June 20th, the last day

Before we headed back home, we decided to hit up the beach one more time.

 

 

We had a nice vacation trip and we are very blessed to have such a wonderful family!

June 19th, the family reunion

We started out the day swimming in the pool at the condo.  This little guy is learning how to swim.  He is paddling like crazy and hopefully will be swimming by the end of the summer.

Abby, Lauren and Emmy all had matching swimsuits by chance, so I had to take a picture of the cute cousins.

After pool time, we headed over to the boat dock where Stacy and Vince keep their boat for some fishing. 

Ethan and Austin both caught fish and they were so excited!

Unfortunately a lot of our family couldn't make it to the reunion this year.  They were missed, but we had a great time catching up, eating yummy Mexican food and getting ice cream at a local shop.

 

Notice how messy Austin is eating his ice cream?  We had to hose him off before he got in the car. Crazy kid! 

June 18th, beach day

Friday we headed to the beach for all day fun in the sun!

The weather was great, and as you can see, there was some seaweed.  It was nothing compared to two years ago when we narrowly avoided hurricane Dolly. 

   

Lauren LOVED the ocean!  She would run right to it and didn't want us to hold her hand at all.  If she did fall and get a face full of salt water, it didn't bother her one bit.

Daddy, Kai and Grandaddy gave Ethan, Austin and Jake boogie board lessons.  Boogie boarding is so much fun when you catch the perfect wave!

The boys loved building sand castles.

Austin once again tired out on a beach chair like last year.

Stacy brought her pack-n-play for Lauren to sleep in and it worked out great!

We were all set up for the day with two easy ups, two beach umbrellas, ice chests full of drinks and food and beach chairs and toys.  Since it's so much work to set up, we always make a full day of it.

Love this picture of Granddaddy!

June 17th, my birthday

Thursday morning we loaded up the kids and headed to Port Aransas with Eric's parents and sister's family. 

The ferry ride is always exciting!

Since it was my birthday, I made Eric take this dorky picture with me.

 

Later we hit up the souvenir shops.  Look how much they have grown since last year!

 

Then we headed to dinner for some seafood and margaritas.  I ate fried shrimp every day from Thursday to Sunday.  I LOVE shrimp and don't think I can ever get tired of eating it.  It's a good thing, since we brought back more fresh shrimp to cook up!

 

After dinner, we headed to the beach to dip our toes in the ocean.

 

As you can see from this picture, the boys dipped more than their toes in!

 

It was nice to celebrate my 34th birthday with family at the beach!

why you should never fall asleep before your brother...

Austin fell asleep while he was eating his dinner.  He had his eyes closed while he was chewing and really conked out after he swallowed his last bite.  Ethan thought it was hilarious and insisted on being in the picture too.  Apparently I need to make more exciting dinners around here! 

our birthday celebration

Last night Sammy and I celebrated our birthdays together at Maggianos with our some of our closest friends.  We always celebrate together like we did last year and the year before, since our birthdays are just 3 days apart.  It's crazy to think we have been friends for 12 years now. Oh how our lives have changed in 12 years!

 

We ate entirely too much amazing Italian food while we chatted and opened gifts.  I got the most thoughtful presents and I'm so grateful to have such wonderful ladies in my life!

stuck!

Lauren's new favorite thing is to climb on top of the table.  On her quest to climb up there, she often gets stuck and yells at me until I come rescue her.  What a fun game!

10 on 10

Here is my first 10 on 10!

The idea is simple: Take a photo every hour for ten consecutive hours on the tenth of each month. Document a day of your life and find beauty among the ordinary moments.

Trevor and Tatum spent the night, so we got to spend the day with them.  What a fun, crazy day to document!

 Early Thursday morning the kids were still pumped up from the Texas Stars hockey game the night before. 

More fruity Cheerios ended up on the floor than in Lauren's tummy.

Fun with forts

A mean game of Candyland

 Cheese!

We had a picnic lunch and munched on McDonalds while watching Toy Story.  We have to prepare for Toy Story 3 coming out next week!

Playing pirates in the "boat"

Sleepyhead waking up from nap

Waterslide fun!

Happy girl!

there's no such thing as too much of a good thing

When I came across tiny pink plaid Converse for Lauren that matched her brothers' shoes, I couldn't resist getting her a pair. 

I mean, seriously, how cute are these?

When I find something I like, apparently I tend to buy in multiples.  I should have bought every size of the Vans the boys wore when they were toddlers before they were discontinued.  (That's my original header from almost 3 years ago!) The boys have had chocolate brown Crocs in every size from 4 to 10 and wore the heck out of them.  If you look in my closet, you will see that if I like a shirt, I buy it in at least two colors.  Kind of pathetic, but why mess with a good thing?!  : )

Apparently I have a thing for shoes and feet in my blog headers!

h a n d f u l

My sister and her family came in town last Wednesday and we had a great time going to Innerspace Caverns, hanging out around the house, grilling and eating at Chuys.  Friday we headed to Fredericksburg to celebrate my brother-in-law Russell's parents' 50th anniversary.  I've known them since I was 6 and they are like family to me. We spent time celebrating with family, fabric shopping on Main Street in Fredricksburg, going out to eat and swimming at the pool with our cousins.  Eric drove to Wimberley early Saturday morning to pop kettlecorn, so he had a busy day and didn't get home until later that night. 

Do I have lots of pictures of my kids and their cousins from the time we spent together? Nope.  Not one. This little stinker only wanted her momma and would let no one else hold her.  She was a handful to say the least! 

 

Now we are back home and Lauren is back to her happy, high maintenance self.  Hopefully my sister will send me some pictures of all the fun we the boys had.  While the trip was by no means relaxing for me or Eric, it was really nice to spend time with family.  Fabric shopping with my Grandma was pretty great too!

the Crossings

Sunday Erica, Ellen and I drove 10 minutes down the road to our own little paradise.  We spent all day lounging in the sun, being pampered and enjoying the beautiful Texas hill country views. 

It was a very special day and I'm so glad I got to share it with these wonderful ladies!