So.
I have way, way too much to catch up on. It's been too long!
First and foremost, I want to say I am so, so excited about my new blog design. Miss Jaci Johnson, with FreelyMeDesigns, and also a friend of ours, designed it, and I am so proud. Thank you, Jaci! She is still doing finishing touches, like my signature and adding page tabs, but I love the almost finished product!
So, since I've written, the kids have gotten older, of course, and I would love to do a long update on their milestones. But, after our month-long trip to Houston and back, I think I am tired. I think I will just post pics of the trip, and call it good for now!
And what a crazy, fun adventure it was!
And yes, it was a long trip. I was a bit hesitant, to say the least, about taking my kids, who are both under 2, by the way, on a month long trip across Texas and staying in hotels and friends houses. But, Justin got the time off (in his normal schedule, he works seven days, then gets seven days off, so his vacation was a total of three weeks since he technically had one week of vacation saved up, if that makes sense!). So we packed our stuff, put away our fears, and did it! Of course, I am not complaining in any way. What a blessing to be able to do!
Justin's mother, Linda, came with us, and we visited her father, her sisters, and her brother and sister in law. She was wonderful to have with us, too, because she helped a TON with the kids. The only person missing was my mom, who I wished could have come with us too. She had to start work though. Work will get ya every time! We're actually talking about doing it again next year, and doing it earlier in the summer so she can come too. :)
So...all that said, I will share with ya where we went and what we did!
Our first stop was at Woody's Smokehouse in Centerville, Texas. Best. Food. Ever. And so awesome!
They had these little cookies with faces for kids, aisles of snacks, and yummy jars of jam. It was just the cutest little place and I would encourage anyone traveling through Centerville to stop there if they get a chance and eat. Great food and cute little things to buy. I also bought a little travel pillow here.
We stopped at a cute rest stop/park on the way to Houston (wish I could tell you exactly where it was but I can't remember! I just know it was pretty cool and easy to see from the road!) with slides and stuff. Kaleb liked it!
Got a good family shot there, which never happens! :) If only Mr. K was looking at the camera...but it's okay. It's still cute!
Great grandpa Nix!! :) We love him!!
This is in Shephard, Texas. I believe that's how you spell it. It's where Justin's Aunt Rebecca and Uncle Mike and cousins Erin and Zachary live. GORGEOUS. I love this place! This was taken right down the road from where they live! We took their family's go cart around the area. It reminds me of my grandparents place they had close to Louisiana, in east Texas. It's kind of serene. Random note: There are actually people who have airplanes in their garages here. I totally should have gotten a good picture of it, but was never able to.
Just us...having fun in the go cart. Little Miss Erin, Justin's cousin, is in the back! :) Out there it's fun to just roam the countryside in the go cart!
More of the beauty!
Just a random pic I took of Miss Brooke on our way to uncle Mike's church that Sunday morning.
The expression of joy says it all. Aunt Rebecca and Uncle Mike had gotten a little pool for us. :)
Much love for our "homies" in the Dolen area! Dolen is right next to Shephard. I was able to have the privilege to sing at Aunt Rebecca and Uncle Mike's church, and it's an amazing church that we would no doubt attend if we lived in the area. Uncle Mike is the pastor, and Aunt Rebecca teaches Sunday School and is the church pianist. They have really made this church awesome and we are so, so excited to see how things progress with them! We would encourage anyone who passes through/goes to the Dolen area to check it out! :)
Next destination was...Houston! While staying with Justin's aunt Audra and Uncle Johnny, we took Kaleb to the Kema Boardwalk! It's so pretty.
We tried to get him to ride the train and not be scared....It didn't work. I think that if it didn't go through a scary tunnel with lights it might have been more a pleasant experience for him! Maybe next year...
But he did like the Clydesdale. We took a horsedrawn carriage ride. Fun!
And...petting the stingrays was pretty cool in his book. And mine and Justin's! Pretty much the highlight of the evening.
