A trip to Houston, part 2

So after visiting some fun friends, we headed south into Galveston County to meet up with Grandpa for dinner. We drove through Santa Fe (our old stomping grounds) and saw the house where we lived (and the house where Jeffrey was born....there's not a plaque there yet, but I'm sure one day there will be!!). It looked good and much of Santa Fe looked the same as it did while we lived there. There are lots of parts that have really grown....kinda glad we don't live there anymore! Actually, really glad we don't live there anymore!

Here's the house.

Then, it was off to dinner with Grandpa and Lois, followed up by a trip to the go-kart track.

Jeffrey ready to go!

Jonathan bucklin' up for the race.

And Jeremy's ready, too!

Since Josiah wasn't quite tall enough to ride alone, Grandpa got the nod. Neither Lois nor I had ANY desire to drive him (I've had a bad experience w/ go karts!!), so Grandpa gladly stepped in. And beat everyone in the race!!



Te next morning, after the obligatory trip to Shipley's for awesome donuts, we headed south even further to Galveston to the beach. It was on the top of the list of MUST SEEs while we were around the beach. We went in the morning and stayed a couple of hours. It was a perfect amount of time and lots of fun.

Playing in the waves...

Prepping a sandcastle...

Josiah taking a break from the waves and hangin' in the sand.

The beach is much more fun with brothers!!

Coming up next....a trip to Space Center Houston.

A trip to Houston, part 1

**Just in case my internet connection dies sooner than I hope, I'm just going to post short posts and hopefully get them in!


A couple of weeks ago, the boys and I headed east to Houston to visit some friends and to see Grandpa. We had a great time, but MAN I'd forgotten just how humid Galveston County really can be! It hadn't rained in Houston for a long time, but it rained on us driving in, which brought the humidity right back up to "normal" levels! Lovely! But all that aside, we really did have a good time. Our first stop was to Conroe to visit some friends that I hadn't seen in 5 years (or 4 kids!) We were friends in Memphis for a short time before they moved to St. Louis. I caught up w/ her (on Facebook) and found out that their family lives in Conroe. It was a "no brainer" to stop by and visit while we were in the "area". Of course, in Houston, in the "area" means you're within an hour or hour and 15 minutes away! It was a wonderful visit and so cool to see how we have so much in common, even years later.

Here are our guys w/ the Romer kiddos. One thing the boys loved was the accent that everyone had. Dan and Susie Romer are from the UK. All of their kiddos have been born in the US, but still have an accent. They were such sweet kids. Everyone had a great time! It was a great stop over!

We then headed south to Santa Fe to stay w/ our dear friends the Hardcastles (who have 9 boys and 1 girl). Now THAT was a fun place to stay lemme tell ya! Lots of boy-ness...air soft guns, trampolines, chickens, triple-decker bunk beds (x3), even bagpipes!! We had a great time reconnecting with them. I was having so much fun, I forgot to take any pictures.

Coming up next....fun with Grandpa!

Hard to post w/out the internet!

We've been having such problems w/ our internet...and thus no posts. Stay tuned! I'm trying to get some coming!!

The funth of July

We had a totally great time on the 4th this year! It started on Friday night when we dashed over to Sea World to watch fireworks, arriving just as they were starting! It was perfect timing...and you can get a really great parking place at 9:15pm !! We had to move over a couple of times b/c the wind kept blowing smoke and ash right where we were. Not so great! But it was an easy walk over to where there was a great view w/out the added sulphuric smell and embers landing on your skin. The show was great...and I forgot my camera. So, no pics there.



Then on Sat. morning we got up and headed into Castroville for the parade. We aren't faithful parade goers, but we thought we should do it at least once while we live here. Turns out the weather was great, it was about 80 and overcast. Very nice.

Josiah waiting for the parade.

Jonathan waiting as well.

The parade was actually pretty impressive. It lasted about 35 mintues and was filled w/

The Air Force Basic Training band

Army and Air Force jeeps

Lots and lots of old cars and trucks (the boys LOVED this one!)

Here we are during a break in the parade. Waiting for the next thing. Jeffrey and Josiah were suprised (and thrilled) to see people throwing out candy. So we made it home w/ two hatfuls of candy. (Most of which got thrown into the trash Sat. night)

There were several old tractors.

And even some miniature horses

After the parade, we headed into town (the BIG town) to see Ice Age 3. On the way, Michael decided to stop off at Pappasitos for lunch. Since it was not quite 11, we were the first people there. In fact, for most of the meal, it was like our own private dining room!

It was filling up by the time we left, but we enjoyed the quiet while we had it. And the food was FANTASTIC!! I guess when you're the first ones there, you're guaranteed super fresh food!!

After the fantastic lunch, we headed to the movie and had a great time laughing and enjoying it, even on the way home, as the boys (as always) quoted funny lines from the movie the entire way home.

By the time we got home, it was HOT! So, Jeffrey and Josiah decided to put on their bathing suits and play in the sprinkler. Ok, so it's NOT as great as having a pool, but water is water and when you're hot, it's good enough!

In typical boy style, they were playing that their sprinklers were shooting bullets and they would hide behind pots and things (like bunkers) and "charge" their enemy.

It was a great weekend! I'm so thankful for America! I'm so thankful for my family!! And the chance to celebrate both!

Happy birthday to me!!

Ok, so I'm behind in blogging....I guess I'm just getting old! SOOOOO old that I'm creeping perilously close to the big 4-0! But not yet!! So, I'm set on enjoying this year 39, which included "milkin' my weekend for all it's worth"! We drove over to B/CS to spend the weekend w/ mom and dad. Well, turns out they weren't there on Friday, but we went anyway. :-) They showed up on Saturday and the birthday fun began. I got to choose the lunch menu....I chose this yummy mexican frito salad that in the past no one in my family has cared too much for. But guess what?? It was MY choice, so there you go. Turns out, this time around it met w/ better reviews. It was delicious!!!!

Mom and I went to see a movie ("My Sister's Keeper", total tear jerker!), to the mall and then picked up Pei Wei for dinner. This time I tried Orange Peel Tofu and Veggies. It was AWESOME!! It's my new favorite thing there.

Sunday (my actual b'day) we got up and went to church, grilled out burgers and ate chocolate cheesecake for dessert

Total yumminess!! Michael and the boys got me a grain mill (to grind grains for flour) and a trip to Dallas in August to hang w/ Julie for the weekend.

As the year progresses and I head toward 40, I've decided that this year I'm going to give up eating anything containing high fructose corn syrup, caffeine or hydrogenated oils. Man, that's been tough! And not perfect, but I'm making progress!! I'm not sure I had quite the depth of revelation before now, but HFCS is in EVERYTHING!! But that's going to be my 40th b'day present to myself...to be healthier. After all, I want the next 80 years of my life to be full of health and enjoyment!!