Stinky trip!

We had planned a fun weekend in Galveston at Pointe West. We had vacationed there a year ago last summer before Ike hit, and we were excited to go back. It has a private beach, pool, on site restaurant with pool-side service, a work-out room, and very nice accommodations. We spent the day packing, getting all of the food ready, stocking our cooler with cool drinks and burgers to grill on our first night there. We got Sophie and Bella out of school early and headed down.

We rented from a 3rd party this time rather than through Pointe West directly. After picking up the keys to the condo, we headed over to Pointe West to unload our stuff before heading down to the beach. Once we got out of the car, we were immediately attacked by swarms of mosquitoes (it had been raining in Galveston all week, so they were especially big and bad!). We scurried into our condo as we swatted at the mosquitoes. The minute we opened the door, an awful smell hit us. It smelled like mildew/rotten eggs/rotten meat all combined. We immediately called the rental company to tell them that we couldn't stay in the unit. They agreed to give us a full refund and said they didn't have another unit for us to stay in.

Stephen went to the Pointe West office to see if they had another unit they could rent us since the third-party rental company said they had nothing else to offer. But apparently there was a power outage to the main beach club building, so they were not able to even check other availability on their computer. The lack of power also meant that the on site restaurant was closed and the pool was out of service after dark (which is where we loved to swim after the sun had gone down at a sandy day at the beach..., they had the pool all lit up with great music blasting through the speakers last summer). The kids and I stayed in the condo and watched iCarly while Stephen tried to sort the mess out. Sophie kept her nose in her shirt the entire time we were in the villa, and Bella kept saying "Mom, we've got to get out of here; this smell is going to make us sick." Bella has a very strong sense of smell!

Despite some resistance, the rental company ultimately gave us a full refund. The kids still wanted to play at the beach, however, so after we sorted the refund issue out, we stayed the rest of the evening and played on the beach. Fortunately, there were no mosquitoes on the actual beach and the rain held off the entire time we were there. A storm started rolling onto shore around 7 pm, so we packed up our things and started heading back home. The big girls could have looked for shells all day. And the baby girl LOVED the ocean water. She got soaked and we had to take her shorts off (our bathing suits were packed deep in our bags so we just played on the beach in our regular clothes). Sonny boy, on the other hand, is a little scared of the ocean, and doesn't like the feel of sand on his feet. He kept walking on the outer edges of his feet so he wouldn't have to walk directly on the sand. He'd also freak out anytime we got a little ways into the water and yell "Watch out! The ocean gonna get you!" Here we are right before leaving for home. At least the kids had a little fun. We got McDonald's drive-through on the way home in Lake Jackson (nothing like refinery McDonald's). And as a bonus, 3 out of the 4 kids feel asleep on the way home, and we just carried them to their beds and let them sleep in their sandy clothes all night (well, "all night" is a relative term in our home; no one, except Sophie and sometimes Bella, sleeps "all night" unfortunately). I guess the rest of the weekend I'll be washing sheets!

Creepy

When we came home from church on Sunday, this is what we found in our garage..., right in the crack where the garage door meets the floor. Our pest control guy always puts these sticky traps in our garage for mice, etc. The only thing we have ever caught in there are lizards. Not anymore!!

It's head was totally stuck in the sticky box, so it couldn't see anything and was just lying there.


Times like these are when I'm glad I have a husband!! I'm glad he was there to deal with it right after coming home from 3 long hours of church with 4 kids in tow. Stephen took it out behind our fence and put it inside an old tree stump (after inflicting mortal injuries to it with a shovel). The next morning, it was gone. Most likely another animal got it, or maybe it mutated into a bionic super snake that will come back and exact its revenge on us for trying to chop it in half with a shovel!

ONE

Emme turned 1 years old on September 1st. I can't believe my baby isn't a baby anymore!! I remember a year ago when she was born, we were in the hospital watching Hurricane Gustav hit New Orleans on the TV. She was born right as the storm hit. Several woman came into the hosptial that night from New Orleans in labor to deliver their babies. They say storms like hurricanes can induce labor. It seemed to do the trick for me since she was by far the earliest one born before her due date.

Bella always loves all over Emme, and Emme loves the attention that she gets from her big sis. She can even say the word Bella, and she's not afraid to shout it out whenever she wants her around. This is a picture of the two of them shortly after Bella arrived home from school the other day. Bella is the first one to get Emme out of her crib in the morning. She likes to play peek a boo and sneek up on Em to give her a good scare and laugh. This is a picture of Emme opening up her present (an awesome toy she loves!) that Grandma Wee gave her..., with some help from her older siblings of course. She's also munching on a preztel (she just got her 5th and 6th tooth in on the top).

A is for Apple

Harrison started preschool last week and he loves it! A few of his friends are in his class with him, so that makes it even better. He comes home with all of these fun paintings and crafts stuffed into his ever so cool dinosaur backpack. He is exhausted by the end of the day though and usually takes a nice little nap for me in the afternoon. He is such a happy kid, and so full of life. He has the funniest personality and is always making us laugh (and pinching our ears!). We love our "bunky boy."

Summer Rewind 2009

This summer was a hard summer. No two ways around it. Record-breaking heat + four little kids ages seven and under = many long days filled with boredom, fighting, and cabin fever. Add in the fact that we had our house on the market for two months during the summer (we had thought about moving back to Pearland but we ultimately decided against it when our house did not sell quickly enough) and our continuing (seemingly endless) battles with illnesses/allergies/asthma/eczema/sleepless nights, and hopefully you get the sense of why we happily shut the door on the summer of 2009. But we managed to make it through. We even found some time to do a few fun things along the way.

