Spring Break - Galveston - Part 1

 Another year, another Spring Break on the beach. Galveston is close and the girls love the pool at our place in Galveston so why go to a "better" beach when they don't really care. Actually, the beach was really nice this year. Much less trash and seaweed. I don't know what was wrong last year but there were jellyfish on the beach along with tons of seaweed and garbage. Sure, there was some trash but it didn't really look like they were grooming the beach. One afternoon, there was just tons of seaweed washed up on shore that wasn't there (at the same time of day) the previous day. Some weird tide pattern or something I suppose. I don't pretend to understand how the tides work.

We stopped in Pearland on our way down to have lunch with some of our Houston friends. Lucky us they've built a Lupe Tortilla's so that's where we went. Best Fajitas in all the world. Yes, seriously.  It was great to meet a brand new (4 month old) baby, Violet, and see another who has grown so much since we last saw him, Miles.  It sure is different getting together with our kids. Oh we are getting old. The kids were great in the car. Matthew was pretty quiet so I was a little concerned. At lunch, we learned he had a pretty nasty fever going. He didn't even want his apple juice!! After lunch, just as we were headed south on the freeway, he puked all over himself.  All over his only jacket. I bought him a long sleeved swim cover hoodie for the trip so that was a life saver for us (and James did a load of laundry after our time at the beach that night too - love that guy).

It was pretty cold this year so the day we arrived, we didn't put on swimsuits to go to the beach. We were wearing our sweatshirts too, which the girls promptly removed to play in the surf and sand. It was cool, cloudy and windy when we set out for the beach. There was a wedding on the beach too! The girls were excited to see the princess come down the ramp over the dunes. The clouds broke and the sun shined throughout the ceremony and it was beautiful. Of course, their pics and video probably have our kids running around screaming in the background. Oh well ... semi - private beach and all.

We decided to visit the Railroad Museum on our first full day there. Originally we had planned to go to the beach in the morning and the museum in the afternoon but since it was in the 50s in the morning we switched it up a little.  Matthew was even more excited this year to see the trains. The kid LOVES trains so this trip tot he museum was very exciting for him. I am amazed by the museum and how far it has come in a year. You should check out some pics of the damage from Hurricane Ike in 2008 on their facebook page HERE. To be honest, I think the FEMA funds have made it a better museum than it was before Ike.

The girls had so much fun sitting next to the statues (Ghosts of Travelers Past) and posing like them or pretending to talk to them. I always thought they were kind of creepy or they would come to life as part of a 'gotcha' show.

They also give little train rides up and down Harborside Drive. To give you a little perspective, the other side of Harborside is home to the Galveston Cruise Terminal. That explains the extensive flooding at the museum from the storm surge. It is practically on the water. The train is just an engine and a caboose, the route isn't very scenic and it only takes about 10 minutes. Well worth the $4 though. Look at those smiles!

 

 Kiddos lucked into a train table in the museum lobby. I thought we were going to be stuck there forever but when we told Matthew we were going to see real trains he bolted for the door.

After our train experience we headed out to the Strand for some lunch. It really is hard to find a good meal on the Strand. It has always been that way and I just don't understand it. There are a few bars and I wouldn't mind eating at them but they are bars first and food is an afterthought. I don't think my almost 2 year old has the ability to belly up to the bar on a stool. For the second year in a row we have ended up at Yaga's. I was never extremely impressed by this place but it hasn't disappointed. Poor Matthew was done and his Advil was wearing off. His fever was back and she cuddled and slept through lunch. Poor kid.  

Naturally, you have a sick kid with you so what do you do? Go to the candy store, of course. I didn't take any great pics at LaKing's for some reason but here are a few. We sat at the little kids table in the back and they had a few coin operated rides that the girls just HAD to ride. 

Matthew just enjoyed some ice cream.  MY ice cream.

I think it brought his fever down a little because he sure perked up after that.

Emily doesn't do ice cream so she opted for a giant purple lollipop at the candy store. Don't worry, she didn't even come close to finishing it.




Below, James and his mini-me walking together.

Annual Daddy Daughter Dance

The first week in February is our Wedding Anniversary. Our anniversary celebration now comes second to the Daddy Daughter Dance the city holds every year on the first weekend in February. I guess if James is going out with other girls, these are the two he needs to be with. They were so excited this year because they remembered last year's dance. That, and they like fancy dresses. I don't know why Megan felt the need for props in this picture but she has a wand, is holding her most recent soccer trophy, and has her fall flowers next to her. Yes, they wore the crown headbands to the dance and Megan actually wore her Rapunzel shoes (with heels) from Halloween. This year's theme was "Royal Ball" so why not go dressed as princesses?

