Monday, June 25, 2012
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Father's Day 2012
I had a lot of plans for what I was going to cook and things we could do at the house to celebrate Father's day and then all three of us became sick. No one felt like going to the grocery store so we've lived off of chicken noodle soup and whatever else we have had on hand for the last few days.We pretty much ran out of a lot of things so my Father's day plans for Garrett went out the window.
Since we are still contagious we didn't think Church would be a good idea but we were already up and awake and getting cabin fever so we decided to do something special and go out for breakfast. We figured the McDonald's play-place would be pretty deserted early on a Sunday morning and we were right. It was fantastic! We had the place to ourselves. It was relaxing and allowed Ethan to run some energy out. (How kids can still have energy when they don't feel well I'll never know).
Once Garrett saw the sign that said parents were welcome to play he couldn't resist. Ethan loved it!
And Garrett loved it too, although he got pretty winded climbing around with Ethan. (He blames it on feeling under the weather) At any rate, he had so much fun playing! He's such a good daddy. :-)
Of course another great aspect of having the place to ourselves was that when Garrett tired from playing were were able to sit back and watch Ethan play without having to worry about other kids.
When we got back to the house we gave Garrett his Father's Day present. He was in need of a new wallet and I found a handy groupon for a company called "Big Skinny". They advertise that their wallets are 3-5 times skinnier than your average wallet so I had to check it out.
When Ethan woke up from his nap he was cranky and wanting to watch cartoons, so we decided to do something new and take him to the dollar movie for our first movie outing as a family. We saw The Lorax (or at least most of it) and Ethan did better than we expected! He was in awe of the big screen and proudly sat in his chair between Mama and Dada. We bought a small popcorn which he clutched tightly between his little legs and held onto for dear life. He looked so little in the theater seat yet he acted so big munching on popcorn and reaching up into the cup holder for his straw-sippy full of water as if he's done it all a million times before. It wasn't until after we left that we saw that they had booster seats for kids his age. Whoops! That would have made things easier. At one point Ethan was saying "help!" and we turned to see his seat about to swallow him as the folding seat pitched upward sending his knees towards his shoulders!
It was super cute. And yes, we did help him. :-) After the movie we decided to make a quick detour to the mall play-place to let Ethan run some energy out from sitting in the theater. The play-place was crazy crowded so we decided it was a bad idea and instead let him play on the riding toys near the entrance. Neither of us had any quarters on us but Ethan didn't mind. I'm pretty sure he has no idea that they are supposed to move. We told him that the speed boat was a rocket and he fell in love. He kept talking about rockets the entire time and didn't want to get out. At this point we realized that he was actually over-tired and that it was time to get him home. Once home he went down an hour early for bedtime. We all felt pretty worn out but we are so glad that we got out of the house and made some new memories! Despite feeling under the weather, it was a really fun day!
Galveston 2012! Vacation Day 3
On our third and final day on the island we slept in, ate breakfast and then checked out of the hotel. We drove around a bit and then stopped at a different stretch of beach that we hadn't explored before so that we could get out, take pictures and say "Bye Bye" to the ocean.
Listening to the ocean and how the sound changes when he plugs his ears.
My camera fogged up from the change in temperature from our air-conditioned car to the hot humid air outside. Most of the photos were too foggy to use since the camera couldn't focus well through the foggy lens but some of the last photos I took were salvageable due to the fog starting to clear. I had to do a lot of editing to help it though!
Ahh....the power of shooting in RAW format + the magic of Photoshop. I love it. The point-and-shoot is great for worry free time while swimming on the beach but I love the power of an SLR.
Ethan loves the ocean and was so excited to see it again. He enjoyed pointing out the water, birds, and airplanes.
His enjoyment faded once he realized that we were just saying "bye" to the ocean and not swimming. Poor kid!
It was so muggy that once we got back to the car we were hot and tired and decided to stop by Rita's again for one last shaved ice before we left the island for College Station.
