Sea World 2012

My mother in law takes us on a trip every summer. She is SO generous to do this and we always go somewhere fun! This year, we decided to go to Sea World in San Antonio since we'd never been. Matt booked the reservations at the Hyatt Hill Country resort in January and let me just say that this place was amazing. We really could have stayed at the resort and never left. The amenities are endless, including a 27 hole golf course, spa, 5 restaurants, a kid's club, family activities daily, s'mores every evening at 7 followed by a family movie on the back lawn at 8:30. They even provide the blankets and popcorn. Bike rentals, a playground, tether ball court, ping pong table, and jogging trail were at our disposal as well. Again, the place was perfect.

We arrived on Sunday and stayed 4 nights. We had 2 adjoining rooms and that worked out great as well. The original plan was to go to Sea World and Aquatica(the new adjoining water park) for 3 days. We ended up only going 2 days since Jake wanted to stay at the resort on the third day and do all the kid activities. Landry Grace and I went back on the third day and stayed at Aquatica until lunch and then came back to the resort.

All in all it was a fantastic trip. The kids really enjoyed Sea World and were awed by the animals. They loved loved feeding the dolphins, a must if you go! We probably won't do Sea World again, but we would definitely go back to the resort. Another tidbit of info, the resort was only 1 mile from Sea World.

The activity pool. There is also a lazy river that includes a "beach", plus an adult only pool.

Feeding the dolphins at Sea World

Our last night...enjoying some s'mores!

Our day at Aquatica!

Watching a show at Sea World, Azul. Loved trying to catch their reaction.

Making s'mores was a nightly thing for Jake!

The nightly movie. The lawn filled up pretty quickly once dusk came.

Hope you enjoyed the vacation report! Please scroll down if you missed the post below. I'm updating our entire summer.

Dance Recital 2012

And with a couple of weeks left before school starts, I decided to get productive and update my blog for the entire summer. It's a hefty task, but I'll get it done! The first weekend in June was Landry Grace's dance recital. This was her second recital and she loved every minute of it! The theme this year was "The Wizard of Oz" and LG was a groovy chicken from the opening farm scene. Oh it was so cute and we loved watching her perform, along with the rest of the dance company.

Being her sassy self in the above picture and her sweet self in the below picture.
The ending pose of her tap performance. So cute!
Jake had his own bouquet of flowers to hand to Landry Grace. He was so proud!
And with her friend Bella Grace.
We left early the next morning for San Antonio for our summer vacation with GiGi. Pictures and details to follow!

Mother's Day Weekend

I can hardly believe that May is here. This time of year is so busy...I am sure all of you can attest to that! We started out this weekend by heading to Shreveport for Jarrett and Stephanie Procell's wedding reception. The children had a great time, as you can see the elation on Landry Grace's face once she discovered the candy bar. Really, this was the last thing she needed as we have to take her to Shreveport on Tuesday to have another tooth pulled. Frustrating, but it has to be done.

Checking out all the goodies!

Family photo opportunity

So I'm guessing these wedding photo booths are all the rage nowadays? Well, we had our share of photos that night. I didn't get any of the kids in their "get-up", but wished I had!

Truly cannot believe that Matt got dressed up, but he did with his buddies Jason, Jay, bride Stephanie and groom Jarrett

Styling.....

Carrie, Stephanie, and myself

The next day we headed to see my grandmother in Benton. Gigi kept the kids Friday night and Jake scored these at the dollar store. I love his sweet dimples!

Landry Grace with her great-grandmother, Big.

Jake loving on Savannah!

Both babies with Big. Blessed to have such wonderful role models in my life. Happy Mother's Day to Big, Big Mama, and GiGi! We love you oh so much and appreciate all the sacrifices you've made.

This week is full with t-ball games, dentist appointments, field trips, a preschool program, Montessori spring fling, and field day! It's sad to see this year come to an end, but with endings come beginnings and I am so thankful for that. Thank you Lord for our many blessings!

What in the World!

So I haven't blogged in a month. I thought I'd get on here quickly and download some pics and do a little update. But, oh my word, the entire blogger format has changed. Has yours? Took me a while how to figure out the photo sizing...so I've already spent too much time:).

OK, so it's been too long for me to try and play catch up with pics and posts. Over the past month we've visited several places, including Las Vegas for Jarrett and Stephanie's wedding. While we were there, we decided to head to Beverly Hills and Hollywood since I'd never been. We dined at the Beverly Hill's Polo Lounge, which was pretty amazing. Then we did the TMZ tour that day. Totally wish we'd dine the Hollywood homes tour. Next time!

We made it home on a Monday and then took the kids down to New Orleans on Thursday to see the Broadway musical, "The Lion King". Both Matt and I had seen the show in NYC, but vowed to take the kids( when we had some). So last November we bit the bullet and splurged on the tickets. They had a great time! The next  day we made a trip to Cafe Du Monde for some beignets before heading back home.

