Fishin in the Bay

Grandma, Grandpa, Mark and the boys went out fishing one morning in the Galveston Bay. They had a great trip. Everyone caught fish and the boys enjoyed hanging out with their grandparents and Mark.

Nathan had the biggest Shark catch of the day on the ship. It was about 24" and way cool! He also caught a total of 5 fish. Mark did a lot of helping boys with the fishing and caught a few himself. Braden and one of his catches.

Grandpa and Grandma enjoying the boat ride.

The biggest catches of the day on the ship (not caught by us but maybe in a future trip!) Everyone enjoyed the morning on the boat. The boys thought it was the best time of the trip. The first stop fishing was by the sunken ship and everyone was catching. The were baiting with cut up squid and it was pretty gross and messy but the fish were really great to catch. The captain moved the boat after awhile and the waves were strong causing a few of our fishermen to move up top and try to breath the fresh air and keep from getting too sick. Even with the rocking boat the reports of the morning was that it was definitely a great morning.

NASA

Our second day on our vacation was spent at NASA. There was a display for Indiana Jones and Star Wars there so we got to see the exhibits from the movies. We wandered through the displays and played in the play area for the kids. Everyone had fun.

Tanner Braden and I also played a game shooting Nerf balls. My aim isn't very good and I got a couple in for the team but helped the other team get one too! Braden go about 10 in. He is a pretty good shot. Tanner said he got a lot in too. My skill was just luck if the ball went in the target.

The rest of our trip was spent at the beach in Galveston... more pictures to come!

Children's Museum

We had a wonderful vacation a couple weeks ago and I thought I should finally start posting a little about our trip. The kids and I went with Grandma, Grandpa, Hollie, Mark and her kids. Daniel was off hiking in New Mexico with the scouts. He was missing us but probably not too much because he loves to hike! We probably missed him more. :)

On our first day of the trip we went to the Children's museum in Houston. We had a blast and spent several hours there. The kids tried everything and all found a few favorite activities.

Aiden carefully balancing his ring to travel on the moving turn table.


Sophia and Abigail at the sand table. Outside there was a nature center and a water play area.

Tanner and Elizabeth making boxes with a diecut.

Nathan was completely surrounded in his tower! All the kids help Tanner and Braden build this and trap Nathan. He had to be toppled over to break out.
Workerman Corbin
Ethan hard at work

Nathan climbing the walls
Abigail got a job in the KidCity working as a Cashier. She looked up each item and carefully rang them up. The apron was a must to be a cashier.
Tanner and Corbin... my favorite picture. They are handsome!

Perfect pic

How do you pick just one?

These two are so cute and don't mind their picture taken at all. I decided it was time to get some new photos on the wall and tried to take a photo that would be nice to hang on the wall. We took several shots and now I have to pick one of each of them. They are so adorable. Now I just have to decide which one... maybe I will have an entire wall of pictures of just these two. :)

Just a few weeks ago... 4th of July

For the 4th we went to fireworks that Hollie's neighborhood puts on (actually it was on the 3rd but it was to celebrate the 4th). We had a great evening hanging out waiting for fireworks. Our four oldest children didn't get home until the next day so it was a fun evening with Corbin and Abigail. The kids went in the bounce house and tried to hula hoop. Daniel taught them to swing it on their arms instead and they loved that. Especially when the hula hoop went flying off their arm. They laughed and ran off to chase it. When they got glow in the dark necklaces they could twirl those on their arms really well. We walked down by the pond and watched the ducks and hung out talking while it got dark. It was a wonderful evening.

Aiden needed Daniel's help to get the hula hoop going and loved his new abilities
Sophia and Abigial... pretty girls!

Our two youngest are not very little anymore. All the bigger kids had been gone a week. Corbin and Abigial had gotten to go to San Antonio and Austin with me for a few days and then got to spend time with their parents alone a couple days. They had a fun week even if they missed all the big kids around.
My friend Kelly came to visit and teach swim lessons for a few weeks. It was awesome having her here spending time with her. I thought I should post a picture of Hollie and I with mom and dad. We love living close to them and spending time together. We are a blessed family to live by each other and see each other weekly (daily!)

Happy Birthday Braden

Happy Birthday Braden! He is officially a TEENAGER!
I went and found a few pictures to show off what a cute baby and little boy you were!


To celebrate today we decided to go to the skating rink with a few friends. Our skating experience began with falls to the floor but by the end even the little kids had mastered getting around the rink. Corbin and Abby used their skating trainers to figure out how to get the skates to move forward.
Nathan and Matthew watching the speed races.
Jon, Andy, Tanner, Eric, and Braden





Corbin and Abigail got it right at the end and were making their way around the rink on their own.
It was a great time and on our way home we got shakes. Hope you had a great birthday Braden. We love you!!

Catching up- on the last month!

It is time I actually blogged again.

First I want to tell Nathan- Congratulations!!!! He graduated from Elementary School. We are proud of him and he did really well in school this year. He will be in band next year playing the trumpet and we are sure he will be busy with baseball too. He has some great friends to hang out with and will enjoy the next year.

Good luck in Middle School Nathan!