Morgan got a signature custard and ice
I got a blend of two ice flavors. Swedish Fish and Coconut. The coconut was amazing!
Ethan opted for chocolate teddy grahams instead of sharing with Mama.
Astrid enjoying her ice.
Listening to the ocean and how the sound changes when he plugs his ears.
My camera fogged up from the change in temperature from our air-conditioned car to the hot humid air outside. Most of the photos were too foggy to use since the camera couldn't focus well through the foggy lens but some of the last photos I took were salvageable due to the fog starting to clear. I had to do a lot of editing to help it though!
Ahh....the power of shooting in RAW format + the magic of Photoshop. I love it. The point-and-shoot is great for worry free time while swimming on the beach but I love the power of an SLR.
Ethan loves the ocean and was so excited to see it again. He enjoyed pointing out the water, birds, and airplanes.
His enjoyment faded once he realized that we were just saying "bye" to the ocean and not swimming. Poor kid!
It was so muggy that once we got back to the car we were hot and tired and decided to stop by Rita's again for one last shaved ice before we left the island for College Station.
Morgan got a signature custard and ice
I got a blend of two ice flavors. Swedish Fish and Coconut. The coconut was amazing!
Ethan opted for chocolate teddy grahams instead of sharing with Mama.
Astrid enjoying her ice.
Goodbye Galveston! In the words of Ethan, "Bye bye, miss you, see soon!"
Galveston 2012! Vacation Day 2
It was projected to rain our entire vacation but we lucked out and it rained during the night and early morning. We had a leisurely breakfast in the lobby and Ethan spent time watching the giant fish tank. One of the hotel workers spotted him and came over to feed their largest fish a grape so that he could watch. He enjoyed pointing out the colors of the fish and calling the little fish "babies". By the time we were ready for the beach at 11:30 am we had blue skies!
Knocking down the castle. He knocked them down faster than we could build them! At one point he had so many smashed castles around his feet that he was buried up to his knees. Morgan asked him where his feet were and he looked up puzzled and and said "I don't know!".
"Bye Bye Airplane!" There was a small plane carrying a banner that flew back and forth along the beach advertising. Ethan got excited and stopped to wave each time it went past. He loves airplanes!
Ethan doing his happy run back and forth into the ocean.
After three hours at the beach we stopped by our favorite shaved ice place, Rita's, before heading back to the hotel for a swim. Ethan and his Aunt Morgan got some bonding time in while swimming together. We tried to keep Ethan up so that we could all head over to the Strand for some shopping but this little boy was so worn out from no nap + a day at the beach and the pool that he climbed into his bed and fell asleep. After Morgan and Mom returned from the Strand we woke Ethan up and we all headed out to Mario's our favorite pizza place on the island. I wish I had brought my camera along to document- they have the best homemade pizzas!
Later that night this kid was bouncing off the walls from his nap. Here he is playing with his "yowie babboon". It lasted three days and provided a lot of entertainment!
Once kiddo went down for the night the rest of us sat out on our balcony and played a game of dominoes while eating our cannolis/cheesecake that we bought "to-go" from Mario's. I don't know which is better- their pizza or their cannolis!
Knocking down the castle. He knocked them down faster than we could build them! At one point he had so many smashed castles around his feet that he was buried up to his knees. Morgan asked him where his feet were and he looked up puzzled and and said "I don't know!".
"Bye Bye Airplane!" There was a small plane carrying a banner that flew back and forth along the beach advertising. Ethan got excited and stopped to wave each time it went past. He loves airplanes!
Ethan doing his happy run back and forth into the ocean.
After three hours at the beach we stopped by our favorite shaved ice place, Rita's, before heading back to the hotel for a swim. Ethan and his Aunt Morgan got some bonding time in while swimming together. We tried to keep Ethan up so that we could all head over to the Strand for some shopping but this little boy was so worn out from no nap + a day at the beach and the pool that he climbed into his bed and fell asleep. After Morgan and Mom returned from the Strand we woke Ethan up and we all headed out to Mario's our favorite pizza place on the island. I wish I had brought my camera along to document- they have the best homemade pizzas!
