Our Mini Family Vacation!

I told Kent all summer that when his busy time was over we were going to be in DESPERATE need of a little family vacation. He kept his promise to me and we made that happen this last week. Our original plan was to hit up Destin, FL BUT with my pregnant self having SERIOUS back issues that would make it very uncomfortable to sit for long periods of time, we re-routed our trip to San Antonio where we stayed in the BEST resort! If you're headed to San Antonio and want something quiet, relaxing and with LOTS to do, hit up the Hyatt Wild Oak Ranch Resort! Seriously, we fell in LOVE! Before we got to the hotel, we of course had to hit up the big outlet mall in San Marcos to get a few things...you can't pass that place up! We then spent the rest of the afternoon/evening enjoying the resort.....

One of our favorite parts was the relaxing, secluded lazy river.

The whole resort has greenery everywhere! It makes it all feel so much more private and beautiful!

We lounged in the hammocks around the lazy river for a little bit....until Kent started getting a little crazy with the swinging!

This is what Boston liked to do in the hotel room....hang out on the balcony! All you could see was GREEN! The next day we spent even more time at some of their pools which I'm SO bugged that I forgot to bring my camera to capture 1) Boston playing in the splash pad 2) Kent flipping FLYING down one of the slides....guess we'll have to go back to recapture those moments (and I'm okay with that)!

Next, a little SEAWORLD!!! Kent didn't go with us earlier this year AND in October they have their "Howl O Scream" where the park is all decorated for Halloween and they have fun Halloween shows going on! Definitely the time to go with GREAT weather and NO crowds!

Boston says his FAVORITE part of Seaworld was the Shamu rollercoaster....we rode it many times that day!

Boston loved the kiddie rides and also started to get a little daring raising his hands in the air on the rides!

As dinky as this little ride was Boston still LOVED it and asked to ride the eggs over and over....the next time I made Kent ride!

Last time we were there, I don't know why but we never went and fed the dolphins! This was a HIT this time around!

We originally bought one tray of food that Boston just tossed right in so we didn't get much of a chance to get extra close so Kent went and came back with 4 more trays to feed them! We were MUCH more successful this time around!

Also, if you had NO food to give, these dolphins would turn away quickly once they realized it...little snots!

We got a chance to visit the sharks...this part wasn't the most exciting I must admit!

Earlier this year we saw this show, Azul and I LOVED it and Boston watched in awe the whole time. It definitely didn't disappoint the 2nd time around!

And Boston still stayed GLUED!

Since the park was themed for Halloween, they had an area where the kids got to go trick or treating....SEAWORLD STYLE!

I kept trying to get Boston to turn for a quick picture but he just wanted to watch what was going on instead....guess he was getting annoyed at all my picture taking!

The sea lion show is always entertaining.

You could also feed the sea lions but since you couldn't get up as close, we decided it wasn't worth the money and just watched them instead.

Boston was DETERMINED to go play on the playground area they have for kids. We kept telling him we could play at the park any day but you couldn't do any of this other stuff except for today....he didn't care! He wanted to play at the PARK! So....we finally gave in and let the boy play!

Probably one of the biggest hits with Boston show wise was the Sesame Street Count Dracula show.

All the kids got up and danced and Boston didn't lose the smile on his face the entire time!

What's Halloween without a little haunted house?? No worries, we're not freaking our son our just yet...this one was "family friendly" and Boston laughed most of the way through (pointing our every "buggy" he saw along the way...yes thanks to his father, he DOES have an obsession)!

Of course you can't miss Shamu! We definitely got pretty wet at this show. I still can't believe that a whale who weighs that much can get itself out of the water like that and ON TOP of that, do a flip! I can barely get my pregnant self to get a few inches off the ground!!

Back to the egg ride...

Don't let this picture COMPLETELY fool you. Boston had just had a break down about 1 minute before this was taken. He was apologizing with a little love!

We stuck around to see the Howl o Scream Shamu show!

It was getting late and EVERYONE was getting exhausted...can't you tell?

"Jack" doing his little "scary" jingle...no worries, again not scary!

They had some issues getting the Shamu(s) out for the show (probably scared of Jack) but they finally came out and I felt like put on a BETTER show than the earlier one we'd seen!

We wanted to hit up the Halloween concert after this show but Boston zonked approximately 5 minutes after the Shamu show ended and since the park was closing in 15 minutes, we bailed instead! It was a LONG, EXCITING, FUN day and worth EVERY minute!