Loved all the tropical fish though. There are so many cool things to see at the Kema Boardwalk.
Also gotta love the cool snake that comes down from the ceiling. But...not so cool to Kaleb. :(
And...one of my FAVORITE parts of the trip...the Galveston waterfront. Oh. Boy. I LOVE the ocean. We jumped these waves! Oma (Justin's mom, Linda!) was very gracious to take the kids for us while we (me and Justin) played in the water. It was more fun than we've had in a while!
Can you find the Justin?
And, of course, since we were in the area, we couldn't leave this place out, now could we? Can you find him here?
Or...this place, for that matter.
And no, we did not take Kaleb on this ride. But it was pretty fun.
And the food was amazing.
Along with all the decor.
And so the next night, we had dinner on the beach with the kids and Oma. It was fun, but it didn't last as long as we'd have liked. I think we went a little late, and the kids were already getting tired. But, it was still fun and we can say we did it!
Ignore the fuzziness of this one but I just had to include one of my sweet boy enjoying the beach! This is the way he was the whole time...Non. Stop. Action....Wait, that's the way he always is! :)
And the fun ship we rode! This was our next stop - Moody Gardens. Also while at Aunt Audra's. Aunt Audra and Uncle Mike are pretty gracious. They let us stay with them for a long time while we enjoyed all these fun places!
Daddo letting Little Miss get some air in the "rainforest" at Moody Gardens!
So yeah. It's an iphone pic. But..once you get past that, it's pretty awesome. :) Love God's creation, and we got to see a lot of it on this trip!
The kiddy splashpad in the waterpark at Moody Gardens! We have found, more so than ever, that Kaleb is most definitely a water fan. He is JUST like his Daddo and Momma!!When it comes to water, he's pretty fearless! He even went down the lazy river with us, where buckets of water are dumped on you randomly, and loved it!
Oma's hangout! She took care of the kids for me and Justin while we played for a bit by ourselves! Miss Brooke looks pretty comfy. Can you say, "Thank you, Oma."? :)
This was one of our last stops before we left. Murdoch's is fun! It's also interesting to see where all the poles are that used to be the "old" Murdoch's! If you look close you can see them.
I took this before we left Aunt Audra's. I think Justin had put his hat on her. Just thought it was cute!
I am so sad that this one didn't turn out great, but we didn't get a chance to get another one! But Aunt Audra and Miss Brooke hung out each morning, just like this!
Uncle Johnny and Kaleb!
Oma and Kaleb on the ship!
Uncle Mike and Miss Brooke!
Daddo and Kaleb's toy he bought! He loves it! It's a little shark with these little things sticking out of it's head!
Okay, so sleeping beauty has some stains on her shirt from the long drive home, but...couldn't resist.
Had to make one last stop at Sam's on the way home. Came across some cool carts. I love that they have two seats! Awesome.
And, to end Justin's vacation, we came home for a couple of days, then decided it would not be complete without a trip to see my parents before my mom started back to school for the year. On the agenda? To see my grandpa, of course! He's staying at a rest home in Midland. :( So yeah. Terrible quality photo (iphones..gotta love it!) but...had to include this one. One of my favorite people in the WORLD, my grandpa...well, let me rephrase that...Really, ALL of my favorite people are in this picture! You just have to look hard! My grandpa, my daughter, my son, my husband, and my mom. Justin's in the background with K, and my mom is helping to hold Miss Brooke in my grandpa's lap. Actually, I would venture to say that in a weird way, this is one of my favorite pictures ever! ;)
So.
It's really late, and I need to hit the bed, otherwise I would so do some updates on the kiddos milestones. Miss B is going to be eight months this month, and K will be TWO!!!! We are going to have a "two two train party," and Momma is excited. I don't think I'll go quite as over the top as I did last year, though. I think we had too many sweets! But, I still look forward to it and will most definitely post about it!
With that, I will leave you with this verse, which I love:
"I will sing the Lord's praise, for he has been good to me." Psalm 13:6
Amen to that! Whew!
