Galveston Vacation 2011

Josh and I talked extensively about where to go for our Summer Vacation with the girls. Brenna had been begging to go to the beach, but this Mama just wasn't keen on the idea of driving to the ocean with a 4 year old and a 1 year old. I just didn't think Macie would ever make it. So we decided on a few days at the Gaylord Texan. Josh booked our trip and we were set. But Miss Brenna had her heart set on a beach vacation, and she kept begging and insisting that is where we were going. And apparently Moms are better at ignoring their children than Dads are, because Josh called me one day from work to let me know that we now had reservations in Galveston for our Vacation! ha! So, I had to overcome my fear of driving 8 ours with a 1 year old. Luckily Daddy knew just the thing to help my anxiety....a TV in my car! So- he took it over and had it installed. (best investment EVER!!!) So we got up bright and early on July 26th and loaded the car with everything but the kitchen sink, and headed out!
Much to my surprise, the girls did GREAT!! They played with toys and watched movies until it was almost lunch time. About the time Macie got restless, we decided to stop for lunch. Luckily we found a Sonic with a play ground (go figure!). So the girls got to run around and play and get rid of some energy. It was perfect!

I never knew that Sonic had a play area! This one was really neat with an inside eating area.

The rest of the drive went fairly well. Macie fell asleep first, then we actually had about 30 minutes of BOTH girls napping! WOOHOO! They both woke up and had some snacks and got a little restless toward the end of the drive, but we were almost there and didn't want to take time to stop. Once we started to see the OCEAN, Brenna was in heaven! It did take a little convincing to make her believe it really was the ocean. Galveston isn't quite the "blue water and white sand" you see on TV! ha!
As soon as we got to our hotel and got checked in, the girls were bouncing off the walls!

The view from our room!!

Brenna was excited to bust out her new notebook and pencils and crawl up in the middle of our bed.

We headed down to the beach as quick as we could get unpacked and changed! Poor Daddy was exhausted from driving all day, but he will do anything for his girls....so he eagerly changed too!

Headed to the beach for the first time!

Over the course of 3 days, we spent many hours on the beach. The back of my Tahoe was FULL of sand, but I didn't mind one bit! These two girls played and played!

Josh and Brenna spent the majority of their time in the water "riding" the waves!

She found a sea shell!

Macie didn't care too much for the water. She was much happier up on the beach where she could run around without being held.

She would climb in the chair, and out of the chair, and in the chair, and out of the....well, you get the picture!

When we needed a break from the beach and SAND, we would go and enjoy the awesome pool at our hotel!

 We didn't get any pictures of the kids IN the pool because it took both of us in there with them. But the both LOVED the pool. It even had a water slide that Brenna rode on several times.
 Brenna discovered the swim up bar pretty quickly, and her Daddy introduced her to Virgin Strawberry Daiquiris (aka- strawberry smoothies)! Pretty sure we went broke buying strawberry smoothies that week!

Posing for a picture...Smoothie in hand!

The pool chairs made a great place for snack time!

After naps each day, we would get dressed and head out to dinner. It felt good to put on something besides a swim suit!

My sweet Macie Claire and her CHEESE face!

My Brenna Grace is getting so BIG!

Check out the size of this Strawberry Smoothie she got while we were waiting on our table at dinner!!! She was one spoiled little girl this week!

I was kind of nervous about how the girls would sleep with all of us in the same hotel room. Macie is used to sleeping in her crib in her own room by herself. The first night took a bit. She cried for a little while, but eventually laid down and went to sleep. She wasn't sure what to think about being able to see us from her portacrib. So the next day, we came up with a plan! My thought was- If she can't see us, she will be more likely to lay down and go to sleep. So here is what we did...

I moved all the furniture in the room so that she kind of had a "wall" to keep her from seeing us. And it WORKED! There was never another tear shed for the rest of the trip! Leave it to the Mama to come up with a plan like this!!
And when we were awake, their favorite place to play was on Brenna's blow up mattress. :)

Time to pile up on Daddy!

On Thursday, we headed over to Moody Gardens to check out the aquarium. It was neat to see, but not quite what we expected. The aquarium was very hard to navigate and we back-tracked a lot. When we left, we still weren't sure we saw it all. But there were a lot of neat things for the girls to see. We even got to see a 4D Dora and Diego film. I kept wondering what the 4th "D" was....right up until Dora and Diego walked up to the stream of water and the fish "splashed" us...  As luck would have it, the camera died right after we got there! But I did get these...

LOVE these two!!

"Brenna Cam"!

Cheesy pose with the Dora and Diego 4D movie poster. :)

That afternoon, after nap time of course, we headed back down to the beach for one last afternoon.