We decided to head back to Houston that night since Boston had a soccer game the next morning we didn't want him to miss (he missed school Thursday but we couldn't have him miss a soccer game...shows where OUR priorities are....). Our adventure took even longer then expected due to a little tire blowout in the middle of NO WHERE! It worsened when Kent realized we had NONE of the tools to change the spare! We drove to the nearest gas station (1.3 miles) in hopes to find someone who had tools that fit our tire....luckily we got lucky on the second person we stalked and asked! Thank you little sweet, old mexican man who drove a camry...we will forever be grateful! We arrived back in Houston FULLY exhausted around 3 am! It was ALL totally worth it though and we have decided to make it a tradition at the end of each summer (trust me, we'll need it)!!!!

HOUSTON ZOO!

The weather in Houston has seriously been SUPERB! Friday, Amanda invited me to take the kids to the zoo and why would I say NO when the days have been SO nice? I realized when we got there we hadn't been to the zoo since LAST May for Boston's birthday....it was hot and rainy that day so it was nice to be there when the animals were out and we could enjoy it more!

Notice the tissue in Boston's hand? This was the FIRST day of his runny nose which has formed into some serious congestion since! Poor kid! Are we seriously already started cold/flu season?

They have a fun kids area at the zoo which includes a splash pad, a park, and a petting zoo. The kids had a blast getting to brush these little goats!

We decided that we'd let the kids play in the splashpad since they needed a small cooling off. This was PROBABLY Boston's favorite part & looking back I'm SURE this didn't help his congestion any....whoops!

We finished it off with the sea lions and aquarium....

Unfortunately the ONE animal Boston wanted to see, the giraffe, wasn't really out since they were redoing their habitat. We sorta got to see a small peek at them and thankfully Boston was semi-satisfied. Ever since being obsessed with "Madagascar", he wanted to see "Melvin" (that's his name right?) and I also caught him naming off Marty and Alexis when we passed the zebra and lion! Made me laugh a little. It was a GREAT day at the zoo topped with a quick stop at SPRINKLES (that stop was for the momma's) on the way home! A PERFECT way to top off the day!

TIMES TO REMEMBER

This week (or maybe in the past week and a half) we've had a few notable mentions that'd I'd like to remember:

#1--Boston ATE APPLES AND CARROTS (with ranch of course) last week! Note that Boston DOES NOT like veggies (although we force him to eat at least 3 bites whenever we have them at a meal) so for him to VOLUNTARILY eat them while I was snacking on them was HUGE! I thought the whole apples and carrots thing was a one time fluke BUT to this day he's still eating them! He's now a changed little man!

#2--Tuesday of this week marked the FIRST morning that I haven't felt the need to wake and hurry and eat breakfast without feeling the need to pass out/vomit if I didn't! I was totally impressed and I'm HOPING this isn't a fluke thing and continues the rest of my pregnancy! On a down side my back is giving me MAJOR issues already. With Boston this didn't pop up until the last month but NOW its 25 weeks! I can't imagine what will happen to my body on baby #3 or #4 and heaven forbid any after that! By the way, all you moms who say your 2nd pregnancy FLIES, are you serious???? This pregnancy is taking FOREVER compared to the 1st!!

A LIFETIME OF SPORTS BEGINS!

I signed Boston up for soccer over a month ago! Since then he's been constantly asking when he gets to play. Well, last Saturday was TIME (although we have YET to find cleats to fit this little man)! FINALLY! Poor boy has been waiting so long and couldn't have been more excited to play! Our team name is "Los Angeles." They started off with a little "practice" before the game started.

Boston was red and almost in a sweat before the game began but was VERY ready to play the game when it started.

When the game started, Boston wasn't AS aggressive as I thought he might be BUT he definitely stayed running and chasing the ball around. He even got a little break away but when he got to the goal, he forgot to look up to see where he was and ended up dribbling out of bounds! The 2nd half of the game Boston got to play goalie. With a little coaching from Kent, he did great! Right before the game was over, he was done being goalie and took off his orange jersey to hand to someone else. When he realized that was the END of the game, I think he was a little disappointed!

The parents made a tunnel for the kids to run through and obviously Boston thought he was something after that!

Congrats on your FIRST of many games! We're SO proud of you! When he realized that was the end of the game he was a little upset that he had to leave the field. BUT like any great parent would do, we bribed him with some ice cream from Chick-fil-a and we all know ice cream makes EVERYTHING better!

**I'm SO upset because I can't get my videos to upload! No worries, for all you grandparents I will keep trying**

SERIOUSLY, PRESCHOOL??

