Galveston Getaway

June 24-26, 2011














We had a memorable trip with our life-long friends (more accurately half-life for Greg and ten plus years for me) on a weekend getaway to Jamaica Beach in Galveston. We usually travel at least once a year together as a group where typically gambling is involved, but every now and then we like to include the kids. And by kids, I mean seven kids total, aging from one to six years. It was a full house to say the least.

The kids had fun playing pirates with some of Brady's leftover party supplies from his fourth birthday. They dressed the part, made treasure maps, crafted pirate hooks, and even went on a treasure hunt. Miss Haley had cupcakes for the kids to decorate and almost succeeded in getting Cash to eat his first bite of icing but at the last minute he changed his mind. It was almost a monumental moment since Cash only eats the cake part of cupcakes (Brady only eats the icing so it works out well). Why am I sitting here talking about food? The best part of the trip was the BEACH!!!

Brady turned pro surfer on his boogie board and caught every wave for hours. Cash loved playing with his little boat and running in and out of the waves. He even let me carry him out pretty far which is a huge feat compared to his Hawaii trip when he didn't even want to get his toes wet in the ocean. Brady and Cash both enjoyed building sand castles with their friends and we all even played marine biologists for quite a while looking for crabs, shrimp, and other critters under the seaweed. This led to Brady becoming the sea monster with seaweed covering him from head to toe.

Everybody really had a great time! The only changes we want to make for next year are to stay longer, two nights was definitely not enough, and we will need a larger house considering another baby is due in October!

The Last Hurrah

Saturday, June 18, 2011
Brady ended his first baseball season with a bang! During the game, he made several good hits and even stopped a ball while playing first base. This is a tremendous feat compared to the beginning of the season. At his team party, he won a trophy and earned the "Most Improved Player" award. Way to go Brady! He can't wait for next season and Cash is looking forward to playing next year too!

Pandamania

June 13-17, 2011


Brady experienced vacation bible school in a whole new way this year. The theme was PandaMania, where God is wild about you!
The kids explored a bamboo forest full of fun-loving pandas while learning that they are God's most precious creation. Brady really enjoyed his time at VBS and was excited to tell me what he learned each day and show me his panda crafts. On the final day, all the parents were invited to see a short and sweet performance by the kids. Some of the special songs were so funny, Brady was really getting into them.

Swimming Lessons

June 2011










This summer we took swimming lessons with Ms. Lori. Brady was super excited and ready to learn to swim without a life jacket. By the second lesson, he could swim across the pool by himself! Go Brady! This was the very first time Cash has taken lessons. I was so nervous because he usually screams anytime we go near water and never wants to go in (much less with a stranger). He has barely started enjoying baths. I was so proud and shocked when he JUMPED right in to Ms. Lori! He started off small and was a champ at monkey crawls around the perimeter of the pool and at swimming across the pool on a kickboard. On the other hand, he hated floating on his back and going under the water to reach the wall. That's when the crying began. Poor baby! He would just cry "Monkey walk, monkey walk, monkey walk" because he wanted to stop all of that other nonsense. It was so sad and pitiful.

As a treat for their hard work after every lesson, I would take the boys to the Splashpad to play and have fun. We have gone swimming more this summer than ever before and both of them have improved tremendously in their skills. Brady will go down the slide on the five feet end of the pool and then swim back to the wall by himself, and Cash plays carefree in the water now and even gets his head wet! Splish Splash!

Golf Camp

Houston National Golf Course
June 7-10, 2011





Brady loved his week long golf camp this summer. Each day began with golf activities on the driving range, followed by personal enrichment and lunch inside the clubhouse, and ended with a nice cool down in the swimming pool. The enrichment activities included a yoga class, Cy-Fair Volunteer Fire Department presentation, dining etiquette and last but not least - laser tag! Obviously, Brady wants to go back next summer because he had a blast! And, I want him to go back next year too because everything was so well organized and supervised, I was thoroughly impressed. The coordinator even went above and beyond and emailed some pictures of their camp. If you look hard enough you can find Brady in the photos (in the yoga picture, he's the second child from the left in the middle row).

Get Well Granny

Monday, June 6, 2011


Poor Granny was in ICU for several days before being moved to another hospital room for an additional week. Since the kids were not allowed to visit, we gave her an 8 x 10 of this photo to hang in her room so she could see Brady and Cash. We love you Granny!

Memorial Day, Kerrville Day 4

Boompa took the boys on an adventure and what did the lucky little guys find...horseshoes!

Brady and Cash found a fun, new way to pass time at the Birdcage. They like to pretend the rocks are legos and they build different structures with them. They literally can stay down there for hours!

Memorial Day, Kerrville Day 3

I was determined to get some family shots in the river today! Unfortunately, Papa was too tired from all the fun yesterday and chose to watch from the top of the cliff along with Granny whose bone spurs in her feet hurt too bad to climb down. Thus, Uncle Anthony took it upon himself to entertain the kids. Look at how far he threw Brady in the air! The little dare devil loved it! And, Cash cracked up at Uncle Anthony chasing him like a shark. He would just laugh and laugh! This was the first time EVER that Cash allowed me to let go of him in the river and would just float around on his noodle. Hip, hip, hooray!

Before they left, Grandma and Boompa hosted a bar-b-que and then we roasted some s'mores for dessert. This was the first time Kasey and Bubba had them so they loved the yummy treat. After some hugs and kisses, my family went home and now I'm already looking forward to our next trip together!