Two Little Men

Loves the spotlight

2011-11-20T03:00:00.000-08:00

Aunt Carolyn and GG sent Henry a microphone for his birthday!

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Halloween

2011-11-19T03:00:00.000-08:00

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Going to a Halloween Party.

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Henry's 5th Birthday

2011-11-18T17:55:00.000-08:00

Henry got lots of wonderful gifts from family! All of these things were very important on his list, so he was thrilled to open each one. If I didn't get a picture of your gift, please forgive me! This was fast and furious. Please know that we appreciate every gift!

All of the pkgs that came in the mail!

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Happy Napper!

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Play Doh!

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Wizard of Oz figurines! Henry has a *tiny* WofOz obsession, if you haven't heard.

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I made Monkey Bread for a special birthday bkfst.

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School Party

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He wanted to go to Rainforest Cafe, but then he changed his mind when we got there. The big moving animals are still a little scary.

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The next day, we had a little party at a bounce place with his school and playgroup friends. He had a rainbow cake.

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Tuckered out.

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Exploring

2011-11-17T03:00:00.000-08:00

One weekend morning, the boys and I rode bikes on the local trail, and they did a little exploring. I love this picture!!!

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Pumpkin Carving

2011-11-16T03:00:00.000-08:00

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Early October Camping Trip - Ray Roberts, Isle Du Bois Unit

2011-11-14T19:00:00.000-08:00

We took our first camping trip of the fall in early October. It was a 4 day weekend for the boys, and Todd had a 3 day weekend. The weather was supposed to be mild. There was rain in the forecast, but it was supposed to go above us and into OK. Now we know where this post is going!

Oh, and I'm going to post some pics of some burns on my arm. I don't think they're that gross, but you should know that if you're squeamish.

The boys had a 4 day wknd, so we headed up to the park on Friday morning. We stopped at DQ for an early lunch on the way. A big treat for the boys!

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This campground seems to be totally sold out on every weekend with halfway decent weather, so I have learned that we must get there early on Fri to get a good spot that will fit our tent, gear, etc. I set up the tent by myself this time! Woot! I bought a little tent for the boys, and Leo was ReALLY proud to mostly put it up by himself. He has to have some helps bending the poles and getting them in the pockets....but *I* have to have him helping me to get it done, and I've told him he is basically doing it himself as much as he can. He has said several times that he wants Todd to be impressed....a little living example of all those things I learned in child dev classes.

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The tent that I put up. This was its swan song. Or maybe the weekend the tent turned on us.

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OK, so for the first part of the trip, we had a FABULOUS time. Now that Henry is really independent on his bike, he and Leo could ride on the little trails near our site by themselves. SO NICE for ALL of us! We did have to go in to Denton on Sat morning and buy Leo a new bike at WM....his had been having tons of problems, and it finally bit the dust on the trails. But they were mostly just active and playing and exploring....and I got to sit!!!

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Everyone notices how often these pictures involve boys wielding sticks, right?

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The boys ended up sleeping in the little tent that we had bought for them to play in, and this was a big camping discovery. We are NOT cosleepers (kids and parents in the same room/bed) at our house...and it turns out that everyone sleeps better in separate tents while camping! The first night, I slept beautifully!

So this is my last pic...

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Saturday was wonderful. The first round of rain came in that night, and we gathered everything up and put it under the canopy or in the tent. That rain went to OK just like it was supposed to, so we went on about our business. THEN...The next round broke through the dry line and hit us. In the chaos of getting everything BACK under the canopy, my arm touched the metal rungs on the propane lantern. It hurt, but I didn't think it was that big of a deal.

The dangerous lantern:

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So we get the boys tucked into their tent, and Todd and I go to get in our tent. When Todd tries to close the zipper, it breaks. There is no repairing it. The teeth are all messed up. I had no sewing kit. I even tried band-aids to hold it closed. Nothing. It was a BIG storm with lots of wind and rain and lightning...and there we were in a tent with a BIG door open. It was pretty miserable. The next morning we vacated in a big hurry, and the tent went in the dumpster!!!

My arm was really hurting by Sunday, and by Tuesday I really couldn't focus on anything else. I outlined it with a sharpie like the pediatrician's office told me to do on mosquito bites that the boys scratch. With the outline, I can tell if it is spreading or getting better. Sure enough, it was spreading quickly. Within thirty minutes, the redness was outside the black outline. Off to the Dr. I went! I ended up with three prescriptions and a bunch of hassle of doctoring it and babying it to keep it happy. BUT it was so much better by even the next morning, thank goodness.

This was on my way to the doctor's office.

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A week later. The red square around it is my skin reacting to the bandage adhesive.

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And here it is at three weeks. Much better! Camping battle scars! I'm hardcore, baby!!! hahaha.

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Obsession

2011-10-13T14:08:00.000-07:00

I do not remember Leo having obsessions with things like Henry does. Perhaps he did and I have forgotten.

Henry's current obsession is The Wizard of Oz. This then breaks out into an obsession with tornadoes and bicycles (remember....Elmira Gulch the Witch rides the bike???). And Henry is obsessed with riding his bike, so those fit together. Also, we had to get in the closet in the spring b/c of the tornadoes, so that fits together as well. This all started when he watched The Wizard of Oz at the beach at the end of Aug.

We talk about it constantly. Why don't the animals have names? What is courage? Why can a tornado blow away a house made of bricks (he's seen this on tv) but not Dorothy's wooden house? (He means the house blows....but doesn't fall apart) Why is Kansas black and white? and on and on and on. All very legitimate questions. He asks the same ones over and over and over and over.

He has found Wizard of Oz music boxes online at San Francisco Music Box company and wants to watch them OVER AND OVER AND OVER. Which would be fine, but he needs constant help with the music b/c it downloads and then pops up in Windows Media Player.

We have watched The Making of The Wizard of Oz and casting tapes and everything else about it available on YouTube. We have watched clips of Wicked, and he wants to see that play. We have watched some high school productions on YouTube.

We have watched The Muppets Wizard of Oz and Veggie Tales Wizard of Ha's. He has recently learned about Tom and Jerry and the Wizard of Oz. I found it at the library, but we are third in line for it. He worries me constantly about when it will be ready....and when it IS ready for us, someone might steal it before we get there. He has driven me so nuts about it this afternoon that I started desperately searching for alternatives. Available at The Mighty Netflix by DVD.....BUT we only have streaming. Stupid Netflix.....doubled their prices. But, ONCE AGAIN, Family Video has saved my skin. They currently have it on hold for me at the front. And THE MINUTE Leo walks through the door after school chorale practice, we are leaving to go get it. Henry is standing right here by my chair...worrying me to death that someone will go to the video store and say they are "Holly" and get it before we get there.

HEAVEN HELP ME!!!!!!!! Or maybe I should put on my Ruby slippers and click three times!

It's in his genes

2011-09-15T17:30:00.000-07:00

Henry: What are we doing tomorrow?
Me: School
Henry: What about the day after tomorrow?
Me: We are going to a play.
Henry: OH! Oh! Is it WICKED?!?!??!?!?!
Me: No, it's "If you Give a Mouse a Cookie."
Henry: oh.

