Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!

Our view from the pool

Last weekend our small group gals (minus three - we missed you Kathy, Kristen and Jess), headed off to Amanda's parents lakehouse for a weekend of R&R. And what a wonderful time it was! Amanda and I headed out together Friday morning and had a great road trip full of Starbucks and chitter and chatter. We got to her parents beautiful house and had a fresh lunch complete with a salad from her mom's garden (totally makes me want to plant a garden). After that it was across the street to their neighbors pool. They are really good friends with their neighbors and they are so kind to let her parents (and guests) use their pool. It's an infinity pool that overlooks the lake, so you really feel as if you are just soaking in the lake, minus the vegetation and critters. It was so nice to just soak in the the pool and then lay out and catch some rays while reading magazines. Complete relaxation!

The house with the 3 levels with the white front was our "pool house." You can probably see all our towels and bags still strewn all over the place.

Line 'em up boys!

Kim and Leona arrived just in time for a fabulous fajita dinner and then we spent the rest of the evening sitting on the balcony watching the sunset and drinking mango "adult" drinks courtesy of the bartender (Mr. Mitchell).
Come bed time, Kim and Leona were planning on each having their own room and I was going to share a room with Amanda because I could sleep through a tornado and she being pregnant has to get up a lot at night. As we were all settled in, we heard a scream and Leona found a friend in the guest bathroom (a teeny tiny scorpion) who had crawled up the drain. This is not uncommon in the "country" and why you should always leave the shower curtain outside of the tub, so if any friends do crawl in, they have a hard time getting out. Anyways, Leona doused him in Tilex and Amanda smashed his brains out and I flushed him down the toilet. Problem solved. However, Leona wasn't ready to move on and really wanted Kim to sleep with her because of her encounter. ;) I think we all stayed up late that night just talking - it was so slumber party-ish!
Saturday morning I slept in (as in didn't even blink my eyes) until 10:30! I couldn't believe it! It was heaven though to truly have that long block of sleep and to wake up naturally. We suited up again and headed for more pool time and to watch all the boats coming into Hells Gate.
After lunch we went with Amanda's mom to hike up to the Hell's Gate point. It was great being up there. I was on high alert snake patrol, because if you didn't know this about me, I absolutely don't do snakes. We didn't see any, but we did see a great view and had fun watching all the boats anchor up together to party on the lake.

"Kris Kross will make you jump, jump!"

Saturday night we boarded the boat and drove over to a little dive on the lake for dinner. It was quite the show and our poor poor waitress just didn't have a clue. It was good food (maybe not what we ordered), but good and made for good laughs. After dinner we drove home in the dark for a twilight cruise. It was so awesome being on the lake with it so calm and an almost full moon reflecting in the water. It was so serene (my glass of wine helped with that too) and I was so thankful for Gods gift of friendship and rest. He is good and I so appreciate Amanda's parents so lovingly opening their beautiful home to us so we could have this weekend together.

Amanda and Kim

Me and Leona

The ladies of the lake

11 months...the homestretch!

How is it possible that in one month baby brother is going to be a year old? It's crazy, but at the same time I've really seen a transition over this last month of moving into toddler hood. Probably because he is crawling and climbing all over the place, but he's also losing some baby pudge (not too much), which makes him look a little older.
Luke was not a climber, or a crawler, so it's been a new world for us this past month. It's so fun though to look at him go to town all over the house and pop up in funny (or not so funny) places.
In lieu of his love to climb, here are some places we have found he really likes to be:
1. The dishwasher - loves it, as seen above, but this makes it very hard for mom to load and unload the dishes. Basically I let him play there after I empty the clean cycle.
2. Stair master! When I was away at our small group ladies retreat, Ross stepped into the laundry room for less than a minute and when he came into the living room Reid was halfway up the staircase. Thus the old wooden gate comes out and I look forward to the day when he can safely go up and down the stairs because it's just annoying sometimes to hassle with it. Plus, Reid really really like climbing those stairs.
3. The couch - Anytime anyone is sitting on the couch, he wants to be with them. He likes to sit for a moment to observe the room and then he's all over them, plowing into the pillows and standing against the back patting like crazy trying to climb over the back.
4. Under the table - Although this isn't technically climbing, he loves to hang out under tables, especially the kitchen table with it's eccentricities. Even when I call him to come get in his highchair, which is in a clear line of shot, he will go over and under the table and then come to his highchair. Such an explorer!
5. Outside- If the backdoor or front door or garage door are open he makes a beeline to get out! I'm going to really have to watch his desire to escape. He cries when we shut the doors, but when I let him crawl outside in the back yard he LOVES it! He always manages to find some stick to put in his mouth (sigh...), and his little knees are so red from crawling on the patio, but he has a great time. Thank goodness for a little cooler weather so we can endure playing outside again.
6. The refrigerator - who knew this cold closet could be so fun, but again, if it's open, he's in there pulling anything he can off the bottom shelf of the door. Are you getting the idea that he's a little bit busy, because he is!
7. The pantry - to go along with the kitchen theme, he loves to pull out water bottles and this bit plastic bowl I use for holding potatoes. Of course he promptly removes the potatoes and takes off with the bowl. Maybe he's going to have an interest in cooking? I'll take it!

Reid I love how much fun you have with your new found talent, and how you screech and squeal with delight when you're happy! The countdown is on big boy!

Ahhhh....Vacation!

We did remember the Alamo.

Ross and I have been counting down to our little getaway. We planned a little San Antonio trip this year...without the boys! Woo Hoo! They had a Nana/Papa/Gigi camp here at our house while we were gone and of course got spoiled rotten and had a blast!

Ross and I rolled out on Saturday morning and it was so relaxing just to swing through Starbucks and hit the open road without "chitter and chatter and what's the matter?" going on inside a confined space. Ross and I just took the time to catch up on life, something that can get hard to do at times. We talked about everything and nothing and it was wondeful just to have that time to visit. We stopped in Austin and had a refreshing lunch at EZ's and then made our way down to San Antonio.
Saturday night we went to the DCI marching band competition. For anyone who had a great band experience in high school it's so fun to go. It's comprised of college students who try out for different marching bands across the country and they are soo good! Plus I just love the feel of going to a football stadium in the summer night air - it takes me back.

We stayed at a great Spanish style boutique hotel - The Marriot Plaza San Antonio. It had a great pool area with a great pool bar. It was very tropical and there were even peacocks walking around the premises. The mosquitoes were a little thick, but have no fear, the bartender tossed us a can of Off and we were set.

The rest of the trip we simply relaxed and our motto was "wherever the wind takes us." Granted a little more wind would have been nice, it was hot, hot, hot...and humid, but that's what pools are for.



I hit the Woodhouse Day Spa one morning, which was heavenly and we ate some great food at several places. We did a lot of window shopping, but never went on a huge binge (which is good), and then saw Inception (which if you haven't seen, you really should...I thought it was one of the best movies...a top 10 for me).
It was just so nice for us to get away and have time to ourselves. We spent a lot of time relaxing and thinking "what did we do before we had kids?" Of course, by the time we got home, I was so anxious to see my little guys. Luke ran to me and said "Hi Ashley!" (thanks to Uncle Scott, who thinks that's hilarious), and Reid was all smiles and kicks.
Thanks so much to Nana, Papa and Gigi for making our trip possible - We love you!

Adios!