Anyone out there?

It has been a busy summer already! I'm surprised I haven't gotten any ugly comments about the delay in posting an update, Casey isn't usually so understanding! It's left me wondering if anyone is out there listening! We have done so much in the past few weeks it's hard to figure out what needs to be shared. I'm working on it now and will be posting new pictures and maybe a few stories soon. Here is a picture of the kids to get you through until I can organize the pictures and get them posted.

Emmie's one!

Emerson's first birthday was last Thursday and once again we made cupcakes and celebrated.

Amanda & Matthew arrived on Tuesday and we spent the entire week playing. We went to Sea World on Wednesday, most of the day. I have no idea how hot it was but it felt like a million degrees! The kids & Amanda & I survived and even managed to have fun. Micah got to ride Shamu's Express, a little roller coaster made just for little guys. It's a great introduction to roller coasters, Micah loves it and Matthew rode it too and enjoyed it also. We saw two shows, the Beluga show which involves acrobats, dolphins and a beluga whale. The show was impressive and everyone enjoyed it, including Em, she loves pointing to the animals as they jump out of the water. We also saw the Believe show, Shamu's big show, Micah loved this show most! It was very impressive, the whales are huge and just leave you in awe. Micah thought it was cool that Shamu splashed the audience with his tail! We all went home Wednesday exhausted but loved most every minute of it. Emmie was so hot & tired that she fell asleep in the car before we even left the parking lot...we all cooled quickly once out of the sun, thank God for rear air conditioning!

We laid low at home on Thursday, we decided to put up the bounce house in the house, actually our empty formal living room. I know it sounds crazy but it was hot outside and we thought the kids would be easier to watch and would be able to play longer if they were in the air conditioning. We were right...they had a blast and played off & on most of the day and even let Em bounce with them. Friday afternoon we went back to Sea World to see the Sea Lion, otter and walrus show and then spend the rest of the evening in the water park. The show was cute, we liked the sea lions and the walrus but everyone was ready to cool off in the water park area. The kids did great in the water park, we played in the toddler area, the lazy river and even the wave pool. My kids love the wave pool, Emmie giggles like crazy when you hold her and jump the waves. We stayed until the water park closed and then let the boys ride the roller coaster one last time and had dinner. We headed home, tired and worn out but we all had a blast!

Amanda & Matthew left early Saturday morning and we were sad to see them go but hopefully they'll visit again this summer. We're headed to Dallas on Friday to see my family. My brother, Amy & Ava are headed into town and we would never miss a chance to see them! I can't wait to see the girls together now that they're older and will be aware of the other one. I'll post pictures when we get back into town.

Sea World

We had a great weekend. We had plans to have a relaxing weekend and while I'm not sure we totally succeeded at that plan, we had a fun weekend. We didn't do much of anything after getting Em's ears pierced on Friday. Saturday was fun at home with Dad and I spent the morning doing something rare...clothes shopping for myself! It was so nice to shop by myself and for myself and actually find things I liked and that fit well. I still have a few more things to buy but hopefully now I won't feel like I wear the same thing everyday, now it will be more like once a week! Sunday morning we met Rosey, Jimmy & their kids at church. Church was nice, but Micah got scared by a puppet that jumped out and lost it during Sunday School so I quite surprised to be paged out of the service to get him not Emmie. Apparently the puppet show starts with all the kids yelling "Hi Freddie" and then the puppet jumps out. Well I guess the combo of the yelling and the puppet appearing out of thin air scared Micah to death. His teacher said he was crying and shaking and was really scared. Rather than let him cry they paged me and he was doing better by the time I got there but still was too worked up to stay. He did make it over an hour so that's a pretty big success and he even told his teacher as we left that he'd see her next week. I think he truly had fun but once he gets scared and worked up he's done. He's such a sensitive kid but we love him.
We went out to eat with all the kids and they did great, even sitting at the end of the table kind of by themselves without getting into trouble. It was an enjoyable lunch which is a big thing to declare after eating with 4 kids under 5 years old! We're definitely enjoying San Antonio, we love having friends that are close enough to hang out and meet at the park and other places. Sunday evening we decided to go get our Sea World season passes. Again we met the Perez family at the park and spent an hour in the water park playing. The kids all loved the water, well Isaac wasn't too sure but he'll go back! Emmie's favorite part was the wave pool, Zac just held her so she would go up and down when the waves came and she started giggling at each wave. A child giggling is something so sweet to hear, it's nice to know that your kids are truly enjoying something, it makes all the effort of getting there worth it. We had a little food and then ride Shamu's express, a little roller coaster that Micah & Elijah are big enough for. Micah only rode once and said he had fun but didn't want to do it again. I'm just impressed we got him on once. Maybe he'll go again next time, but at least it didn't end in tears! A fun time was had by kids and adults and everyone was very tired.
Here are a few pictures Rosey took of the kids. I'm glad she thought to bring her camera!


We are also excited around our house because Aunt Amanda & Matthew will be here on Tuesday. We hope their drive is easy and uneventful so they can get here faster.