Crystal Beach - Saturday

2011-09-15T03:00:00.000-07:00

The Treasure Isle Tour guy told us on Friday that the Saturday morning tour usually has enough people, so we made the trek over again on Sat morning.

Waiting for the tour to start.

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There were enough people! Getting on the train!

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This was a fascinating tour, and I fell in love with the history of Galveston with all the hurricanes, old houses, etc. If you know me at all, you know I am a sucker for historic houses. There were about 500 on this tour. Such a neat city. I really did not appreciate it when I visited the first time. Maybe that was because I was too busy fighting for food at the trough at Golden Corral. But that's a story for another time!

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]

The Daughters of the Republic of Texas started here.

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A lot of the old trees were killed by the salt water from Hurricane Ike, but they turned them into sculptures.

Alligator.

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When the kids are older, I'm going to tour all the old mansions.

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Goddess of the Sea, or something like that.

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Catholic church.

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Gorgeous.

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Tree sculpture.

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Tin Man and Toto sculpture. Kind of fun b/c Henry B fell in love with The Wizard of Oz while on this trip. Turns out that the man who directed the Kansas scenes in the movie lived in this house.

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Hurricane Ike water line.

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This is an old hospital that is still being repaired from Ike.

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When we got back to the house, Leo had a little "moment," and I made him make a list of all the fun things we had done on this trip.

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Buying ice cream on the beach.

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Choco Taco

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Sponge Bob

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More kites. We had the pengowl (Penguin/Owl....couldn't decide) and then we had "Crazy Little Girl." She flew great.

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Me

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Playing on the sand dunes

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Stickers

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We went out to dinner at the same place. Saturday night...no wait. Amazing.

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Love the ships.

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Me and my monkeys. GREAT beach trip. Great memories.

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Crystal Beach - Friday

2011-09-14T03:00:00.000-07:00

More beach pictures! Can't get enough of these. ha.

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Reality check: there was lots of diarrhea talk while doing this.

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EMPTY BEACH

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International sand molds.

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We went in to Galveston to try to ride the Treasure Isle tour train. We had seen this little tourist train when we first pulled into Galveston, and we really wanted to give it a try. So we went back in to Galveston on Fri afternoon to do the tour. While we were waiting for it to start, we ate ice cream and took some pictures to kill time.

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So....there wasn't anyone besides us who showed up for the train tour. That wasn't enough people for the tour to "make." Huge letdown, and it was so hot.

We went down to the wharf to buy fresh shrimp.

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Then when we got home, we grilled shrimp!

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Shrimp skewers.

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Crystal Beach - Thursday

2011-09-13T03:00:00.000-07:00

On Thursday morning, Leo and I went to the beach early while Todd and Henry went to The Big Store to get milk and bottled water. Leo and I watched lots of dolphins jumping that morning. We eventually all congregated on the beach.

This is the book I read on the beach. Very good non-fic!

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Todd flies the kite.

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Henry helped Todd grill sausage for dinner.

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We had a very successful "night fishing" expedition on this night. Even caught a little fish with our net.

Crab

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Fish at the top of the picture.

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Crystal Beach - Wednesday Part II

2011-09-12T03:00:00.000-07:00

After we spent the morning at the beach, we got cleaned up to go out for lunch. We tried to go out to eat in Crystal Beach....but the place we had in mind looked deserted. We were going to Galveston anyway, so we decided to find a lunch place there.

We decided to eat at Miller's on the seawall. It is locally owned - you know how I love that.

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After lunch, we went to Seawolf Park. If you know us at all...you know Todd LOVES to tour ships, submarines, etc. And through him...I have developed an interest as well. So, now, we indoctrinate the children.

First, we toured a submarine.

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This was the laminate in the galley in the sub. It is ALSO the laminate in my parent's house when I was growing up....very weird to see on a submarine!!!

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Then we toured a Destroyer Escort.

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More Dapper Hat!

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We stopped at a convenience store near Seawolf Park for water and gas. This was painted on the wall. Is it a troll? Is it a pig? Todd decided the owner of this gas station was a UT Fan.

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Getting back on the ferry to go home. I had to get a picture of this...we saw it every time. The speed limit is SEVEN. Because five is too slow, and ten is obviously out of the question.

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On the ferry.

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Taco night!!!

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Crystal Beach - Wednesday Part I

2011-09-11T17:04:00.000-07:00

Crystal Beach - Tuesday

2011-09-10T03:00:00.000-07:00

Todd took the boys to the beach on Tuesday morning, and I went to The Big Store (that is really the name) to get groceries. It is a full grocery store, souveneir shop, and Ace Hardware. I didn't get any pictures of the super exciting grocery shopping.

The boys wanted to be buried in the sand. They had been talking about this for days before we left for the beach.

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Leo caught a hermit crab.

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Our cabana.

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You can drive on the beach here. I thought this might be annoying, but it wasn't a big deal. People were always getting stuck at the entrance right behind us. There was a guy who kept coming to pull people out. We decided maybe he is employed by the city b/c he was always there to help.

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My kinda beach. Empty.

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Love this laugh.

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I made this huge bag for our beach toys. It worked great.

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I found some sand molds at Walgreens that were US and international landmarks. They were fun!

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We take our cast iron skillet everywhere.

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Loved this house. So pretty.

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We wore Henry out.

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We had steak the first night. It was cool enough to eat outside at night!

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Crystal Beach - Monday Part II

2011-09-09T03:00:00.000-07:00

We got to our house on Crystal Beach, and everyone was thrilled with the location. Leo had had a little fit when I showed him the pictures that he did not think it was close enough to the beach. He likes to be ON THE BEACH for his vacations, you know. Blah. But it turns out that Mommy did ok, and this one more than met his criteria. We were on the third row back from the beach, but there were no houses on the lots in front of us....sort of. Construction was beginning on one. It was a very short walk to the beach - probably shorter than the walks from condos we've had in the past.

The view from our patio.

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Getting on the beach for the first time.

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Our house is the one over the left side of my hat. Not the big blue one....other side.

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All cleaned up and ready to go out to dinner.

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There was no wait for dinner and it wasn't crowded. I officially had a huge crush on this beach at that point.

Ships going by while we ate dinner.

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There were other boys to play with at the restaurant.

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FRIED PICKLES!!!!

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Sunset on a point-and-shoot.

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Another ship goes by...

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They got the ship to blow his horn. Yay!

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More sunset.

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Came back to the house...time to go crabbing!

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We only caught this one on the first night, and it died pretty quickly.

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Crystal Beach - Monday Part I

2011-09-08T09:58:00.000-07:00

We decided to take the boys to the beach this year for the week before school started. Both boys had been asking for a beach trip, and that week just seemed like the perfect time.

When Todd and I were dating, we went down to Galveston for a long weekend. It was very crowded, and I did not like the fact that you had to cross a very busy road to get to the beach. I knew this WOULD NOT work with kids. But I was very dissatisfied with our last two trip to Gulf Shores because it is so very crowded and commercialized. Waiting two hours to get in at a restaurant is not my idea of vacation! The traffic at GS was often at total gridlock. Also, Todd is not a fan of the high-rise condo set up. And neither of us wanted a long drive with the boys. I happened to see a post from a mom friend about Crystal Beach on Bolivar Peninsula, and after asking around....we hesitantly decided to give a TX beach another chance.

