Perpetual Summer

It looks like Fall is not going to grace us with its presence any time soon, so I'm going to blog like we just went to the beach yesterday... because we could have it's so hot here!  I know I live in Texas, but really can't I get a break from the heat just for I don't know 6 months or so?  Is that too much to ask?  Anyway... on with the post.

The week before school started Wendy, my neighbor, partner in crime, photographer extraordinaire and just a fun person to hang with, and I took the kids to Stuart Beach on Galveston Island.  Yes, lived 45 minutes from the beach for an ENTIRE YEAR before taking in the sand, the sea, the waves, the gulls, and all the fun the beach has to offer.  I really have to get out more.

 Brenna and Jordan hit the waves right away and struck a pose for posterity.

Like all girly girls, they managed to turn a day at the beach into a day at the spa.  They covered every inch of themselves in sand whether it was dry or wet. But even a day of beauty has its price... the prep work for the mud bath is grueling at times.  You have to find the right kind of sand, dig it up and haul it back to the spa area.  Next year I'm sure they'll request a Cabana boy to do all the heavy lifting.  Come to think of it, I want a Cabana boy to bring me drinks and carry all the stuff back and forth to the car.  In the end it was all worth it, their skin was as smooth as silk.

Not to be outdone by the girls and their spa day, Brady invented a game that rivals the latest and greatest Wii games on the market.  The mission - conquer all waves that come your way.  The tools - only your arms and legs.  And let me tell you folks, this kid is tenacious and a master at wave wrangling.  The first level of the game was pretty tame - just waves to jump.  On the second level he had to watch out for seaweed which could take away all your jumping powers.  The third level brought giant logs that could knock you down under the waves into a murky under the sea world of spiky fish and crabs with pinching claws. I'm pretty sure he reached level 4 and had about a bazillion lives banked before we dragged him out of the ocean to head home for the day.

Preparing to leap

Wave prepare to meet your maker

I'm really not sure I'm into this whole wave whacking thing

Sometimes you smile for the camera

Sometimes you don't

All in all it was a great day at the beach.  At the beginning of the day, I was all I should live at the beach.  I was born to just sit by the ocean, bask in the sunlight and be lulled by the sound of the waves.  When we had to pack everything up and haul it back to the car and deal with the vast amounts of sand attached to our feet, my idealistic thoughts were dashed.  So for now, I'll leave the beach to the sea gulls and just visit from time to time.

Downsized

This is a photo of my office in progress about a year ago. Some improvements have been made along the way. I hung up some pictures and got a nicer chair. I added the return to the left side of the desk and bought some cool lamp shades to replace the ones that were destroyed in the move. I even got rid of all the boxes in the foreground!

This is my office this week while we have new flooring installed on the main level of the house. Yes, I'm co-existing with all of the kids toys and my severely under-used elliptical machine. I keep reaching for things like my calculator or reference folders. Hopefully I won't have unpacked everything before the floors are done. But do you see the cool black lamp shades I got? I love them!

Lemonade Girls

Ever since we moved to Pearland, Brenna has been talking about having a Lemonade Stand. And unknown to me, her friend, Jordan, has had the same desire for about 2 years. This is one of those activities that I just couldn't get behind earlier in the year. I didn't know the neighbors well enough to implore them to come buy and drink lemonade from plastic cups on our sidewalk. Every time she brought it up, I would come up with one reason or another why today wasn't a good day for a Lemonade Stand.

I guess this was just meant to be this week, because it evolved so naturally I barely registered what was happening. In an effort to get the girls on the same page during a play date, I suggested we make some lemonade. Suddenly I had two girls focused on an activity and willing to help. Jordan filled the pitcher with water and Brenna measured out the drink mix. Brenna poured the mix into the water and Jordan stirred it up. Both girls pronounced the lemonade delicious and went on their merry way to playing peacefully with their baby dolls. I went back to work blissfully ignorant of what was to come.

The next thing I know one of them says, "Hey, we should set up a Lemonade Stand!" Every fiber of my being told me to squash this idea. It was over 100 degrees outside. Who would want to come out for lemonade in this heat? Did I want to stand outside in the heat and supervise the operation? But seeing the anticipation and excitement on their faces made it impossible to resist. The next thing I knew, I was digging out a large pitcher and we started the lemonade making process all over again. We reversed roles this time, so each girl learned a different aspect of the intricate details that go into making lemonade. Being the event coordinator that I am, I started coming up with a list of things we would need. We found some cups and the all important tip jar. Jordan made a sign for the tip jar. It read "10 Cents of Pink Lemonade - Tips". We hauled all this down to Jordan's house to set up the stand. We couldn't let her mom, Wendy, miss all the fun. Plus I needed our resident photographer to capture the moments. Funny, I wanted to say "capture the moment on film" but that's so pre-digital and all.