We had fun writing the girls names in the sand.

Macie could have cared less, but we had to do her name too!

I was afraid she would hate the sand being all over her, but she surprised me and had a BLAST!

We buried Brenna in the sand and as I was about to take her picture, Macie ran up to her and plopped down right on top of her and just giggled!

This little girl dug in the sand for HOURS. And that little dump truck hauled tons of dirt!

On Friday morning, we got up and got all packed to head out. We decided that since we had been so lucky with the girl's behavior on the trip down that we wouldn't chance it on the way back. So we decided to make it a two day trip. Josh wanted to go to the Shiner Brewery in Shiner, Texas and I had my heart set on some Mexican food in San Antonio! Shiner was our first stop. We were running a little behind (go figure!) and were scared we wold miss the tour. But we got there in the nick of time and got to tour the Shiner Brewery. It is a neat little town! When you go into a gas station, you can get Shiner on tap! haha! The girls were not so much thrilled about this part of the trip, but they got to get out of their car seats so they were pretty good sports.


 From Shiner, we headed up to San Antonio for dinner. I had visions of walking around the River Walk with my family and enjoying the fresh air and the girls having a blast. I was wrong. Brenna was 100% uncooperative, and Macie cried most of the time because she was so hot. This was the best picture I could get of them.

Brenna refused to even look at the camera, much less smile. They were both sweating so bad, but were so tired they wouldn't let go of their blankeys.

Our hotel was a much welcomed site that night. The girls were so ready to get out of the car and run around. We played in the room for a bit, then went down for a late night swim in the pool. The girls were both so tired that we didn't last long, but we did have a little fun.
Saturday morning we packed up and headed home. The girls were ready to be there, and so were we!! We decided to make one last vacation pit stop in Austin and eat at the Salt Lick. It was a really neat place. I am not much of a BBQ fan, but the food was ok. Josh really enjoyed his. All they had was BBQ, so our picky eater Brenna only ate a roll. But she was ONCE AGAIN a great sport while we ate. :) The scenery at the Salt Lick was beautiful, and I think it would be a great place to go with a large group of people. However- I was one happy camper because I was with this group of people...

These three are my life

Overall, I would say that Vacation 2011 was a success! The kids had a blast, and I enjoyed doing nothing but spending time with my 3 favorite people in the world.

Let's Go Rangers, Let's Go!

Yep- I am still trying to catch up on our fun Summer adventures. There were so many more than these, but I am touching the highlights so that I can get back to the every day blogging like I REALLY want to do!! I love my girls so much, and every day with them is a treat and a blessing. I just don't want to forget a second of it.
In June, Josh and I decided to take Brenna to a Rangers game. She went last year on a "daddy/daughter" date with Josh, and his friend Sean and daughter Makyla. She LOVED it and kept begging to go back. We decided that it would be WAY more fun to take a friend with her, so she chose to invite Tia (because in her mind, Tia should do EVERYTHING with us and we are OK with that!!).
After dropping Macie off to spend the evening with MeMawMom, Brenna, Tia, and I headed to Ft Worth to pick up Josh at the fire station (as he was still working 8-5 shifts). And what would a trip to a fire station be with a little photo op??

Complete with brand new shades. :)

The girls had a blast giggling in the back seat on the way to the ballpark. I am pretty sure most of their conversations revolved around what foods we were going to eat!
When we got there, our seats were still in the sun a bit, so we walked around until it cooled off (and I use the term cooled off very loosely because let's face it...it was Texas in June!!). While on our walk, we ran into some of the Rangers girls and they gave Brenna and Tia free hats! Pretty sure I was more impressed than the girls though! ha!
Before the game started, we got hot dogs and juice boxes to eat for dinner, then the topic quickly changed to SNACKS! Who knew that two 4 year olds could eat SOOO much??!! I had packed some snacks in anticipation of them loosing interest in the game (which happened about 30 seconds after the first pitch!). They munched on those, until we got peanuts. Those girls are some Peanut eating fools!!! I had no idea that 4 year olds could pack away the peanuts like that! But they were having a blast, and I figured we cold deal with the tummy aches later! (sorry Nikki!) ;)

Check out the mouth FULL of peanuts!

SERIOUS peanut concentration going on here!

I love these two little girls almost as much as they love each other!

After snacks got boring, we resorted to some Leap Frog games, Magnidoodle, and IPhones!

We even had a really nice lady in front of us that offered to take our picture! And apparently I thought she was too close and wasn't going to get us all in the picture, so I leaned WAAAAAYYYY over so that I didn't get cut off.....wonder if she realized what I was trying to do, or just thought I was a freak who liked to lay down to have my picture made? Either way, she should have informed me that I would still be in the picture if I sat up like a normal human...oh well.


