Friday, May 21, 2010

San Antonio

We went to San Antonio over Mother's Day weekend for a "mini" Nav school reunion. We weren't looking forward to the long drive (12 driving hours each way...and of course that didn't include food/bathroom stops), but the girls did great! Pete and Beth were gracious enough to let us stay with them...so it was a full house (4 adults, two (almost) 3 year olds, a 10 month old and a three month old). Needless to say, quiet time was rare, BUT all the kids got along great...so it was wonderful! We visited some of the old stomping ground and some places we had no need to visit when we lived there (such as the children's museum in New Braunfels). We had a busy schedule, but it was totally worth it. We were able to catch up with the Horines (Pete, Beth, Jackson and Kate), the McClintics (Rich, Kai-Lin, Connor and Ethan), and the Stanleys (Dale, Sherrie and Kat). The Makis were originally supposed to join us, but decided to go househunting instead...slackers!!! (hehe) Each couple hosted a dinner, so it was reaaallly nice to just chill at everyones' homes and let the kids run around. Much easier than going to restaurants. Overall everyone is still the same, but hanging out was a little different. We'd meet in the mid-morning, hang out, have lunch and then break for the kids' naps! Then we'd meet up for dinner, hang out a little, and then leave early enough to get the kids in bed before meltdowns started. Just a little different than 10 years ago :)

(I imported the photos in the wrong order and am not moving them around! So...you'll just have to view them from end to beginning :) )

Leah racked out at the hotel on the way home. We stopped in St Charles, LA even though we wanted to drive for another hour or so. An 18-wheeler flipped over and traffic came to a stop...so St Charles it was. She loved jumping on all the beds :)
We went to Gruene the last evening. We hung out on the green outside the Grapevine wine store for a while (and a couple bottles) and then ate dinner at the Gristmill. We followed that up with ice cream at the General Store.

Jackson, Leah and Kat enjoying their ice creams...
Some nice lady took a couple group pictures for us which turned out okay, but then she decided to stand in the middle of the road and squat down to take this one. It turned out great! Thank you whoever you are...
This one is part of a sequence of Dale jumping over Kat and Leah.
Kai-Lin, me and Aine, Beth, Sherrie...
The "diaper station"...
Kat and Aine at the Gristmill
Daddy and his girl
Leah had a blast playing with Kat...they were running all over the lawn :)
Jackson looking cool in his shades...

Dale was playing hide-and-seek with the girls. Needless to say, they didn't find him!
Dale, Pete, Rich, Eric...
The gang and the yummy vino...

The kids (minus Connor who was at school). Jackson, Ethan, Kat, Leah...
These were at the Children's Museum in New Braunfels. That place was really neat. I wish they had a place like that here! You can go outside, throw on a smock and actually paint a VW bug. I didn't even let Leah know about that (even thought the paint is washable)...didn't feel like dealing with the mess anyway :)
"Who's that adorable baby? Oh wait, that's me...."

This was Mother's Day at Dale and Sherrie's house. Aine was trying to steal my "mommy juice".

Kat has a collection of princess dresses, shoes and accessories....so they gave us a fashion show. It was so cute. She and Leah got dressed upstairs and then came down the stairs for the big reveal. She looooved it!!



One of the side roads near Pete and Beth's house had all these beautiful yellow wild flowers along side of it, so we stopped one day and took some pictures.

This is my favorite!


We had some rain Mother's Day morning, so we had to change our original plans and ended up at Chuck E Cheese. This was the first time I'd been in there since a kid! I remember it being much more magical...but the kids sure thought it was.
The guys used to play Mario Cart all.the.time. in Nav school, so they were excited to find it at CEC's. Unfortunately, they couldn't link up to race each other, so it was a bit of a buzz kill. That didn't stop them from playing though....

Enjoying a light snack...
Leah loved this "ride"...
Beth and Aine
We went to the Guenther House for brunch one day and then walked around the riverwalk for a little bit. We didn't make it all the way down to the area where we used to hang out; we didn't want to push it too far into naptime territory. We met some ducks along the way and only had some Puffs to feed them. Didn't seem to bother them at all! They came right up to us, so Leah got to feed them and talk to them.

Aine racked out after the Riverwalk. And yes, I did dress her like this....BUT in my (pathetic) defense, she originally had on a white onesie and I had to change it into the orange one after it got wet. I know, I know...She's going to end up a fashion victim like me. Pray for her....





Waiting outside the Guenther House. Dale got double smooched...




Sunday, May 16, 2010

Hodge Podge

Here are some miscellaneous pictures that I haven't posted yet.

Eric met us at the park on his way home from work one day. Leah loved having him go down the slide with her and was a tad jealous when daddy went with Aine.
Look at that cheesy grin...and butt :)
This is how Eric found her one night...
Racked out in her new spiffy Maclaren stroller (given to us by Dale and Sherrie on our San Antonio visit since their daughter had outgrown it)...sweeeeet :)
Aine and Libby....
Not too sure what to make of the pasta...
Eric put Leah's ponytail holders on Boo's leg. I swear he loves to pester that cat!
Leah looooves playing dress up now. She definitely walks better in those heels than I do :)
Surprise surprise...trying to get into the frig!

We had a scare when Aine went for her 9 month well baby checkup. Her doctor heard a murmur (an "innocent" one) and referred us to Sacred Heart to see a pediatric cardiologist. After an EKG and an echocardiogram, he said she is normal....thank you Jesus!! Here she is looking adorable in her gown...