A Trip to the Coast

We were very happy to be invited to join our friends David and Cynthia on their annual family vacation to the coast over Columbus Day weekend. We stayed in a condo and enjoyed five days of eating, swimming in the pool, and going to the beach.

This is where we stayed. I wish I had a picture of our room because it was beautiful.

Henry is ready for the pool! He did this himself. He is a goof.

The candy store in Port Aransas. Both kids and adults enjoyed this stop.

Howie caught a shark!

Every beach, everywhere has a store with one of these, right?

Howie with his souvenir Spider Man sea shell. Howie is giving you his spidey web fingers.

The beach! There was a boardwalk from the condo to the beach.

Henry tries to catch some fish with his net.

Storm clouds! We got caught in a downpour! The adults loved it and wanted to stay, but all the kids started screaming and running for cover.

Matt is trying to catch a fish in a bucket.

This was Henry's favorite place to be at the beach. You can't get splashed in the face by waves when you are on Daddy's shoulders.

The beach, with the condo in the background.

Yeah, we're master craftsmen. We know. It's a masterpiece.

I'm a beautiful mermaid.

Brian, Adelina, and Tina fishing.
 

Brian and Tina caught some fish in the net!

Matt ate this fish! Live and raw!! Yes, he is a little crazy.

Following the trend of fish eating, David put this little guy in his mouth and then put him back.

I think Howie might have been considering eating this fish, but since it didn't fit into his spaghetti and cereal diet, he put it back.

Sophie, Cynthia, Henry, and Matt swimming in the pool.

I must also mention that Howie swam for the first time all by himself at the end of our trip. It was very exciting!

We had a wonderful time with our wonderful friends!

September 2013

And more random photos from September:

Henry was posing to show off his new shoes. He loves his new shoes and asks to wear them every day. And he is so stinkin' cute when he is posing for a picture.

Henry asked me to make some modifications to the lego motorcycle he was playing with. This is probably the world's first motorcycle with a roll cage.

Henry helping me make cookies. The flour is compliments of Howie.

Eating Sweedish meatballs at IKEA. You have to be a little bit crazy to drive two kids 90 miles to buy furniture, but I  am a little crazy. The Sweedish meatballs totally made it worth it. As did my new bookcase.

The boys playing with their new stuffed animals on the furniture dolly. 

At Sea World again. It finally cooled off enough that we didn't go swimming.

Henry, Matt, and Michelle at the Zero Prostate Cancer Run.

We came to the run to support our good friend David, who just completed treatment for prostate cancer.

We were all set to take the boys with us on the 5K. When we tried to start the race, we found out that strollers weren't allowed. So I took the boys on the 1 mile family walk. Just as well--Matt did the 5k, but the signs were wrong and it ended up being an 8K. He was very tired after all that running.

August 2013

I am a bit behind, but here is a collection of random photos from the month of August.

Howie went to a birthday party with an Angry Bird theme. Howie loves Angry Birds so he was very excited about the party hat and party games.

I love when my boys hug. So much better than when they are hitting each other.

Henry riding the carousel at Sea World.

The boys playing computer games together.

Cold ice cream!!

A huge beetle we found on our front porch.

Howie and Henry playing at a friends house. Henry is very smart to be holding on so tightly.

Goof ball!

The boys reading books together. 

Matt is playing football on the Playstation. Howie is drawing plays for him. So cool.

We tried out a new BBQ place. It was good.

A Trip To Kansas City

Last week we enjoyed a lovely vacation to Kansas City. We drove up to see my sister and her adorable new baby, to attend a wedding, and to enjoy some great Kansas City BBQ. Here are some highlights of the trip in photos:

Our first stop of the trip was dinner at Clem Mikeska's BBQ, near Waco, Texas. The BBQ was tasty, and Clem (who had enlarged photos of himself giving a thumbs up all over the place) seemed like a very nice old man.

The whole inside of the restaurant was full of stuffed wildlife. Howie was almost too distracted by them to eat his food. I think he thought the place was filled with live animals. If I thought a mountain lion was going to jump down from the ceiling while I was eating dinner I would be a little distracted too. Henry, however, was oblivious and entertained himself as usual with the salt and pepper shakers.

After driving all night we arrived at Kansas City at 6:30 in the morning. Good thing my sister and her new baby are early risers. :) This is me and Lily. She is so cute!

We ate at Fritz's, a cool restaurant that delivers your food by train right to your table. Howie loved it! 

I have told you that my new niece is adorable, right? Now you can see for yourself. See? Adorable!

Here is Howie and his cousin Ava posing next to a large lego girl made of legos outside of Lego Land.

Yes, this is practically the same picture, I know. But Howie does such great poses. I couldn't leave it out.

See? Great poses! This kid could be a model. Yup, as you can see, Lego Land was a big hit. (Don't tell Howie this, but we didn't actually go to Lego Land. It was a little pricey. We went next door to the Lego Land Store. Still lots of Legos to see and they were for sale. Howie bought two Lego star wars spaceships. It was even better than Lego Land.)

Cousins splashing in puddles at the plaza. I was hoping it would be cooler in Kansas City,  and it was indeed! I even wore pants one day.

We enjoyed sandwiches at the Bronx Pizza Parlor.

Cousins sharing potato chips.

Kansas City is so lovely and green. Love it! This is at the botanical gardens.

Cool bike statue at the botanical gardens.

Matt and Michael Jackson hanging out at the botanical gardens.

We saw this snake live and in the wild at the botanical gardens.

Boys and their trucks! This was Howie's and Henry's favorite part of the botanical gardens.

No trip to Kansas City is complete without one (or two or three) trips to Sheridan's. We love frozen custard!

Henry's first trip to Sheridan's. 

We discovered Re-Runs, the largest vintage clothing store in the United States.  It was amazing. A good portion of our vacation budget was left here. :)

Ava had so much fun playing with Uncle Matt and her cousins.

Matt and his high school buddies (on the left). One of the them (Gary) was getting married and everyone came to see him.

Do people flex when they stand in front of the temple? Well, this guy does. Here is Matt at the Winter Quarters Temple in Omaha, Nebraska.

And of course, no trip to Kansas City is complete without some BBQ. This time we enjoyed some Gates BBQ. BEST RIBS I HAVE EVER HAD!! (Sorry, Dad)