'Twas the Week Before School Started

I get pretty lazy in the summer. It's hot outside. There's no routine. It's hard to get up and get going when we don't have to be anywhere. So I decided to step up my game last week before Clara headed back to school. We had donuts with friends on Tuesday morning, went to Splashtown with Becky and Leah on Wednesday and to Bouncin' Bears and lunch with friends on Thursday. I only took pictures at Splashtown though.

Clara has wanted to go to Splashtown for ever. She asks when we're going almost everytime we pass by it (which is a lot since it's so close to our house). I'm just not a waterpark kind of girl, Chris has zero interest in going and the thought of chasing Robert around all day is NOT appealing in the least. But, Clara and Leah had put it on their summer to-do lists they made at the beginning of the summer, so I decided  to finally make plans to go and I'm so glad I did. We went when Robert was in school and Becky had someone watch Kate so we could go on the bigger rides. We had so much fun and Clara loved it.

I thought she might be too afraid to go on the big slides since the only thing she's ever ridden is one small ride at the carnival and bumper cars with Chris. And that's it. She did great though. The only ride she didn't like was The Tornado. It's a four person ride and she started crying before it got scary. I think she had built up in her mind that it was going to be scary. She said it hurt her bottom and I will admit it was a little intense, especially when I knew how scared she was and there was nothing I could do for her. The poor girl was in tears as we got off. She does not like it when I tell people that it was her favorite ride.

We stopped for an ice cream break and they both got cotton candy flavored with Sour Patch Kids mixed in. Blech.

Here they are in front of Clara's favorite, the wave pool, which is NOT to be confused with The Tornado.

Trip out West

I had initially decided against making a trip to Pecos this summer. Momma and Myrt Myrt had been traveling around Texas for two weeks in July, the next week was Art Camp and I wanted to potty train Robert the week after that. I fully expected his potty training to take forever, so I didn't think that would leave enough time for a trip.

Since he trained in a day, I decided to go ahead and do it before school started. So we left for Pecos on Aug. 7th, one short week after potty training. I asked Linda if she'd like to join us for the drive and visit her mom in Carlsbad and she agreed to. She had planned on taking a trip the next week anyway.

So the kids and I left about 6:00 a.m. on Tuesday, stopping first in Temple to switch to Grandma's car. We left there around 10:00 and Grandma unloaded us in Pecos a little after 5:00 before finishing the drive to Carlsbad. The drive went very quickly having someone else to talk to and the kids were perfectly behaved, glued to the DVD player we brought. Robert even managed to stay dry the whole day! That kid amazes me.

On Thursday, my mom and dad drove us to Carlsbad so we could see Nanny for a few hours. Robert could not sit still and ran around like a crazy child the entire time.  

A rare photo op with Grandma and Bia.

On Friday we went to Wink to hang out with Linsey and the boys and play at the splash pad. Brody came back to Pecos with us. That night, Clara and Brody got popsicles after dinner.

Robert refused to eat dinner, so he didn't get one. I had to keep an eye on Bia to make sure she didn't sneak him a bite. He was not pleased with me, so right after I took this picture, he charged at me, knocking my camera into my face. It busted my lip and knocked me onto the ground. I was not a happy Mommy.

It took Robert a while, but he finally warmed up to Brody and ended up having a fun time with him. Robert watched a video called "Potty Power" when I was potty training him, so I got him to put his arms up and say "I have Potty Power!" He does it over and over and it is beyond cute. Brody joined right in on the chant that weekend. Cooper even chimed in on Sunday and was all excited to be a big boy and try to pee on the potty.

Linsey came back on Sunday for church and we hung out at the house the rest of the day. Linda came back by on Monday morning to pick us up and head home. The kids were a little more ornery on the drive back, which is standard fare, but they still did great. We spent the night in Temple that night and finished the drive home first thing Tuesday morning. We had to get home in plenty of time to rest before heading out to meet Robert's new teacher that night.

