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Showing posts with label vacation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vacation. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Spring Break



We didn't have big plans for spring break, but that didn't keep us from staying busy.  It was a super gorgeous week.  No rain and the temperature was perfect.  If we weren't away from home, the kids were playing in the sandbox.
That sandbox has hands down been the best thing we have ever done for the kids.  They LOVE it and will play for hours.  All three of them.  This means freedom for me!  I was able to sit back and read a book in the backyard while they played.  Sure there's sand on my floors, in the bathtub, and in the washing machine.  I don't care, though.  It's nothing compared to the great time that they're having.  I think Halle has built a thousand tunnels and Arden has built a thousand and one castles.  Jack just eats the sand.  His poop now comes out gritty.  Seriously.

The first Saturday we went to Myleigh's Frosty the Snowman Party.
Arden dressed in toilet paper as Frosty
Myleigh has been begging Crystal for two years now to have a Frosty party.  Seeing that her birthday is in March, Crystal shot her down.  Crystal relented this year and Myleigh got her wish.  It was such a cute party! I forgot to pack diapers for Jack in his diaper bag, so poor kid had to wear Delaney's size 2 diapers!  (he's in a size 5)  They were Brazilian cut on him, ha!  We then all stayed the night as Crystal's house while I was on call.  I got called in around 10 pm so the party was over for me.  Brian and the kids stayed and hung out.  I didn't sleep at all that night, and went to retrieve my family from the Green's around 7 am.

On Sunday evening (after I slept all day)  Mike and Christy came over for a small birthday celebration for Jack.  Ryan, Christy's son, was in town and also came to visit.  He now lives in Georgia for work, so we don't get to see him very often.  It was nice to catch up with Ryan while we watched Jack open and play with his gifts.

 Halle was so cute on Monday.  She had mapped out an itenerary for the entire day:
9:00-12:00  arts and crafts - make puppets
12-12:15 puppet show
12:15-2:00 do something from Pinterest (I kid you not, that's what it said)
2:00-2:30 play outside
..... and so on...... She didn't exactly stick to the itenerary seeing how she rolled out of bed at noon, but she tried, lol.
After the puppet show we made an impromptu trip to the park with Crystal and the kids, so the schedule was soon forgotten.

Monday and Tuesday was filled with playing in the backyard and at the park with the Green kids.  Crystal and I also practiced making cake pops for Arden's party.  I usually do a trial run on my cakes a few weeks before the party to make sure it's not a total disaster.  I also do it because I enjoy making and baking.  Jessica also comes over and helps out with the cake decorating and we have a great time doing it.  My kitchen turns into one big powdered sugar/marshmallowy/chocolately mess.  And my family loves practice cakes...  because somebody has to eat it of course!

Wednesday Halle had her friend, Jenna, over.  We went to the park, had lunch, and then went to Chuck e Cheese.  The girls kept hitting the jackpots on the games, so they won lots and lots of tickets.

At Chuck e Cheese Jack kept sucking his toes.  Ewww!


Thursday was spent at the zoo with Jess and the kids.  Besides me getting lost on the way there, and Jess getting lost on the way back, it was pretty uneventful.  I swear they moved the zoo; it wasn't in that location the last time I visited ;) Trying to keep up with 5 kids was both fun and tiring.  This was Jack's first trip to the zoo, but he was too tired and still too young to enjoy it. 



On Friday we attempted to see a movie at the drive-in with the Greens.  The closest drive-in theatre is thirty minutes from our house.  We've been there several times and it has never been very busy.  With the perfect weather and spring break it was a different story, though.  We got there forty-five minutes before the movie started to get tickets and hopefully get a primo spot.  When we got there, though, the line was already a quarter-mile deep.  The cars were lined up down the shoulder of 2920.  After twenty minutes of inching forward we were able to see a sign that said the movie we wanted to watch was sold out.  With dejected and hungry kids (we had planned on eating at the drive-in) we made our way back home and came up with plan B.  We set up the tent in the backyard and let them watch a movie inside the tent on the laptop.  They had a blast doing that, and Gracie stayed the night.


Saturday the kids ran around in what Arden called "sprinkles"  Brian turned on the waterhose and let them play in the driveway.  They then constructed bows and arrow out of hula hoops pieces, stick, leaves, and thumbtacks.  They had a good time shooting the arrows.  Halle is a good shot; she may might be the next Katniss.



Sunday we went to a crawfish boil with our Sunday School group.  Halle perfected her crawfish peeling skills.  Our Sunday School teacher came up to me and told me that my daughter (Arden) had gotten into something and had white stuff all over her face.  She found someone else's sunscreen.  Needless to say she didn't get a sunburn that day.