Boston officially started preschool last Thursday (Sept. 9). School ACTUALLY started that Tuesday but due to a sick little man, we forfeited the first day! He has been looking forward to school SOOOO much and could hardly sometimes contain his excitement. The day his backpack came in the mail he carried it with him EVERY where from that day on (he thought he was SOO cool). We found out that a lady who had just moved in the ward teaches preschool out of her home. She's been doing it for a few years now (the preschool is called Butterflies & Bullfrogs) and she has the CUTEST little classroom in her house and has SUCH GREAT things for the kids to learn all year. Even better, Boston LOVES Ms. Lynette! Its a WIN WIN! Here's Boston THRILLED on his first day...

This is Boston outside Ms. Lynette's house getting ready to start school!

Boston went STRAIGHT in without ANY hesitation. He sat right down at the table and started playing with some puzzles. I told him to come give me a kiss to which he said, "Mom, I'm busy. Come over here and give ME a kiss!" He probably barely noticed I left. On the way to school he kept saying, "It's like Llama Llama Misses Mama!" For those of you who aren't familiar with the book, the Mama Llama drops her little Llama off at school, she leaves him there and in the end she comes back for her little Llama. Maybe that's why he didn't care I left since he knew that just like Mama Llama came back, I would too! Love him!

I must say I'm enjoying these two days a week without having a child around (at least for now). I said I'd use the time to get things done but have found that I've actually been quite lazy instead. Maybe after this next week or so, I'll get up and get somethings done instead of using the time to catch up on my DVR!

Most of all I can HARDLY believe Boston is old enough for preschool! Seriously, where have the last 3 years gone? Boston LOVES getting "bigger" as he says and always talks about how he can't wait to do this or that when he gets "bigger." I tell him to stay little forever but he refuses! If I could freeze his age, this would be the time! He's old enough to talk, is independent, potty trained, etc BUT he's still so innocent and protected from the world. Unfortunately he will get older so in the meantime, I'm taking this all in....

LABOR DAY

I feel like this weekend passed to quickly especially since Kent ACTUALLY took Saturday-Monday OFF work (pure miracle) to which I owe thanks to the Nielsons for coming in town and helping make that happen! Our weekend was quick, simple and fun!

SATURDAY:

LSU KICKOFF PARTY! LSU vs. North Carolina ending in our win but TOO close of a win that was NOT necessary! Let's hope this doesn't happen all season!

SUNDAY:

Church+play+food!

MONDAY:

We actually GOT OUT before Nielsons left back to Dallas. We ATTEMPTED to go swimming only to be hit by a MONSOON! So plan 'B' it was and Taylor got his wish to go to REI where the boys dreamed & we tried a dried ice cream sandwich...YUCK! Then we of course had to hit up some FOOD...mexican it was (Los Cucos---Kent's fav)!

Enjoy some pics from the weekend:

Kent picked up Halle and she cuddled right up on his chest and after about 15 minutes of laying there, she was KNOCKED OUT! Adorable right?

The kids dreaming of their days to come of camping (love how they are both wearing their crocs...yeah Boston hasn't even attempted to put them on all summer til Izzy came in town....must be true love).

A little food for the belly

Best friends!!!

All this love over so many years of friendship...

After the Nielsons bailed, we headed to Sprinkles (only Kent's FAVORITE cupcake in the world...if the man is willing to spend $3.25/cupcake you KNOW it must be good to him). He has now informed me this will be his birthday cake next year and he doesn't care HOW MUCH it costs (WOAH!).

After Sprinkles, we of course had to hit up PBK across the street because its Boston's FAVORITE store (ok, ok I'll admit I love it too).

It was SUCH a fun weekend and I'm SOOO happy Nielsons came and even HAPPIER my husband was HOME! I can't remember the last time he's been home that much!! HALLELUJAH!!!

Motherhood: An Eternal Partnership with God

Motherhood: An Eternal Partnership With God

My dad emailed this to me. I watched it and I don't know if it was pregnancy hormones or what but it brought tears to my eyes. Its always nice to have a little boost in your day being a mother.

DOWN AND DIRTY!

Boston REALLY enjoys doing crafty stuff. Its a bit of a problem though because I AM NOT CREATIVE/CRAFTY (poor boy....thank goodness for preschool this year). On random occassions I'll come up with something new and this day we decided to let Boston finger paint. He was hesitant at first because he DOES NOT like being dirty but then he got REALLY into it and was VERY surprised I just let him go to town!

He slowly started experimenting and started mixing all the colors together.

Then we made our handprints which he LOVED

AND THEN we tried out footprint (I think he was COMPLETELY taken back that I let him do this).

He LOVED every minute of it! He has all the random art papers we do that I HAVE NO IDEA what to do with. If he realizes they aren't on the fridge or somewhere on the counter, he FLIPS! Any good suggestions on what to do with them??

SAME-SEX MARRIAGE

A friend of mine on facebook posted THIS article from the church about same-sex marriage. I really liked it so I thought I'd share!

**fixed the link**