We started out on Monday morning. We took Todd's truck. I read this book out loud on the way down - very quick read.

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After that we listened to audiobooks and I took a nap!!!

Trying to get everyone's picture in the truck.

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Some people would not cooperate.

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Todd and his "Dapper Hat."

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Self-portrait

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We stopped in Huntsville to see the Sam Houston statue. Todd was actually a little crabby about this at first...I had to tell him..."Get into it! Vacation! Memories! Smile through the pain for the camera!" ha. We had been in the truck with them for four hours by this point. The little area around the statue actually had nice shaded picnic tables - good info if we ever wanted to take food.

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There is a Big Face of Sam Houston that the kids can get close to, and they can climb up behind it and come out of the top of his head.

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Todd had to help Henry climb the scaffolding.

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There was a tiny museum with a lady who explained some things to the boys. Since I have not had TX history, I am clueless about most of this stuff.

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On the patio at the Sam Houston Visitor's Center.

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Todd went to college at A&M Galveston for one year, so he knows his way around town. He got us right through Galveston and to the ferry. I thought taking this ferry might be a bit of a pain...but it runs very smoothly! There are four ferries operating, and it never took long at all to get on one and get going. The ferries are free - our tax dollars at work!

In line to get on the ferry.

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Out of the car and going up the stairs on the ferry.

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On the upper deck.

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Coast Guard ships and office.

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Big oil tanker ships (I think?) passing us. The boys loved seeing all the big ships.

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Henry spots dolphins jumping. We saw them almost every time we rode the ferry.

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If you look closely, you can see dolphin fins.

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Another ferry passing us.

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Two Weeks with Henry & Henry learns to ride a bike!

2011-09-02T03:00:00.000-07:00

Once Leo goes to school, it is still a couple of weeks until Henry starts his preschool. When Leo leaves, it is a nice break from the fighting. Henry is pretty easy, but he does pepper me with questions CONSTANTLY. Yesterday he asked me...."What happens if tomorrow doesn't come?" I said...."I don't know. That has never happened to me." My brain really starts to turn to mush.

We painted a birdhouse one day.

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The minute we dropped Leo off at school, Henry declared that he wanted to learn to ride a bike without training wheels. Then he said it again, and again, and again, and again, and again. And bugged me and bugged me. I tried my best to dissuade him....Leo didn't learn to ride w/o training wheels until the beginning of 1st grade. He would get so frustrated and mad at us when we tried to help. I wasn't looking forward to all that again.

This is him pretending to be happy but he's begging me to take the training wheels off.

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We went to Open Gym time. Henry said he wants to take gymnastics.

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I made pizza on Friday, and everyone was thrilled.

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The other impediment to the biking has been the HEAT. This is Todd helping him late Saturday afternoon (27th).

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Progress on Sunday.

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Doing a little Wizard of Oz.

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And now he is doing really great without the training wheels. He can't get started alone, but other than that he is just fine. We have ridden almost every day so far this week (typing this on Wed Aug 31).

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Up at the school riding bikes. Great picture.

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We rode all the way to the trail on Tuesday!!

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Collection of Random End-of-Summer Pictures

2011-09-01T03:00:00.000-07:00

How I looked most of the summer.

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Henry slept on an air mattress for quite awhile and was upset when I put it away. Why did we buy them nice mattresses, again? They could camp until college.

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This has been the most miserable summer EVER in terms of heat and drought. MISERABLE. I can't say that enough. I am totally burned out on this weather. Here is one weekend morning when we took them to Going Bonkers to burn some energy. I'm sure it was 10am and 105* degrees.

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Lots of indoor activities. Leo was really proud of this domino run.

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It got kinda tense here by the end of summer. We had all had *quite* enough of each other and being inside.

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For a long time, I refused to eat hot food b/c it gave me hot flashes after I ate. I am back to eating some hot meals....but I still have tiny flashes. Well, I guess b/c it is STILL over 100 every day. Ugh. And, no, I do not put Aquaphor in sushi. And, yes, there was lots of Sangria drinking this summer. FTR, I think Patio is the best premade sangria.

Sushi lovers waiting for scraps here. This was CA Rolls.

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Pretty sure we were the only people at Hawaiian Falls on this day eating leftover sushi and edamame. Or, as I call it, our Redneck Country Club Membership. This was my last full day alone with the boys this summer. I was pretty much at the breaking point. We were at Hawaiian Falls as soon as it opened and left when it was time for Todd to come home. Reapplied sunscreen at least 4 times this day. Henry and I rode the lazy river at least 30 rounds on this day. We did have a good time. Leo is really great about checking his watch and then checking in with me every 30 minutes or so. One time, he got out of line when he was way up at the top of a slide to come check in - we decided to have 10 minutes grace period after that.

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Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

We went to the Science Museum for Discover Construction Day.

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Leo starts Third Grade

2011-08-31T14:21:00.001-07:00

Leo started Third Grade on Aug. 22nd! Yay for Leo!

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Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

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Here is 2nd grade.

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Can't find 1st grade. Here is Kindergarten! Oh my.

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I should get Carla to make me one of these for the end of every summer. Maybe for next week when Henry FINALLY goes to preschool.

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San Francisco Days 6 & 7

2011-08-09T03:00:00.000-07:00

On Saturday morning, we slept in and then went to The Mission for a late brunch. Betsy told us several good restaurants, and we chose Pork Store Cafe. Todd noticed their cool lighting...

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We both had the Eggs in a Tasty Nest. It was DELICIOUS!

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After brunch, we wandered around The Mission for awhile, and then we walked to Market Street and rode the Muni to the Museum of Modern Art. We really do appreciate art....and this place had some great pieces....maybe it was the mimosa and bloody mary at breakfast....but we had THE MOST fun quietly making fun of some of this "art." I think they could make a mint if they offered a snarky audiotour making fun of some of this stuff. We're all standing around discussing some of this so seriously? Get real (on some of it, of course).

A black square.

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This one was called "newspaper." I'm sure there is super deep meaning that we are just too dumb and immature to get.

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A urinal. The guy bought it, signed it, and SOLD it to this place. I mean, come on. There was a tour guide by this one when we walked up asking her group what they could see in the urinal. She suggested that possible answers could be....The Madonna?....A cradle? I couldn't make this stuff up.

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I don't know the name of this one, so I'm going to call it "Test Area for Sherwin Williams Blue Sky."

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We made it through two floors of the MOMA and then decided to call it a day on "art." We wandered into Yerba Buena Gardens and listened to a live concert on the lawn. Fun!

My huge glasses that I bought on Alcatraz b/c I lost mine.

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Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

We rode the BART back to Betsy's, and we wandered around in Glen Park, which is the neighborhood close to hers where we get off the BART. We found a cute map of SF in a gift shop that we bought as a souvenir - I'll post a picture when it is framed. When we got back to Betsy's, someone had left this beautiful couch on the corner. They should have given it an avant garde title and taken it down to the MOMA. Those people pay a fortune for this kind of stuff!

