Girls' Weekend - Success!

This is a little late, but just wanted to give a shout out to my mom, my sis, my cousin, and my little girl. 

Y'all know I hate to shop (except for groceries and running clothes, go figure...), but I was really in need of some new clothes, and these ladies spent part of our girls' weekend helping me find some.  Four {four!} pairs of jeans, several tees, tops, & tanks, and even a summer dress (on clearance!) later, I'm well ahead of the game.  Most of y'all are thinking, "Isn't girls' weekend all about shopping?"  Maybe, but not of the "I'm desperate, the seasons are changing and I have no pants" variety.  And besides, we like to eat and then check out the clearance racks at Target.  These ladies took me to the mall! 

And my little girl, well, she is not only growing up into a responsible young lady, but she's got a great sense of style, too.  Not to mention her awesome sense of humor!  We had some awesome mom-and-daughter time on the drive down and back.

It would be a shame if I didn't mention that my husband and son enjoyed their weekend, too.  My son asked me last night if we could have kid-and-parent time every weekend!  Or at least more often :)

I think it's a wonderful idea!

Home Sweet Home

Has it seemed a little quiet around here lately?  There's a good reason for that.  We've been on vacation!  Well, not all of us - Daddy stayed home while the kids, my mom, and I flew to Texas to visit my cousin and his family.  We missed Daddy an awful lot, but he wasn't alone for long!  While we were gone, his parents arrived to help out with a BIG project around here (which they are still working on).  I'll recap the project in a later post, but for now - vacation photos!  (And these are the ones from my mom's camera - thanks, Mom!!!)

Let me start by saying that it was HOT here before we left, and Texas had a break in the heat there just as we arrived - which made the temp the same as what we'd just left.  Thankful for that little break in their weather!  And, thankful for plenty of opportunities to go swimming!

We picked up a set of 'floaties' for Miss M before we left, knowing they would help her feel a bit more at ease in the water.  No worries, there were still plenty of adults keeping an eye on the kiddos!  She was soon swimming from one end of the pool to the other!

And this guy, who has made great strides in his swimming lessons at school, also showed off a new talent.  He's floating on his back!  That's Lily checking him out.  She's a funny dog - loves to catch a ball, but she can't quite make herself drop it back off in your hand or lap.  Instead, she enlists the help of Minnie.  Lily will drop it a few feet away, then Minnie will pick it up and bring it back for you to throw again.

We took a trip to the local Hong Kong Market (So cool!  Lots of interesting fruits and veggies!) to pick up some veggies and these guys for dinner (two crab and one lobster).  Miss M was not quite convinced that these could possibly be tasty.

My cousin's home is totally kid-friendly.  You already know about the pool and the dogs, but there were also plenty of TOYS!  Miss M got to play with the doll house and Polly Pockets that you see below, and also some teeny-tiny Polly Pockets (which the three kids eventually turned into a Polly-meets-Monopoly kind of game).

 And they had a few Legos, too....

We also did some touristy stuff while we were there.

The Beer Can House

My sweet kiddos

My favorite feature of the Beer Can House

 The Children's Museum

Also (no photos yet, but hopefully soon)...

NASA (Johnson Space Center) - it rained while we were there, for the first time in several months.

Kemah Boardwalk - dinner outdoors at The Flying Dutchman, which would not have been quite so nice without the rain earlier in the day to cool things off

Whole Foods - this might seem an odd stop, but it was a new store (and I loooove grocery stores!) so it even had some draw for the "locals."  Also, we got to see an electric car out front - plugged in for a charge!  Mister J was fascinated!

As if all of this wasn't exciting enough, guess who lost a tooth while we were there?  He was quite confident that the tooth fairy could find him all the way out in Texas.  Sure enough, there was a dollar under his pillow the next morning!

Please excuse that piece of gum in his mouth.  Gum has become quite the favorite around here lately.

