Easter

We had another rainy Easter weekend this year. Luckily the eggs weren't rained on but the girls did sport their rain boots to run around the yard while hunting for loot. The EB filled about 65 eggs this year but the backyard hunt still didn't last very long. They had fun though and love the holidays that revolve around candy for breakfast. We went to Holy Cross for Mass on Easter morning. Fighting the crowds at St. Francis isn't much fun with 3 impatient kids in tow. Holy Cross meets at a local elementary school and while we still had to stand during Mass, the girls were able to leave for the children's liturgy and didn't have to stay with us the whole time. Honestly, I was surprised they went without us but Megan is growing up and wanted to do what the other kids were doing. We would switch to Holy Cross but since our kids attend the St. Francis preschool we are locked in there until Matthew (or player to be named later if there ever is one) completes their preschool career.  :)    Here are a few pics of our small, family Easter celebration. Grammy and Grandma came over for the egg hunt and lunch (and cookies)!!

 

Spring Break - Galveston - Part 3: Our Last Day of Fun

I don't have many pictures from our last day and I don't know why. My picture-taking (with the real camera) has slowed quite a bit. I guess I have been snapping every second of their lives for over 5 years now so maybe it's OK?  We went to the beach Wednesday morning but didn't last long. We were having fun building sand castles but everyone wanted to go to the pool instead. I didn't quite finish my sand kingdom. Maybe some day I'll get the chance. We we went swimming and Grandma even joined us for some of that. After the pool, we packed up and headed out in search of some lunch. Plans were for some good seafood (not that the kids would have cared much for that) but we ended up at an old Drug Store off the Strand. It was one of the top grilled cheese sandwiches of my life, for sure!! After lunch we walked to The Strand for one last trip to LaKing's (of course). I think Emily was a little tired ...

We had a little down time in the afternoon before heading down to the picnic area for s'mores. The girls had never experienced s'mores, or marshmallow roasting for that matter, so we thought it would be fun. Well, Emily doesn't eat chocolate so I ate her s'more. Megan decided she didn't like it so I ate her s'more. They had a great time roasting marshmallows, lots of marshmallows, all of which were given to me because nobody else likes them. After steering the kids away from filling me with 30 lbs of marshmallows, we played chase for a while and pretended to be crabs.  It was a good last night on the Island.

 

We spent a little time in the pool the morning we left. We weren't in a huge hurry to get home since it was only Thursday and we still had the rest of the week off. We also wanted to get the kids a little fun in the sun time before locking them into the car for 5 hours.  

Matthew wouldn't put on his swimsuit so he sat by the pool catching up on his Facebook, emails and tweets. Then, when he saw how much fun the girls were having, he decided it was time to take a dip so we had to go back up to the room to change. I think we checked out about one minute before check out time. Sometimes vacationing with kids can be just crazy and not really much of a vacation but we had so much fun, nobody wanted to leave.

On the road again!

This was actually our "Happy Birthday Uncle Coach!" picture.

Spring Break - Galveston - Part 2: A Day at the Pleasure Pier

It has been less than a month since I posted the first half of our Spring Break. Multiple posts in one month? Consider yourselves lucky! I had a hard time going through things trying to figure out where I left off but I think I figured it out. The old brain just doesn't work like is used to. Age? More likely the constant interruptions of "mommmmmmmmmmmyyyyyyyyy".

We spent our middle day at the "fair". The all new "Historic" Pleasure Pier. The history of the location is neat but it sounds like the pier doesn't handle hurricanes very well. From Wikipedia:  "Galveston Island Historic Pleasure Pier is built 1,130 feet over the Gulf of Mexico, where the original Pleasure Pier stood from 1943 until it was destroyed by Hurricane Carla in 1961. More recently, it was the site of the Flagship, an over-the-water hotel built in 1965 that was demolished after Hurricane Ike in 2008."  James and I have stayed at the Flagship and it was a neat concept but it was in such terrible shape when we stayed there (before we were married, I think) that Ike probably did the place a favor. It is expensive but well worth it for the fun the kids had. Even Matthew had a little fun in spite of his fever and, you know, lack of ride eligibility.   

Kids Bumper Cars

The girls rode the bumper cars AT LEAST 10 times.

I had to ride this ride with Emily. She wasn't tall enough. Really? It is a car that goes around in circles and, frankly, my ass was way too big for the seat in the back. She was all upset she couldn't ride in the purple car (seen in the background) because I didn't fit in it. You would think a rainbow barbie jeep would be her first choice anyways!!

Tea Cups. I didn't have to ride with the girls but I wanted to. I LOVE the teacups. Besides, they wouldn't have been able to spin them around without my help, right?

A smile from Matthew! 

I had to ride with Emily on the carousel too. Silly Pier people were sticklers for the height requirements. They measured my kids on every ride.

Face painting was not included in the price but they wanted it so they got it!

My beautiful pink butterfly!!

This is the frog ride that hopped up and down. I didn't have to ride this one with them but they wanted me to. It wasn't really made for kids my size.

My beautiful purple butterfly.

The sample was pink and it was the only one shown on the wall but my little Emmy hopped up in the chair and told the lady she wanted a PURPLE butterfly. Good thing the lady agreed. They would probably still be searching for her off the coast if Emily didn't get her way.  ;-)

It really was a lot of fun and a beautiful day too. I think we will go back again next time we are down there. I'm not sure the girls would let us skip it but I had so much fun I don't want to skip it. It was crowded later in the afternoon with all walks of life clad in various beachy attire wandering around so get there early. I think the pier was a good addition to the Seawall.

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?