Later that night this kid was bouncing off the walls from his nap. Here he is playing with his "yowie babboon". It lasted three days and provided a lot of entertainment!
Once kiddo went down for the night the rest of us sat out on our balcony and played a game of dominoes while eating our cannolis/cheesecake that we bought "to-go" from Mario's. I don't know which is better- their pizza or their cannolis!
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Galveston 2012! Vacation Day 1
It's June again and while the boys were unable to make it to their annual D-Day paintball game we girls (plus toddler) still went on our annual beach vacation! On day 1 of our vacation we drove in from College Station arriving in Galveston around late afternoon. After checking into our hotel we headed straight to the beach where we spent the next three hours playing and swimming until evening.
Ethan loved it. He was happily entertained by the sand toys for far longer than a toy will normally occupy him.
We couldn't keep the sand off his face. Just as soon as we cleaned it off he'd wipe his sandy hands back over his eyes. It didn't seem to bother him thankfully.
Of course sand toys will only keep a kid away from water for so long! He had no fear of the ocean this year. He happily ran down to the water with us chasing him. Thankfully he enjoyed holding our hands when we stood in the waves because the sand sifting under his feet threw his balance off.
A few waves were big enough to hit him at chest height but it never bothered him. He was having too much fun squealing and yelling "Watch Out!" as each wave rolled in.
Proudly showing off his muddy face. We said he looked silly and that Mommy wanted to take a picture.
As always we enjoyed our first day at the beach getting re-acquainted with the ocean! My mom and I took turns playing with Ethan and swimming. I did forget that I'd taken our "oops bag" out of the car when we were in College Station to make more room so I had forgotten to pack an extra diaper + change of clothes just assuming I'd use the pair I kept in the car. Whoops! No big deal though. We wrapped him up in a beach sarong and he looked a little bit like Mowgli the boy from the Jungle Book. He didn't seem phased! We went back to the hotel to swim and after discovering our air-conditioning was out and changing rooms, taking showers, and getting cleaned up we had a late dinner of Subway in the hotel. Little boy was worn out but so were we! Morgan ended up falling asleep in her clothes and the rest of us went to bed early as well.
{Pictures taken with my 8 year old point n' shoot Sony Cybershot and edited in lightroom and photoshop. Thought it was dead this year but we finally got it working! Chews through batteries in about an hour though so pictures were limited)
We couldn't keep the sand off his face. Just as soon as we cleaned it off he'd wipe his sandy hands back over his eyes. It didn't seem to bother him thankfully.
Of course sand toys will only keep a kid away from water for so long! He had no fear of the ocean this year. He happily ran down to the water with us chasing him. Thankfully he enjoyed holding our hands when we stood in the waves because the sand sifting under his feet threw his balance off.
A few waves were big enough to hit him at chest height but it never bothered him. He was having too much fun squealing and yelling "Watch Out!" as each wave rolled in.
Proudly showing off his muddy face. We said he looked silly and that Mommy wanted to take a picture.
As always we enjoyed our first day at the beach getting re-acquainted with the ocean! My mom and I took turns playing with Ethan and swimming. I did forget that I'd taken our "oops bag" out of the car when we were in College Station to make more room so I had forgotten to pack an extra diaper + change of clothes just assuming I'd use the pair I kept in the car. Whoops! No big deal though. We wrapped him up in a beach sarong and he looked a little bit like Mowgli the boy from the Jungle Book. He didn't seem phased! We went back to the hotel to swim and after discovering our air-conditioning was out and changing rooms, taking showers, and getting cleaned up we had a late dinner of Subway in the hotel. Little boy was worn out but so were we! Morgan ended up falling asleep in her clothes and the rest of us went to bed early as well.
{Pictures taken with my 8 year old point n' shoot Sony Cybershot and edited in lightroom and photoshop. Thought it was dead this year but we finally got it working! Chews through batteries in about an hour though so pictures were limited)
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