As for me, I had time for some reading, some swimming, lots of visiting and laughing, lots of talk about food/cooking/the amazing grocery prices (noticeably less than here), and way too much eating!  My mom cooked some of her favorite recipes, we enjoyed my cousin's grilling and juicing (a-ma-zing), and had some fantastic meals out, too.  (Pappasita's is on my must-do list for our next visit!)

I'm sure I've left some things out, and I know I have more cute photos to post (which I may get around to - or not), but I have to say that I came home so relaxed!  We had a pretty much non-schedule kind of vacation (not the kind where you come home and need a vacation to get over your vacation) and it was wonderful!  The kids really missed Daddy early on - and I was really anxious to get home to him towards the end of our trip!  But I have to say, he looked really well-rested when we got home!

Works for Me - When I Travel

Whether it's travel to a hotel, to see grandparents, or just to spend time in the great outdoors, this is how I've recently started to pack our toiletry items.

As I'm packing, the kids' stuff gets gathered into one basket, the adults add their stuff to the other, and then I plop them both into a duffle bag.  The extra space in the duffle gets used for bigger items like a pack of wipes, my flat iron, and that bottle of pump hand soap.  (Yes, I travel with a bottle of pump hand soap - so much easier to get little hands clean than with hotel bar soap!)  The baskets help keep our items corralled at our destination, and it's so easy to gather it back up for the trip home.

You might wonder if this adds an extra bag to our luggage.  Nope.  The kids are still small enough that their clothes can be packed into one duffle bag or small (kid-sized) suitcase for short trips!

I'm linking up to Works for Me Wednesday over at We Are THAT Family.  Hop on over for some other helpful tips!

I Owe You...

I'm waaay behind on blogging.  Not just the fun stuff.  Not even the running updates.  I'm talking about the blogging that I do to keep my friends and family up-to-date.  The blogging that I do to keep track of milestones since scrapbooking isn't a part of my life right now. 

So, here's a quick rundown of some fun stuff - a few photos, a few notes, and hopefully enough to jog my memory when scrapbooking is a part of my regular routine again.

August 5th - We still had a very large cardboard box hanging around (from back when our washer and dryer were delivered - they don't pick up cardboard for recycling around here, and I hadn't hauled it off yet), so I let the kids make a fort out of it, complete with artwork.

Miss M got this umbrella for Christmas, and waited (and waited...) for a rainy day to play outside with it.  Typically, our rainy days were school days, and you can't take umbrellas to school.  So, on a rainy day in August, out she went to walk around in the rain! Sadly, it stopped about the time she got out there.

Sept 28th - You might remember that Mister J lost his first tooth back in August.  Well, the second one came out about a month later!

Also towards the end of September, we met some friends in Virginia for a weekend visit (one of whom was running an ultra-marathon in the George Washington National Forest).  When we realized we were withing a 30-minute drive of Monticello, we decided to visit before we headed home.  Here's a snap of Big J and Mister J in the gardens, one of the many impressive features of Thomas Jefferson's estate.

Early October - Fall is fair time!  I love the displays and the food, the kids love the rides and the "candy cotton" (as Miss M called it).  While Daddy and the kids waited in line for the ferris wheel (Mom passes on that...), the kids were gifted with stuffed toys by someone else in line.  They were thrilled, since we don't play games to win toys.

Just last weekend, we went on our first family camping trip!  We went along with two other families, for a total of 5 adults and 7 kids!  The kids played hard, hiked 2/3 miles on Saturday, and got dirty!  For nearly 48 hours, didn't ask for tv, video games, or computer time.  The climbed trees, pretended to be secret agents, and discovered the Atlantic Ocean!  We didn't have a cell phone signal all weekend, so no texting, facebooking, or tweeting - and I have to admit that it was glorious!  Yes, it was cold.  Yes, we went longer than usual without showers.  Yes, everything that came home smelled like campfire.  But it was a great experience, and I can't wait for our next trip!

Saturday morning before breakfast - we just needed to get warm!

Hanging out on the big rock - about 2/3 of the way through our hike.

Monkey!  The trees around the campsite were great for climbing on and crawling under.

So, there's a very quick wrap-up of the past several weeks.  Thanks for stopping by!

