Tubing with G & G

We all went out on the boat with Grammy and Grampy for the first time this year to go tubing.  We had wonderful time... swimming, tubing, picnicking, and lots of smiling!  It was a great afternoon and a chance to say goodbye before G&G head to Alaska!

DISNEY VACAY - day 11

We had a fancy breakfast in the Crystal Palace and then headed off the ship.  We had several hours until our flight, so we rented a car and drove two miles to make a dream of mine come true... SEEING MANATEES in the wild.  It was breathtaking to see them swimming around.  I could have watched them all day long, but no one seemed to think it was as cool as me!  We watched huge schools of fish and beautiful birds too!  And on the way out we stopped to see crabs crossing the street!  The we stopped in Cocoa Beach to check out surf shops and the pier.  We spent a little while walking on the beach and sticking our toes in the ocean. A perfect ending to our perfect trip.  Love!

DISNEY VACAY - day 10

Today was a day at sea.  We rose early to meet several characters - princesses, Anna and Olaf!  We hung out by the pool.  Ate.  Got an ice cream... or two or three!  We watched Guardians of the Galaxy 2 and later Pirates of the Caribbean!  We had a final fabulous dinner in the Crystal Palace... and then it was time to pack up our stuff.  It was so fun to have everyone dress up and have nice dinners - something we never do!  Kids tried new foods, had amazing experiences, stayed up late for way too many nights!!!  No one was happy about heading home.  What a wonderful trip.  So hard to pick a favorite thing because so much of it was memorable.

DISNEY VACAY - day 9

A day at the Disney private island... CASTAWAY CAY.  It was amazing, but not long enough.  We got off the boat shortly after 9.  We checked things out and stuck our toes in the water.  The kids tried out the water slide that went straight in the ocean.  The highlight of the day was feeding and snokeling with sting rays.  This was so cool.  The sting rays are trained to come up a ramp for feeding.  They nibble the food out of your hand and swim away!  It was a little scary at first!  We spent a long time swimming with the rays too!  Just amazing.  Worth every penny.  Next we rented bikes and rode around the island.  Fun for all of us.  We got back to the beach and snorkeled for a couple hours.  The kids enjoyed a few Olaf drinks.  We ate lots of ice cream.  Definitely not enough time on the island.  

The evening theme was pirates.  We had a blast.  The night show was AMAZING - a magician who really impressed all of us.  We met Jack Sparrow.  We had a great dinner and the kids enjoyed smoothies in the light up cups!  Kamy ate soup every night at dinner and devoured it!

DISNEY VACAY - day 8

Today we spent the morning in the Bahamas.  The water was beautiful.  Breathtaking.  We shopped and visited the pirate museum.  We spent a lot of time in the market... since it was pouring out, so we were kind of stuck.  We got talked into buying lots of locally made things... kids loved everything!  We headed back to the boat, swam and then got dressed for another great show and dinner.  Kids were super impressed with all the fancy desserts.... I think we took pictures with everything we ate!  A great day!

DISNEY VACAY - day 7

We were up early to catch our ride.  Kids thought we were heading to the beach.  They were chilling out on their devices... and as we got closer to the water I told them to start looking around at all there was to see.  We were by the cruise ships.  Bentley started saying he hoped one day we could do that... they all agreed.  Then we started getting closer to the ship.  We could here them whispering.  Then they asked...

The ship was everything you'd imagine and then some.  SO much to take in.  We got right in our suits and despite the clouds, tried to fit in some pool time.  Kids waited in line for the Aqua Duck and loved it!  Our entire first day was just perfect.  Kamy and Bentley played in the kids' place while the rest of us went to a show.  We had an amazing dinner in a super cool restaurant.  Our servers were wonderful and cater to your every need.  I was feeling a little nauseous so they brought me a green apple and ginger ale.  We ended each night vegging out to Disney movies.  Does it get any better?

DISNEY VACAY - day 6

ANIMAL KINGDOM!!!!!!  This was the day we were all waiting for.  We love Animal Kingdom, but with the addition of Pandora we knew this would be our favorite day!  Unfortunately it rained ALLLLLLLL DAY LONG.  We wore ponchos, changed into flip flops and made the best of it!  One of the highlights was hopping on a dino ride and a downpour starting... we were all SOAKED by the end.  Five of us were laughing... Kamy was NOT! :)  She was not a big fan of walking around soaked.  (I think she gets that from me!).  We rode Mt. Everest 3 times, saw the Lion King show, ate lunch with the characters at Tusker House, loved the Bug's Life show... and fell in love with Pandora.  What an amazing place Disney has created.  The rides were SO worth the wait!  The flight on the Banshee was the coolest thing any of us has experienced... worth every minute of the 90 minute wait. We stayed for the night show which was breathtaking.  What a perfect way to end our time at Disney. We got back to the hotel super late, packed up, and told the kids we were heading to the beach the next day!

DISNEY VACAY - day 5

Dad finished work and got to join us today for a day at Magic Kingdom!  It was so much fun to go back and ride all our favorites and do things we missed. We met Merida and Alice and Tinker Bell. Rode the fastest roller coaster at Disney ... the Barnstormer - who knew????  We even tried a new treat - a Cheshire Cat Tail.  Kids were on the hunt for their perfect souvenir, so AFTER a full day we headed to Disney Springs to walk around there.  Happiness.