 The girls got a little restless after a while, so we decided to head to the car. It was a fireworks show, and both girls insisted that they wanted to watch the show, so we decided to head to the car and watch it from there since we were going to have to walk 1/2 way around the field anyway to see it. The girls were just as happy to watch from the parking lot, and I think the look on their faces says it all!

It was a GREAT night, and we had a blast! It wasn't about watching a baseball game (because there wasn't much of that going on at all!), it was about having fun and making memories! And I am positive that these two had a blast, because they were sound asleep about 10 minutes after we got in the car....aaaahhhhh peaceful ride home. :)

SLUMBER PARTY!

Over the summer Brenna had her first "slumber party" at her house. Her first away from home slumber party was with Blain and Kallie over the Christmas break last year, but this was the first one at her house. She was really missing her BFF Tia, and had been begging for months to have Tia come over for a slumber party. I had been wanting to do it, but just hadn't found the energy time to pull it off. I finally decided in July that we needed to get it done!! So we talked to Nikki and got everything planned. Brenna bounced off the walls for two days and planned every detail of what she and Tia would do during their sleepover. By the time that the actual day got there, I could barely contain her! I have to admit, I was a little excited too!! We planned lots of fun things to keep us busy.
As soon as Tia got there, Brenna was ready for our first activity-painting picture frames!


After they finished their artwork, Nina brought us some pizza! Neither girl was really interested in eating at that point, but I did manage to talk them into eating about a 1/2 slice each before they were off to Brenna's room to play some more. I was VERY glad Nina was willing to bring us pizza, because I knew there was absolutely no way I would be venturing out of the house with THREE kiddos all by myself!
After a little more play time, MeMawMom came over to make homemade ice cream with us! The girls LOVED it! They were very helpful in the ice-adding department. Waiting on the ice cream to freeze did prove to be a bit of a bit of a challenge, but with a few distractions and some dress up clothes, we managed to wait it out.

FINALLY! We get to EAT it!!

After Ice Cream, we put Macie to bed and changed into our jommies. The girls played in Brenna's room and did a little more painting. Then when we decided it was about bed time, we made some popcorn and a very comfy pallet in Brenna's bedroom floor and got ready to enjoy "Free Willy". The girls had never seen it before, so I was very excited to watch it with them. I was instructed to sleep in Brenna's bed while they slept on their pallet.

This is the QUEEN of all pallets! There are like 6 quilts under them.
*Notice Shamu laying between them. Brenna said he wanted to watch Free Willy too because it was his favorite movie.

They lasted about 45 minutes watching the movie and then they were done and ready for some Dora. Then they lasted about another 15 minutes before they were done with the pallet. I didn't think they would ever make it with both of them in Brenna's bed, so I sent them into my bed to watch cartoons. I think Brenna lasted about 5 minutes before she fell asleep (because at this time it was about 11:30!!). So Tia came to the living room and got me and told me she needed me to come lay down with her. So I did, and within 30 seconds, she was snoring. I realized quickly that the 3 of us would never be able to sleep in the same bed, so I opted for the couch! When I went back in to check on them about 20 minutes later, this is what I found...

Sweet Girls!

We had a BLAST at our slumber party. Pretty sure we were all worn out the next day, but it was totally worth it. Brenna is still talking about it. I LOVE making memories with my girls.

Happy 1st Birthday Macie Claire!

Our sweet birthday girl

On Wednesday, May 11 our sweet Macie Claire turned 1 year old. It was a bittersweet day for this Mama! She is such a blessing in our lives. We love her more than we ever thought possible. Before having "baby #2", I wondered how on earth another person would fit into our family. Then Macie Claire entered our lives. She filled a hole in our hearts that we didn't even know was there! She made our family complete.
We got her up that morning and sang Happy Birthday to her numerous times. Each time she just looked at us and grinned like we had lost our minds! She got all dressed up for her day, and headed to Mrs. Nikki's with her cookies we made the night before to share with her friends for her big day.


"1"

Throughout the day, I got text messages and pictures from Mrs. Nikki telling and showing me how much fun my baby girl was having on her birthday. Mrs. Nikki made her feel like a princess with a crown to wear while she enjoyed her cookie. :)



Before I picked her up that afternoon, I went to Wal Mart and got her two new toys so that Brenna and I could give her a present to open that afternoon. (Daddy had to work.) I knew Macie wouldn't really know if she got a present ON her birthday or not, but Brenna would. And I was right, Brenna was SUPER excited to give her sister a present on her birthday.

Macie was more interested in the tissue paper than the gift!