Moody Gardens

A few weekends ago, Chris decided we should head on over to the aquarium for the day. After cleaning out my ears to be sure I heard correctly, I agreed to make the trip. See, we typically enjoy rather lazy Saturdays at home, rarely venturing out, especially to anywhere that promises to be crowded. Which pretty much nixes anywhere in Galveston on a Saturday during the summer.

There was a wreck right at the bridge to get into Galveston, so we sat in traffic for a good half hour. And then it took another half hour or so to drive from the interstate exit to Moody Gardens (it normally takes about five minutes). See? This is why it's insane to go anywhere on a Saturday.

We finally made it and it was packed. Clara had brought a little notebook and pen to draw pictures and write the names of animals she liked. Of course she left them in the car, only realizing it when we got inside. Daddy saved the day and pretended to go to the bathroom, but instead swung by the gift shop to buy a highly overpriced replacement. Good daddy. Happy daughter.

She wanted to touch something in the touch tanks soooooooooo bad, but she just couldn't bring herself to.

Not the best picture, but here's reason #2 not to leave the house.

We then headed to Rainforest Cafe for a late lunch.

Which brings me to reason #3 not to leave the house: animatronic gorillas. I should've followed my gut. As we were being seated right next to them, I thought maybe that wasn't the best spot for Robert. He flipped out when they started beating their chests. I mean, full blown screaming. He was terrified, but I was eventually able to get him (mostly) calmed down. We did skip the ride at the restaurant because of it though.

Instead, we went to The Strand so I could get my caramel apple.

Friends and Fireworks

The rest of the 4th was low key. We had naps and then friends over for some grilling. 

Robert enjoyed his watermelon immensely. He took it for rides in his wagon and I caught him rubbing it on his belly. It eventually got eaten, I think.

After dinner we loaded up and headed to Jill's bookstore to watch the fireworks. We got there early and hung out in the a/c browsing books until it was time for them to start. The kids were a little excited about the fireworks.

I guess I should say most of the kids. This guy would've been just fine skipping the show. Methinks he's not a fan of loud noises. He sat in the car and played the entire time. He turned every knob, pushed every button and pulled everything that wasn't bolted down out of it's spot.

Clara was jumping for joy and shouting "Fireworks! Fireworks! Fireworks!" during the majority of the show. Have you noticed that most of the time, I don't even try to wrap up my posts with a conclusion anymore? It's like, boom! Post over.

4th of July Parade

Dan and Linda joined us for the July 4th festivities. We had initially planned to go to the patriotic concert the night of the 3rd, but an hour or so before it was supposed to start, it started thundering and I just didn't want to mess with going even if there was a hint of a downpour. We enjoyed a nice leisurely dinner at Katz's instead.

The next morning we got up nice and early so we could secure a shady spot at the parade. We got there just in time to get one of the last spots. But that meant we had lots of time to kill before the street performers arrived. The kids were pretty tired (and sugared up) by the time everything got started.

Finally, some entertainment. Clara loved the mime for some odd reason. (Side note: Chris says the first thing he would do if he ever became invisible would be to beat up a mime. It would be  the performance of their lifetime.)

Clara got a glittery star stamped on her temple and they both got balloon animals.

Good thing Grandma was there to cover sensitive little ears when the firetrucks came by wailing.

When the parade first started, a horse dropped a little surprise for the rest of the parade-goers. I have to preface this by saying that in Pecos, 90% of the parade is comprised of horses, so this isn't an unusual occurance. But here, there were two horses pulling a wagon and I believe that was the extent of equine participants.

At first we were a bit grossed out because we were so close to the pile. But then? Hilarity ensued. The looks on people's faces as they caught sight of it were awesome. Some never saw it and stepped right in it before jumping away. The boy scouts thought it was funny. The twirlers and and other girls, not so much. Those in flip flops, as well as us observers, cringed as they stepped in it and one dog even grabbed a quick snack. Oh my goodness, everyone around us was laughing and just waiting for people's reactions. Hands down, the best part of the parade. I got lucky and caught this girl's expression as she noticed it.

Someone was hot and tired and scared of the loud sirens. The end couldn't have come soon enough for him. In fact, it didn't. There were large gaps in the parade and then it just came to a standstill for about 10 minutes, so we left a few minutes early.

