Houston Zoo

We took a spontaneous trip to the zoo this morning. The weather has been GORGEOUS for the past week. It is actually feeling like fall around here. Needless to say, we have been spending every chance we get outside, enjoying cool, humidity-free, sweat-free fresh air!!!

Grandma and Pa-pa (Jason's parents) decided to join us for a day of lions, tigers and bears. We had a great time chasing two kids who wanted to go separate directions the entire time! Brinley is the type of zoo goer who looks at each animal for a brief second and is eagerly waiting to move on to the next animal. Clayton likes to study each animal and observe them in their habitats. Therefore, I will never be able to take them to the zoo by myself!!

We were able to see the new baby elephant who was born this week!

Brinley and Clayton hanging out inside the fish tank!

Brinley already has him pushing her around while she relaxes!!!

A must have photo opt at the Houston zoo!

Clayton really enjoyed brushing and chasing the goats around

"He is the daddy because he has a long beard", she cracks me up!

Another photo opt!

Arkansas vs Alabama football game

Jason and I dropped the kids off at my parents and headed to Arkansas for the weekend! We flew into Little Rock Friday night and got to visit with Wendi and her hubby!

Saturday morning, we drove up to Fayetteville for the Hogs/Alabama football game with the Lipsey's. Once we got to Fayetteville, we stopped by the tail gate party my sorority was putting on. It was great to see some girls I haven't seen in years! The weather was perfect (75 degrees) and the game was fantastic (until the last 6 minutes, when Alabama came back to win!) It felt really great to be back in Razorback Stadium calling those hogs!

A sad sea of red leaving Razorback stadium
After the game, we walked to a Mexican food restaurant to eat while we waited for the traffic to clear (nothing like 76,000 people trying to leave at the same time!)

Rachel and I with our Razorback Margaritas

Saturday night, we spent the night with the Ferguson's and then got up Sunday morning to meet Shannon and her hubby for brunch before heading back to Little Rock to catch our flight home. Did I mention it was 56 degrees Sunday morning! I got to order a hot chocolate :-)

I guess some of that cool weather followed us home because a cool front came in Sunday and the past two days has been GORGEOUS weather! We have been playing outside all day (and not sweating to death!).

Blah

This past week has been very blah! It has rained pretty much every day and we have just been going through our schedule with nothing really exciting happening.

We did get to visit with some friends at their new house Saturday night. The kids had a great time playing with their their Wii yoga mat (mostly with Daddy pulling them very fast on it) and playing with their 120 lb dog, Max. Clayton had a blast chasing Max around and squealing with delight as he got knocked down by the dog that was at least a foot taller than him!

We are getting excited about our trip to Fayetteville to watch the Hogs play Alabama this weekend! So hopefully that will bring us out of the rainy funk we have been in!

Sports Mania

This past week has been very sports oriented for us! Despite the fact that we have been watching college and pro football non-stop since opening weekend, we also have added soccer (professional and amateur) to the mix!

We attended the Houston Dynamo soccer game last Sunday. We have season tickets and have really enjoyed watching them. I am not a huge soccer fan, even though my husband is a fanatic and still plays every Sunday. Going to the Dynamo games have turned me into a fan! Seeing the professionals play up close in person is very exciting! Brinley really enjoys the games too! She can follow them and even yells GOAL, when they score. Clayton just enjoys the games for the popcorn :-)

On Tuesday, Brinley started her 2nd year of dance. She was soooo ready to get back after having the summer off. It was funny to watch the girls jump back in like they haven't missed a beat! They even remembered all the names of the moves! Their studio teaches them the french words, so with learning Spanish at school, she is becoming quite bilingual.

Saturday morning (bright and early), was Brinley's first soccer game. It was very humid outside and even though Clayton and I sat in chairs and watched, we were soaking wet as if we had played. Jason is the assistance coach for the team, so he was running the entire time. Needless to say, we all needed a bath after the game! Brinley did so good. She scored the first goal for their team and stayed focused pretty well. She had one breakdown towards the end of the game because they kids on the other team "weren't sharing the ball" so I guess we will have to work on stealing it away from them!

Clayton enjoyed the game from his chair with Ted the bear who spent the weekend with us from Brinley's class at school!

Saturday night, we celebrated Jason's mother's birthday. It was a great night filled with lots of family, food and fun. The kids ran themselves ragged and needed another bath that night!

Sunday, Jason and I went to the Houston Texan football game against the Colts with my parents. I will say that this was the BEST game I have ever been to in the 9 years they been in Houston. We won, but we also dominated the Colts! We also got to see Clay Walker sing the national anthem and then he walked right past our seats as he was leaving!
Peyton Manning after the first sack by Mario Williams....I love Peyton, but enjoyed watching him get sacked :-)
Clay Walker...it would have been a great shot had the guy in front not moved in front of me at the last minute!!!!

Back to School

On Monday, Brinley started preschool and Clayton started back to Mothers Day out! I can hardly believe that this time next year Brinley will be in Kindergarten! Where does the time go!


Brinley was very excited to get back school (she has been asking every morning for a month if she was going)! She has the same teachers from last year and most of her friends are still in her class. She ran right in with no problems and had a great day!