After we opened her present, we took Brenna to church for her Wednesday night class, and Macie and I headed to Pulidos to eat dinner with MeMawMom. Aunt Emily called us right after we got there and wanted to see the birthday girl, so she and Wyatt came and met up with us. Then Graddy called and said he was off of work and was headed our way! It was an impromptu party! I even left and went to get Brenna and bring her back to join us! Aunt Emily couldn't wait to give Miss M her present, so she brought it in with her. Macie loved the snacks and books in it! (and Mommy loved all the new clothes!) Sadly, I got ZERO pictures of her birthday dinner. :( But we did have a good time!

BIRTHDAY PARTY!

We had Macie's birthday party on Saturday, May 14 from 4-6 at the church. We LOVE having parties at our church because there is enough room for everyone to be comfortable, it is easy, and the kids have the bounce house to play on! Since Macie was still a bit young to really enjoy the bounce house, we brought two of her little coupe cars and Brenna's tricycle to play on. The kids all seemed to enjoy themselves!
Her friends at her party included: Brenna, Blain, Kallie, Wyatt, Tia, Hartliegh, Ainslea, Baby Paul V, Kyson, Hanna and her friend Kathleen. And yes, I know that the majority of the kiddos on this list are technically Brenna's friends, but, hey- how many friends does a 1 year old really have??!! :) It was for sure a list of  people who love Macie Claire!

The CAKE! A friend designed it to match her birthday theme- "Birthday Princess"

Her own personal cake to play in and eat!

Water bottles with personalized labels! I LOVE Etsy!

With Brenna's first birthday, I had no trouble at all coming up with a theme. It HAD to be Barney. She was totally in love with Barney, and got excited every time she saw something with his picture on it. Macie's theme, on the other hand, proved to be a bit more of a challenge. She doesn't care much for TV, and doesn't really gravitate toward one type of toy or character over another. I didn't want to pick a character theme that she didn't recognize, so we went with "1st Birthday Princess". I thought that was very fitting for our little princess!!

Catrena made her shirt and matching pants. I LOVED them!!

Daddy and I got her a "ball pit" to play in, and Brenna and Memaw decided to test it out! The pool was a little big for the amount of balls we bought, so we went back and got a smaller pool the next day. This toy has proven to be a favorite at our house!!!

While the big kids played in the bounce house, Macie and Wyatt took a ride in the Coupe. Macie enjoyed it WAY more than her cousin Wyatt! :)

We eventually kicked all the big kids out of the bounce house so that the birthday girl and Miss Ainslea could have a turn.

After all the playing, it was time for some presents. I thought Macie would enjoy unwrapping the presents, but she could have cared less. One toy and she was good to go. She helped with some of the tissue paper, but for the most part, Brenna and I opened her presents. She just sat in my lap and looked around.

Macie's audience

I love the fact that my girls still have their great-grandmothers around to love on them. Nana, Nina, and Mimi are an important part of our lives and I hope that my girls realize how lucky they are to have these wonderful women to love them!

4 generations

After the presents had been opened, it was time for the main event....The 1st Birthday Cake! I had put a lot of thought into how we were going to be able to do Macie's birthday cake at the church. I knew she wouldn't just sit in a chair or on the floor to eat it, and I didn't want to haul her high chair up there and then try to clean it up to haul it back. I finally came up with the idea to put her in her bumbo with the tray on it, and it worked out great! She was really too big for the bumbo and could climb out of it but I knew we would be standing right with her, and with chocolate cake in front of her, I knew she would NOT want to climb out! It ended up working out perfectly!

"Why is everyone singing to me?"

YUMMY!

She would take one bite, then crumble some of it on the table, then repeat.



"Hey- Wait a minute! I am NOT done with that!!!"



After the party was over, we all headed over to Pops and Memaw's house to celebrate Mother's day. Brenna enjoyed playing with Hanna and Kathleen. Macie was so worn out from her party that she spent a lot of time doing this.......

It was a great day. We enjoyed celebrating our second gift from God with all of our family and friends. We appreciate everyone who came and helped us celebrate! I still can't believe my baby girl is a year old, but I am sure that is a statement I will be making each year for many many more years to come. Time goes by so fast, but we are doing everything we can to enjoy each and every stage of her life. We love you Macie Claire Bear!!

I am BACK!

Wow- long time, no blog! But, I AM BACK! Life got a little crazy after Macie's 1st birthday, and I absolutely refused to do a blog post until I blogged about our precious baby girl's birthday. I kept putting it off because it was way more fun to spend time with my girls than to blog. But I don't want to ever forget the wonderful memories we have made over the last 5 months! (seriously?? 5 MONTHS?? Holy cow) But I am ready to get back on the "blog wagon"! So hang on, because I am the proud Mama of these two precious angels, and I have lots of new adventures to share!!!