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This was parked (not very well) on Betsy's street. We were surprised at how many large vehicles we saw in the city. If I lived there, I would have the tiniest car that would carry my family.

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But I approved of this one. It gets a special pass b/c it is funky.

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On our last morning, we got our stuff all packed and straightened up Betsy's lovely house. Since she was so kind to offer us her place while she was out-of-town, we left her some tiny tokens of thanks. She has been making pizzas lately, but she needs a few of the tools. We got her a baking stone and a rolling pin. (I wanted to get a peel, Bets, but they didn't have any at Macy's. You'll have to hit BB&B)And I made her a pair of fingerless mittens to match the scarf I sent her for her b'day.

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Then we walked into Glen Park and had crepes and a latte. I had a florentine crepe. So good. And I loved the salad with breakfast - the dressing was amazing.

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After brunch, we got our suitcases, locked up, and headed to the BART station for the last time. What a wonderful trip! I had a great time with Toddly (of course, he's so much fun to be with. mmmmmmmmm.......MMMMMMMMM.....I LOVE THIS MAN.). AHEM, anyway. It was such a special way to mark 10 great years!

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San Francisco Day 5

2011-08-08T03:00:00.000-07:00

On Friday morning, we had a leisurely breakfast at Betsy's house, and then we headed back for Golden Gate Park. We wanted to see some of the museums there that we only passed by on the Segways. We purchased CityPasses for this trip, which bought us public transportation passes, Alcatraz tickets, and tickets to several museums and an aquarium. It was really a great deal....the bus passes were the most convenient part. Two of the museums in our booklet were in Golden Gate Park.

First, we went to see a great Picasso exhibit at The de Young. We listened to an audiotour, which really helped us get more out of it.

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Then we went back over to 9th and Irving and had sushi for lunch.

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There is so much to see and do in Golden Gate Park! It is bigger than NYC's Central Park.

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We went back to get a closer look at The Shakespear Garden, which we had seen on our Segway Tour.

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Then we went to the CA Academy of Sciences. This wasn't on the top of my list, but since we had tickets and it was right there....I figured we might as well go in.

I figured out pretty quickly that we were in the WRONG place for our week away from the kids. Kids everywhere....pretty much your basic science museum. I have been to science museums in Lubbock, Dallas, and Shreveport this summer. We were out of here pretty quickly.

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White Alligator - just like at the Dallas Zoo. Eek! Run, Holly, run!!!

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Moss on a tree in a museum. This made me laugh. I love it when they try to make things look like a bayou. They have this same set up at the Dallas and FW Zoos. They must all go to the same "museum" school. Louisiana Bayou scene with moss - CHECK!

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Then we took....you guessed it....a bus to the Golden Gate Bridge. We saw it and walked out on it just a bit. It was crowded, and we pretty quickly tired of people on bikes. They have one side of the pedestrian walkway closed, so that makes it even more crowded. But it was definitely a beautiful view!

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Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

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We planned to go to Off the Grid at Fort Mason on this night, but I had heard that it has been really crowded lately....so once again we decided to have a lovely night in. Once we got back to Betsy's, we WALKED (at 6 pm on on July 29) in jeans and a jacket (aaaaaaah, so nice) down to Safeway and got some tonic water and limes.....we saw this sign along the way...Todd loved their work ethic.

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Then we WALKED back to Giovanni's right by Betsy's place and ordered a take-out pizza. The Organic Green - pesto, spinach, broccoli, black olives, feta, artichokes, and fresh garlic. SOOOOO yummy! When we got back to the house, we watched the new True Grit. Hm. It was well made, but too much violence for me. Kinda slow.

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San Francisco Day 4

2011-08-07T03:00:00.000-07:00

On Thursday, we slept in a little bit. Thursday-Saturday nights we would be staying at Betsy's new place b/c she was going to Louisiana for her little brother's wedding. So we had an easy morning, and then we rode the BART to Betsy's place.

We had a late brunch at a place called Olivia's in Betsy's neighborhood...

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Then we took the bus to a neighborhood called Potrero Hill. We instantly liked the look of Potrero Hill. Then as we walked up the street, I could tell Todd's ears were perking up....the people taking smoke breaks or walking to lunch around us were speaking his native tongue. Software people everywhere! We saw offices for Zynga and Twitter, and apparently there are many other software people around there.

We had to make a quick stop for a drink b/c I had a bathroom emergency. A little vacation reality there! :)

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At 1pm, we had an appointment to take a tour of The Anchor Brewery in Potrero Hill. Anchor Steam Beer is one of Todd's absolute favorites, so this was a "must do" on our trip. This was actually the first thing I booked for the trip - it books up months in advance! The first part of the tour involved the brewery itself. They brew and bottle every bottle of Anchor beer here! Pretty neat.

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Big flat tubs of beer where it gives off steam? Something like that. I missed the details here. But something about this part is how it gets its name.

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Hops. Sorry, bad phone picture.

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We were excited to hear that they used to make spirits, and that they will soon be making and distributing them again!

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The second part of the tour was a tasting where we got to sample six of their beers on tap. Our favorites were the Porter and the Brandywine Ale.

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We wandered about in Potrero Hill for a bit and looked at the neighborhood. We stopped in a Whole Foods and had some salted caramel gelato. Yum.

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We had planned to go to the CA Academy of Sciences Nightlife that night (translation: a science museum opens up at night for adults only and has beer and wine, live music, etc), but we decided we didn't want to go all the way across town....and we were ready for a night in in Betsy's cute house. So we bought some yummy stuff at Whole Foods to take home for the evening.

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This was my new beer discovery on this trip. We had it on tap at the Boudin Bakery on the wharf, and I loved it instantly! I'm not a huge beer drinker, but this IPA was delicious!

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And another vacation reality moment....when we went to get back on the bus in Potrero Hill, I couldn't find any of the bus stops that my phone was telling me should be there. All of the bus stops we had been at on previous days had had shelters or huge signs marking their locations. We would get to the intersections my app told me to go to...and there would be nothing. It took us about 30 minutes to figure out that the stops were marked with a yellow band of paint on a lightpole or street sign pole. By that point I was pretty flustered and just ready to be home! Once we figured that out, we were on a bus and on the way home, and I was a happy camper again....but so glad for a night in.

San Francisco Day 3

2011-08-06T03:00:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday morning, Betsy picked us up bright and early, and we went for a run over in Marin County. Brett lives out that way, and she has found some gorgeous running trails. Unfortunately, it was very foggy that morning, so our planned route was not going to have the amazing views of the Bay that it normally has, so she made a quick change and we did a different trail through the woods. It was uphill on the way out, and once we got high enough, there were beautiful views of the woods above the fog. There was also a clear brook that we crossed several times. It was in the high 60s and the air was so clean and crisp.

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Afterwards. we had brunch and bloody marys at a place in town.

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I had an omelette and sourdough toast.

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Betsy took us back to our hotel, and that afternoon I was much more in the mood for the Filbert Steps. These are steps that climb up Telegraph Hill to Coit Tower. They aren't a major tourist attraction, and I had to research just a bit to figure out where they start. We had also watched a great documentary years ago called The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill about this area. There are gorgeous homes on either side all the way up. We were the only people climbing up when we were there, although several people passed us going down. There were lots of comments online about how one needs to be in "marathon shape" to climb these....I'd say if you can do a 5K, you're good. Or if not, just go slow. ha.