Clayton also went in with no problems! He doesn't have the same teachers as last year, but he is in the room next door and had recess with those teachers. He ran right in the room (yelling "bye") as he found the cars and racetrack to play with! He had a great day and even told a friend to "sit down" when he wasn't cooperating to get in the stroller for a walk! Ha Ha Ha!!!!

I love this backpack shot! Clayton was so excited to wear his back pack, he cried when I took it off him to put him in the car!!!

Brinley- 4 years old and Clayton- 20 months, August 2010

What did I do on my glorious five hours off? I went and worked out, grocery shopped, took a bath and ate lunch without saying SINGLE word!!! I now treasure not having to say "no, stop, quit fighting, etc. I do plan to start volunteering at the elementary school by my house to get some dust off, but right now I am going to enjoy the silence :-)

On Fridays, Brinley only goes to school until 12, so Clayton and I are taking a mommy and me gymnastics class. He really loves being able to run, jump, swing on trapeze, and fall into the foam shape pit! It is the perfect place for him to get his "boy-ness" out!

I did not take this picture today, it is from the summer class, but I love how happy he looks while walking the balance beam!

Good Bye Summer

Today is our last official day of summer. Brinley starts preschool and Clayton starts back to MDO tomorrow! We have been very busy the past 3 weeks, sending summer off in style!


We closed out our YMCA family pool season on a Saturday. We normally go during the week after I exercise and isn't as crowded. Luckily, everyone must have been getting ready to go back to school, so we had the pool to ourselves! It was also a treat that Jason got to come with us. It was very nice to have him with me to chase the kids around!!!

On Sunday, Jason took Brinley with his family to the Astros game. Since Clayton would be no fun to keep up with at a game, he and I took my brother out to lunch for his birthday with my family!

Brinley at minute maid park watching the Astros

Brinley and Aunt Marian

Clayton enjoying his new helmet Daddy got him


On Monday, we went with my mom to the new waterpark in Baytown, Pirates Bay. It is really nice and the kids had a great time sliding, riding in the lazy river and splashing around!

The rest of the week was filled with all kinds of fun activities with Bill, Vickie and the kids who were visiting from Switzerland for the week. First, we headed to the Moody Gardens Aquarium in Galveston. Brinley has been several times, but this was Clayton's first time (that he would remember) and boy did he LOVE it! He was fascinated with the sea lions and penguins. He would stand there and watch them for 30 minutes without moving!

Grandpa with his grandkids

This picture pretty much sums up how wild and crazy Brinley and Wyatt are when they are together!!!!!!!!!

We also celebrated Marian's 15th birthday (how crazy is it that Jason and I started dating when she was 3 years old!!!!!!!!)

Hannah, Marian, Brinley, Lizzy, Wyatt and Max

We also went to Marian's High School band preview concert. The kids really enjoyed listening and dancing to the music! Afterwards, Grandma treated the kids to ice cream cones....at 8:30pm! Needless to say this was a long night :-)

This is how Clayton prefers to eat his ice cream cone!

Poor Liam was sick almost the entire trip, so this was the only picture I got of him on the last night when he was feeling a little better!

In the midst of all the craziness, the kids finished their summer gymnastics class.

We also attended Brinley's BFF, Addison's birthday party at the skating rink.

This last week has been uneventful since we have been trying to get back onto a schedule and get ready for school tomorrow! We did spend yesterday at the beach. Some friends of our got a beach house and had their daughter's birthday party there. It was wonderful and made me really want to get a beach house.....Jason's reply "get a job". Maybe someday!

This boy really LOVES cake

my little beach babies

riding the ferry was the highlight of her day!

Daddy teaching her how to boogie board

a boy and his wagon

PHEWWWWW! I am now tired just writing about all this! I am soo ready to be back on a schedule. The ease of summer schedules are great, but more tiring on me. We had a great time and can't wait for next summer!

a little trip to paradise

Jason came home from work last week and let me know he had booked a long weekend trip to Mexico. I was shocked at first, because we hadn't even discussed going to Mexico this year with our trip to Switzerland in April and our upcoming trip to Disney in December. He had a few days of downtime at work (a first in months) and the rest of the year looks to be very busy for him as well.

So my mom came over to stay with the kids and we took off to the Riviera Maya, Mexico for 4 days! We went to the same all inclusive, adults only resort we had gone to in 2007. Jason had looked at several other resorts, but when it came down to it, we were too spoiled at the El Dorado Royale :-)

When we got the airport, another surprise awaited me, Jason had upgraded us to first class with a private car picking us up at the airport to take us to the resort. It was my first time in first class and I must admit, I like having all the extra space! We got the resort and it was as breathtaking as I remember it. For the next 3 days, our schedule consisted of:

sleep late

eat breakfast

lay on beach/sit in ocean/read or sleep on beach

eat lunch

hang out in pool with bartender and drink

go back to beach

eat dinner

go to main bar for nightly entertainment

sleep

It was wonderful to have absolutely no responsibilities, eat a meal without getting interrupted, clean, cook, etc. By the way, my mom said the dog missed us more than the kids did! I got to read 2 novels, work on my tan (a little too much the last day!) and relax! It was a great way to unwind and have some couple time!

We had an infinity pool on our balcony!
This is the view we had for lunch one day

cheers to starting our vacation

Us at the candlelit dinner on the beach

Jason sleeping at our cabana on the beach

me and the beautiful ocean

the view from our balcony...not too shabby