South Padre 2014

We left San Antonio Saturday morning and drove down to South Padre Island. 

Isabella napped with her new friend on the way down. We stopped for lunch and pushed on. The kids did well road tripping!
After we unloaded at the beach house we headed down to the water.

She was freaked out by the water at first. She said she didn't want to go near it and was going to play in the sand all week.

After talking about it for a while she said she was afraid of stepping on a jellyfish like she did a couple years ago.  We told her she didn't have shoes on the time that happened, and that's why she had shoes on this time.

And that seemed to take care of that fear for the rest of the week.

We often ask at the end of the day what our favorite parts of the day were...and most days she said: playing with her cousins. She loved spending time with them!

Dip in the pool before bed Saturday night...

 

 Sunday lunch at  Pirates' Landing

Sunday naps. We napped pretty much every day, so nice!

Monday night my parents kept all the kids so we could have a kid free dinner out. 6 kids with 4 being under 4 this year! 

We went to a place we hadn't been to in a couple years. I loved this sushi boat to serve our sushi!

Tuesday was cloudy day.  The whole week was about 10 degrees cooler than it normally is.

And Wednesday it was cloudy again with a huge rainstorm and a tornado on the mainland. That night we ate at our favorite burger place- Will and Jacks, so good!

It was warm and sunny Thursday. We took Benjamin back to the beach after not taking him for a few days. He wasn't very keen on the water, but was happy to play in the sand and with a bucket of water to splash in.

The beach was gorgeous this day! Blue, and very clear, and finally a calmer, yellow flag day after every day having a red flag. Mom kept the kids for us to go out on a lunch date. We went back to Manuel's- and it was just as good as I remembered.

That evening dad took Isabella to the beach to fly a kite. She was excited!

Our house for the week.

The last day was a perfect beach day!
The water was clear to where I could see my feet even out with the water to my shoulders. Mom kept the kids for us so we could go out and swim for a while on our own.

At Harpoons- A new place we tried for dinner Friday. Definitely worth going back to!

Last night before heading home in the morning.

Our family has changed a lot in the 9 years we've been taking this trip together!

 Chickfila in San Antonio 

We headed out Saturday morning after one last stop for a milky way latte for me from Yummies. Driving all the way home in one day makes for a super long day. Thankfully the kids were real troopers. We had a couple rough patches before Izzy's afternoon nap, and Benjamin's bedtime, but they didn't last long and they did so well otherwise for such a long day. I look forward to more trips with them. I grew up taking lots of long road trips and it was always a time for great conversation, connection, and singing.
Some of my favorite things from the week: some quiet morning runs, naps, some reading time, playing with the kids at the beach, milky way lattes, enjoying the ocean, and just being able to be together. I wish we weren't so far from the ocean. I love it so much! Til next time...

San Antonio

We went to San Antonio with Michael's parents last month. Isabella went down the night before with Cappy and Nana and we met them the next day.

Benjamin was a good little traveler and took both morning and afternoon naps pretty easily. We went out to dinner on the river walk and then settled in our condo for the night.

Thursday morning we went to breakfast at Mi Tierra.

So many bright colors!

Tons to choose from in their bakery. Some is good and some is not so much. Haha!

We walked around the market after breakfast.  Cappy and Nana let Isabella pick something out and she chose a yellow guitar.  Benjamin got some maracas.

We went swimming in the afternoon. Then headed back to the river walk for dinner in the evening.

I love the sweet relationship she has with her Grandparents!

Cappy showing Izzy that a real man has no problem carrying your pink plastic purse out in public... :)

Friday morning we headed to Sea World. Its been many years since I went and had completely forgot how big it was and how much there is to do.

At the Cannery Row Caper show

In the children's park there was an elmo show and you could meet the characters at different times. Benjamin got a little freaked out by Elmo.

I loved watching her face!

We ended our fun day with some ice cream at DQ.

Benjamin did not sleep great at night and I was up several times with him, but both kids slept longer in the mornings than they have been. The thunder lost to the spurs while we were there. But we still had a great trip San Antonio!

May 1-15

May 1st: She asked to have her picture taken with this statue at the library.

May 2nd: At the Edmond Arts Festival and later that night finding Michael's book on the shelf at Barnes and Noble.

May 3rd: Benny's first trip to the water area at the zoo, and celebrating Nana's birthday later that evening.

May 4th: Playing outside in the evening.

May 5th: Forgot to take a picture, random picture from my phone that day from dinner time at work. I've been trying to eat clean about 80% of the time this last year. Whole, unprocessed foods. I've eaten this black bean quinoa A LOT.  So much so I'm taking a break from it for a little bit. Haha!

May 6th: Playing in the afternoon light.

May 7th: Before bed after Wednesday night church. This was the least blurry one. Oh motherhood! :)

May 8th: The first bloom of the spring on one of the rose bushes my dad planted for me.

May 9th: Headed to the mother/daughter night at church.

May 10th: Date night with my dad, out to dinner and the symphony.

May 11th: Mother's day with my favorite little girl! (Benjamin was asleep)

May 12th: Signing lots of books to send off to readers.

May 13th: We got to go to a playoff game. It was so, so fun with a crazy win at the last minute!

May 14th: Benjamin bear

May 15th: Catching a sneak peek at the accessories she added for the day.

One year

I'm going to be playing catch up on posts for a while...

Benjamin its been one year since we met. The year has felt very long and very short year all in one. You have grown and changed so much in these 12 months. From a tiny little guy to a toddler that is all over the place and in to everything. So many firsts in a years' time!

 Our 12 month picture session did not go so well...you felt like this about it...

 You spent the day before crying or fussing most of the time you were awake, and wanting me to hold you. Cutting teeth is no fun! :(

You gave me a couple smiles before you started signing 'all done' and just wanted me to hold you.

21lbs 6.5 oz 30.5 inches

During your 12th month you: started clapping, started cruising holding on to furniture and moving from one chair to another holding on around the table, and you loved splashing in the toilet when you could sneak in there if we forgot to leave the door closed. You love baths and playing in water, let's try to stay out of the toilet though, please! :) You can sign more and all done. You say Mama and Dada and MO! for more. You take two good naps most days, but still wake up at night a couple of times. You are snugly when its time to sleep and lay your head on my shoulder while I sing before you go to bed. Its one of my favorite things.

I know before I know it, another year will have flown by with many more firsts and changes. We love you so much Benjamin Gray! You have been such a blessing to us. I love your blue eyes, smile, and great laugh.
Love,
Mama