Austin

In July, Chuck had a conference in Austin. Considering that the majority of our family lives there, we of course wanted to go too!

We had fun at Nana and Big Daddy's. It was fun seeing Big Daddy with all his grandkids (all boys) in his hot tub!


We played with the neighbors next door, Harlan and Lucy. They have the best ride-on toys. Then Harlan kicked it up a notch by bringing out the water hose...





William had a blast!


And we played at Grandma and Grandpa's...I wish I had photos of his birthday gathering at the rv park. It was so fun! But afterwards, Uncle Jason went fishing, and the boys came along to supervise (and throw rocks in the water, thus summoning the fish...or something). Clearly their method worked, judging by the size of this monster he caught:





And back at Grandma's, Chance and Chandler built a great dinosaur jungle...


We also went swimming with Meesh and her boys (again no photos)...but I do have photos of the pool at the hotel. We were downtown and the pool was on the roof. It was a blast, especially with our new underwater camera (thanks Dad!)...









And for the second half of our week, we had a special family visit us. More about that in the next post.

July 4th

The summer fun is just continuing on here. For July 4th weekend, my sister Mari and her boyfriend (fiancee?) Jimmy came to visit. It was so fun to see them!! The boys, of course, loved having someone else's attention.

We had hoped to see some great fireworks, so, despite the very rainy day thanks to Hurricane Alex, we called Carlos'N'Charlie's in Austin to see if they were still on for a show. They said "Rain or shine, we're having fireworks!" So, on we went. We took the scenic route which is always fun. We met up with Grandma and Grandpa Thier for dinner, then headed over to Nana and Big Daddy's. Shortly after we got there, gearing up to go down to the lake, we found out that Carlos'N'Charlie's had indeed decided to postpone their fireworks til the following night. So we drove to Austin for naught. Bummer.

Saturday we decided we didn't want to make another trek to Austin, so we bootlegged it in the mall parking lot next to Fiesta Tx and watched their fireworks show instead. It was great anyway!!





Also while they were here, Aunt Mimi and Jimmy went down to the AA convention. There were 60K people downtown for it. I heard later that it was the largest convention San Antonio has ever hosted!! And I'm so proud of my sis and where she is in her life/recovery (and you too, Jimmy!!).

Anyhow, Sunday we went to church and lunch and were sad to say goodbye. The visits are never long enough. The kids keep asking to go to Aunt Mimi's house ever since they left.



We love you, Aunt Mimi & Jimmy!

Oh and don't you love Chance's face...


That evening was the actual fourth so we got out some fireworks for the kids.

Can I just say, fireworks scare me? Like, a lot....? Thankfully the boys aren't big enough for the scariest ones, but giving Chandler a sparkler is enough to send me running for the hills!





Then we put the pyromaniacs to bed, and had a little less scary fun with fireworks.



Using the strobe firework....

First Month of Summer

June was incredible. We didn't go hardly anywhere. Family visited. We adjusted to a later schedule. We spent a few days in pajamas. Chuck worked from home 2 days a week. June has been the epitome of summer.

We've had visits with Nana, Big Daddy, and Granny...






The boys have swam on the porch. This is their expression when I say it's time to get out.


We've made pigs-in-a-blanket.


We've found lots of bugs in our yard.
This caterpillar almost immediately pupated once we caught him...and he turned out to be a beautiful monarch butterfly!


I have video of that I need to find....

We found this tiny preying mantis.



note: Chandler has Mommy's moisturizer on his face, which he'd just gotten into right before the bug was found...thus he hadn't been cleaned yet. But man, his skin is definitely wrinkle-free now!





We've also found a mutantly huge walking stick. And this:


and beyond the bug category, here was our greatest surprise in our yard. Gotta love the quasi-countryside!


Chuck got an x-box for Father's Day. Charlie will never be the same.


And when it's all said and done...we crash out.


Have I mentioned how much I LOVE summer?!

Finishing Up Kindergarten

In that final stretch of school, Charlie got to do something special: say the Pledge of Allegiance in front of the school. Each morning there's a little show televised to each room that is streamed live from fellow students. This time it was Charlie's turn to stand among other students and say the pledge for all to see. My strong leader wasn't even nervous!



And for his final day, we had a short ceremony in his class room. Each student got to read a short piece about what was his/her favorite part of Kindergarten. Charlie's favorite? Science. Is he Chuck's kid or what?!



Then we watched a slideshow presentation that his teacher had made of their school year. I LOVED how Chance and Chandler wanted to join Charlie...



This is his awesome teacher. She's retiring this year after 26 years of teaching kinders. She was so good to him!



The final bus ride home...


And a little "Orange Cup" to celebrate!! For those who don't know, Orange Cup is a frozen yogurt place near Barnes & Noble in La Cantera Mall. When I asked the boys where they wanted to go for ice cream, they said "Orange Cup" (they don't have to know it's healthier...). For the win!!

Vacation Quotes

Charlie, as he sees a complete stranger walking near us, says "You might think I'm seven. But really I'm only six!"


On the drive here Chance says to Charlie "When we get to the beach, you wanna chase the girls? That'd be fun, huh?" (Thank You, God, that they aren't teenagers...yet!)


Kaylie formed her first sentence: "Water: fun!"


As I put the boys to bed tonight, Chance was a chatterbox. I learned:
1. You'd need a jet pack with your floaties to help you jump high into the pool.
2. Lightning McQueen's dream came true because in his dream he saw Sally.
3. Chance wishes his dream would come true. The one about a volcano and lava.

Chance said "I'm a good swimmer because I drink the water in the pool."

As I put his blue floaties on, Chance says, "I wish we had a sister so she could have pink floaties."


Charlie said, "I asked Luke what it was like having a girl (sister) and he said it's not fun. He said she is annoying." (Then gives a thoughtful look, like the thought had never occurred to him as he's been desiring a sister for the last 3 years.) Thank you, Luke, for helping my case! ;)


Chance said "Why doesn't the zoo do alligator shows?"
Because alligators aren't very smart; they don't do any tricks. They only know how to catch and eat food.
Chance said, "But what about the dolphin alligator? You ever heard of that? It's an alligator that's super smart and has a long nose and can sing."

We went to the aquarium today which brought up many questions. Chance would like to work with dolphins someday, he decided. I told him he could totally do that when he grows up. Then he said, "But I can't!! I don't have a suit!" (wet suit)


Chance said he wanted to see more dolphin shows so I told him there are dolphins at Sea World back home. He then says, with folded hands, "Pwease God, wet me wive at Sea World!!"


As we walked the beach, Chandler pointed at a house and said "Wook Mommy! Big House!! Chan-er's big house!!" I guess he wants to live a lavish life on the beach someday. He even yelled at some strangers: "Wook kids! Chan-er's big house!!"

Chance told Chuck "I really want to live on Saturn someday."

Charlie asked me "How far is it from Mercury to Jupiter?" Uhhh....

Charlie said today, "I been thinking about pirates my whole life!!"


Kaleb was playing on the beach, and his pants came down so he exclaimed "My butt's open!!"

Chance said "I'm just going to my room."
why?
"I don't know. I just want to." He walks in, looks around, then walks out saying "Yeah, nevermind." (bored much?!)

Chandler, in his usual style, made a big spill of bubbles and rolled in it. Chuck stuck him in the shower where he proceeded to sing "Shake your booty" as he showered off.

Chance: "Hey Charlie, wouldn't it be cool if we had a sister someday?" and just as I was thinking, "Awww" he follows up with "Yeah, then we could chase her!!" (See a theme here?!)