Since it was Pink Lemonade, all of the accessories naturally needed to be pink. The tip jar was pink. The table cloth was pink. There was a pink bandanna for decoration and a pink umbrella to catch the eye of drivers by. Speaking of "drivers by", we live on a cul-de-sac, so those are sometimes few and far between. Being the Marketing Major that I am, I sent out a text blast to all of the neighbors I knew would have a heart and stop by.
Thankfully they all responded with great enthusiasm and we even had a few spontaneous participants. Both girls had no reservations about YELLING across the street asking if someone wanted to buy some delicious lemonade. One of our neighbors said he give them a dollar if they would just stop YELLING in his direction. I might steal this idea and start implementing it in our house on a regular basis. Saying "tranquility now" to myself isn't working anymore when the decibel levels get too high.

One out of one babies gave the lemonade an outstanding review!

Here's Jordan serving up a cup to Karleigh. Brenna appears to be supervising.

The revenue from the project amounted to $5.60 which the girls split evenly. I'm not sure what Brenna plans to do with her share. I can only hope that if she plans on re-investing it into the business that the next Lemonade Stand event takes place when it is MUCH cooler outside.

Going to the Zoo

Oh dear, the entire month of May has come and gone and I have so many blogs to catch up on. I'll start with our trip to the Houston Zoo.

It started with Meerkats in the morning light.
I think the one on the left should lay off the kibble.
Maybe we caught him on the end of a big sigh.

Then we were off to meet the baby elephant.
So very cute.

Here kitty, kitty, kitty.
I would not want to change his litter box.

Just hanging out monkeying around.

Stretching out to say, "Hi"

Oh yeah, we took the kids with us!

As Austin cried his way through the exhibit, Brenna kept saying to herself,
"Just go to your happy place and everything will be okay."

Drumming up some fun.

I'm pretty sure the cows are that way.
They have cows at the zoo, right?

Manual dexterity in progress.

All those cool animals around and this is what
holds his attention!

Look who popped up in Prairie Dog Town.

Our beautiful swan princess.

Peeking over the fence.

Just his size.

Baby buffalo busting. Is that legal?

Quarry Work

On our Spring Break trip to Arlington/Haslet, we spent a few days with my parents (Fred and Margaret AKA Granddad and Nana). One day when Austin was napping, Granddad took Kassadie and Brenna outside to the massive backyard that sports a playground, work shop and lots of, get this, rocks. It just happens that every mailbox on the street has a lovely brick or stone enclosure, and theirs is just a plain old mailbox on a post. When Granddad discovered all the natural rock in the yard, he decided he would put it to good use. It was just convenient that some cheap labor came along to aid in the endeavor. Yes, Granddad put the girls to work digging up rocks for his decorative mailbox enclosure. It went a little something like this:

Gather the "proper" tools

Then start digging

And dig some more

Rope your little brother/cousin into putting
the rocks you dig up in a bucket

Once the bucket is full, take it to the tractor trailer

and dump it out. Repeat this process for about 3 hours,
or until Granddad says you can stop.

Try to take the tractor for a joy ride when

Granddad isn't looking.
Keep an eye on the trailer at all times.
There are rock rustlers in these parts.
Load up the help and head to the collection pile.
Practice the art of chucking rocks off the trailer.
Be careful not to hit the person next to you with a rock.
We wouldn't want OSHA to show up.
Reward the help with a well deserved tractor
ride around the yard.

So if you find yourself invited to Fred and Margaret's, be advised. There's plenty of work to be done!

Winterfest 2011

For the past couple of weeks, we've seen banners, posters and ads for "Winterfest" here in Pearland. Among the rides and attractions, they boasted having 250,000 lbs of snow for snowball fights and tubing hills. With temperatures forecast in the upper 60's and low 70's, we couldn't miss the opportunity to see man-made snow melt. We haven't seen snow since last winter in Utah, and I for one miss it. So we headed out in short sleeves and shorts (yes, of course, Brent was in shorts) to see what adventures awaited us at Winterfest.

First up was a ride on a mechanical bull. Brenna said she was going to "take that bull down". According to the video I shot, she stayed on a good 20 seconds. Not bad for a city girl.

Austin decided to stay in his stroller and work his way into the action.

Next up was a little rock wall climbing followed by a tube ride down a very challenging man-made hill.

Austin, meanwhile, still preferred to hang out in the stroller and feast on graham cracker Goldfish.

Brenna took a spin on the Wiggle Wurm. I can't believe she picked the pink bird. Can you?
(No, that was not a typo above. I can't help it if the Carnies can't spell.)

All that watching Brenna go around in circles only made Austin thirsty.

Brenna and Daddy had some fun in the fun house.

And, we FINALLY found a ride that Austin liked!

Thanks Pearland Winterfest! That was the best $17 dollars we've spent on entertainment in a long time. That's right folks, one admission fee and all the rides you can stand. None of this buy tickets and then tell your kids you're out of money after the 2nd or 3rd ride stuff. Local "small town" festivals rule!