4 More Days Away!

Yes, you read that right!  Just in case the recent bloggy break didn't give it away, we took another short vacation -and boy, did we ever need it!

After a bit of worry that it might not happen, and then changing our schedule just a bit, we made it to Charleston on Thursday and then just Friday off.  We slept in, saw a movie with the kids (Ramona and Beezus - recommend!), and generally took it easy.  After all, we had exciting plans for the rest of the weekend!

On Saturday, we went on an amazing eco-tour with some friends from our college years.  We learned a lot about the barrier and sea island ecosystem, saw lots of dolphins and cranes, and then got to spend some time on Capers Island, one of South Carolina's barrier islands.  My photos of the dolphins and cranes aren't great - in fact, a couple of times I just put the camera down so I could enjoy watching them - but I did get some good (for my purposes) photos while we were on the beach.

Miss M was excited before we even left the dock!  

During the boat ride - which lasted about 45 minutes each way.

Miss M and Mister J leaning against one of many old stumps on the Boneyard Beach.

Mister J had a great time - and I daresay he could've spent another hour playing in the water, scooping up the sand, and generally just checking things out.

One of many shots from Boneyard beach - this one is SOOC, but I've also spent a little time editing it.  Big J and I are hopeful that we'll end up with a wall-worthy photo to help us remember the trip!

 After the eco-tour, we had a great lunch, drove over the new Copper River Bridge, had a bit of downtime, and then met our friends again for dinner (Cru Cafe' - mmm!) and a stroll on the Battery/White Point Gardens.  I didn't take my camera (gasp!), so I only have a few pics on the BlackBerry....

On Sunday, we visited some friends from my grad school years - and their twin baby girls!  We'd originally planned to see them on Friday, but rescheduled so we didn't risk exposing the babies while anyone was still contagious.  Again, I didn't take my camera!  I spent most of my time with an armful of baby, though, so I wouldn't have gotten it out, anyway. 

Even though we started out a bit under the weather, we really had a great weekend.  I'm already looking forward to our next trip!

10 Days Away (well, 9 1/2) - Part Two

(You can read Part One here!)

Much of our free time at Grandma RL's was spend doing this...

To gain her trust...

And pretty soon, they were rewarded with this...

... which they were able to do pretty early in the week!

On Wednesday, we took it easy again.  We went to the local farmer's market - which boasts a drive through shed.  Personally, I think "shed" doesn't quite hit the mark as far as describing this place, but that's what the website called it, so I'll go with it.

The kids wanted to take a (huge!) watermelon back to Grandma's house.  We settled for browsing, talking about all of the fruits and vegetables for sale, and then buying some (hot!) boiled peanuts.  I also tried to drive the wrong direction on the one-way driveway, but we don't have to dwell on that.  This was the first time either of the kids had eaten boiled peanuts due to Miss M's previous food allergies.  It was only a little disappointing that she didn't like them, but Mister J made up for it with his enthusiasm about this bit of southern cuisine.

We are up to Thursday - the last day of VBS, the day of our semi-return home, and laundry day!  No, I'm not kidding.  We were set to drive home after the VBS wrapped up that evening, and leave for another state and another family reunion on Friday morning.  So on Thursday, we did laundry and packed.  Sorry, no riveting photos....

But then the final night of VBS began!  With a Western theme!  And horses!

And a campfire!  And an awesome dinner!  And all of the desserts you could ask for!

This was the second cone if ice cream.  The first was rainbow - see the blue on Miss M's face?  My kids will never choose vegetables over sweets again....


So, as I mentioned, we had a quick turnaround at home to sleep, get a bit of work done (me), and make room for Daddy in the mommy-van before we hit the road on Friday afternoon.  We had a few errands to run on the way out of town (like buying tap shoes), but we made it to our destination in time for a late dinner with Grandma and Grandpa R to keep us company.

Then it was Saturday again, which must mean it's time for a family reunion!  There was a thunderstorm in the morning, but the clouds moved on in time for our gathering.  The kids had a great time on the playground nearby - I have never, ever seen my children play that hard for that long!  I have also never had to scrub my child's legs and feet twice to get all of the dirt off - but that's not a bad thing. 