Here is the start. See the steps at the back of the parking lot?

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There is an amazing view of the bay from these homes. Cheap real estate, I'm sure.

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We didn't actually go to the top of Coit Tower. There was a long line, and I thought the view was just fine from the top of Telegraph Hill. Todd did buy a cap in the gift shop there b/c we forgot his, and his head was getting blistered even with sunscreen.

Then we walked back down steps on the other side of the hill and just wandered....taking turns wherever something looked interesting. Thanks to the magic of a smartphone, I could always figure out where we were and what bus to hop on or what walking route to take when we decided to go home.

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We ended up in the North Beach neighborhood, and we stopped at a great little coffee shop by a park and had dessert and coffee. It was 3pm on a Wednesday, and there were (non-homeless) people who did not look like tourists all over the park. We tried to guess what their stories are that mom and dad and kids are out playing in the middle of a day on a Wednesday. In one of them most expensive-to-live-in cities in America.

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I had a latte. Todd had beer, now that I look at the picture. We loved this tiny coffee shop. And we loved sitting by an open door with a cool breeze blowing in on July 27th.

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My trusty compass from WalMart that got us going the right way when the phone said...."Head W on Market...." etc.

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That night we met Betsy (Brett had to work) at The Mint for some karaoke. Betsy and I used to sing together at church in high school, and it was fun to sing together again.

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Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

Next we walked to a Thai restaurant (in the Castro? I think so.) I had a Mai Tai, and we all thought the food was delicious.

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Betsy took this great shot. I love it.

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Then Betsy dropped us back at the hotel....this was our last night in the hotel.

San Francisco Day 2

2011-08-05T03:00:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday morning, we had an early breakfast at a greasy spoon across the street from the hotel, and then we took a bus down to the wharf for our Alcatraz tour. I had read online that it was best to do the first tour of the day, so off we went. We took a chilly and foggy (not complaining! we loved the weather!) ferry ride across the bay to Alcatraz.

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We have discovered through these wonderful 10 years of marriage that we both enjoy tours that have to do with history. As I put all these pictures up, I realize how many of our activities had to do with history. ANYWAY, we first watched a movie about the history of Alcatraz, and then we did the audio tour. We thoroughly enjoyed it, although they talked REALLY slow on the audio tour. There were lots of gorgeous plants on the island, and lots of birds! And it smelled like bird poop. The part about the prisoners and escape attempts was interesting, but I was most interested in the little tidbits they told us about the wardens, guards, and their families that lived on the island. There were interviews in the movies with the now adult children of the guards, and they discussed riding the boat across the bay to school each morning and the community atmosphere on the island. Fascinating! We also got to see the ruins of the warden's mansion, the homes of the guards, and their community building.

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When we rode back across the bay, the fog had lifted a little bit and I was able to get some shots.

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When we arrived back at the wharf, we walked down to the maritime museum and toured a submarine. One of our favorite parts of our San Diego trip years ago was their maritime museum, so we always have to check for any boats to tour! Oooh, so exciting. ;) This submarine was really large and interesting, and there were actually two older gentlemen on there who had served on submarines....so they had lots of relevant tidbits to share.

Todd by the torpedoes...

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We were planning to climb The Filbert Steps that afternoon and see Coit tower, but I was tired and weary of navigating by that afternoon. After resting for a bit at the hotel that afternoon, we went out to eat with Betsy and her boyfriend Brett. I don't know how I didn't get his picture? But here are the rest of us. We started out with drinks at a place called Absinthe, and then had sushi somewhere else. Betsy ordered for us, and it was all delicious and so nice to just have it arrive at the table without having to even try to decide.

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Mmmmm, these involved pineapple and basil. DELICIOUS!

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San Francisco Day 1

2011-08-04T08:51:00.000-07:00

Last summer, Todd and I started talking about taking a trip to San Francisco this summer to celebrate our 10th anniversary. We talked about it, planned it out, and saved for it all year. We were SO excited to go. Gran and Grandpa kept the boys all week for us, and we are so very appreciative and thankful!

We arrived at SFO on Monday around noon. So happy to be in 60 degree weather!!! We took the BART (subway) from the airport to our hotel (Holiday Inn) in downtown San Francisco. We looked at lots of different hotels all over the city, but in the end we decided to do this one b/c it was close to the BART and lots of other forms of transportation, we had points to pay for it, and I just like the Holiday Inn. Not too cheap....not too fancy!

Here is the view from our room:

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As soon as we got there, we grabbed a quick lunch by the hotel and then jumped on a bus headed for Golden Gate Park. I had studied up on public transportation, and we used a bus pass and Hopstop on my phone to navigate all over San Francisco.

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Top of the bandstand:

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At 4:00 that afternoon, we took a Segway tour through Golden Gate Park. This was a wonderful way to start our trip! There is SO much history and so much to see in the park, and this was a great way to get around. There was a leader and six people in our group, and we wore earpieces so we could hear the leader tell about the park and give us instructions. I couldn't take pictures and drive the Segway at the same time, which was kind of nice, actually. This was definitely a highlight of our trip!!!

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Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

After our tour, we walked to 9th and Irving in The Inner Sunset and had a delicious dinner at Park Chow.

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Homemade Pizzas

2011-07-24T12:41:00.000-07:00

On Friday night, I heated up some leftover meatballs to make meatball subs. The boys informed me that they don't like meatballs, and I had a last-minute idea that they could make pizzas on a sub roll. It was a huge hit! They both loved it.

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Random Summer Pictures III

2011-07-23T03:00:00.000-07:00

Leo made me some curtains for the entrance to my bedroom. So thoughtful.

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Being trapped in here b/c of the heat really reminds me an awful lot of the 5 days of ice we had in February of this year....except we don't have to worry about how to get to the grocery. This is last weekend when I just refused to take them anywhere. Or, alternate title....Why We Shop IKEA.

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At the Coppell pool on 7/18/2011.

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Popsicles made with juice and twigs from the yard. We're teaching them to be green and recycle and use what you have and all that good stuff. Hahaha.

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Leo and the Bird

2011-07-22T03:00:00.000-07:00

Leo absolutely LOVES to feed the birds at the Dallas zoo. I got some cute pictures this time. Henry was not having any of this - the birds like to land on your hand to peck and the seed stick, and he can't stand the feel of their little feet on his hand. So I have to hold the stick...get the bird to land on my hand....and then we slowly transfer the bottom of the stick to Henry's hand without disturbing the bird while he eats. Mothering is an adventure, for sure.

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My favorite one...

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Random Summer Pictures II

2011-07-21T03:00:00.000-07:00

We went down to the Superheroes days at the Museum of Nature and Science. Leo got picked to go on stage and help with the show!

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Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

Father's Day. We had steak and twice baked potatoes.

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Jumping back...we went to an end of the year party for the Adventure Guides group through the YMCA. It was at some "camp" they have on Lake Lewisville. I use the word "camp" very loosely. It was a disaster. Hot, no shade, no food, activities weren't prepped, and I could smell sewer the whole time. Yuck. We dragged the boys out of there with a bribe of pizza and soda. But here are the pictures anyway.