Jr. Swim Meet

I don't guess I ever mentioned it, what with my blogging hiatus and all, but Clara was on the junior swim team this year. The junior swim team was made up of 4-6 year olds who weren't ready for the regular swim team. Thankfully, after the first couple of days, they made two separate groups because there were so many kids. The younger group had kids that were crying and hadn't really had any experience in the water. Clara was in the more advanced group.

It ran for 9 weeks (the same length as the swim team's season) and practice was every weekday for half an hour a day. She really improved and gained a lot of confidence during those two months. She can swim short distances but still needs a lot of practice.

As the season progressed, the swim coach would move kids up who she thought were ready to compete in the meets. She was about ready to move Clara up but then she had to miss a little over a week of practice because of a bout of swimmer's ear and our school district getting out of school a week later than the district the swim team was in. (They switched to morning practice when school let out.) So when she came back, she had lost a lot of ground and never really did get back to the same level she was at. Which was fine by me. I never really expected her to move up. I was happy with not having volunteer hours, not spending my Saturdays in the heat and not having to purchase a really expensive team swimsuit.

Clara on the other hand asked when she would get to move up almost daily. At the end of the season, they had a party and a junior swim meet so the kids got a small taste of what a swim meet was like. They swam two at a time and Clara got paired with the best kid on the team. He probably beat her by a minute. All of the kids on the swim team, along with all of the parents, stood by the side of the pool and cheered them all on. It was pretty sweet.

Go Clara go!!

At the end, they each got a ribbon.

Here she is with her sweet coach, Stephanie. She was so patient with all of the kids and helped ensure Clara had a great time learning to swim. Chris and I decided that chasing Robert around in that heat with a huge crowd did not sound like fun in the slightest. So in an attempt to make up for not staying for the party, I took Clara to get ice cream afterwards. I asked her if racing was fun and was overjoyed when she said, "No!" I asked her if she didn't want to be on the swim team after all and she said she did but she only wanted to go to practice, not do the swim meets. When I told her she had to go to swim meets, she decided she didn't want to be on the swim team after all. Score!

Backtracking

I have this irritating need to go back and post about old stuff before posting about anything new. So when I get behind, it's hard to get the motivation to get caught up again. Anyway, here's some pics from the 4th of July parade. We got ourselves a nice, sunny spot to sit for the extremely looooong parade that started a little late. In other words, we were all hot, sweaty and irritable by the end.

For some reason, there were huge gaps in the parade. The firetrucks went by and then it was another 3-4 minutes before the next float came by. Then close to the end it looked as if it were over and lots of people got up and left only to have the last few minutes of the parade come around the corner several minutes later. It was really weird. I felt bad for the groups at the end who came through Market Street with only a scattering of people left.

Robert's got his eye on you, Clown.

The bank float was handing out quarters.

Later that day we went to a friend's birthday party and then headed over to the Quinn's 4th of July celebration. We just caught the tail end of it, but it was fun to catch up with some old friends and Clara had a blast running around with Leah to all of the kids' games they had set up. Robert spent his time jumping on the trampoline for the first time. There is a burn ban in effect here so there were no fireworks this year. The 4th of July just isn't the same without fireworks.

The New and Improved Bellissia

My parents visited us for a couple of days and left Saturday afternoon. We took Bellissia out on the little lake near our house on Saturday morning. Chris and Clara have been working hard to transform her into a sailboat. She sails like a charm, but it does help to have a little wind.

Robert and I took our first ride in the boat as well. He did ok for the first couple of minutes and then decided that he wanted OFF. STAT. I was trying to keep him from going overboard while Chris started rowing to shore. One of the pieces kept popping off and I was having to hold it in the water while holding Robert who was trying to climb up me. Yeah, he's not quite ready for boating. Lesson learned.

Then Clara wanted to go out by herself. She got all set with her bottle of water, an oar and a compass and set sail. She was one proud captain. I think she's going to have loads of fun learning to sail and I know Daddy's going to relish teaching her. He's been waiting five and a half years for this.