The Flight

First, a HUGE thank you to Chris for taking us to the airport at 5am!!!  We arrived and got through security and everything went smoothly. I was a little concerned because I didn't even bring a stroller...so kiddos had to do some walking.  Great job!

 During the flight, we were in two seats (Mason was on my lap)...however the person sitting next to us decided they would prefer to sit somewhere else...haha :)  So we got the whole row.  Kids ate LOTS of new yummy snacks and watched movies.  It was a three hour flight and they did AWESOME.  Even got a couple of comments from surrounding people about how wonderful they did....proud Mama!

And then comes the next flight.  It's only 50 minutes....and we were on a SMALL plane and only had two seats.  The kids FELL ASLEEP DURING THE TAXI TO TAKE OFF!!!!!!!!!  You've got to be kidding me.  I didn't have my phone but needed to document this HUGE milestone...so I used my toes to get it out of my bag, kicked it on the ground and then had the neighboring passenger pick up my phone I "dropped" ;)  

Seriously people....this was huge.  Very grateful for this moment!

9:30pm

It's 9:30pm, I just got the kids out of a bath and into bed.  I put the rest of the clothes in the washer...which have to dry, before I can finish packing.  And we all have to be out of the door by 5am tomorrow morning.  Oh...Tim is in China, so first time flying solo with kids...YIKES!

But it's okay because we are traveling to

  AUNT ERIN's!!!!

Ice Cream Sandwiches with Friends

It doesn't get much better!

The Greatest Show on Earth!

A couple of weeks ago Chris had the great idea to get tickets and go to the circus.  After reading books and watching Dumbo...we were very curious about this event. Turns out, our kids LOVED the circus...even Tim and I thought it was a decent show.  

On the way out, we went under the stadium we stole a quick picture on a special ATV...  

Excited about the upcoming texan football season!!!

Foto Friday

Friends came over, ate some lunch, and swam a lot!  

There may have also been some laughter :)

(oh, and yes, Olivia is wearing santa footy pjs....)

Oh...

...and if you were wondering what Tim wants for Christmas, Wally World has this:

Evening Walks

Olivia's biking skills are constantly improving.  

Her brother is very eager to keep up with her ;)

Painting

Don't know why, but this is one messy activity that I actually love.  

Computers

I sit on the ball and use the laptop.

Olivia is learning to use the mouse and play on the computer.  

Mason navigates the ipad.

Night Swim

Although it doesn't look that dark out, this was our first "night swim" with the kids. 

♥

Tim had an alumni Rice function tonight.  (can you believe it's been a year?!?)

Afterwards we went out to eat at Reef.

Love time with him.

Foto Friday

Last Summer on Earth Concert Featuring:

Cracker

Big Head Todd & The Monsters

Blues Traveler

Barenaked Ladies 

Yup, we had a great time!

I-PAD

He wants to play this ALL THE TIME

Watching A Movie

Cutie

Then and Now - Yoga Style

23 Months

6 Months

9 Months

Eating

okay - Mason is almost two and this kid can be stubborn.  He doesn't eat what he doesn't want to.  On the flip side - if he likes something....he DEVOURS it.  

Case 1 - spaghetti

  

 Somewhere between plate 1 and plate 2 of spaghetti - he acquired a second fork

 

  

  

One content kid!

Brave

Daddy and Olivia went on a date to see Brave.

First thing she said walking in the door was...."There was a bear!!"  After some discussion,  they had a great time...the bear was a little scary, but she was Brave :) 

Foto Friday

Snowmen Ornaments

So it's a rainy July day and you are sitting around thinking about what to do with the kids who are a  little stir crazy.  And the first thing that pops in your head is...."CHRISTMAS CRAFTS!!!" 

:)  Well, it wasn't the first thing that popped in my head, but our wonderful Grana was prepared and knew that her granddaughter looooves "arts and craps" and had everything for an adorable project.  

Supplies:  ornaments, paint brush, paint, sharpies, glitter

Step 1 - explain to child what you are going to do, can even demonstrate without paint.

Step 2 - cover the child's hand with paint

Step 3 - make disgusted-what-is-going-on-with-my-hand face

 Step 4 - put ornament in hand 

 Step 5 - press child's finger one by one onto ornament (hello snowman!)

 

 Step 5,6,7,8 - if applying glitter, immediately sprinkle with glitter and let dry.  once dry use fine tip black sharpie for eyes, and buttons, orange fine sharpie for nose and a white sharpie for name/year.

Ta-Da!!!!!  A beautiful Christmas Craft!!!!

♥Thank you Grana♥

Downtown Aquarium

WOW...lots of rain around here lately.  I think we are all cautious about complaining of the rain, because we so clearly remember the drought of last year.  Although, this rain is getting a little out of control and now there are flooding worries.

Anywho, we ventured out in the rain and headed to the Downtown Aquarium.  We had a nice time and saw some great exhibits, but overall opinion - eh.  Didn't think it's worth the money, however it was an indoor activity for a very rainy day.  The aquarium is rather small...in fact, it ended and I had to ask if this was all there was???  There are rides and other fun things, but with the rain, we only took part in the shark train ride.

Oh and Daddy left work to meet us for lunch...he happened to get there a few minutes early to ride the train :)

The Crew

Chris and Cameron met us down there - loooove "overhearing" the conversations between Cameron and Olivia. I remember them having a particularly good discussion here :) 

 The white tiger was rather impressive...although kind-of wondering about his aquatic relation and if he would be better suited in the zoo???

Other fun pictures

After our 30-ish minute tour of the aquarium we went upstairs to have lunch.  There was a HUGE tank with some pretty impressive fish.