School prep :)

A brand new school year is only 3 weeks away and I am feeling a little anxious for the first time.

The boys will be in 1st and 3rd grades this year and it will be my first year as PTO President. Now that it is August, I have to be ready.

My mom and I spent last Thursday school shopping for some new clothes for the kids. My youngest is QUICKLY cruising through sizes and all of last year's jeans for my oldest are too short. Dorkishly too short.

Needless to say, we are ready Freddy.

Caleb's first day of school stuff:

He picked out a new backpack this year because he is "just too old for characters, Mom". So a camo backpack, shark lunch bag, red striped shirt, and a new pair of jeans...(he would prefer to wear jeans every day, even in 100+ degree weather).

Jansen's first day of school stuff:

He has his same backpack from last year because it looks brand new, a new race car lunch bag, an X games shirt, and a new pair of shorts. He is my kiddo that is pretty laid back, but when he has an opinion...he sticks to it.

Backpacks? Check!

Lunch boxes? Check!

School Supplies? Check!

School clothes? Check!

PTO meeting agenda? Almost check.

I am going to push through the anxiety and just do the best I can possibly do. I want my kids to have a really special school year and I am going to do everything in my power to help make it that way.

Rainy day scavenger hunt

Thank goodness we finally got some rain. We need it here in the drought covered land of the Texas Gulf Coast.

This week has been very trying for us since Caleb's doctor recommended switching medications. From the very beginning, I didn't have a good feeling about it, but would honestly kick myself if it really helped him and I was just too scared to give it to him. Needless to say, he has been a complete mess all week long...which culminated in last nights complete screaming, overload meltdown. I went in his room, wrapped him up in a blanket, put his heaviest blanket over that one, curled up next to him and threw both of my arms and legs over him to squeeze as hard as I could. History has shown us that deep pressure really calms him down. I softly sang "Que Sera, Sera" to him for 20 minutes and squeezed before he finally calmed, took a deep breath and said, "I love that song, Mom." Back on the old medicine we go. But I digress....

The boys are bored, it's sprinkling outside, it's hot and muggy....so we made up a quick scavenger hunt.

I wish I was one of those moms that could make this game all fancy with decorative cards and treasure boxes and such. But I am not. So I wrote all the clues on note paper and stuck them around the house.

The boys, in their pajamas, started at the living room TV....

moved on to the little one's bedroom....

then to the garage....(to pop confetti filled balloons looking for another clue)

back to the kitchen.....

and found one last clue in their bathroom.

Curious George gummies are a treat for the kiddos. They are supposed to be just for school, but today...they were a prize.

Shiny, happy people holding gummies!!!!

Aw yeah...Football is back on!!!!

YAY!!!!!!! Every year about this time, I start to get butterflies in my stomach because football season is right around the corner. I love football. Lurve it. Luff it. (Yes, that is an Annie Hall reference) I LOVE IT!!! This year, however, I have been praying that the league was going to reach an agreement so that football could still be played this fall.....

And today.....HALLELUJAH!!!

They reached a deal and football is back on. Thank goodness because we just got a good deal on tickets three days ago.....people were all unsure of how things were going to work if the players were still locked out. The Texans were going to be refunding season ticket holders' money for each game missed, so that is nice. But what really matters is that we can see some FOOTBALL!!!!

So it's time to dust off those personalized jerseys and roll out the grills. Pack up the folding chairs, tents, and coolers, and head to Reliant. It's time to paint your face red, white, and blue, and STAND UP AND SHOUT!!!!

It's Texans Football Baby!

The most wonderful time of the year!!!!!!!!

Grapevine Vacation!!!!

Last weekend was our family vacation to Grapevine, TX. It's a good 5 hour drive for us from the coast and I was dreading the drive. Long drives drive me crazy!!!!!!!!

LONG post ahead...beware!!!

On Thursday afternoon, we drove an hour to Houston and checked into our hotel for the night since we had plans there that night. We took the children to dinner at the hotel restaurant, which was one of the nicest restaurants our children have ever been to. They behaved PERFECTLY. After dinner, we ran upstairs to change into nicer clothes to go to the symphony.

That's right...we took our boys to the symphony. The Bugs Bunny Symphony to be exact. We had a great time listening to the orchestra play music as the cartoons flashed on the screen.

The next morning, we loaded up bright and early to get on the road. We stopped in Huntsville, home of my husband's college, Sam Houston State University, and visited the Sam Houston Memorial.

This was actually really fun and very educational. The kids posed by a replica of Sam Houston's head....

and we took pictures by the full statue.

The memorial center gave us stickers and lots of really interesting pamphlets we discussed on the next leg of the trip.

By noon, we were checking into our hotel for the next 4 days...GREAT WOLF LODGE!!!!! This place is amazing!!! I highly, HIGHLY recommend it.

We grabbed some pizza while we waited for our room to be ready. This room was awesome!!! It had a separate little log cabin room with bunks and a flat screen for the kids :)

We toured the hotel, mapped out all the places we wanted to visit, and started MagiQuest...a treasure hunt that takes place on all 8 floors of the hotel.

Caleb and Jansen got an activity book with 10 quests, each with riddles to artifacts that had to be found IN ORDER. We learned the "in order" part the hard way after going 5 flights of stairs thinking we had completed the quest.

The boys had to take a brief break from becoming Magi to take a trip to Medieval Times. The hubs and I had never been there and we all agreed that it was our FAVORITE part of the trip. We were transported back to medieval days with crowns and drinks, and led into our Red Knight row. They gave us red flags so that we could cheer on the famous Red Knight. The food was completely delicious and we all had the BEST time.

Saturday morning we got up early to restart MagiQuest until time to head to Lego Land. Really, really fun! Caleb made a Lego race car that won its race, Jansen made a replica of the Great Wolf Lodge, we saw miniatures of Dallas made of Legos, rode the Lego ride and shot at the bad guys, watched the 4D movie and got pelted with icy cold snow, and shopped in the official Lego Store.

Across the street from Lego Land was the Sea Life Aquarium....which we hit up next.

Very disappointing for the adults. They only let in a certain amount of people at a time and you had to go through each exhibit in a line...not so much at your own pace. The kids enjoyed it so that is all that mattered.

We spent the rest of the day at GWL Water Park!!! This place is amazing!!!! We all went down the 3 story twisty slides on inner tubes and had a blast. The hubs had rented a cabana for that day...the first time we had ever been in one. It had a tv, a loaded mini fridge, a table we played cards at, and a fan!

They keep it 84 degrees in the park at all times. The boys were swimming in the lazy river and the wave pool for the rest of the day. Way, way fun!

Sunday morning we woke up, grabbed some breakfast at the buffet,

and headed to the Vintage Railroad for a trip to the Fort Worth Stockyards.

We were in a Victorian train car with an attendant that gave the kids chips and popcorn.

On the way to the stockyards, the train was robbed.

Thank goodness the Sheriff came to make all the children on board deputies.

Once we got to Fort Worth, we shopped and ate some delicious food at Riscky's BBQ.

Once back at the hotel, we continued the MagiQuest, and then swam until the staff had to kick us out. MagiQuest was completed!!!! 89 flights of stairs and 3 days of playing and the kids finally completed the quest and became Master Magi. This is their team...Mario and Sonic...on TV.

They were so proud!

Monday we took our time playing at the hotel

and then took the long drive home. The boys were so good and the hubs and I agreed that this was our most fun, successful family vacation yet! What a blast!!!!