port aransas

Last week we ventured off on our first family vacation.  Well, not really our first vacation, just our first vacation as a family without anyone else.  It was fun and...interesting at times.  First off, I decided it would be a great idea to get Ava a new car seat so that Adam could have hers.  I thought it would be better for him to be facing out instead of backwards.  I thought they would both be more comfortable and it would make our 4.5 hour drive a lot smoother.  I thought wrong.  On the way there Ava slept for about 15 minutes and asked when we were going to be there about 117 times.  I really thought that only happened in movies...not so much.  Adam on the other hand slept for about 10 minutes and screamed for the other 260 minutes of our ride.  I was not in a good state of mind when we reached the ferry loading and there was an hour wait. But, I was willing to put all that aside when I heard the water and saw the dolphins.

The kids had lots of fun playing in the sand and in the "blue water", as Ava refers to the pool.  We played/walked/sat in the very shallow water at the beach, but that's about as far as that went. I think we might have gone out to our knees...yes, we are quite the adventurous family.

Adam got pinched by a crab right in between his big toe and second toe.  Poor baby.  He was screaming and I didn't know what to do.  Do I pull it off and risk it totally cutting his little sausage toes? No worries...this kid took matters into his own hands and ripped off that little crab like a champ.  Good thing I was there to help. 

We took a trip to the Corpus Christie Aquarium which was fun.  Adam was amazed and Ava enjoyed most of the time we spent there.  The ride back was awesome.  They both slept the whole way back to the condo.

Sleeping arrangements were super awesome too.  We brought Adam's little pack-n-play, which he hasn't been in since he was about 2 months old.  He totally loved it. Not really.  He actually had to be rocked completely to sleep in order to be put into it.  Thank goodness the condo had a rocking reclining chair and a king size bed.  It was so great to be awakened by Adam at 2am every night and then to have all of us in the bed together.  I was so tired at one point that I couldn't stop laughing at our sleeping situation.  Roly was on one side, Ava next to him, Adam next to her, and then me. How long did this last?  Oh, about 2 minutes.  These kids have super fun moves at night, and I just happened to be the only one that this bothered.  I got the kung fu panda moves to the neck, face, and stomach all in about 15 minutes.  And to top that off with a cherry...they ALL snore.  It was awesome! 

We had some good food, got some cute pics, and had some good times at the beach.  It does make me question summer vacations with more than two kids though.  Not sure if I could hang.

Adam decided he needed some time away from the waves.

Ava "keeping Adam safe from the crabs and the waves"

green bean drama

Today my mom, aka Nunny, stopped by after work and had dinner with us.  All was fine until Ava decided to try to get out of eating her green beans.

Ava: (sad face)
Nunny:  Ava what's wrong?
Ava:  I'm sad. (pouting)
Nunny:  Why are you sad?
Ava:  Because my green beans don't like me.
Me:  What are you talking about Ava?
Nunny:  Your green beans don't like you.  How do you know that?
Ava:  They're being so mean to me.  They said that they are not my friend. 
Nunny:  Oh.  Well you know why they probably said that?  Green beans are vegetables that love to be eaten.  If you don't eat them they will be upset with you.  You know, if you eat them then they will like you.
Ava: They said I'm ugly.
Nunny: You should try eating them to see how they feel about you after that.
Ava:  (smiling) Close your eyes Nunny and Mom

I'm obviously watching her with my eyes partially closed and I noticed her eating her green beans.  She shoves them a few at a time into her mouth until they are completely gone.

Ava:  Now open your eyes.
Nunny:  Wow, you ate all those green beans?
Ava:  Yes. They were so good.
Nunny:  So, how do the green beans feel about you now?
Ava:  Oh, they like me.  They said, "Thank you Ava.  We can be friends now."
Nunny:  Well I'm glad you worked that out.
Ava: Yeah, me too.  Can you pass me the bowl of green beans?  I'm gonna eat them all.

Thanks Nunny.  You might want to stop by tomorrow night...we are having broccoli.

peach picking

A couple weeks ago we wanted to do something fun with the kids. I remember doing stuff like this with my family when I was younger, so we headed out to Fredericksburg to pick some peaches.  We went to a cute little retired couples house/peach farm, maybe it's called a peach orchard, but anyways we drove out there and set off to pick some peaches.  It was a nice day, breezy and not too hot.  Of course we get there and we both tell each other, "let's not go toocrazy, just a few peaches."  Well...35 lbs. of peaches and a container of blackberries later...oops. But who can resist when the peaches are so good and plus we were walking up and down the rows of peach trees, we just got caught in the moment and happened to get a little carried away.  Ava had fun picking peaches and Adam kinda had fun in his stroller eating them. We did finally decide it was time to go when both kids were totally and completely done with this whole family time experience.  Adam was throwing a massive fit in his stroller, and Ava was crying and whining...what a sight to see.  But being that the peaches were so delicious, I was in an okay place with the fit throwing and such. 

What did we do with all the peaches you ask.  Well, we obviously didn't eat them all, who could?  We gave our neighbors and families some little bags of them, froze a couple bags, and I made two delicious peach pies and a totally awesome peach and blackberry cobbler. Yep, just call me Betty Crocker.  I should have taken some pictures of them, but they were devoured by some onlookers before that could happen.

The peaches didn't last long, but it was a fun experience!

PATIENCE PLEASE

Today I:

* had lunch with a friend and her daughter--ahh, adult conversation

* found 4 uncapped markers on my bed, under my sheets--Ava has no idea how they got there, but she did express that the stains that they made on the sheets AND MATTRESS looked like flowers

* found Adam eating chalk from Ava's easel

* washed the floors

* mopped the floor again after Adam took the cornstarch out of the pantry and dumped it all over the floor mixing it with his apple juice in the 3 minutes it took me to get the clothes from the laundry room to his room

* listened to the kids fight over toys that neither of them EVER want to play with until the other gets a hold of them

* put Adam back to sleep when he woke up after a two hour nap--he was still grumpy and I needed some quiet time

* made a lite brite picture with Ava while Adam was in round 2 of his nap--we were both getting frustrated.  Her little fingers couldn't push those darn pegs in between the others, and I was keeping my frustration to myself, but goodness me, how long does it take to make a lite brite picture of an ice cream cone???

* decided sandwiches would be dinner

* pretended to go to the bathroom, but instead took my book into the closet to read while Roly entertained the kids

Today was just one of those days.