Houston Continued

Well, we were so grateful to get to see Kirk, but the rest of the weekend did not really go as planned. We did head for the Houston Space Center on Saturday and the boys had a great time, but by that evening both boys were sick! The last thing we decided to do at the Space Center was ride a tram into NASA to take a tour. NASA is a bunch of grey buildings with numbers on them and as we drove by they told us what was in them.... not too exciting for a 6 year old. They did let us in one building where astronauts train before going to the space center, so that was pretty cool, but because it was on a weekend, there was no one in there working. Once that tour was over we went outside to get back on the tram and a thunderstorm came. Our seats were soaked and we had no choice but to sit in them. We huddled to the middle of the tram try and stay dry while going back to the Space Center. Once there, we got out and it looked like we had peed our pants:) we decided it was time to leave. Like I said, that evening both boys were sick. The Children's Museum of Houston is supposed to be a pretty amazing place and that was on the agenda for Sunday. Harrison woke up Sunday morning throwing up, so needless to say, we didn't make it.

So after our trip to Galveston being canceled and the Children's museum being canceled, it was kind of a disappointing weekend, but getting to see Kirk and spending time with him is what it was all about anyway. I decided to head home with the boys just after lunch on Sunday instead of waiting til after dinner which was originally planned. I am SO glad I did because about an hour after I got home, I started feeling the fever chills and I progressively got worse through the night. So so glad I did not have to drive home alone with both boys feeling sick. Here are some pics of the space center. I promised Harrison we would head to the children's museum and the beach on our next visit to daddy in Houston.

BTW - my greatest trick learned this weekend was going to a public bathroom and taking care of business all while holding a 14 month old (because my sweet baby boy refuses to learn to walk).... think about it.... this was quite tricky:)

Harrison leaning to be a Padawan Warrior

Shooting the bad guys with daddy

It was the "Force of July" weekend. Most of what we did was the Star Wars Exhibits they had going

Weekend in Houston with Daddy!

Well, Kirk is in grad school now at the University of Houston. He left last Saturday morning to move into his apartment/dorm and get all settled in before classes started on Monday. He is in class from 9am-9pm Monday-Thursday! So far he is loving it and able to stay on top of all his assignments. The boys and I decided to come down to Houston for the weekend to see his place and explore the city. I have never been to Houston before so I wanted to check it out. Because Jones was such a nightmare on the way home from San Antonio, I decided to head down at his bedtime in hopes that he would fall asleep. He didn't sleep the whole way, but he did sleep some and the trip was much more manageable. We arrived at Kirk's place around 10:45pm last night and quickly put the boys to bed. It was so great getting to see each other after a week apart, I had a hard time sharing his attention with the boys:)

Anyway, the plan was to head down to Galveston for the day today so the boys could play on the beach. Harrison has been saying that he wants to go to a beach so we were all really excited. Unfortunately, Hurricane Alex decided to make landfall on the very day we were scheduled to go! It has really rained hard here all day so we decided to go to the Galleria and walk around. The highways are starting to shut down now because of flooding, Jones is screaming in the backseat everywhere we go, and Kirk and I are both trying to navigate the neighborhoods from our iPhones to find alternate routes. I have had to put my expectations aside and remember that this trip is about just being together rather than "doing the agenda". I love to plan trips and research all the stuff etc. It is hard for me to let it go:(. I am hoping tomorrow will be a better day. We are headed to the Space Center where they have one really cool Star Wars Clone Wars exhibit right now along with all the other space stuff. I hope it redeems our trip:) Lets all say a little prayer that Jones is in a cooperative mood:/ I am here at the apt. right now so I could put him down for bed on time while Kirk and Harrison go see a movie together. Lets hope it works! With the stress of the day, I did not manage any pictures, but I will be sure to take plenty tomorrow. Goodnight!