DISNEY VACAY - day 4

All we did today was relax.  Kids didn't even start moving until 11!  We headed out to the pool around 12.  We swam, floated, ordered lunch by the pool... and then crazy storms came!  We headed in and vegged out ALLLLLL afternoon and then had snacks from the room for dinner.  It was the best lazy day ever!  I think the kids had actual clothes on their bodies for a total of 3 hours!  LOVE!  We only took one picture.  A selfie with Kamy by the pool as she was trying to convince me she needed braids or a tattoo... we got NEITHER!  :)

DISNEY VACAY - day 3

Woke up early AGAIN to catch the shuttle for a full day at Hollywood Studios!  We had tons of fun on two of our favorite rides - the Rockin Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror!  The highlight of the day had to be all of the characters we met... Kylo Ren (SO SCARY!), BB8 (so cute!), Chewbacca (loved giving hugs!), the Jawa guys (never said a word), and Olaf!!!!!!  Every time the Storm Troopers walked by the talked to Bentley because he was wearing a Storm Trooper shirt.  We ended the day with a late dinner at the 50's diner because the kids love being told by someone other than me to get their elbows off the table!  We took dessert to go and ended the night watching the Star Wars show!  It was amazing and Bentley loved every minute of it!  Everyone was so tired by the end of the day and can't wait to chill tomorrow! Too much fun!

DISNEY VACAY - Day Two

Today we Explored MAGIC KINGDOM!  So much fun.  We were up early to catch the shuttle from the hotel at 8AM and caught a taxi back to the hotel at 10 PM.  It was hot, SO humid, and REALLY crowded.... but I didn't lose anyone, we didn't have any tears, and most of the complaining came from me!  It was a perfect day!  Bentley and Kamy can ride EVERYTHING!  We all rode EVERY ride together.  SO MUCH FUN!  I don't even like rides, but seeing all the kids experience the rides makes it all worth it!  Everyone's favorite was Space Mountain!  The worst part of the day was a 50 minute wait for Thunder Mountain that turned into TWO hours in the heat with no fans in the middle of the day! :)  We rode all the old school rides... Dumbo, Ariel, Peter Pan... and saw as many shows as we could!  We ate lots of junk food - lots of Mickey Bars and popcorn!  We stayed for the night show which was AMAZING.  Just beautiful.  What a happy first day!

DISNEY VACAY - DAY ONE

Today we headed to Orlando.  Just me.  AND FOUR KIDS!  We started "vacationing" right away with a stop at Starbucks!  The kids did great going through security and listening... except for Ken who packed so much change in her wallet they had to look in her carry-on! :)  We stayed at a beautiful hotel (JW Marriott) with an amazing pool!  We arrived so late there were no kid friendly food options... so we ordered room service! :)

Best Vacation EVER!

We just returned from an AMAZING trip.  5 days in Orlando and visiting Disney and then a SURPRISE Disney Cruise.  What an amazing vacation we had!  Going to document it by day... because quite honestly we had SO much fun and have SOOOOO many pictures, one blog post would be overwhelming.  Feeling so blessed and grateful to be able to do these things.  Sure do love these kids!

summer of running

this has been one of the best summers EVER for being active with the kids.  i have run more WITH a kid than without!  ken has run SO many mile for cross country (with the team and on her own!).  i wish we'd done a better job of keeping up with the count so we'd have a grand total!  mck set a goal for herself of 80 miles and has almost reached it.  b had to run a timed mile each week for soccer and improved his time by over a minute.  and kam, who HATES to run has made the choice to run with us several times without being forced!  the worst part of running in texas in the summer is you HAVE to be running by 7:30 because it gets HOT fast! so we've been up early A LOT!  making the most out of each day.  we don't talk much when we run, but i love the talks as we are walking to warm up or cool down. makes the heart happy. love. 

ken comes home

after a week at cheer camp we have one tired girl.  she had so much fun working hard and getting to know her cheer friends.  i am so excited to see what this year brings for our sweet kid.  can't wait to hear all about her week when she gets home from celebrating her friend's birthday and sleeps for 12 hours!  love. 

b turns 8

how is it possible that our sweet little guy turned 8 today??????  he is such an awesome kid - smart, funny, athletic, and so, so loving.  he kept reassuring me that turning 8 was okay because he'll always be my baby.  love.  

we spent the day doing what he planned.  donuts for breakfast, main event for mini golf, bowling, lazer tag, rock climbing, games, and more lazer tag.  presents at home.  dinner at hat creek with grammy and grampy.  frozen yogurt cake at home.  and a special surprise - sleeping over at grammy and grampy's!  he had a great day, but was anxious to get back home to start on his new lego sets!  love this kid.

kam's last baby tooth

kam lost her last baby tooth tonight.  it fell out while i was flossing her teeth.  the tooth fairy was generous... tic tacs AND $10!  she was a happy camper!  i am way too emotional this week... too much growing up.

hamilton pool adventure

we've lived in austin way too long to have just now experienced hamilton pool.  it was really cool.  a pretty hike into this gorgeous natural swimming hole.  the surroundings are just perfect.  kids had so much fun swimming and splashing and jumping off the rock.  there were giant catfish that swam WAY too close to the shore and freaked us all out a little bit.  we will definitely be returning.  maybe for a hike in the fall.  love.

off to cheer camp

our sweet ken is off to cheer camp.  her first high school "thing"!  it was a busy week - freshman pool party, two days of practice, a send off dinner (complete with the gifting of AMAZING backpacks filled with all sorts of cheer goodies!) and then off to a&m for uca cheer camp week.  she was excited and nervous... but heading off to do something she really has fallen in love with.  can't wait to hear about her week.  love.                                                                            

watching women's soccer

we watched a GREAT women's soccer game final tonight.  so fun for mck to see women playing this sport she loves... and the rest of us enjoyed it too.  after sitting through 12 raffles and winning nothing... they scored the best price of the night!  a ball signed by the lonestar women's team!  love.