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The BB shooting was the only activity that was half way set up.

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Leo and his prizes that he got at Mr. Gatti's when we were visiting the Lubbock relatives.

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Random Summer Pictures I

2011-07-20T11:17:00.000-07:00

Sorry I am behind. Summer is my busy season! Here are some pics and short descriptions.

We have moved to the surface of the sun for the summer. Henry burned his thumb on the metal part of his carseat on June 6.

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I can't remember blogging this one. Maybe I did. Obviously it was before we made our big move to the sun.....there was rain. *sigh*

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Henry and I toured the fire station with the ecpta in June. They had to go on a call while we were there. Very exciting! After Fireman Sam (his real name! just like the tv show) gave us a tour in his regular shorts and tshirt, he very slowly put each piece of gear on. The point of this was to show the kids that a fireman is not scary and they should never run or hide from a Fireman. Henry was not fooled - he thought he was a very scary man, and we had to back up against the station wall and not move until he undressed.

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We got a new netbook b/c our laptop was broken. I love it - it's smaller and much more portable. Nice battery life. Doesn't Toddly look great in this picture? This is him telling me why everything loaded onto this computer is crap, and how he's going to strip it all off and do it right.

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As soon as the Netbook arrived, Todd had an epiphany as to what was wrong with the old laptop. He promptly took it apart and fixed it. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

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Todd has epiphanies about electronics - I have very slow growing epiphanies that reveal painfully obvious solutions to very basic problems. Three years after Leo started kindergarten and cursing for three years at hand-held pencil sharpeners, I went to Office Max and got a pencil sharpener for the wall. I am available as a life coach if anyone is interested. Todd wanted to put it in the kitchen - I suggested the coat closet.

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Coppell Nature Walk

2011-06-12T15:34:00.000-07:00

I took the boys on a nature walk through a nearby city park. Two very nice volunteers provided a guided tour of the park's flora and fauna.

In this photo the boys are waiting patiently for the hike to begin. The rain boots were Holly's idea since we were told we would be walking through the creek.

I was expecting the creek to be a typical city drainage type of situation. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the creek is actually fed by an underground spring.

The kids had a great time stomping around in the creek and catching tadpoles.

If you look closely, you can see several tadpoles. I was surprised to see so many. They were everywhere.

Henry was very pleased with himself once he finally managed to catch one.

Leo was obviously enthusiastic.

Our guide ended the hike with a quick story for the kids.

A year of camera pictures

2011-05-17T06:09:00.000-07:00

Todd and I got our first smart phones last May. I am JUST NOW downloading pictures from mine...so there are a year's worth of pictures. So here are some random shots!!!

Leo came home from school one day and told me he made a sculpture in art class that day, and he brought it home in his backpack.
Me: What medium did you use?
Leo: (Blank stare)
Me: What is it made out of?
Leo: Uuuuuhhhhh...breadcrumbs, toothpaste, and some kind of medicine.
Me: (Terrified of what is about to come out of that backpack.)

We went to Monroe over Spring Break, and one day we went to see Mamaw/GG in the nursing home. Henry usually will not go see her, and we do not pressure him. But he shocked us on this day by asking to go with us. She was doing well that morning, and seemed excited to see us.

On our way home from Monroe, we went to a science museum in Shreveport. Leo had a good time with all the special effects. Or....maybe it finally happened, and I just had had all of Spring Break that I could take.

Also on the way home from Monroe, we stopped in Marshall, TX to see an exhibit of the work of author/illustrator Mo Willems. The Knuffle Bunny books are some of our favorite books ever!!!

I have tons more camera pictures, so I'll put up some more in a day or two!!

Egg Games

2011-04-29T03:00:00.000-07:00

The week before Easter, we were invited to a friend's home to participate in The Egg Games. These moms all have a young elementary kid and an older preschooler. It was such a cute idea!

The first game was to wrap an egg so that it wouldn't break when dropped off a ladder.

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Leo's did pretty well, but it did crack a tiny bit.

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Then they had an egg toss with a partner.

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Leo and his friend won that one!

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Henry was there, too, but I missed him in my pictures. He wasn't terribly interested in The Egg Games. He was much more interested in a house full of new toys.

Why they don't need any fancy toys...

2011-04-28T03:00:00.000-07:00

And why my brain is turning to mush.

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The Camping Trip I Knew Was Coming....

2011-04-27T03:00:00.000-07:00

but I was really hoping we would get a few under our belt before we had a disaster.

I have waited several weeks to write this post b/c I was too mad about the whole episode for quite awhile!

We watched the weather all week, and we knew it was going to be very windy on Saturday afternoon. But we decided to go ahead and go - it was our only free weekend for the whole month.

I made sure everything possible was packed up on Friday night. Then I ran 8 miles and Todd did his seven (in shifts) on Sat morning. We went to Academy to get a few last minute things, had a very light lunch at Jason's Deli, and then headed up to Lake Ray Roberts. The plan was to get there at 2, set up, and then have the lovely appetizers that I had prepared....grapes, cheese, triscuits, and homemade spinach dip. This was our "upgrade" after our last trip - we were starving after pitching the tent last time and only had Trail Mix.

We arrived at at the state park, and there were only two available camp sites. We expected this - people have told me it is really best to get there on Fri. One of the campsites was completely in the sun (it was almost 90) with no shade, and there was a big stump in the middle of the tent area. The other site was GORGEOUS....but it was checkout time, and there were still tents and food and gear EVERYWHERE. We went back to the front gate and talked to the Park Rangers, and they began hunting them down. They really did the very best they could for us. So while we waited for all this to unfold, we walked trails, played on playgrounds, and went to the Nature Center. It was all fine - but I was getting hungrier and hungrier and grumpier and grumpier.

They finally located the people and told them to GET OUT. We drove by to check progress - there were SIX of them. One of them worked, and the rest of them played in the lake. Ugh. They were not gone until almost 5pm. UGH UGH UGH.

This put us way behind. We immediately got out snacks as soon as we could get to them, and then began setting up camp. About that time, the wind started picking up.

Once we got the tent pitched, we walked over to the lake and watched the boys play. Todd and I sat in chairs and watched them splash. This was really the ONLY highlight of the whole ordeal. They had a great time and I got to sit.

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Sitting by the lake.

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Then we went back to our site and started dinner. It was starting to get dusky. All of the FAMILIES FULL OF GIRLS around us were finishing up their dinner and getting in their pop-up campers. We had yummy burgers with chips and homemade salsa. We also did S'Mores this time.

Because of the drought, we can only use charcoal or a gas grill.

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Roughing it.

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They love to play in the dirt. I believe the six little girls from next door were hiding in the trees and laughing at them at this point.

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We got lights up this time! That was fun.

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We have to leave our wetbar in the tent b/c you can't have obvious containers of alcohol at a TX State Park.

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The pop-up where the six fairy princesses played dolls and made up songs and generally frolicked quietly.

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Pretty sunset.

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I have never let Henry know that there are entertainment options on my phone, but he was driving me so absolutely crazy at this point by following me around and bugging me TO DEATH that I finally just started downloading ANYTHING that looked like a kid game. It worked wonderfully.