Some of the pics are a little out of order, but it is late and I am not redoing it:)

We had an amazing weekend at Westin La Cantera! You could honestly book a week there and still not get all the kids activities done that they have planned. Such a great place. We spent the weekend doing some of the activities, Fiesta Texas and RiverWalk. I have decided that the River Walk is no longer on my to do list for San Antonio. I don't know... just wasn't as impressed as I used to be. Too crowded, overpriced, very commercialized. I'm over it. Anyway, on to the great parts of the trip! The pics are below. Enjoy!!

enjoying some cotton candy at one of the many kid functions

Bounce houses with water! What could be better!

entertaining each other at the restaurant on the riverwalk

Doing what we do best:)

Our friend's kids with their friends and our boys on the riverwalk

Jones playing with his sword in the hotel lobby

magic show and ballon creations in the lobby!

me and my boys at Fiesta

Jones on the Big Red Car

Two years ago Harrison would be flipping out about getting to ride the Big Red Car...... He was kinda over it, but I made him ride anyway:)

In front of Fiesta Texas with the gang

We put Jones' crib in the bathroom at night.... it worked! he slept til 7:30 both mornings:)

Kirk and I decided to take the kids on a little road trip to San Antonio this weekend. Kirk will be leaving next weekend to move to Houston for a month to start his graduate degree at the University of Houston. This is a great program that will let him take classes over the next three summers and earn his degree. We are excited for him, but will miss him while he is gone taking classes! We decided it would be fun to take the kids to Fiesta Texas as our season passes work here too:) The drive was long, but honestly not as bad as I expected.... you see, Jones is quite loud in the car and typically hates car rides. I know you must be asking yourself why we chose a road trip knowing how Jones is, and the answer is.... it is worth it. I want to spend time with the fam and make some memories, so we are just going to have to deal with Jones' little attitude in the car. Luckily, he didn't do too bad and we made it just fine.... trying not to think about the ride home just yet......

Here are a few pics from today's adventures.We head to Fiesta Texas in the morning where we will spend the day, River Walk tomorrow evening, and then to the pool at the hotel for a late night swim and more smores! We are staying at the most amazing hotel and I have a little Internet secret that gets us into this hotel for the price us middle class peeps can afford. You just have to be willing to be a little embarrassed when you pull up in your middle class car and everyone else around you is in Lexus, BMW and so on..... it is well worth the embarrassment to me.

Within the first 30 min of being here, Harrison said: "Mom everyone who works here acts like a servant!" I smiled and said, yes, honey... that is why you need to be super nice and say thank you as much as possible:)

It took us three hours of no talking, no looking at Jones and Playing Enya in the car, but we FINALLY got Jones to Sleep.... for about 20 minutes

Hanging out at the resort pools, making smores!

Jones liked them too!

Easter with Family

We had a great weekend celebrating Easter with Family and Friends. Saturday morning dad came over and installed our mantle that he made, and installed the chandelier over our bathtub. We are taking baby steps to making our house a home. It is frustrating how long this takes, but I just keep telling myself we will eventually get there. I just have a couple more projects I want to get done before we have Harrison's party here on the 16th. Saturday night we went to church with some friends and then went to Scott and Al's house for a cookout. I love time with friends!

Sunday was the marathon I thought it would be, but we are blessed to live so close to all our family. We went to Kirk's parents first and had a big traditional Easter meal. So Yummy! The kids had a great time hunting eggs and playing together. Then we went to my parents house and enjoyed time together, another egg hunt and some yummy taco salad. As we headed home, Jones was throwing his hands in the air and just yelling. I think he was telling us he is DONE! As soon as we got home, I gave him his bottle and put him in the bed, we got Harrison ready for bed and are now enjoying some down time alone. However, I am thinking of all the things that did not get done this weekend and am freaking out! I hate starting a week without laundry and grocery shopping done. It just makes it so stressful. Kirk has the day off tomorrow, but I am not convinced it will all get done;) I will have to be super disciplined tomorrow and Tuesday nights to catch up, it was all worth it though. I think the kids had a great time, and so did we!

Harrison went to a Halloween skate party with some friends from school. He had a great time, and the parents had a great time watching the kids try to skate. I love that he is old enough to do stuff like this now. He decided to be Ben 10 this year.... Here are some pics.

NannyBug has been in town since Thursday! We have had so much fun with her, but I am ready for life to get back to normal. I have worked hard to spend as much time as I can with her, and more importantly, let the boys spend as much time as they can with her. I am behind at work now due to my Nanny time, but that is OK! Well worth it! She makes the most amazing caramel cake in the world, so I had her make one with me so I can learn. We did pretty good, and made a memory too! Here are some pics with her and the grandkids.