Well that's all she wrote!  That sums up our Spring Break!

Monday, December 10, 2012

San Antonio mini vacation

 
We went to San Antonio the week of Thanksgiving. We visited Sea World, Ripley's Believe it or Not, the Wax Museum, the Alamo, and the Riverwalk.

The girls have never been to Sea World, and since Halle's favorite animal is a dolphin and wishes to be a marine biologist/zoologist, it was due time to go.  I haven't been to Sea World since high school, and as a teenager I wasn't impressed with the park.  There wasn't enough for thrill seekers there to keep me entertained.  Brian didn't remember it being all that fun either.  Surprisingly though we had a really good time watching the shows and doing the attractions.  I'm glad they've updated the park to be more enjoyable.  And as a parent, I have come to realize that I really like taking my kids to places like this because their excitement rubs off on me.   
 With Shamu.  It was Christmas all around the park since it's that time of year.  It wouldn't be San Antonio without Santa mariachis!
 
Since Sea World has a Sesame Street area, we got to meet one of our favorite Muppets, Cookie Monster!

Sesame Street Christmas show.  All of the kids broke away to stand at the base of the stage



The walrus was Brian's favorite animal.  So much blubber!

A fun action shot at the killer whale show

Halle was upset because she kept sitting in the splash zone so she could get wet, and she never got splashed.
The Dolphin Show was spectacular. This was by far my favorite show to watch

The divers and acrobats amaze me.

I really wish I could do that!



Jack enjoyed the shows, too!
The park wasn't crowded at all either day we went so we got to ride the roller coasters over and over and over!  Halle and I are both adrenaline junkies, so we had a blast.
 
My new favorite roller coaster, The Steel Eel


Seeing that Arden is so scared of heights that she doesn't even like being on Brian's shoulders.... probably means she won't be one of my future roller coaster buddies.  I kept asking her if she wanted to ride the roller coasters with me.  She couldn't because she's not tall enough, but I just wanted to see what she would say.  She played that card right away, "Nooooo!  I'm too little!"  She's a big ole scaredy cat.

This is not suppose to be a candid shot.  I'm trying to get Arden to smile for me.  She's got a choke hold on dad.

This is more of Arden's tempo....riding the Sea World Express. With the 5 of us squeezed in we surpassed the weight limit of this tiny train car, ha!




All smiles on the carousel.  Even Brian got on a horsey.
Arden did like the kiddie Shamu roller coaster.  This was her threshold. 

I tricked Arden into riding this.  I really wish I had a picture of her face when we went down the hill.  I know, I'm a mean mom.

Dancing with the dolphin. I wonder if Arden realizes at her age the difference between the real dolphins and the characters. I don't think she does yet.  Arden also got to sit on Santa's lap (no pictures.)  She told him she wanted a Barbie and skates for Christmas.  She said that only because I told her while we were in line to see him, "You have to tell Santa what you want.  What do you want?"  "I don't know..."  Me, "maybe a Barbie?  or how about skates?"  "Yes!"  So because I used those two as examples, she now tells everyone that's what she wants for Christmas.  If only the art of persuasion worked so perfect everytime.....

Feeding the dolphins



Is it laughing or mad?   I can't tell!  kinda scaring me....


since Halle missed two days of school we also got in a history lesson.  We remember.....
We visited the wax museum next

I loved that they had a whole section dedicated to Jesus

Halle knows her personally




He wishes.
That's ok, I got Johnny Depp.
with Miley Cyrus
Take it outside boys
Team Jacob



Halle making a wax hand.  I always wanted to make one of these when I was a kid.  We attempted to make Arden one, but she couldn't hold her hand still long enough to let it set.  I was kind of glad since it saved me ten bucks.
 
all ready for the 3D motion movie.  Even this scared my little sissy.

silly us
The most fun we had was at Ripley's Believe it or Not.  Didn't get many pictures here, but we spent a long time here checking out everything. 


biggest tire

next to the 1500 lb man. I didn't tell her to do this!

next to the tallest man
after riding around on Daddy's shoulders for the past few days, the choke hold has loosened up slightly
 
 
 
Brian once told Halle long ago that she would never be too big to ride on Daddy's shoulders.

dinner on the Riverwalk at HardRock Cafe
 
I always ask Halle what her favorite parts of vacations are.  #1 Steel Eel roller coaster, #2 Ripleys, #3Dolphins, #4Hotel hot tub
 
and Arden: #1 Sesame Street play area at Sea World, #2 dolphins, #3 hot tub