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Eating dinner in the dark. Generally just 3 hours behind what we had planned. The Fairy Princesses floated back to their pop-up in their Dora Nightgowns at about this time so they could listen to us yell at the boys. :)

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Henry played some more phone.

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Glow Sticks

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That night, the wind was gusting 45-50 mph. The tent was literally bending down over us as we slept. The boys were up and down and up and down. When we got up at about 6amish, Todd said..."I trust everyone had a horrible night?" You KNOW it's bad if wonderful Todd Stout says that!!! The wind ripped part of the tent and pulled many of the stakes out of the ground.

Another issue that I know we'll just outgrow with time is....they get up super early and are really loud. In our own house, this is just an annoyance we've lived with for 8 years. When we're around tents and pop-ups with open windows, it's really obvious that they are so loud and annoying. No one really starts stirring until 8am. When The Fairy Princesses got up next door, they filed out in single file and sat silently around the fire in their chairs for a good 30 minutes. The parents drank their coffee and woke up, and then eventually got to making breakfast. While the parents cooked and visited (3 couples), the girls tied hankerchiefs to sticks and played hobos on the trail between our campsites. They followed each other around in a line for 45 minutes and sang songs about their adventures. I am NOT making this up. Our boys ripped the horseshoe stakes out of the ground and chased each other around with them, kicked ashes from the old charcoal fire until we told them to stop, jumped off the table, fought, and called each other Poophead. It's just such a glaring difference. We celebrate that difference, of course! :) :)

We cooked breakfast as fast as we could while agreeing that we were getting the hell out of there as soon as we had eaten.

We took the griddle this time for pancakes - much easier than the skillet.

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They had to hold their plates down while they ate to keep them from blowing away. Henry kept forgetting, and then the sausage flew away at 40 mph.

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Fighting with horseshoe stakes.

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Using glow sticks to simulate...um, well....little boys are just fascinated by their bodies. What can I say? Leo told him to turn the light on so it could be on fire! So exciting.

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After breakfast, we strapped the boys in their carseats so we could try to pack in the horrible, unrelenting wind. It seemed to calm them for a few minutes - maybe like a straightjacket, I guess. Todd did the tent, and I threw everything else into boxes. I grabbed the camera and got a pic of this - at this point, Todd has all supports out of the tent, and it is standing up on its own b/c of the wind.

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I drove home in my purple flowery pajamas - that is how badly I wanted OUT OF THERE.

We would LOVE to meet another camping family with boys or rowdy girls about the same age. Of course they need normal parents that we can converse with....or we can just keep our separate camping sites and let the kids play! ANYTHING! Next time, we will cancel if there is wind. It is just too much of a beating. And we will definitely be going on Fridays from now on - I can even go early on Friday and reserve our space and pitch the tent and then come back in time for school to get out.

When we pulled in the driveway, Leo declared that it was THE BEST CAMPING EVER.

So stay tuned for more positive camping stories in the fall!

New Furniture and Random Pictures

2011-04-26T11:28:00.000-07:00

When I met Todd 13+ years ago, he had this leather couch. It was such a nice couch. Then when we got married, we got tons of duplicate gifts from Dillards. We returned them all and used the $$ to get these two leather recliners. I am a horrible decorator and they never matched, but they were really comfortable at one time.

I also slept many many many hours on that couch while pregnant - and also spent many pregnant nauseous hours there.

After 8+ years with kids, it was all completely and totally destroyed. It had recently gotten much worse because Henry likes to walk across the top of it.

We finally had a little extra money saved up, so we went to IKEA and bought chairs and a sofa with washable slipcovers. They aren't as comfortable as our old stuff, but they definitely are a better fit for our family at this point. We are very happy with them.

Oh, and a little story that must be written down for posterity. While Todd strapped the 3 huge furniture boxes in the back of his truck, I took the boys out to the car to get them all buckled in. We were going to follow him back down Hwy 121 to our house. When Todd pulls out in front of me, he has the tie-downs only around the very bottom of these tall boxes. I picture us hitting 75mph on the highway and boxes tumbling out of the back. Eek! So I called him as we were driving through the parking lot, and he pulled over to the curb. I pulled up right behind him and hopped out - leaving my car running. We stood between the car and the truck and reconfigured the tie-downs into a giant X across the back of his truck to give more support to the boxes. We really weren't out there over 2 minutes. When I turned around....Leo had let himself out of his seat and gotten Henry out of his seat. Leo was sitting in the front seat pretending to drive, and Henry was crouched over the gear shift "helping" him. AGAIN, the car was RUNNING and Todd and I were standing between the car and the truck. OMG! Yes, screaming and banishment to his room was involved!

Old Stuff:

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Notice the head grease and hair product stains on the chairs! So lovely.

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New Stuff:

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And here are a few random kid shots:

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Sitting on the IKEA box.

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In my pajamas.

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Adventure Guides Spring Campout 2011

2011-04-17T16:37:00.001-07:00

Leo and I had a great time at the Spring campout with our Adventure Guides group this weekend. Leo enjoyed simply hanging out with Dad and the other kids. The canoeing, swimming, zip-line, and fishing were not bad either.

This is the pendulum. This picture does not really do it justice. The kids are hoisted up on a pulley about 35 feet and then released.

This giant pillow in the water is called the "Blob". They don't let anyone over 17 on it so the little kids can sit on the far end while bigger kids jump on the near end and launch them into the lake. Unfortunately, I missed the shot of Leo flying into the lake.

This is a nice little bass we caught.

The gang of five zip-line crew.

If you zoom in, that is actually Leo hanging there. They had strict rules about where we could stand, so it was difficult to get a good shot.

Another shot of the crew. By the end of the trip, I think each of them did the zip-line at least five times.

Who lives in the Pond?

2011-03-22T03:00:00.000-07:00

Last month, Henry and I went to a GREAT program just for preschoolers at the Lewisville Lake Environmental Learning Area. We both enjoyed it!

The teacher, Ms. Bridget, began by telling the kids a little about ponds and all the creatures and plants that live there.

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Henry listened attentively.

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Then she explained the procedure for looking at the pond samples, and got a little sampling for everyone.

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Great hands-on activity!

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Then we used this field guide to identify the different things in the pond.

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That little jelly bean looking thing is a sac of snail eggs.

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Then we went for a nature walk.

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I think there had been some items strategically placed on the trail.

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Each child had been given a shape and a color to identify on the trail. Henry found his pentagon in the snail's shell.

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Snake Skin

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Beaver Skull

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Our First Tent Camping Experience

2011-03-21T12:00:00.000-07:00

We promised the boys that as soon as Henry was out of diapers, we would go tent camping. So he has been out of diapers since last August. In October, it finally cooled off enough, so we practiced by sleeping in the tent in the backyard. I thought it would be best if we tried it at home first so that we had as few surprises as possible when it was time to actually go to bed. It was in the mid 50s that night, and we realized that they would need warm pjs, hats, socks, etc for that weather. It was a worthwhile experiment, I think. This is actually my first time to ever tent camp, too.

We planned to do a two-day camp on the Friday after Thanksgiving. Then we had a cold snap forecast for that weekend - the low on Friday night was going to be 19! We decided that was just not doable, so we had two devastated little boys when we canceled.