 A week later we were off to Boston for my marathon. Matt had never been to B-town and we made the most of it. We toured the city for 2 days straight and even made a Red Sox game. It was a lot of fun! As for the race, the conditions were less than ideal. It was almost 80 degrees at the start( when I did Boston 3 years ago, the temps were in the 40's...perfect!), but I was determined to go out strong and do so until I couldn't go anymore. Well, that came at about mile 17. The heat was brutal, and hitting every fire hydrant and water stop was no good. I did walk about 3 times(which I HATE admitting, but it's the truth!) and then at mile 23 I decided enough was enough. No more walking...I had to finish. So I did in a time of 3:39. The crowds were still incredible and YES, I'll do it again. Not next year, but again. A huge THANKS goes to my running partners, Mike and Kennedy. They were there 4 days a week to help me train. No way could I have finished the training plan without them. I appreciate them more than they'll ever know! Me and Mike are pretty sure that our next marathon will be St. Jude's which is Dec. 1. Anyone else doing it?? Registration opens Tuesday and sells out every year.

Since returning home from our whirlwind trips, we have been busy with soccer ending and t-ball beginning, yard work(who knew I'd love working in my yard so much!!), Matt umpiring lots of high school baseball games and working in the hay fields, and gearing up for SUMMER! Landry Grace has her dance recital in early June and just after that we are headed to Sea World in San Antonio with GiGi. I'm going to try and be better about reading your blogs and keeping up with mine!

Here are the pics and they are very much out of order and not like I downloaded them:(. This new format has me all confused!

At mile 13 in Boston....I wasn't feeling this chipper but knew my photo was being taken...

Took this today during their rest time. They have their arguments, but they really are best friends. 

Ahh, love love this pic! Can't believe I am registering my baby for kindergarten next week! Tear.....

He is loving some t-ball!! Very serious about it:). 

This one needs no caption. 

I love this one due to the fact that Baby Sister is in the dirt behind Jake. She could've played t-ball but told me she'd rather be the cheerleader. So that she is. 

Typical night at our house. Landry Grace was on her 25th outfit change of the night. 

At Cafe Du Monde in New Orleans. Ready for some beignets! 

First taxi ride and headed to see the Lion King!

We stopped in Baton Rouge on the way home to meet Jake and Landry Grace's newest cousin, Leyton.  Brent and Laura had her in September and she is the cutest, most adorable baby girl!

And last but not least, this was taken this morning on our way to church. We love some red and blue at our house. Go Dawgs! 

The Latest!

Spring is here and with it comes lots of activities. This past week, Landry Grace had an Easter egg hunt with her class, we went to Dinner and a Movie at Lincoln Parish Park that was hosted by the Ruston Junior Auxiliary(great job, by the way!! Our favorite year yet), and then celebrated Aunt Lou's birthday in Bossier yesterday.

Making a Jake sandwich! One of the kids favorite thing to do.

Our beloved Ms. Cindy. She is moving to Dallas this summer to earn her Montessori teaching certificate and plans to stay there. We will miss her so much!

Big D came to watch LG hunt eggs. The rule was only to find 10 eggs, but my dad kept giving her more eggs. Hard for grandparents to keep boundaries in any capacity!! Love you, Big D.

Some of her classmates. They had such a fun time.

Me and Landry Grace

With Leigh and Camille. Landry Grace and Camille have the exact same birthday!

Ok....so these all seem to be of LG:(. I SO try to be even and fair, so my apology goes to my children! This was at Dinner and a Movie. There were lots of booths with activities.

Jake's preschool sang some songs for the audience. He was thoroughly enjoying himself!

LG with one of my students from school, Camron. They were fast friends on Friday and watched Yogi Bear with us.

Saturday morning we were up and at 'em early. Jake was in full astronaut gear and we took advantage of the gorgeous weather! We also had a soccer game later that morning and their team won again. Jake also scored his fourth goal of the season while Landry Grace is a little over the soccer thing:).

After the game we freshened up and got ready to head to Shreveport/Bossier for the afternoon. They wanted to pose in front of their new yard signs.

Happy Birthday Aunt Lou!!!!

We are SO looking forward to Spring Break this next week! Matt and I have a trip planned to Vegas and LA next weekend and then we are taking the kids to New Orleans the following Thursday for the Broadway production of the "Lion King". We will also be visiting family in Baton Rouge on the way home. It will be nice to have a small break and then celebrate Easter the following Sunday back home with our family.

Mid-March update

We are into the middle of March and I still have not been consistent with my blog posts:(!! Last week, Landry Grace and Daddy had a Beary Special Banquet at church. LG hasn't stopped talking about it and had a great time with her daddy and friends. Me and Jake went to eat crawfish and then yogurt. I think it's very important to have some one on one time and we did just that!
Sunday night we went to see Zac Brown in concert with some friends. That was a lot of fun, regardless of the fact that we didn't get home until after midnight and I was still at school by 7:30:).

And today marks 1 month until Boston. This marathon training has flown by! So thankful that I've had 2 partners who've split the long runs with me, so it hasn't been all that bad. Wish they could run the race with me, too!

Happy Friday!!!

Another Belated Update

So lately, we've been able to visit with Matt's Uncle Frank who was in from Baton Rouge. The kids were full of personality and we enjoyed catching up with him.

Landry Grace also had Grandparent's Day at school in which my parents were present. Mom said she looked over at her and she'd taken her dress off during her lesson. Needless to say she's going to have somewhat of a transition next year at the pre-k center. She certainly has a mind of her own.

And we've also been able to watch Daddy call some baseball games. He umpires local high school baseball games and the kids love to see him on the field.

And the last picture just makes me smile. This was taken with schoolmates last fall. Oh, what will Friday nights be like in 10 years!