Labor Day Weekend

Half of us spent Labor Day weekend in Green Bay (Brad, Natalie and Luke), and the other half spent it in Houston/San Antonio (me and James).  We all had a trip planned to GB, but I didn't need to take off from work, so James and I improvised and spent a night in San Antonio.  It wasn't quite the same, but we had a great time.

Brad and the kiddos left Thursday for the cooler weather of GB.  Poor guy got delayed for several hours in Atlanta, and Natalie even capped off the fun by pulling the emergency medical alarm.  These were the pictures that I received while they passed time in between flights

 

 Brad sent me this one saying "Natalie took out a wipe and is cleaning herself.  She doesn't want to be dirty for Grandmama and Granddaddy".

James's school was canceled Friday to host the funeral for the slain officer that was shot in Houston.  I got caught in some of the traffic, and it was incredibly humbling and overwhelming to see the number of officers that came into town to support the family and community. 

James spent most of the day at my office, so when Brad sent these pictures 

 

We responded with our own

Friday night James and I went and ate Mexican and had planned to go to the high school football game, but it was rained out.  Instead, we picked up cupcakes and macaroons

 

On Sunday, James and I went to San Antonio.  We had planned to see Rosemary, Brannon and the kiddos, but they had all been sick for the week.  We went straight to Sea World in the 97 degree heat.  We had a lot of fun, but we were both hot, sweaty and exhausted!! 

Riding Shamu ride

We saw a sea lion show first, and James said this was his favorite one.  

I personally loved the Shamu show!  I know their treatment of the animals is questionable, but these whales are magnificent!  I vaguely remember seeing Shamu when I went to Disney as a child, but I could have seen this show over and over 

James wanted to get wet so badly!  Each time the whales would swim past us, James would walk down into the aisle a lit to try and get wet. 

I felt terrible that we weren't close enough and even offered to go to the next show, but he said that he was hot and ready to go!  Me too James! 

This $10 plastic sword made up for it! 

And I do have to add that this kid is his father's son.  Brad hates lines like no one I've ever met, and James and I got in line for the huge splash water slide ride (again, trying to make up for the Shamu seat selection).  James decided that the line was too long and that he didn't want to wait! 

The next morning we went to the Alamo.  It was smaller than I expected, but beautiful nonetheless.  It killed me not to do the audio tour, but James hung in there and let me read a few plaques here and there.  In the gift shop he spotted this Davey Crocket had and begged to have it.  He has not worn it since, but he did look cute :) 

 

 

On the way home we found a little piece of Oxford! 

We also hit up the pool for one last afternoon of summer

 

Ok so back to the Green Bay trip.  Evidently everyone had a blast!  The weather was what James described as the perfect heat (not too hot, not too cold).  Natalie wore this dress everyday, but Brad assured me that they were washing it :)  Here they are roasting marshmallows and eating boiled peanuts--my favorites 

 

They also visited an old amusement park that is very quaint and did a lot of swimming! 

 

A lot of patio time.....and why not when the weather is perfect

My office is three blocks from James school, but we are moving in late November :(  I am pretty bummed about this fact, so I've decided to try and go eat lunch with James once a week while I'm close.  Here we are Tuesday

And we were very happy to receive this picture: the crew had landed in Houston! 

A Weekend of Fun!

This weekend we did a sleepover swap with cousin Natalie and Will on Friday, and Brad and (our) Natalie had a Daddy-Daughter dance on Saturday.  In between both, Luke was just about as happy and cute as he could be.

My cousin Tracy and her family live just north of Houston, about 40 minutes away.  Her daughter Natalie loves my Natalie, and her son Will is the same age as James.  Friday we did a sleep over swap, with the girls staying at our hose and the boys at hers.  I offered to take the boys, but I think I got off easy. :)  

We spent Friday afternoon enjoying the relatively cooler temperatures by letting the kids drive their cars (Natalie apparently had some engine trouble).  The girls made their own pizzas for dinner (cousin Natalie introduced us to pineapple pizza), and we finished the night with manis and pedis.  I sent Tracy the pedicure picture asking if they were doing the same at her house.  Natalie LOVED having sleep over company, and cousin Natalie was so sweet to her.   

Will and James had a blast, but this was the only picture that I got. 

Saturday our neighborhood friend's daughter (and Luke's classmate) Emily Goldstein had her second birthday party at our neighborhood park.  Luke had a blast!! 

 

Sweet boy didn't have much of a chin to hold the hat on, but we made it work.  :) 

Saturday evening, Ascension held a Daddy-Daughter dance.  I let Natalie take one of my small clutches to the dance, and it was filled with the new "lipstick" (Princess chapstick) that she picked out at Target and two doll combs.  This girl LOVES being a girl.  And I LOVE that she loves being a girl.  We curled her hair, put on her "lipstick" and picked out her prettiest dress.  I know I'm biased, but these two had to have been the most beautiful couple at the dance :) 

 

Brad said that Natalie danced with him at the beginning, but once her friends got there she didn't pay him much attention.  Natalie is a lot like her father, in that she is pretty confident in her "white girl moves".  :)  According to Brad, Natalie spent most of the evening fiddling with the purse and putting lipstick on her friends.  Would we expect anything less?

My friend Amanda Candler (Zoe's mom--Natalie's BFF) helped with the dance and sent me this picture during the evening.  As I said, just beautiful.  

I debated whether to include this story, but out of fear that I will one day forget I decide to.  When Brad and Natalie pulled up at 9:00, Brad met me in the driveway and said that Natalie had tee-teed on herself and gotten very embarrassed.  Brad saw her in the corner being very still and with a puzzled look on her face, and then she told him that she wanted to go home :(  When I grabbed her out of the car, and she said "Mama, I wanted to tome home because I tee-teed on myself."  I told her that her dress was dark and no one could see or tell that she didn't make it to the bathroom.  She responded "ok, so you not going to tell the gurls?"  No, sweet Natalie, I will never tell your friends that you didn't make it to the bathroom.  Precious 3 year old Natalie.  

This weekend Luke decided that he loves this monkey, which is known around here as "Minnie Bickey".  Funny story about Minnie Bickey: there is a corresponding boy monkey, appropriately named Mickey Bickey.  I believe that someone in our family bought these monkeys for James as a gift when Natalie was born.  James affectionately called them "The Bickeys"--Minnie Bickey and Mickey Bickey.  We have no idea where he came up with "The Bickeys", but the Bickeys made the move from PA, and now they have a new home in Luke's heart.  

 

And a little picture to prove that James and I are part of this family......