In June, the older kids went to vacation bible school for a week, and they had a blast. Also in June, Sophie and Bella were on the neighborhood swim team (the Piranhas), and they had fun at the meets, even if they weren't the fastest fish in the water.

For the Fourth of July week, we drove to Ruidoso, New Mexico for a family reunion and my grandparents' 60th wedding anniversary. We stopped in San Antonio on the way up and back, staying at the Omni both times. On the way back, we talked our way into staying in their premiere suite on the 20th floor for a steeply discounted price. It was opulent. We ordered room service, went swimming, and watched a great fireworks display from our rooms. Stephen even talked his way out of a ticket between El Paso and San Antonio on the way home, though he probably shouldn't have been so argumentative with a state trooper in the middle of nowhere. Here are a few pictures from the reunion:

As often as we could, which was several times a week, we went to our nice neighborhood pools and swam in the evenings after the temperature dipped below 100 degrees and after Stephen got home from work. All the kids love to swim, and they are becoming good little swimmers. The lessons at the Houston Swim Club have been worth it.

In our newly created media room downstairs, we watched many movies and ate a lot of pop corn. We joined Netflix this summer, so we had plenty of variety to choose from.

A few sleepovers here and there. A couple trips to the Blue Bell factory in Brehnam. The Zoo, the Children's Museum, and family/friends gatherings round out our summer rewind for 2009.

First Day

I am so excited that the summer has come to an end and today is the first day of school. This has been a long, hot summer. It's been hard to be home with 4 little kids (who fought a little bit too much)!

Bella started her first day of Kindergarten today. For the past few weeks, she hasn't been able to stop talking about it and has been so excited. But this morning, the nerves kicked in and she was a little unsure. I was the last parent to leave the classroom right as the bell was about to ring. She didn't want me to go, so I just gave her a kiss on the cheek and walked out without looking back. It made me a little sad..., but not too sad after our long summer at home!! Besides, Emme, Sonny and I are going up to the school to have lunch with her and Sophie today.

Sophie was so excited. She is not a morning person at all, but she jumped right out of bed and got ready. When I walked her to the 2nd grade hall, she just pushed right ahead and went with her class without looking back at me. I wanted to at least give her a little hug, but she is ready to be back and couldn't even wait for that! I had to take Emme to the Dr. on Friday, and Sophie said, "I wish school had already started so I wouldn't have to do things like come to the doctor's office with you." Well Soph, you don't have to wait any longer. Sonny was sad this morning. He stayed behing with Stephen while I took the girls to school. He kept insisting that Bella's pink butterfly backpack was his. When I got home, we packed up his Scooby Doo lunch pack to take up to the school later this afternoon so he can eat with his sisters.

Goodbye summer, hello..., football season (gig 'em Ags), homemade chili, good running weather, a few naps here and there while the big kids are at school. Yeah, life is good.

Ten

On May 13, 1999, Stephen and I were married in the Dallas, Texas Temple for time and all eternity. We met at Texas A&M in the fall of 1997. I asked him out to a Sadie Hawkins event that fall. He put me on his "top 5 to date" list. But things never really took off. We saw each other often at Institute activities and interacted, but the timing was not right. Then, in the fall of 1998, Stephen finally came to his right mind and asked me out on our first real date. We went to Cafe Eccel, one of the favored restaurants in College Station, went to George Bush Presidential Library Park, and talked the night away. There is more to the story, but the rest will have to be told in another post. Time is limited now.

Anyway, for our Tenth Anniversary, without my knowledge, Stephen planned a "re-creation" weekend, in which we re-created things from our courtship and wedding. Because Emme is still nursing, we couldn't go away too far for too long. This re-creation was the perfect fit.

Stephen's sister, Debbie, and her husband, Mo, kindly agreed to watch our four kids for 24 hours while we got away. As I said, Stephen plotted all of this without my knowledge. A few days before we were to leave, Stephen told me we would be going somewhere but did not say where and told me that Deb and Mo would be watching the kids. I was very excited to find out what we were doing and a little nervous to leave all four kids, especially a nursing baby who refuses to take a bottle, for the first time.

When the time finally came and we pulled out of the driveway, Stephen told me what we were doing and where we were going. First to the Omni Houston (Galleria) to check in and drop off our bags. The Omni is where we stayed the night we got married, but this time we stayed in a luxurious suite. Then to College Station where we had reservations at Cafe Eccel (which were actually hard to get because it was graduation weekend, and we almost lost out on them because we arrived a little late, but after hearing our story and the reason we were there, they found a table for us right away). After Cafe Eccel, back to George Bush Presidential Library Park (where we took the pictures above (we left our good camera in the car, so we had to take these with my iPhone). Night at the Omni in the Sweet. Running through Tanglewood the next morning (our old route when we lived on Bering Street). Spa and massage treatment for me. Pool lounging for both of us. Last, a late lunch at Houston's (where by happenstance we ordered a Dr. Pepper and it came in a bottle. I have a Dr. Pepper bottle saved from one of our first dates) and a movie (17 again).

Stephen laid out this itinerary while a special song played in the background. I was excited by the prospect of each event, thoughtfully planned, but I was overjoyed by how well the weekend actually turned out. We both were moved to tears several times thinking about the last ten years and enjoying a break from our oftentimes hectic lives. We were so very grateful to the Nikos for watching our kids for us for 24 hours. Even Emme made it through, thanks in part to a 3:00 a.m. feeding of prunes and rice cereal. :)

Here's to the next ten.