The More, The Merrier

Ryan and Cousin Shannon

We love hanging with family and had an extra special visitor waiting at G'ma's when we returned from Houston! Ryan's cousin Shannon from MN came to visit! We were so excited to meet her. She is super sweet and we had so much fun visiting and getting to know her during the family dinner on Friday. She has nieces and nephews so Shannon had no trouble humoring us with stories about our kiddos. On Saturday, we went to a yummy breakfast with the whole family and then to the Space Center of Houston. Caden and Charlotte had so much fun! We toured the Astronaut Museum which detailed many different suits and astronauts. We took a train to view the Mission Control Center. Also, we saw a rocket from the Saturn series called Saturn V. Funding fell through and it is now residing at the Space Center. It was very cool. As you would imagine, security is very tight and there are cameras everywhere. We could have spent all day there because there is so much to see and do. But it was time to say good-bye, so we could put the kiddos to bed early, since they basically missed out on nap-time. Sadly, our camera died before I could get a picture with the whole family. Next week, Shannon begins seminary in New York. Between that and planning her upcoming marriage to her fiance, she will surely be busy. But we plan to stay in touch and look forward to another visit with her again, soon!

Saturn V

Back to Houston

After a week of fun in Colorado, we were sad to return to Houston. But happy because we were excited to see the Daddy-bear! We also wanted to return to visit with Ryan's cousin, Shannon. She was visiting from Minnesota during the weekend. Charli Kate slept for most of the flight. Cade loved watching cartoons but felt like he had to hold the ear set in...

Skydiving Video

Please see post "I Went Skydiving, ..."

In this video Cade is experiencing the indoor skydiving adventure. His form was perfect and he did an amazing job! You will notice that he is so calm and focused during the 120 MPH wind activity!

If you notice, his hair is so long that it got sucked through the helmet vents. We went to the barber with Granddaddy the very next day :)

I Went Skydiving, I Went Rocky Mountain Climbing...

During our Colorado visit, we drove to Echo Lake in the mountains. Caden had fun jumping off of rocks which he referred to as mountains! Charli Loved the fresh air!

Cade playing his "P-nano." He loved reading the music! Looks like we will be making an investment in the future...

We went indoor skydiving, too! Originally, it was going to be Granddaddy, Lane, Sandra and myself. But when Cade saw the operation, he requested to do it too! He could not be talked out of it, so... Granddaddy gave up his place in the class. We watched a 5 minutes How-To video and we were ready!

Hanging with Uncky Lane

Cade LOVES his cool Uncle Lane and Nappa (Samantha). They came over for dinner and a little bit of Nerf shooting.

Uncky Lane, "Are you ready?"
Caden, "Are YOU ready?"
Both, "FIRE!"

Denver's Aquarium has much more to see than our Houston location!

Charli Kate loved the bouncer outside of the Aquarium!

72 Hours Later...

Yes, almost two and-a-half days later, we were in Colorado. That is how long it took Mimi and Granddaddy and Aunt Sasa to drive me and the kiddos to their Mimi and Granddaddy's home in Colorado, anyway. On the way, we stopped to see Great-Granddaddy Paul and Great Grandma Phillips.

And One More Makes 16

A couple of weekends ago, Sandra graduated from TAMU! She is of a third generation of Aggies and I count 16 relatives who have earned a degree from our school. We joined her in College Station to celebrate...

Sandra will be temporarily staying with us until her "accelerated" nursing program begins in January.

Pre-school Excitement

This fall Caden is beginning preschool in a private program at The United Methodist Church of The Woodlands. He will be attending only one day per week from 9 AM until noon. Today, we met his teacher, Ms. Julie, at our home visit. She is an Aggie, so it is a perfect fit! She has two boys and experience teaching in public and private school. I am so excited for him! I think he is going to thrive with the structured learning and social interaction in his classroom. There are two teachers and ten students. There are centers and art and fitness activities and worship time. He will have lunch with his classmates. We can visit anytime. Ryan and I feel really good about where he will be and are just thrilled about this new chapter.

First ER Visit

The weekend began a relaxing one with a trip to Auntie Jen's pool. It felt so good to lay out on the infinity edge. But we had a weekend jam-packed full of birthday parties and church stuffs and little did I know how much rest we were going to need for the upcoming events (see blog post Curious George, Fairies and Pirates).

On the way home from church Charlotte's eye got scratched. I didn't see what happened but she was writhing and screaming in pain when I climbed into the backseat. I was a complete mess and my first reaction while holding my screaming baby whom couldn't open her right eye at this point was, of course, she is blind! (Now, that I look back on it, that was a little embarrassing.) Anyway, we rushed to the ER, where the doctors put dye drops in her eye and scanned her with a blue light. The cut was minor. She received a 5 day antibiotic and a scheduled follow-up exam. I am most thankful during these moments to be a Christian because if we didn't have GOD to look to during scary moments, I would imagine we would feel truly lost. As is turns out, even severe scratches to the eye heal almost completely on their own but we still feel that we were VERY fortunate that afternoon. The adrenaline rush had worn off and we were exhausted by the time we got home from the ER. On a side note, Ryan was calm the entire time. He is my rock! Thanks for the support, Honey :)

Here is Charli Kate checking out the latest catalogs.

Going through bills with Mommy...

Curious George, Fairies and Pirates

Caden's sweet friend Cole turned two and celebrated with a Curious George themed cook-out! (Loved the brisket!) We had fun playing in the pool but Charli Kate wore down quickly and we had to head home. Somehow, we didn't take any pictures but my friend Sarah made these yummy yellow cupcakes (I will have to get a pic from her). They were super cute!

The next day, we went a party with a Tinkerbell Theme. Cade's Friend Avery turned two and we joined the big bash at Incredible Pizza. The party was so cute but Caden was VERY tired and we had already had an extremely taxing day (story to follow). So we wished out friends a safe trip (they are moving to Scotland next week) and headed home. We are really going to miss the Wood's!

We loved wearing our fairy tiara's and pirate hats :)

Vrooooooooom!

Aquarium for Lunch

A couple of weekends ago we met our sweet friends, The Strong's, at the Aquarium for some Saturday fun! Baby Hunter and Baby Charli Kate loved viewing the bright ocean colors. Cade loved the scary sharks and the ferocious (and may I say random?) white tiger. Can't wait to hang out again, soon!!

Aunt Sasa was our stow away guest. Here she and Caden are looking at the sting rays through the concave window under the tank.