Packing & Moving

Since returning from our beach vacation we have been busy painting, packing and organizing the move to our new home. Movers will be here on Friday so we'll be absent for a little while. Hoping to have photos and write up soon!    

Walking, Words & Weight

Emory decided he was ready to start walking today. :)  He's been taking a few steps at a time, however today included "stand-and-rebalance" breaks.

 

Some words he's been saying & repeating:

ball

nana (banana)

byebye

Mama

cah! (car)

bubble

table

Cha (Chad)

ish.  I'm not sure what "ish" is, however he says it alot.

Oh and we weighed him this week.   29.5 pounds.

Fun Couple of Days

Remember the lyrics to a song from our childhood that went, "The ants come marching one by one, hoorah! hoorah!"?  Well that is exactly what was playing in our apartment when we returned from our beach vacation. The tune however was NOT the happy version we all remember; especially when our feet were fiercely attacked by FIRE ants. 
Thank goodness we left a clean house, I can't imagine if we hadn't.   So instead of relaxing upon our return, we were moving the four of us (plus cat) into our bedroom, as every other room in our apartment was inhabited. Shortly after the suckers were eradicated.  The next morning their carcasses were vacuumed and carpets were steam cleaned.  Sounds like a fun couple of days, doesn't it?   OH and the kicker?  A nice little throat infection or possibly West Nile Virus,  complete with a fever of 101.7. Nice.

Here are a few non-toxic remedies I found on the web.  We're definitely going to keep these ingredients in stock for any future occurances.
1. White Vinegar: place in a spray bottle and squirt the area where you see the ants, let it dry. Reapply as needed.
2. Sprinkle plain old cinnamon where you see the ants coming into the house.
3. Black Pepper: can also be sprinkled at the point of entry to keep the ants from marching on in.
4. Mix a 50/50 blend of apple cider vinegar and water and spray as needed.
5. Mix equal parts of Windex and Ivory Soap, then spray the problem area.
6. Keeping Bay Leaves out in the areas that are affected by the ants.
7. Mixing a bit of borax with sugar then spreading out on the counter where the ants will come for a taste.
8. Drawing a line with white chalk where the ants are entering is supposed to keep the ants from crossing over.
9. Mint: not a favorite of ants and they will stay away.
10. Diatomaceous Earth: sprinkled where the ants will be walking.

Beach Trip - Our Last Day in Galveston

Today was our last day in Galveston. 

I'm going to miss waking up and stepping out on this balcony each morning.  

Before heading out, we made a final trip across the boardwalk to feed the seagulls and take a few photos.

Goodbye beach. 

Goodbye ocean. 

Goodbye wonderful condo. 

We'll be back.

Beach Trip {Day 5 - Final (full) Day}

Our Final (full) day on the beach. :-( 

Grammy takes a photo of the 4 of us walking to the beach from our condo balcony.  (above and below are same photo, just zoomed in).  Early on we discovered strollers do not operate on sand.  However we figured out pulling rather than pushing/carrying stroller is a much easier, hence the reason Emory's knees are in the air.

This week we also discovered that our boys LOVE the ocean.  No boundaries make for two very happy boys.

Ev & Grammy made up a new song, Old McGrammy Had An Ocean (sung in the same tune as Old McDonald).  It goes like this....

Old McGrammy had an ocean, E I E I O and on that ocean she had a crab E I E I O

with a pinch pinch here and a pinch pinch there. here a pinch, there a pinch everywhere a pinch pinch.

Old McGrammy had an ocean E I E I O and on that ocean she had a _________ (fill in with below)...

Seagull.  E I E I O / mine! mine! here & a mine! mine! there...

Boat. E I E I O / Toot Toot here & a Toot Toot there...

Wave. E I E I O / Crash Crash here and a Crash Crash there....

The song is a hit!  Both Everett & Emory love it!

Ev & I catchin' some waves. 

After our 3 hour power nap it was time to get dressed and head to dinner.  Rainforest Cafe, here we come!

Since the wait to be seated was approximately 45 minutes we decided to go on the Rainforest River Adventure Ride.

Happy Boys

Volcano dessert. 

After dinner and dessert, we headed outside to see the volcano erupt. 

An awesome end to our awesome week! Every detail was perfect. Well except maybe the time Deona had to take Grammy to Urgent Care: 

Earlier in the week (Thursday) Emory managed to slice Grammy's left eye during their afternoon nap.  Fluke accident, yet this left Grammy drugged up and bedridden on Friday. :o(   I'm happy to report Grammy was feeling better and back on vacation Saturday, despite having to wear an eyepatch.  Note: the eye patch in the picture is NOT the eyepatch she had to wear in public.  Praise be.  :-)  However Doc did say her eyepatch (made out of papertowels and an elastic headband) was the best one he'd seen.  ;-)

As I was saying...

An absolute perfect wonderful vacation. Thank you Grammy for the wonderful memories. We had a BLAST!  

Beach Trip {Day 4}

I could get use to this life.    Beach life is FUN!

Everett learned how to make drip castles 

After lunch and naps we headed back to the beach...

Even Thomas the Tank Engine joined in on the fun. 

today we found a live crab

and chased seagulls

Later Grammy babysat so D & I could have a night out sans boys. THANKS GRAMMY!

We dined at this wonderful restaurant at Pier 21

We were out for 2 hours and returned to 2 sleeping babies and 1 sleeping Grammy.

This week has been great for all of us.  I have forgotten how wonderful and refreshing vacationing at the beach is for me.  I'm thrilled we've come back and am so happy to have shared this week with our boys.  One more full day and then we're back home on Tuesday. :-(

Beach Trip {Day 3}

Day 3 included a dolphin watch tour.  Man was it ever hot!  Luckily the sunscreen and carry-on umbrella kept the boys from getting sunburned. 

DOLPHINS!

Later, a trip to Walmart  to pick up groceries for dinner and of course a trip through the toy department.

Since getting here on Thursday, we've watched 5 weddings take place from our balcony. 

 Emory and I watching the ceremony.  Sweet, precious boy.   LOVE THAT FACE!

Waiting for 9:15 p.m. to roll around....

 FIREWORKS!! From our condo balcony we were able to watch the firework display in celebration of Hotel Galvez' 100th year birthday, one of the oldest resorts on the island.

Afterwards, it was bedtime for the boys; then Drumstics (icecream cones) for Deona and Monica on the patio.  :-) Sitting outside at night, while listening to the ocean is one of my most favorite things to do.   Another perfect day at the beach.