not, or just head down to Stewart Beach--it's the same price to park anyway and the facilities are nice.

A Day at the Zoo

2007-06-14T16:11:00.000-05:00

Well, we had a class fellowship at the zoo the other day. Isn't this a sight.......all the babies lined up ready to face the animals. Our baby crew consisted of Kent, Ella, Chelsea, and Ethan-who looks so huge since he's the oldest. We had such a great time. Ethan and Chelsea enjoyed the petting zoo. As you can see, Ethan had to have a serious conversation with the goat (maybe they were planning their escape). Chelsea wasn't quite sure what to think of him--probably thinking "that's the funniest looking kitty I've ever seen". We got to hang out and walk around for a few hours before getting completely flooded out!! We found shelter in the tiger tunnel after getting completely soaked, which was neat because the tigers were also trying to get out of the rain, so they were smushed up against the glass! I'm always amazed at the size of their paws! We all had such a great time, and even though it monsooned, I was happy that it wasn't hot, and that we got to spend time with good friends.