Our trips to Corpus Christi

We have spent the last two weekends in Corpus Christi for very sad matters. The first weekend we went down to see Matt's grandpa, who's health had been declining rapidly over the last few weeks. We made it there in time for Matt to spend a few hours with his grandpa before he passed away. It was very sad to see how rapidly his health declined. I am very glad that Matt got to spend sometime with him in the end.

We went back to Corpus early Thursday morning for the funeral. We dropped Matt off at his parents hotel to get ready and I took the kids to the Texas State Aquarium. I would have liked to attend the service, but our kids are just too young to be at a funeral. Plus it gave Matt sometime with his family. The kids and I met up with a college friend of Matt and I, actually one of the girls who set us up, and her 2.5 yr old daughter. The Aquarium was real nice with a dolphin show (the kids LOVED), sea otter, jelly fish, sea turtles, AND a really nice splash pad area. I am so glad I got to spend time with our friend, I wish we could see her more often. After the Aquarium, we went to Matt's aunt's house for the family reception. Matt's grandpa was loved by many, there were a lot of people there to celebrate his life.

The next day we went to the beach with a good amount of Matt's family. We got lucky that the tropical storm hit south of where we were and we got no rain or bad weather. The tide was high at the beach and the currents strong due to the storm at sea. The current was so strong it concave some of the sand and made a "natural water slide" that Katherine enjoyed floating down. Colin of course loved playing in the sand and taking a nap on the beach.


The next day we went crabbing with Matt's parents and out to eat for lunch. I think it was a good break for Matt's dad who had been down there for weeks helping out. And we got ice cream :). Then we went to Matt's grandma's house to visit before heading home. Our hotel was nice that we stayed at. It faced the bay and marina. The kids loved standing on the balcony and looking at all the boats. I wish we were there on better circumstances but at least Matt's whole family got to spend a lot of time with us and the kids.

Crabbing, we got a few, just couldn't get them through the seaweed to shore

View from our hotel balcony, the kids loved it! Katherine wanted to stay there "forever"!

Shark Attack - The entrance into a gift shop

Oh no, it got Matt and Katherine :)

This weekend my sister-in-law's family rented a beach house on Crystal Beach (a ferry ride over from Galveston Island). Friday night as I was packing for the beach, I did not say anything to the kids about the beach, I didn't even mention the word beach. Colin came up to me when I was packing the floaties and said VERY clearly " The Beach, I WANNA GO!" He went over to the TV and said "Turn off, Go BEACH!". Gotta love his enthusiasm for the beach!

Saturday morning we woke up and it was raining, we have been in a drought for months and of course we get a big storm the morning we are heading down to the beach. It rained the whole way down there. It sprinkled our entire ferry ride, but the kids still had a blast on the ferry looking out at the water and chasing seagulls and rained for about 15 minutes when we got to the beach house, then it cleared up and became a BEAUTIFUL day.

The kids and Matt & I had a blast with the rest of the family. We were at the beach house from 10:00am to 8:30pm. The kids got to take a break and go up to the house and eat lunch, cool off, and watch cartoons. They swam, fished with Uncle Russell, played in the sand with Aunt Lara and Kannon, looked for seashells with daddy, and hung out. About 4:30 Colin was tired, he was getting fussy, so we went for a swim… he was so tired he fell asleep in my arms in the ocean. He then slept for about an hour in the tent on the beach.After dinner, we headed back home. We got on the ferry right at sunset, it was a beautiful ending to a perfect day. It was great to spend the day with our family and have a full day on the beach. Sunday we were so exhausted, we just hung around the house.

Semi-Wordless Wednesday

Real men drive pink vehicles

Dog days of summer - It's so hot, even the dog needs to cool off
Concentrating very hard
Yum.. fresh pool water
It got so hot Saturday, we did arts & crafts inside.
Who doesn't love ice cream on a hot summer day!
Ready to play ball or just beat someone with the bat.. you decide
My sous chef - Katherine helping me make fajita enchiladas
Being a great big sis giving Colin a ride.

Matt and Jennifer's Beach Day & Rum Shack

Tuesday Matt and I took the kids to school and had a day just for the two of us.. Matt & Jennifer's Day of Fun. We got an early start and went down to the beach for a few hours. As much as I love taking the kids, it was nice to go and lay out and just relax. We swam a bit, walked the shoreline, engaged in adult conversations, and most importantly spent time just the two of us.

After the beach we went to our favorite place on the beach for burgers and drinks. Next to the restaurant, they built a new tiki bar called The Rum Shack. We went over there just to check it out and have a drink, one drink turned into a few. It was such a nice view, gorgeous day, and great company, it was very easy to sit there and have strawberry piña coladas, frozen mojitios, and Mi Tai's. After a few rounds, we walked across the street and laid out on the beach for a bit more. Then we headed down to the Strand (the historical shopping district) and bought more stuff for Colin's upcoming surfer room and had a few more drinks. Before we knew it, it was almost 4pm, time to head back to get the kids.
It was a very nice relaxing day, just what we needed. It has been very important to us to have Matt & Jennifer time. We feel to build a strong foundation for our family, our relationship must stay strong also. A co-worker told me last year after being married almost 30 years, they were getting a divorce. That once the kids moved out, they didn't know each other any longer. Their whole lives revolved around the kids, they became parents but were no longer friends. They never did things together anymore. I never want that to happen to Matt & I. He truly is my best friend and I want to make sure throughout the years that we still dedicate time to each other and our relationship. Life gets crazy between kids, work, activities, and of course the added stress over Colin's health issues. I want to make sure I dedicate time to my kids AND my husband to keep our family strong.

4th of July Weekend - Happy Birthday America!

Saturday we got up early and headed down to the beach, what's 4th of July weekend without the beach. We found a nice quite spot on the beach and played and swam for almost 5 hours. We built sandcastles, dug in the sand for mussels, looked for seashells, and played in the big waves. Katherine had so much fun getting clobber by the waves.. Colin, not so much.. He doesn't like the saltwater in his eyes. After the beach, we got in the car, Colin fell asleep immediately, but not too much asleep where he couldn't eat a cheeseburger.. You must watch the video.. It's too funny, he eats the entire hamburger without opening his eyes.

Colin's MUST WATCH cheeseburger video: http://www.facebook.com/#!/video/video.php?v=10150687487710032

Sunday we went over to Matt's parents for his dad's birthday. Katherine was disappointed that there were no invitations sent for the party and that is was "just" family and no friends of hers were invited. The kids had a great time playing in the pool and Aunt Robin and Uncle Brian brought over the Sno-Cone machine. The kids and everybody else loved that. Matt made me a margarita sno-cone. We had yummy fajitas and a brownie cake. July 4th we played on the slip-n-slide, bbq'ed hamburgers and hot dogs, my brother and sister-in-law came over. Then we went and saw the fireworks. Katherine and Colin were so excited for fireworks, they enjoyed the show, pointing out which ones were their favorite ones. It was my nephew Kannon's first firework show, he seemed to be amazed by them.