It is now starting to be mild again here, so we planned to go last weekend, which was the first weekend of Spring Break. Then I had an unforeseen family emergency in Louisiana, so I had to go to Louisiana over that weekend.

Finally, this weekend looked like perfect weather and all the stars aligned, and we finally went. The boys were, of course, very excited. We were able to get a reservation at Ray Roberts Lake State Park Isle du Bois Unit, which had been full for both of our other attempts. It was meant to be!

We left here at about 12:30 on Sat morning and headed that way. There weren't many spots left when we arrived, but we were very pleased with the one we ended up with. It seemed like any of them would have been fine. We stayed at #91....giving lots of details for my future reference.

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We kept saying that this first weekend was going to be a learning experience, and I quickly discovered the first note to go on my list. After setting up camp, there needs to be a nice appetizer tray and a beverage to celebrate all the gathering, grocery shopping, packing, arriving, and now finally getting it all set up. We had a big bag of trail mix, but it just did not cut it!

Within the first hour, Leo needed the first aid kit.

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Right before we left our house, I noticed that it said on our confirmation that there was a burn ban. Such a bummer. We could only use propane or charcoal - no wood fires. So we grilled our hot dogs and sausages over charcoal in the fire pit. It was OK, but you can't beat a wood fire.

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After dinner, I did the dishes.

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There was A LOT of playing in dirt. We also had a hard time keeping them out of the ashes in the fire pit.

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Leo used the camera after dinner. He started with some family shots.

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Henry took one...

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The camping area was actually a loop, so that was very convenient for Leo to have a little freedom and go for a ride. He took the camera and went exploring for a little bit.

Lots of the campsites had Texas flags. Leo said we need one. This site actually had the Texas and US flags.

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A picture of the lake.

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I think this is an underwater shot.

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Picture of the map.

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They put some glow sticks on their ankles and enjoyed running around when it got dark.

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We used our new Pie Irons that Aunt Carolyn gave us for Christmas to have little cherry pies before bed. They were great. Also nice that the kids could just stick them right in the fire and let them cook.

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To Be Continued....

First Tent Camping - Part II

2011-03-21T10:30:00.000-07:00

After we put the boys to bed, Todd and I were able to sit up and just visit and relax for awhile. The night was pretty uneventful - success.

Todd made us breakfast on his great camp stove that I got him for his fortieth birthday.

Leo played with the glow sticks some more. Hours of entertainment. He actually made a glowing chandelier with them for our tent while we slept.

Delicious breakfast!

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There were two boys at the campsite right next to us, and Leo finally worked up his nerve to go over there after breakfast and introduce himself. They were best buddies after that. Then Henry got brave and went over too. They had a great morning riding bikes and playing together.

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Playing with a handful of algae down by the lake.

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Leo and his new friend. (The other little boy wouldn't let me take his picture.)

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We had such a good time. We loved the convenience and family friendliness of Ray Roberts Lake. It seemed like almost everyone there had kids - we have already made reservations to go back for a weekend in April.

And here is my real life bullet points, just so this is honest.

-Until they made friends with the boys next door, they still fought constantly. The constant fighting drives us insane.

-We did not have enough changes of clothes. I did not think about the fact that they would be in the dirt or mud all.the.time. They also needed rubber flip flops or shoes of some sort for wading.

-Getting out of town on Saturday was a beating. I had organized it as much as possible, but we still needed to make a Wal Mart run, get it all loaded into vehicles, eat a quick lunch, etc. They were fighting over the computer and whining and carrying on the whole time while we were doing this, and I about came unglued. When we are working so hard to do something fun for them and they act like brats while we're killing ourselves - well, I don't handle it well. Also, while playing in my car while we were trying to pack, Leo stuck a charger in my car outlet that we thought had been thrown away...well, that charger shorts out the outlet. So now that has to be fixed AGAIN. Then we got to 7-Eleven to put gas in both cars....my credit card would not work b/c Todd had already put his in. We were scared it had thrown up a flag on the credit card, but thankfully it did not. Just a hassle.

-Henry is terrified of bugs and loud flushes. Every time he had to go to the bathroom, bugs and public toilets had to be involved unless I could convince him to go in the woods. He would not go in a stall by himself, so we had to both be crammed in a TINY one if the handicapped was occupied. Then he would see a bug and refuse to go - even though I knew he REALLY needed to. It was super fun.

But, of course, we are going back - so obviously those are just my little gripes!

And just for fun....here is my list of things we needed that we did not have. I am liking this game of making a plan for everything you need to live there for a night. I like lists.

-Foaming hand soap (for our campsite, and the bathroom ran out)
-Spoon rest for cooking
-Paper towel holder (probably overkill? but it bothers me to have a naked roll of paper towels just lying around)
-Trash Bag Holder (we saw that many people hung a trash bag from their lantern hook. One person had a collapsible trash can lined with a bag - I liked that. It looked neater)
-Appetizer tray for completion of making camp
-Play tent and other kid activities, horseshoes, etc.
-Chip Bag Clips
-Metal fork for turning meat
-Spray Surface cleaner for wiping tables
-our electric griddle from home
-scraper for cleaning cast iron

Doughnuts with Dad

2011-03-21T03:00:00.000-07:00

Todd went to Doughnuts with Dads Day at Henry's school. This was the little project Henry made for Daddy.

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The step-stool

2011-03-20T03:00:00.000-07:00

One day in January, Henry kept wanting to bring the stool downstairs for something. I can't remember now what his purpose was, but I kept telling him "no." So I was in the kitchen working, and I heard the most horrific banging. I knew something was coming/falling down the stairs, and it scared me to death that Henry had fallen down the stairs while trying to carry the stool.

When I got to the foyer, this was at the bottom of the stairs. Henry was on the stairs, terrified that he was in trouble. I grabbed him and hugged him so tightly! So glad it was only the stool. I asked him if he dropped it - he said he threw it because it was too heavy.

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Leo's 8th Birthday

2011-03-19T10:25:00.000-07:00

Leo had friends over for a little fun and birthday cake on his 8th birthday.

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Sparkling Juice at New Year's

2011-03-18T10:22:00.000-07:00

We have a little tradition of letting the boys have sparkling juice on New Year's Eve. Very original, I know. They love drinking out of real champagne glasses.

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Blog Break

2011-03-18T10:21:00.001-07:00

I have taken a little blog break for the last couple of months. I just didn't feel like updating it. But now I'm back! Should be some posts popping up for the next few days.

Henry won!

2011-01-07T03:00:00.000-08:00

At the kids' dentist, they have a "no cavities club" for kids that don't have a cavity at their checkup. They get to write their name on a cut-out and put it up on the bulletin board. Then....at the end of the month....there is a drawing for several prizes. Well, Henry won a gift card to Target! When we went in to get it, the dentist was not in the office, so I forced the poor receptionist to take her picture with Henry. I'm sure I now have "over-involved mom" written on my chart in code now....I didn't have the motivation to explain that I have a blog to fill with their every breath, and we are always looking for something different to post. Everyone is sick of pictures of the zoo!

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We went to Target, and he got Super Mario figurines.

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