Emily's Pump-It-Up Party

My kids and their terrible birthdays. Poor Emily has a birthday right around when they return to school after Christmas break and we have had pretty bad turnout for her parties because of that. This year, we waited until the end of the month for her party. It was nice to let the hustle and bustle of the holidays settle before throwing a party. Hopefully this year I will be able to convince the girls that they do, in fact, want a party together, before Christmas, hopefully at the indoor pool, to celebrate both their birthdays. Especially since they are so close in age and share a few friends.

Birthday girl ready to bounce!!

Big sister was pretty "pumped" about Emily's party location.

Hey! Who busted me playing?

Emily's little boyfriend from school, Joel.  LOVE this kid. 

He has an older brother in Megan's class, which is a lot of fun!

It took poor little Matthew a while to warm up to this place but once he did, he had a "ball"!!  

Party-goers with silly faces.

Emily, Joel and Noah on the slide. I'm pretty sure the ladder is so backed up because of me and Matthew.  Matthew didn't even like the slide once we were up there.  

Cake = Smile

Happy Birthday sweet girl!

Sledding, Texas Style

They wanted to go play so we went to play! Grabbed one of the sleds and headed to the park to see if we could slide down the small man made hill at the park. When I say small, I mean small. It was worth a try and if it didn't work I could just pull them across the ball fields in the sled and not look like to much of an idiot for trying to sled down a hump in the park. They had fun walking but the sidewalk was solid ice. I made them walk in the grassy parkway on the way. Their rain boots may be waterproof but they have no traction. No, they don't have snow boots. What the hell do we need snow boots for living up here? Their feet grow so fast they probably wouldn't even last the whole winter. (OK confession, I bought them some snow boots on Zulily a few days after the snow so I'm sure we will not have any more snow until 2017.)

Megan is my snow bunny and she loved it right from the beginning. It took us a while to convince Emily she needed to go down the hill. She looked like a natural on the sled but didn't really warm up to the idea very quickly. She had a lot of fun out there though (until she made a snow angel on the way home and got snow all over her and in her boots and mittens).

Our little hill actually worked pretty well. I even took a ride (no pics of that one, sorry) and it worked. I probably got a 40 yard slide out of it. It really isn't much of a hill but with a plastic sled and slippery snow, it was a blast. Maybe a little safer than the driveways and streets covered in ice that we slid down as kids, and absolutely not as much fun, but it definitely worked for the preschool set that didn't know any better. We were the ONLY people out there too. I found that fairly odd. It was the afternoon on the day after Christmas and it had warmed up considerably with very little wind so where the hell was everyone? We didn't pass anyone on our walk to the park and we didn't even hear anyone playing on the way either. A few cars drove by and they probably thought we were crazy.  Hey, we were having fun. More fun than they were for sure!

Merry Christmas!!

SANTA CAME!

apparently he left gifts for a few families at our house.

Santa ate his cookies and drank his milk too.

Matthew was up early but was completely unaware of what Christmas morning means to little kids. He just wanted his yogurt, cherry cereal bar, milk, woobie, and a cartoon to watch. He had no idea the study was full of new toys.

OK, the girls are up and Matthew finally figured it out. He wanted nothing to do with his stocking until we started pulling cars and trains out of it. Then he followed us around asking for us to pull more stuff out of it.

Megan got a Princess Sofia doll! Santa is good.

What? A Rapunzel Bride doll?

That Santa ... how does he know?

You should have seen the flood of paper and tissue. They were present opening machines this year and didn't stop until every package was opened.

Matthew took a break from the action and crawled up into James' new tailgating chair to have a snack.

Daddy put together the toys and all three of them liked Bubby's toys the best. This is a work bench with screwdriver, hammer, wrench. It was a big hit, and still is, thanks to Grammy!

The best present was yet to come. It SNOWED! "They" said we might get a trace but nothing much but it was a good, heavy, wet snow and we got a couple inches before it was done. Santa also brought sleds this year because (s)he found them on Amazon.com. A three-pack of plastic sleds for $25 just sounded too perfect for our family and the kind of snow (ice) we get most often. The sleds were just put away in the shed for our first snow day and the kids didn't know we had them. More sledding pics to come but I had to put these here because it was Christmas day!

