We got Bass

There is a big pond at the end of our street.  Every afternoon this week, Reed and his friend Kameron have gone fishing there.  In fact, they have been fishing this pond for a couple of years without any luck. 

They fish for 3-4 hours at a time and come home empty handed

Until last night.  We got a call around 8:30 pm that they had caught a 4 lb. bass.  I send Hank down to the pond with the camera.  (As it turns out, the fish wasn't quite 4 lbs, more like 1-2 lbs., but that's how it is with fishermen.  They get a little carried away with their estimates.)  But just look at the excitement on their faces.  All their hard work finally paid off.

Little Guy Turns 4

Little Guy recently celebrated his 4th birthday. 

He really wanted a "Mator" cake, so I did my best to oblige.

He LOVES his new "cars" scooter

It was a bittersweet day for us, because we know it may

be the last birthday he gets to spend in our home.

We would have never guessed we would have him this long.

He's been with us for his 2nd, 3rd, and 4th bithdays.

Hopefully we'll have many more with him.

His permanency hearing is next week, so please keep us in your prayers!

SB 2009: The Final Chapter

I'll bet you're tired of looking at pictures from our Spring Break...ok, this will be the last post about it.  I just couldn't stop before posting a few more pictures of our stay in San Antonio with Brad and Sally.  We went to this small amusement park with indoor/outdoor activities. It was a fun filled afternoon.

JJ climbing the rock wall

Montana waiting patiently for her turn on the bungee trampoline

JJ on the bungee trampoline.  It's super blurry because I didn't use sports mode, but it gives a good idea of how high the kids were shot up into the air.  They screamed and laughed and it was so fun to watch!

Brad and Reed on the outdoor ride.  I don't know what it was called, but I know it would have made me throw up if I tried to ride it.  It took them way up high in the air and then suddenly dropped them really fast.  I don't understand what is fun about that.

Hank, Montana, and Reed in the bumper cars.  Reed was very frustrated that he wasn't able to pass his dad.

The final picture is to complete the story that Sally started on her blog.  Hank and Brad were racing down the big slide on their gunny sacks.  Hank was laying down (against the rules!) in order to increase his speed.  When he got to the bottom of the slide, he couldn't stop.  He kept sliding across the floor and rammed into the gate, which busted into several pieces.  He layed there for what seemed like the longest time and then looked at the girl running the slide and said, "Excuse me!!"  For the rest of the day, we saw park employees talking about him and telling the story of how he broke down the gate.  He was quite the celebrity that day.

San Antonio

After our cruise, we were able to spend several days with Sally and Brad hanging out and exploring San Antonio.  What a great place!  We loved it. 

We really enjoyed our tour of the Alamo.  I wasn't prepared for the emtional response I would have there.  I guess I had never put much thought into that battle or what those men sacrificed and what they were fighting for. When we walked into the shrine behind us I was overwhelmed with feelings of admiration and respect for the courageous men who fought there for their freedom and their families.

We took a cool boat tour of the River Walk.  It was fun and interesting.  This was a picture I took during the boat tour.  I can't remember what the significance was, but I thought it was cool picture anyway.

After the boat tour and walking around a bit, we found a mexican restaurant that had been highly recommended.  We ate up on the outside patio where there was a nice breeze.  Tyler was there in the empty yellow chair, but I'm not sure where he is in this picture...maybe he's hiding under the table.

More Random Pics

Having never cruised before, we weren't prepared for what an ordeal debarkation is.  We thought we were being so clever by waiting around on the ship until most of the people were off.  We figured we were avoiding the crowds.  What we didn't account for were the lines at customs.  The kids were trying to find interesting ways to pass the time while we waited and waited.  Reed organized a race between the girls.  I was taking pictures when I was approached by someone who worked there and told that cameras weren't allowed.  I thought that was a strange rule, so I questioned them about it.  I was told that people weren't allowed to take pictures in customs because if someone accidentally caught an employee on film doing something illegal or allowing something illegal into the country, the photographer could use the picture as blackmail.  Hmmm.  Sounds like some paranoid workers to me.  **If you happen to see some illegal activity in this picture, please do not use it as blackmail.

