Bolivar Ferry

Friday, August 27, we needed to get out of the house. Since it was a beautiful day, not a cloud in the sky, so the humidity was really low, I decided that we should go on the Bolivar Ferry. This is the ferry that runs from the northeastern tip of Galveston to the Bolivar Peninsula across the ship channel.

We drove down to the Island, got in the short line for the ferry, found out it was free (!), and parked the truck on the boat. Here are the kids after we got out of the truck and made our way to one of the landings.

One of the ferry boats. They can hold a bunch of cars (we even saw a truck pulling a boat - which shouldn't surprise me, since we've had our waverunner on the ferries). When we got to the Bolivar side, we turned around and got right back on the same ferry. But this time, we stood at the front and watched the boat splash through the waves.

But the best part was seeing DOLPHINS! That's right folks, there are dolphins in Texas! Logan said, "No Mommy, those not dolphins, those whales." We saw them both going and coming. Pretty amazing. I'd never seen them before, but Shane has. What a treat!

We got home so far after naps that Logan put himself to bed, and Kayleigh woke up when I took her in, and went straight back to sleep - such fun!

Elefun

We just bought the kids a new game called "Elefun". It's along the lines of "Hungry Hungry Hippos". A plastic elephant puts little butterflies up in the air and you catch them with your net. The person with the most butterflies wins.

Kayleigh thought the butterflies were so hilarious! She had such fun watching and picking butterflies off the floor.

Logan had fun trying to catch butterflies. I don't know if he actually caught one with the net, but he had a blast running after them.

Great Dane puppies

Shane's lead at work, Robert Moreno (but everyone calls him Marino), has a Great Dane that just had puppies a few weeks ago. I think she had about 15 pups, but only 13 survived. We took the kids over to visit, thinking Logan would have a good time. Kayleigh was the one who dove into the puppies. She loved them!

Logan was a little unsure of the puppies for a while and wanted to play with the big dogs (they have 5 grown dogs) and the goats. The puppies kept chewing on Logan's shoes and shoelaces, and also enjoyed Daddy's fingers.

Kids and puppies check each other out.

Logan ended up helping Miss Tina and Mr Robert take the puppies into the house right before we left. He thought that was pretty neat and started playing with them then. Funny - right before we were going to leave! It was fun to see all the puppies - thanks Robert and Tina!

How fast they grow!

This first picture is from after Santa brought Logan the F150 for Christmas. How small they look (and how red their noses)!

Now here they are, 8 months later in the same truck. How big they have gotten! And now, Logan is good enough at driving that we have "unlocked" second gear for him. In the evenings, we jog/walk behind them as he drives to the gas station at the corner of 517 and 646 (in second gear the truck goes 5mph). He parks the truck and two of us (usually Logan and a parent) go in and get a drink. He's really good at stopping at the intersections and looking for cars.

And of course, he has to have his sister along for the drive. Wonder if that'll be true when they're in high school!

Sprinklers!

On Sunday (Aug 22), Shane needed to test the sprinkler system. The kids thought this was the best thing ever! Logan stripped down and ran through all the sprinklers. Kayleigh just left her clothes on.

Talk about some fast feet! Logan was sprinting through the sprinklers!

Figuring out the doggie door

It took her a while, but Kayleigh finally mastered the doggie door! I was so happy that she hadn't figured it out, but all good things must come to an end. So now, it's in and out, in and out. Poor Bug and Zoe can't get away from her now!

Isn't it nice to have a girl who romps and plays in her Sunday clothes? Thank goodness for Tide and washing machines!

Waverunning

Well, after Logan took Bapa and Mama out on the waverunner on Wednesday, he wanted to take Daddy on Saturday. I think Bapa enjoyed the waverunner just as much as Logan did - because he was pretty wide open on the bayou. Both Logan and Bapa like to go "faster, faster!", although Mama the killjoy had to tell an almost 60 year old to slow down going under a bridge! How sad am I?!

So, Shane took both kids out for a little while. It was Kayleigh's first time on the waverunner, but she seemed to enjoy it. And Logan loved it. "We go faster, faster, Mama!"

Downward Dog

Logan is really trying to exercise with us. He even tried yoga for about 5 minutes the other day. Here he and Daddy do Downward Dog. Then yoga became jumping between mats. Whatever. At least he wasn't crawling under us!

Hope's classroom

Friday, August 20, we went to see Hope's classroom at Morgan Elementary in Galveston. It was both kids' first time at a school, and they thought it was great. They especially liked that Hope had chocolates on her desk and robotic bugs that would walk around. Hope's theme this year is "SpongeBob Squarepants!" - her kids are the "Settle Sponges".

The kids got to relax with Hope in one of the beach chairs. Now we have to talk Phil into taking us to work with her - maybe we'll see Mission Control. But if she has no chocolate, it won't be as wonderful!

