Home Again, Home Again

Well, we are all back in Karnes City safely now. Everyone had a great week. Brenna wanted to go home with Nathan and I, but I can't really say she missed us that much. She had a lot of fun with Mimi and Poppi. When we drove into our driveway she started to cry and say "Mimi". I don't know where she thought we were going. We were in the car for 3.5 hours. I just explained that Mimi had to stay at her house with Poppi and it was time for us to come home.

Aparantly Brenna did all the things a child would do at their grandparents house. She got what she wanted, and had a great time everyday with constant play. She and Mimi went to the pool everyday and she played with Poppi a lot. I am sure she read many books too. They did go to story time at the library. Brenna loved the dancing and play there. Mom said she had to pick out books for Brenna because she just wanted to play.

Mimi and Brenna also did some baking together. They made sugar cookies and chocolate cake.

They also enjoyed the fruits of their labor with Poppi.

"Oops, you spilled a little Mimi."


Brenna also loved watching Sesame Street on Mimi's bed while she got ready in the morning. I am wondering if she will want to sit on our bed in the morning now. Or, maybe she will understand that she only did that at Mimi's house. We will see soon.


Westin and Annie came with us to Houston to pick Brenna up. Annie travels well, but Westin is not a great travel partner. Brenna loved having him sit next to her, but he meowed a lot on the way home. When we brought him downstairs in his cage Brenna had to see what was making all that "loud noise" in the cage.


So today, how do you go back to normal life? Daddy and Brenna went to Walmart, and Mommy and Brenna went to the pool. That sounds pretty normal to me. I hope we won't all be bored next week.

South Padre Island

What a great mini-vacation Nathan and I had. I am so thankful we were able to go away for a few days together. We had a great time. I will try and give a short recap. The drive there actually wasn't too bad. It only took us 3.5 hours to get there to our surprise. We both thought it would take between 4 to 4.5 hours. The hotel was a normal hotel. Nothing special about it except the tempra-pedic beds which were wonderful. I would like one of those at home.

We were planning on going back across to the mainland for dinner at Chili's, but there was a huge problem. Or first indication was that there was a stationary line before we even got onto the bridge across. I luckily looked at the bridge to see what was going on and noticed that there was no one moving all the way across the 2-4 mile bridge. We quickly decided we needed to eat on the island. We found a little resturant on the bay side that served sea food. Nathan ate his typical shrimp and I had a not so typical fish taco. It took our food about an hour to get to us, but we were "entertained" by the 75 year old man singing karokie (mostly country). I think Nathan has heard all the country music he can tolerate for the next year or so. It was humourous to hear a man of that age singing and enertaining us, but he was very nice and entusiastic. My dinner turned out well worth the hour wait. Nathan said his was good but not memorable. Our waiter kept apologising for the wait saying they just got slammed. The poor wait staff was running all over trying to serve everyone. I don't think they even realized why there were so many people there. (Remember, no one could get off the island). We actually watched the line on the bridge start to move after about 1.5 hours. It was still backed up after we left.

On Saturday, Nathan and I decided to take lessons to learn how to build sand castles. It was a brilliant idea. We had so much fun learning. Our instructor was great. He was originally from Australia and then England, and had a great accent. He was very energetic, animated, and full of stories. Nathan and I learned a lot and had a great time with him.

Here is Nathan and the castle he built.


Here is the castle I built.


This is the castle the instructor built while teaching us. He said we should stand in front so that everyone would think it was our creation and be impressed, but you know I can't lie.


After our lesson we finally got across the bridge for lunch at Chili's. When we got back we went to play on the beach. Unfortunetly neither of us were smart enough to re apply our sun block and in two hours we did get burnt. I don't understand how I can always remember Brenna's sunblock but seem to forget mine. Anyways, it is mostly on our backs and mine wasn't too bad. Nathan's was a little worse. We are two intellegent adults. We should know better by now.

We had loads of fun playing in the water. The tide was very strong and was very difficult for me to move anywhere, but I did catch a few waves on our new "boogie" board. It has Nemo on it in honor of Brenna. Hopefully she will like it too. After I was thoroughly exhausted, I went in to use my newly learned skill and build a castle. Nathan followed shortly and we built two more castles. (That is where the majority of our back burning occured.)

Anyways, we had a great day together. We had fun learning and eating. It really was just a renewing time for our relationship. We haven't spent time alone and together in a long time. We should try to do it more often.

Dinner

Well, we had a nice day. We didn't do much. In fact, we watched a few movies, went to Walmart, and Dinner. So we aren't very exciting without our two year old.

