Summer Vacation cont.....

After the Rainforest Pyramid, we traveled over to the Aquarium Pyramid...

The boys checking out the fish...




Everyone was facinated with the penguins...


One minute they were up and looking alive...the next, they were alseep!




We could have spent hours-actually I think we did-in here! There were different kinds of fish-pretty, mean, sparkle-y, spike-y, colorful, dull, etc. At every turn, Bryce was asking us to...'come and see this!' Jake just kinda trailed along, babbling right along with Bryce...we know that he was asking us to 'come and see' everything, too!




These are upside-down jellyfish and a purple & gold fish...boys ate that up!





The Three Amigos! This was only DAY 1...there are many more pictures and stories to share after I pick everyone up from daycare...

Mood Gardens will NEVER be the same!!

Each year we take a vacation with The Winkenwerder family. Last year Dawn planned the trip all herself, and we had a blast! This year, I thought about taking the boys to Moody Gardens in Galveston. It was fun....the boys played in the water at the condo, at MG, and then some.

The first day there was basically getting our stuff together...groceries, ironing out the trip, etc. Saturday morining we woke up and were at MG by 10:00. We watched a 3D film on Dolphins & Whales-kinda boring, but that was okay because Jake fell asleep! Then we headed over to the Rainforest Pyramid....





Here are just some random pics of flowers and animals inside the Pyramid...

Happy Birthday, Uncle Bubbie...

If there is one person, outside of my boys' daddy that they love to be around, it's Uncle Bubbie. Uncle Bubbie turns 29 today, and his only wish is that everyone is happy and has a good time. We are going to grill burgers, play on the slip-n-slide, and listen to the kids probably fight and laugh all at the same time!

Dusty is a good dad and loves to look at the brighter side of a situation, even if he is wrong most of the time. If there is one thing that he & I have learned, it's that you trust your family because there is no one else there that will have your back. I'm going to refer back to a conversation that he and I had last weekend...it takes a long time to realize who loves you and who doesn't...and an even longer time to love those people back, but when we do, we do so whole-heartedly.

Dusty/Uncle Bubbie/Daddy, enjoy your day today! Happy Birthday! You know how much we love you....

The Toy Fairy

A friend of mine and I were talking/bitchin about having to pick up toys. While I don't like to pick up, I really hate to see the thousands of dollars in toys that Bryce doesn't play with sitting in the closet, on the floor, in the playroom, in Jake's room, in the living room, in whatever other corner of the house we can find! So, she said that in Parents magazine, there was an article that referred to a Pick-up Fairy that came to the house and collected toys that weren't picked up. How this changed the household, apparently! So I thought I'd give it a try!

Yesterday while Bryce and Mia were whining and arguing about what to do, I reminded him of of the Toy Fairy...it was like a flash to play with toys. Then at the end of the night, toys were picked up and the floor was clean!! Today, when we left to get Jake, Bryce about had a fit because toys were on the floor, and The Fairy might come get them. What the hell do I do? We have to leave, but he called me on something.... so we picked up the toys. I helped and praised him for being a big boy!

Mind you the fairy, though it sounds very prissy and painsy...is a HIM in our house! Tamela, our secret fairy, may have to put her hubby on the phone to play this out in the event we have to call!!!

I'll let you know how things are going! Enjoy your weekend...

Bryce's new favorite saying...

OK, Jenny! You will appreciate this...

While I was trying to visit with one of my really, really, really good friends, I notice that my son, Bryce, has made friends with an extremely cute little girl-Emily, I think was her name. They were can-crushing and playing with monster trucks when all of a sudden we hear loud voices...you guessed it. Bryce and the cute little girl are arguing over which monster truck they want. So after I've tried to reason and make things better, Bryce pops off to her with...

'You get what you get, or you ain't gettin nothin'!'

Amen, Bryce, Amen!!!

The Fourth of July Fishing Tourney

This was the first fish that Bryce caught at the Half Moon Holidays this weekend. *Sorry about the closed eyes* He and his daddy were in deep concentration...




And it all ended with Bryce winning 2nd place in his division. His fish weighed 7 lbs. The 2nd place prize was a fishing rod and lures (sp). I don't really know who was more impressed Bryce or his dad!

Happy 4th of July!

The Fourth of July used to never really mean much to me-it was actually just an extra special weekend to drink lots of beer! But as I've gotten older, I've learned just how amazing this holiday really is...we have freedoms that others don't. We have men and women, moms and dads, brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles fighting for these freedoms, and I am proud of each of them!! God Bless you each and every day. You are true heroes in my/our books!

Every year since I can possibly remember, Shiner has hosted a Half Moon Holidays Fourth of July celebration. This includes craft booths, food stands, petting zoo, shaved ice, Moon walks, water slides, fishing tournaments for kids, 5K & 10K runs, etc. This year's main attrations for my family was the cook-off. My brother, Hvy-D, and hubby, J-Bird, decided to join in the fun. H&C was the sponsor for The H&Cizzlers-yea, you shoulda been there! They entered in all catagories and won 7th place in sausage and placed in ribs and beans...now this may not seem like much to you, but to a bunch of backwoods yahoos, it was worth it!



Here are a couple of pictures of the kids at the park...





H&C also sponsored a softball team. Dylan and Drew both played and did okay. I think they ended up placing 5th out of 12 teams-don't quote me, though! Here are some pics from there.






We had a great weekend. Jay and Dusty sweated their butts off, but all in all, they had a good time together doing so! The boys were able to spend some time with their dad in between turning meat, cleaning up, and whatever else came up! Thanks to Dad and Mr. C for helping support their cooking and drinking causes...it is so appreciated! We love you!!!