One of the highlights of this trip for Mister J was his first ride on Grandpa's motorcycle.

We told him to hold on....  Boys....!

The clouds were building up again towards the end of the reunion, and our motorcycle riders got a bit of a sprinkle on the way back to the hotel.  Still didn't dampen Mister J's excitement!

The next morning, we were back on the road toward home.  We stopped at Cracker Barrel for a late lunch followed by a game of checkers on the porch.  

It was a quick visit with the Grands, but we did follow them most of the way home.  The kids got such a kick out of watching them on their motorcycle!

These nine photos to wrap up our ten-day adventure!  This was the longest I've been away from home since before we had kids - in fact, I can't remember the last time I lived out of a suitcase for this long.  It was great fun, we have lots of great memories, and - believe it or not - I'm already thinking about when we can travel again!

10 Days Away (well, 9 1/2) - Part One

EIghteen days ago, the kids and I left home for a 10-day adventure. The bookends of our trip were two family reunions, and in between we hung out with Grandma RL and went to VBS at her church.  Big J was able to join us for part of our travel - and we sure missed him when he was back at home working!

We hit the road to Grandma's on a Friday afternoon, with Big J following us in his car.  After meeting for dinner at one of our favorite restaurants for some yummy shrimp and grits and a chicken salad and fruit plate, we waited out two thunderstorms and navigated around flooded roads to get home and get some sleep before the family reunion on Saturday.

Sunday was another busy day - we said our goodbyes to Daddy, went to a baby shower for my cousin, and then headed off to the first night of VBS!  At Grandma's church!

With a Western theme!  

And saddles!

And wagon rides!

(And waiting in line!)

And popsicles!

And then it was Monday - and we rested.  Just kidding!  We tried out the new ice cream maker!  Miss M was a great help preparing the ingredients for churning.

And then we waited...

(You can find the rest of the story in my post from that day!)

On Tuesday, we visited friends in the town where we used to live.  We spent the morning at the local children's museum, which opened around the time we moved away - so it was a first for us!

Fire truck/man/safety exhibit.  And an itchy nose.

Both kids loved the farm exhibit - 'driving' a tractor, harvesting crops, picking peaches, milking a cow, and collecting eggs.  I think that about covers it.

The grocery exhibit is a hit no matter where we are!  (We've been to three museums with similar exhibits.)  Kudos to this museum for having adult museum-workers to help keep order.  

A couple of exhibits about air power that day.  This one had several styles of 'parachutes' to test - and again, adult museum-workers to supervise (or maybe summer interns - still, my kids listen well when it's someone other than Mom giving instructions). 

Awesome 'put the teeth where they belong' model in the background.  Weirdest-looking mannequin mouth ever on the 'patient.'  Kids didn't seem to mind. 

And on to the outdoor exhibits!  It was a warm day, but thankfully there was a bit of shade out here.  Oh, and some water.  

Fantastic pulleys and cranks and more for the kids to play with.  Oddly, there were no smocks available.  Thankfully, I had a change of clothes for Miss M.

Mister J was able to light the CFL bulb with his own crank-power.  The incandescent bulb was out of the question - so he asked me to give it a try.  I got a little bit of a glow - out of the bulb, and on my forehead (whew!).  If I wasn't a fan of CFLs before,  this was enough to change my mind (though I still prefer the color of an incandescent bulb, I'll sacrifice for the power savings).

Cool art in front of the museum - mom's token 'landmark' photo.

After lunch at one of my favorite restaurants, it was back to VBS for more cowboys! and singing! and Bible stories! and colored punch with dinner!

You know that my kids skipped the lemonade and went straight for the mom-would-never-let-us-have-this-at-home blue drink, right?

Sixteen photos to document the first six days of a ten day trip that began eighteen days ago.  I'll wrap up the trip in another post - coming soon!  (I promise!  I've already written and scheduled it!  But I'm going to make you wait.  Sorry.  But patience is a virtue!)