Our first stop after getting off the ship was the Bass Pro Shop.  Hank and Reed HAD to stop and look around.  We didn't have any room in our suitcases to purchase anything, but they had fun looking and dreaming.  They looked at all the fishing boats and picked out their favorite one. 

Reed picked out a tractor he liked

For lunch on the way from Galveston to San Antonio we stopped at an authentic Texan BBQ that Sal and Brad had recommended.  It was an interesting ambience with dead animal heads all over the walls, but the food was really good.  (don't you hate it when people take pictures of you while you're eating?)

Random Cruise Pics

It was a simple request. I wanted a picture of the kids in front of their cabin door. Reed thinks it's really funny to make a face right when I click. I was planning on only posting the one above, but maybe I will post a few of the more interesting ones to deter him next time...

Notice the girls are cooperating in every picture. Thank you, girls.

These are our waiters, Wayan and Anold. They were great.

Our room steward, Jorge, was awesome too. He made us little towel animals. The kids were excited to check and see what animal he made for them each day. He would do a different one for each of our rooms.

Look at JJ's face. Poor little thing. I thought it was strawberry smoothies they were giving away in the diamond store. So I gave the kids each a cup full. After they drank them (and almost barfed) the store lady came running over telling me in broken english that those were alcoholic. Turns out it they weren't really smoothies, but strawberry dacquiris. Oops. Sorry kids. How was I supposed to know?? I'm still paying for that one with Reed. He thinks it's hilarious to talk about his mother leading him down the wrong path.

Cozumel

The second port we stopped at on the cruise was Cozumel.  It was awesome.  The beaches were much nicer than in Progreso.  And the snorkeling was better, too.

We rented a jeep when we got off the ship and drove to a beach that we had researched...Playa Azul.  

Playa Azul was much less crowded than the bigger beaches close to town.  The water was  a beautiful color of turqoise blue.  It was just like it looks in the travel magazines.

This is a conch that Reed found while snorkeling at Playa Azul

Progreso

I have so many pictures and so many things to say about our trip, that it's hard to narrow it down.  We took a cruise out of Galveston to Mexico and the Western Carribean.  We went out of Galveston because we went to visit Sally (my awesome sister) and her family in San Antonio.   More about that in another post.

Our first stop on the cruise was the port of Progreso.  We only had about 7 hours before we had to be back on the ship.  We spent about half of it at the mayan ruins.  We hired a tour guide to show us around the grounds.  We learned a lot of interesting things there and really enjoyed it.  Then we spent the rest of our time in port at the beach.

The girls had their hair braided by a Mexican woman on the beach

The boys had fun in the ocean.  The snorkleing wasn't very good in Progreso, but they had fun trying.

Dzibilchaltun

This is one of the ancient mayan ruins we visited in the yucatan peninsula. It was about a 30 minute drive from our port in Progreso, Mexico. We took a taxi there and our driver waited while we toured the ruins and then took us back to the beach.

It was so interesting to see the ruins of a civilization that lived there in 500 b.c.

This was part of their marketplace

This is the Temple of the 7 Dolls

(Harold is trying hard to look like a true tourist)

The 2 ladies sitting in front of us thought they were clever pretending to be part of our family

This is the Ceynote, a natural waterhole, on the grounds of the ruins.

There were tons of fish in there, some of which would come up and nibble on your feet when you stepped in the water. (I didn't stay in very long for that reason)

Shout Hoo-Ray

One year older and wiser, too. Happy Birthday *clap* to you.

And so ends another birthday extravaganza.

She really, really, really, really, really

wanted a sleepover this year.

I agreed. (Not sure why.)

She invited 4 friends and 1 sister.

1 throw up (went home), 2 dramas (with crying), 1 movie, ToNs oF JuNk FoOd,

17 episodes of Hannah Montana, lots of giggles and good times, not much sleep.