Dinner was great. Nathan and I were both pleasantly surprised by the dinner. We now know where to take everyone who visits us and wants to go out to eat. It is not fine dining, but it is great food. Nathan loved his burger and I had a normal salad with some very good chicken, but my favorite part of the meal was the chocolate cake. Wow, that was some blog worthy cake (as Nathan called it).

So all in all, it was a good day. We are leaving for Padre after I go to Sunday School this morning. I hope everyone else has a great week.

Childless

What a strange feeling to be without Brenna. She went with Mom yesterday to spend part of the week with Mimi and Poppi. Mom said she had some trouble going to sleep last night, but hopefully she slept through the night. This is the first time she has spent a night away from Mommy and Daddy. That has to be a little hard for her too.

I find it humorous that Nathan and I don't know what to do with ourselves today. Tomorrow we are leaving for Padre which will be great fun, but today we are left wonder what to do in this little town. So far we have come up with Walmart for cat food and Jerry B's for dinner. Sounds like an exciting day. I'm sure I will sew some and Nathan will play some video games, but it sure is quiet in this house today.

I love my little girl. I hope she has a great time with Mimi and Poppi. I know that Nathan and I will have a great weekend alone. That alone time is long overdue. But when all is said and done, I will be glad to be a whole family again. I guess that says that we are doing something right as a family. We can tolerate and enjoy the time apart, but also love coming back together as a whole.

Bareback Riding

Brenna has given the term bareback riding a whole new meaning. Caution, the following picture contains nudity. She wanted to ride after her bath. Nathan thought it was too funny to pass up. He called me in to capture the moment. She was having a great time.



Brenna and I went to San Antonio again yesterday. This time we went to the zoo with Mom and Tanner. The kids had a great time. Brenna kept saying "more animals", and as we were leaving Tanner continued to say, "Kayla go wrong way." I made one mistake and the boy wouldn't let me forget it. I tried to tell him I was going to right way now. He just laughed and repeated himself. He must have forgotten that Mimi went the wrong way driving home. She got all confused and took a little longer to get home. Apparently my mistake at the zoo was more funny.

The San Antonio zoo has a great little area for kids to get wet and play at a beach area. Both Tanner and Brenna loved the sand and water. We had toys and water, what more could a toddler want. They played well together and next to each other.



We ate lunch at the zoo and then drove to Aaron and Liz's house for a nap. I love that Brenna likes to play with her cousin. I hope she always enjoys time with her cousin. I have really enjoyed spending time with Aaron and Elizabeth for the past two weeks. Nathan will be able to come with us next time. That should be even more fun. We are planning to go to Sea World again with Nathan this time. That will be in a few weeks.

For now we are all preparing for our vacations. Nathan and I will be leaving for South Padre on Sunday. Mom is picking Brenna up here tomorrow. I hope Brenna has a fun time with Mimi and Poppi this weekend and the beginning of next week. This will be her first time away from Mommy and Daddy all night and for several nights. I hope she sleeps.

First day of Summer Break

Today was the first day of summer break for Nathan. It was a good day for everyone. I have the feeling that it is going to be hard for Brenna and I to adjust when Nathan goes back to work again at the end of July. Brenna loved having both of us at home today. I was able to go run today for the first time in awhile. I loved it. Then we went to the pool for the remainder of the morning. Nathan and I rotated who watched Brenna most closely. It was a great time for all of us. Brenna loves the pool and she is getting better in the water every time we go. I hope she is comfortable going under by the time the summer ends. I would love for her to be able to swim under water, but I don't know if she will or not. We will just see how the summer goes.

I am tired as the day ends. I guess I did more than normal. I hope Brenna sleeps well tonight. I think I will. I thought she would get a good nap, but that darn fire siren woke her up. It makes me so sad. She wakes up scared to death. She just doesn't want to go back to sleep then. They go off all the time here now. I'm sure it would help some if it would rain a little. I do feel like Nathan. We bring a vortex of dryness wherever we go. How sad. I do miss the rain. I think I would even enjoy a few afternoon showers here. Now that is a good nap time.

Have you ever just needed...

...a two and a half hour nap?

I lasted longer than Brenna. I guess, my body was too tired to keep up that pace. I was remembering Sunday's in the old days BB (before Brenna). This also prompted me to remember Sunday afternoons when I was growing up. I used to hate it when Mom and Dad would tell us the "Bed Monster" was calling to them. I don't know why that title didn't scare me to death, but it didn't. I just didn't like for them to be gone so long. Aaron and I had to entertain ourselves.

Now I love those Sunday afternoon naps. I wonder if Brenna will feel the same in a few years when the "Bed Monster" calls me on another Sunday afternoon.