The Zoo with Gram and Bapa

Gram and Bapa came to Texas for their Tour d' Tejas, and stopped by Houston first. Kayleigh was so excited she was running in circles with her mouth wide open!

Logan enjoyed getting some sugar from his "Gam".

Gram and Bapa came in on Monday afternoon, and on Tuesday morning, we went to the zoo (sans Daddy - he was sleeping, keeping a somewhat midnight schedule). Here's the clan ready to take on the animals after a quick stop at the bathroom.

Our first stop was, of course, the sea lions. We love sea lions! And they have such cute little ear-flaps! We watched them swim around and climb up the ramp (to seemingly beg) and then slide back down. Kayleigh enjoyed being hoisted up to see the "Bugs" in the water.

Logan was very happy to stand by himself and peer over the barrier. Just like swim lessons!

Then we went to see Logan's favorite, the giraffes (also Aunt Amy's favorite!). On the way there, we got to see the cheetah being fed. The keeper would take ground horse meat, clump it in a ball, and make him work for it (sit, down, go get it). Pretty funny that you can train a cat just like a dog! It was super neat to see the big cat up close. They are really lean animals - like a greyhound in spotted clothes (with a rounder head).

Then it was on to see the giraffes and elephants! The elephants were getting a bath, so that was a treat to watch. And so is Baylor, the newest addition to the elephant herd. (Named after the Baylor College of Medicine) He's super cute and playful, so we stayed to watch Baylor, his mama, and the matriarch get baths.

Here is Willie, the Andean bear chillin' in his faux river. He was just sort of chillaxin when we walked by. Cute!

The lioness on her way to a more shady spot. I thought this picture turned out pretty nicely, so... (as Logan would say - he ends his sentences with so... a lot of the time)

And Logan taking a picture of a lion. Well, it's a lion water fountain, but it's still enough to take a picture of, and he was super excited to see it! He got to put his head in its mouth and get a drink. Cool!

How freaky is this, an albino alligator? Would not like to meet this big boy in the bayou - okay, I would not like to meet any alligator in the bayou, but especially not this ghostly guy.

We had a great time at the zoo, but everybody got a little hot and tired at the end, so we decided to cool off by going to Empire Cafe. So super yum! Then that night, Mama and Daddy got to go out to dinner and a movie, because Gram and Bapa were with the kiddos. Yay! A date! It was nice to go out to eat and just talk, not have to fuss over kids. And "The Other Guys" was a cute movie.

Thanks for a great time Gram and Bapa! Logan is still saying "Maybe Gam and Bapa coming today." (because they were just there when he woke up from his nap) Or my favorite, in the car on Wednesday, "Bapa maybe missing us. Right, Mommy? We maybe go Bapa's house." Maybe we will, Buddy.

Talking

Kayleigh is the only almost 16 month old I know that talks in complete sentences. Okay, I don't know that many 16 month olds, really. But she consistently says, "Dank doo!" (Thank you!), " Igonnayump!" (I'm gonna jump - which she does, either from the coffee table to the couch or into your arms at the pool), "Iantdown" (I want down!), "I stuuck!" (that one is pretty plain - I'm stuck!) and there's the occasional, "Inabath!" (I want a bath). And to make my mom happy, she has said "Wassat?" several times (What's that? A Karen-ism)

It's pretty funny - and I thought second children were supposed to be late talkers. Oh wait - have you met her Daddy?

Reading

Logan loves William, Shane's Little Brother. When we get in the car sometimes, he asks, "Are us going to William's house?" So he was delighted when William came over on Monday to go out on the boat with us and then hang out for a while. William read Logan this Christmas book (it has scratch and sniff so they both had their nose in the book - literally). Then before Logan went to bed, William read him another book! Logan was in heaven!

My baby doll

Kayleigh is becoming a quintessential girl. She now carries her baby dolls with her around the house, or pushes them in the stroller. She also enjoys chewing on the plastic feet and hands.

Logan is fast becoming the annoying older brother - taking her baby dolls, pulling its bow over its eyes, and pointing it at people saying "BOOM! BOOM!" Baby dolls make good guns.

Helper girl

Kayleigh likes to help me unload the dishwasher (sometimes when it's dirty too - so the dishwasher stays locked now, dirty or clean). She really likes to do the utensils. Here, she gets two forks.

She has ceased handing the utensils to me, and puts them in the drawer herself. Not necessarily in the correct slot, but she's doing it herself (and don't you forget it, Mama).