"How many times do I have to tell you, Mom? I don't do bundled up. Period. It's cold and I belong inside."

Pre-Christmas Fun

As usual, the month before Christmas is a busy time for us. This year, it was complicated by EVERYBODY getting sick at one time or another. What a nightmare the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas were this year. I'm pretty sure I was sick from Halloween until mid-December and the girls each missed a couple days of school. We had to reschedule our trip to visit Santa and the Trains at Northpark because Matthew was sick. No worries though, we made it and were all well enough to attend the important stuff!! This year's Christmas Program at KDO was about the littlest angel and how she got her wings. It was a cute story. Megan's class, the Pre K Wolves, were the choir of angels and actually participated in the show on both Thursday and Friday since they attend school both days. Emily's class was in the Thursday program. She was a shepherd and rocked the frock for sure!!

Their next day back at school after the program was their Christmas parties. They chose to be "stinky twinkees" and wear the same outfits. The funny thing is the shirts are from last year and they still fit! I was very lucky that their parties were at different times this year. Megan's was first thing in the morning and Emily's was at lunch time. I had just about two hours between the parties. Last year, I spent so much time running back and forth between the classrooms during their parties and I always felt bad when I left one kid alone while I went to see the other.

Megan painting ornaments. She did pretty good ... compared to some of her classmates. Not bad for the second youngest kid in the class!

Marshmallow snowman. Cute idea!  I just wanted to eat it.

Emily waiting for her book exchange during her party. It's kind of a cute idea but they really just don't get it at this age. "what do you mean I have to pass presents around? Don't I get to keep them all?"

She was excited about her book. They like Goofy!

My four favorite people at the entrance to the Northpark trains. It's an annual thing and the trains don't change much but it is a great tradition and I love it. Matthew enjoyed it a little more this year. The kid is really into his trains.

My cuties all dressed and ready for Santa!!

Christmas Eve was cold but very sunny and we had been cooped up for a while with sick kids and rain so we bundled up and walked to the park. As you can see, Matthew is NOT a fan of the puffy coat or the hat. Actually, he hates them. Gotta do it, kid. Sorry! Maybe next winter he will wear some mittens.

Megan ... well, I'm not sure what she's doing ... just go with it.

Crazy Emily!

Welcome, what food do you want?

I included this picture just because James is in it and he's wearing a Santa hat at the park.

And Matthew looks super cute all bundled up.

Emily is FOUR!!

I can't believe it has been 4 years since my little Emily surprised us with her early arrival. Looking back at her pictures from the NICU to find a good one to post brought back a flood of emotions that are still so raw. I know it all worked out just fine and she is a wonderfully normal, free-spirited, silly-hearted 4 year old but the fear of the unknown, what could have been, what other parents of preemies were going through at the same time is still so vivid. When she was born and during her time in the NICU we didn't share photos of her all hooked up to the tubes and monitors. It was difficult to deal with, let alone share with others. I decided to post here the first picture ever taken of my baby Emmy. This was taken at 11 pm, 3 hours after she was born, and about 8 hours after I initially went into labor at 30 weeks and 4 days. After my c-section, the rolled me down to the NICU in my bed so I could see her and that's when I snapped this pic with my Blackberry. She weighed in at a whopping 3 lbs 9 oz and was 16.73 inches long. 

What a difference a year makes!

21 lbs 8 oz

29" tall

She was in the 50-75th percentile for girls her actual age. Basically, she was bigger than half the one year olds, including those who were born when they were supposed to be.

And here she is at two years old. We were quickly learning that the dramatic entrance was only the beginning for this little one. Oh the drama that is to come.

27 lbs 14 oz

35.5" tall

She actually shot up to 90th percentile in height while staying 50-75th percentile in weight. Tall and skinny but look at those chunky cheeks!!

Funny, I don't really have an actual 3rd birthday picture. The pics from the party didn't come out great, for whatever reason, so this is what I have.  What a beautiful smile my little broken toothed three year old had!

32 lbs 4 oz

38" tall

She started to even out a little again staying 50-75th percentile in weight and 75th in height.

Probably because she decided to stop drinking and eating all milk products and shifted her focus to peanut butter and chicken nuggets.

So now she is four! I couldn't get a good pic of her without Megan but that's OK because they're inseparable. She is all blinged up for her "Grandma Party" at home. Grammy and Grandma came over for lunch and cupcakes, which is why she's eating frosting off a spatula.

4 year well check isn't until March so I don't have her official stats yet but she's about 35 lbs and 40 inches tall.