I Need a Smore!

Every night at our hotel from 7 - 8 they had smores for the kids. JD liked cooking his marshmallow but then only wanted one bite of smore. Guess who got the rest???? I'm having smore withdrawal. I need gooey marshmallow and melted chocolate. YUM YUM

Galveston Oh Galveston

Anybody remember the old Glenn Campbell song? If so hum it to yourself while you scan through our vacations photos. Here was JD's FAVORITE weekend attraction --- the bounce house. It was set up on the hotel patio and JD couldn't wait to get to it every evening.

Here he is coming down the slide. We stopped at the bounce house in the mornings after breakfast but that wasn't any fun. At that time of the day there were no other kids there. JD would say "where's friends?" and then just stand around waiting for some "friends" to appear.

JD enjoyed lounging in "my JD's room," which is how he referred to his hotel room.

We walked along the strand and I had to take JD's picture by the giant monkey. Mainly because we took this exact picture last year.

We spent many hours playing in the sand on the beach. This beach was at our hotel and had nice clean sand shipped in from Florida. The water was fresh and clean without any of the hazards of the REAL beach. We played and swam just like it was the real thing.

"Arrrrr ye land lovers, JD the pirate is on his way."

We went to the sharks 3-D Imax. JD caught a few jelly fish when they swam right at him.

We saw a few real sharks at the aquarium.

We ate at the Rainforest Cafe. It was the coolest place and JD really enjoyed it once he got over his fear of the gorillas behind him. It took a little explaining for him to understand that they weren't really and ran on batteries like his toys back home.

Early Morning at the Mall

JD and I arrived at the mall before 10 this morning. We found this nice orderly line outside the Apple store. I assume these are techno geeks lining up for some sort of i-product that I don't even know about.

Here's the unruly mob that we are here to be part of. And why, are we and all these children lined up before the stores even open???

To see this man sing about Baby Kangaroos and stinky skunks. JD is paying close attention but is a little reserved when it comes to actual participation.

Summer Play Date

JD and I had a play date at the Children's Museum. Here he is pushing the buttons in the train station. The trains are always a favorite with JD.

He also enjoyed using these tools -- Like father like son. After three hours I couldn't take it anymore and we went to have pizza. I'm sure we'll spend some more summer days at the museum.

I was a BAD girl!

I have to confess -- I was a very bad girl. I put a little too much bean juice down the drain. OK OK -- there were some beans in the juice and that was the problem. It cloged our sink. Poor George, Sunday morning he heads out to Home Depot to find something to fix the sink. YES, I know it was Sunday but I figured the modern day equivilent of "the ox in the mire" was "stinky bean juice in the sink." George found exactly what we needed while browsing the isle at Home Depot --- A PLUMBER!!! As you can see our sink now works thanks to a kind plumber and George's shopping.

Witch Doctor

We have been listening to Alvin and the Chipmunks in the car. JD has been working really hard at singing the Witch Doctor song but just can't get the hang of it.

Zilker Park

We had one last day with Uncle Keith before he goes home tomorrow -- SO, we spent it at Zilker Park. JD drove the fire truck.

We rode on the train.

AND -- we fed the ducks, turtles and fish.

Sea World

We spent our second day with Uncle Keith at Sea World. We didn't bring our stroller and figured JD could walk. For the first 45 minutes we were in the park JD kept pointing at other people's rented strollers and saying "Mommy, I need one of those." After 45 minutes Mommy finally got the message and we went and rented "one of those."

I had to try out the aquarium setting on my camera. JD enjoyed seeing the sharks.

They guys waited for Shamu to begin his show. Notice the sign right behind Keith's head -- we're in the splash zone. Shamu's tail got us wet.

It was a hot day so we sipped on some soda while we waited for the sea lions to begin their show. JD laughed and laughed at them.

The 3-D glasses make a handsome addition to any wardrobe. Bats flying right at you are pretty darn scary though.

Five minutes after leaving the park JD was asleep. Uncle Keith was just pretending.

Our Day with Uncle Keith

Uncle Keith is visiting with us so we planned a day of fun. We started today at the Texas History Museum. Keith and JD waited for the Imax movie to begin.

We found this cannon inside the museum.

After a morning at the museum we needed a little lunch. We treated Uncle Keith to a gourmet lunch at Costco. YUM YUM!!

We wrapped up with a trip to the store to get Uncle Keith some new clothes.

Cookie Monster Cake

I found this cute little Cookie Monster cake at HEB. Since Uncle Keith is visiting I thought it might be nice to have a little dessert. When I brought it in from the store JD couldn't wait to eat it. Almost immediately he said "I need to eat it."

Of course, all cakes require "fire." That was JD's request when we were getting ready to eat it. I guess he thinks all cakes are birthday cakes. The only "fire" I had was this big emergency style candle. We sang Happy Birthday to no one in particular and JD blew out the candle. It made him happy!

WHY OH WHY didn't I think about the consequences of lots of really blue frosting? It took one bite for me to realize I better take JD's Sunday shirt off before it was ruined. He had a great time but then needed a bath to get all the remnants off.

Get Well Grandma

Since Grandma is in the hospital recovering from surgery JD decided to make her a card. Get well Grandma.

A Day to Play

My last teacher workshop was Tuesday. SO, as of Wednesday school is REALLY out! JD and I decided to stay home and play to celebrate the REAL beginning of summer vacations. While I was cleaning in the kitchen, JD played in the cupboard and put these "wheels" on our stove. HA - my boy's a creative genius!

He also helped this teddy bear with his bloody nose.

The folks from our favorite pest control company came to check out what was making the scratching noises in the attic and said "you've got raccoons." YIKES!!! Hopefully the furry little demons will be vacating soon.

JD Says Goodbye

These were the sad looks I got this morning from JD and Lucy as they prepared to say goodbye. Lucy left this morning for her new home and JD was not happy about it. It's always sad when your best friend moves away. This puts us one the hunt for a new best friend --- any takers out there???

The two were not at all sad last night as JD munched on jelly beans and Lucy stared hoping he would be careless and drop one.

Tug-o-War

Lucy is moving to Oregon later this week so this may be our last chance to play. Lucy and JD shared this little game of tug-o-war. JD's skinny little arms were no match for Lucy's jaws of steel.

Boys Love Trains

I've been sick with the vomiting virus -- YUK!! George says Mommy's sickness is like high gas prices - it messes up everything. To get JD out of the house for a little while yesterday George took him to buy a new train for his train set. This yellow one is what JD picked out. The strategy worked. Both boys were entertained all evening with the new train and a few additional tracks. Choo choo

Happy Independence Day!

Our family had a happy independence day. We went to the movies to see WallE. We did much better than our last outing to the movies. We actually made it all the way to the end. I have to admit that I looked at my watch a few times and wondered how long a movie about two robots that don't talk could last.

Father and son wore matching T-shirts. As were were getting ready to leave the house JD insisted on finding his hat so he could be like Dad.

We played in the park. It was a little overcast and not too crowded -- two very good things. JD told me here that he was "making hamburgers" -- YUM YUM!