Sharing

When Shane came home from work the other day, I offered to make him some breakfast. Unfortunately, we didn't have the makings for his usual Egg McKaren, so he had cheesy scrambled eggs. And of course, Logan, who wasn't hungry for his breakfast ate half of the first batch. Then Kayleigh, who had eaten her blueberries and Cheerios got in on the action.
Then the kids shared a Baby Einstein. Kayleigh will actually sit down and watch these because they have babies and balls in them, which she points out with glee. Logan, who has been taking lessons from me apparently, tells her what things are. "Kayleigh, a monkey! Monkey, Kayleigh. That's right, that's a ball! Good job, Kayleigh!" It's funny to hear Logan play the parent.

P90X Boy!

There is an advantage to having kids run under your feet while you workout (besides the added breaks)- they realize how important exercise is. In fact, our little 2 and a half year old has decided that he needs to workout, too. He does pull ups (with some help from Daddy), curls - sorta, but with 3lb weights, and warms up by hitting his hands with high knees.

Good job, Logan! An active lifestyle is one worth keeping your whole life!

Hot Springs Village - on the way home

On the way home from Indiana, we decided to stop in Hot Springs Village - free room and board and a nice break from the 18 hour drive home. Of course, it was a pretty tough almost 15 hours on the road from Peru - stops to visit friends in Indy, getting lost finding I-70 (detours), and kids that needed to stop and move. We finally got to HSV around 1am on Thursday morning after leaving Peru at like 9am (CST). LONG day!

Logan and Kayleigh had a great time playing with Gram and Bapa, especially when they got to go to Lake Balboa's beach. Although it was close to 100F, the lake is so cool that I got goosebumps getting out of the lake. Logan had such a great time, he had to be dragged out of the water. He really liked melting Bapa's sand turtles with his watering can.

Kayleigh and Gram have a discussion about lifevests. We started the kids off in the vests, but the water was pretty shallow and relatively clear, so they got to swim without them. They loved that, both of them practiced their kicking and Logan practiced his strokes a little. He also got to piggyback a ride on Daddy's back to the deep end, because that's where Gram swam to.

Lake Sophia is near Gram and Bapa's house (within walking distance). This isn't a swimming lake (Bapa has seen snakes in it), but it is a great rock throwing lake. The kids thought this was the best thing! Logan throws rocks with both hands, and Kayleigh throws herself (she followed a rock in the day we left - and was ready to keep swimming after Bapa fished her out). Funny, because Logan did the same thing at about this age.

The kids and Bapa admire Logan's throw.

Kayleigh acquiesced to Gram taking her hand and walking her away from the lake. But a few minutes later, she was running back to the lake. Gram had to carry her most of the way back to the house (even when we were back on the road, she was running for the lake - she's a little hard to distract).

Okay, so the heat index was over 100F, and here's Logan, hoofin' it! He runs everywhere! The boy's head was completely soaked with sweat!

Snack time - Magnolia Bakery Gingerbreadmen!! YUM! And they taste even better when eaten in toy box.

Kayleigh was a big fan of the rolly frog this time. For the last few visits, that's been Logan's toy of choice. It is a multipurpose toy, a gun (boom, boom), a billy club (take that big brother), or a chew toy.

Kayleigh has gotten really good at shape sorters. She turns the shapes by herself to put them in the holes. Here she gets help finding the right slot from Bapa. Don't worry K-bob, someday you'll be getting him to help you with Chemistry, I know I did!

One morning, Logan and Bapa got up and made us all blueberry pancakes. Super yum! What good cooks!

Logan helped Gram clean up. He likes to wash the same dish over and over again. But at least he's getting in the habit of helping!

Thanks Gram and Bapa for letting us crash for a couple of nights. It was a nice stop over!

Indiana - random pictures

These are just some fun pictures from Indiana.

Here is Logan peaking downstairs. Hello!!

Shane said that his parents are going to cease inviting us to Indiana. The times we've been there this year, the car has broken down, the water heater went out, and the air conditioner wouldn't cool down their bedroom (where we were staying). So here are Shane and Pops changing out the water heater. Oh, and the upstairs toilet has hot water piped to it - so there was no using that potty for a while.

Sweet Grandma and baby girl. She passed out while Grandma was visiting with everyone.

On Tuesday night, while we went to the movies, Grandma and Grandpops took the kids to the train yard. Logan talked about it in the car the next day. He had a good time!

Grandma has a nice pool for the kids to use. Of course, in Indiana, the water coming out the pipes is frigid, unlike Houston where the first water out the pipes will burn the kids! Logan had fun, even if it was cold.

On Tuesday morning, Pops needed to drop off the church van, so the kids went with him (and so did Grandma). But before they left, Daddy asked Logan if he wanted to get donuts. "No, Daddy," he turns around. "Grandpops, get donuts?" So donuts with Grandpops is way more fun!

Kayleigh loved playing in the water table. One of the reasons why I did laundry twice in the 4 days we were there!

We had a great time in Indiana. It was fun to get to hang out with everyone. I agree with Grandpops, it was a good time getting together.