A weekend away

A FABULOUSLY Fun in the sun weekend away!

One of the many creative artists

At the last minute we decided to head to the beach for a long weekend away. This was super exciting for many reasons:
1. Our first weekend adventure in Texas
2. Visiting the beach
3. Mini vacation
4. Lots of family time
When we first moved here last May, we had heard wonderful things
about Port Aransas and their annual Sand Castle Contest held late Spring.
This was the 15th year of the contest.

I had written it down on the calendar that it was sometime in the late Spring.
I finally got around to checking out the when it was
and it was in 10 days.
We decided if we could get reservations that were affordable
we would go. It all worked out and we are so glad we made it happen!

Waiting patiently for the ferry.
We waited 2 hours for a 10 minute ride.

Was it worth the wait??
The look on these faces says it was.
Especially since we saw dolphins swim by.

WELCOME!

Amazing what can be done with sand!

BEACH TIME
We arrived mid afternoon and the kids could not wait to go to the beach.
We quickly checked in, got changed and hit the beach.
The Gulf of Mexico beaches are quite different that CA beaches.
The water is warm, you can walk out really far into the water without it being too deep,
but having to go through lots and lots of seaweed first. sorry no pics:(
(being 9 months pregnant I could only take it so far)

Annabel trying out a Big Girl bed.
This face tells it all!
However, sitting with her for 45 minutes to fall asleep is not so fun.

William was equally excited to be sleeping in a bunk bed and sleeping across from his sister.
It was sweet to hear them chat when we said "good night" to each other.

However, we learned that Annabel is NOT ready for a Big Girl bed yet.
It is far to temping to get out.

Family
Fetching water for our own sand castle

Building our own sand castles

We need wet sand. William loved walking out into the water to fill his bucket.
Annabel loved having a bucket filled with water to dump but would not fetch it herself.
A Pirate Ship of course!

Happy beach girl

Running fast

One of the many sand castles.
The castles were AMAZING!
It was crazy to see what the different sculptors did with sand.

The sculptors started with a mound of sand, barrels of water and tools.

The "artists" had all kinds of ordinary tools, paint brushes, chop sticks,

straws, water bottles, blueprints, and such to help create their piece.

As the hours went went by you saw the sand being transformed
into incredible pieces of art.
It was really neat to see each day the progression of the castles.
Friday- the start of the contest we saw mounds of sand
Saturday- frames were up and starting to see what it was going to be

Sunday- final touches

Unfortunately, we could not stay to see which ones won.
We had to hit the road.

William's favorite- a Pirate sand castle

A break from the beach- the down town was your typical tourist attractions.
This is a store front. The kids loved the sharks mouth,

Getting swallowed by the shark,

And sliding out the stomach of the shark.

Arr

Ahoy Mattie

The kids really liked this octopus "armature" sand castle

The creativity was incredible!

Daddy and his girl!

In front of William's favorite sand castle- the pirate ship of course

Final hours at the beach before heading home!
Fun times in the ocean
Splashing!
The kids playing so well together. :)

Too bad you can't read the sign
"Flying lessons 2 am"

We needed a pit stop and Ryan claims this is the BEST BBQ in Texas.
So we stopped for a "snack" aka we all had meals.
Oh My... this was so good!
VANS BBQ- on the way to Corpis Christy- a MUST stop if you are ever passing through.
This was a total "whole in the wall" but get past that and
have the best BBQ food. They serve your food on wax paper.

YUMMY!!!!
We had a FABULOUS time and the kids keep asking to go back.

I think this maybe "an annual" trip.

AWANA Grand Prix

William was so proud of his car. Since this is his first year in AWANA- (a Cubbie), his group was told they could only decorate it- no carving. William was THRILLED to paint his car. He completed it weeks ago and he loved to race it around the house. Last night was the night to put it to the test.

Waiting patiently to race car.
David, William and Ms. Laura

William and his Cubbie pals-
Praying before snack
The kids got a little squirrelly so we took them outside to have a
little snack and get their wiggles out.

William was SO proud of his car AND ribbon!

I had so much fun painting my car ALL by myself and

"I got 2nd place"
His ribbon is proudly on the fridge with all of his other artwork.

Fiesta Time

Battle of the Flowers - aka Fiesta
History of Battle of the Flowers:

By 1890, San Antonio, Texas, was a thriving trade center with population of 38,000. In 1891 a group of citizens decided to honor the heroes of the Alamo and Battle of San Jacinto with a Battle of Flowers.

The first parade had horse-drawn carriages, bicycles decorated with fresh flowers and floats carrying children dressed as flowers. The Belknap Rifles represented the military. The participants pelted each other with blossoms.

The Battle of Flowers Parade is the only one in the country to be planned and directed completely by women. Today it’s the largest parade in Fiesta. It’s second in size nationally only to the Tournament of Roses Parade.

William's school had a "Fiesta Party".
It was so FUN! Lots of games, food, music, etc.

William at the music table

"Confetti eggs"
Eggs filled with confetti- the kids LOVED this. They would find a classmate,
teacher, parent, anyone they knew and would "crack" the egg
over their head leaving them with confetti filled hair.

William, Brenden and Annabel

Classmates- Reid, Ryan and William

Annabel had a blast cracking the eggs.

William found Mrs. Swift (his teacher) to bless her with confetti hair

Face Painting- William asked for a rainbow
I was shocked that both kids wanted to do have their face painted.
They usually shy away from this.

Annabel- purple flower of course!
It was a blast! But boy were we tired and hot after.
We ALL took great naps.

March Fun

William had Spring Break the week of March 14, so I decided we

needed to take advantage of his time off and make one last trip
to California before little brother arrives. We were away for 2 weeks
and had a packed schedule and STILL did not see everyone
and do everything I had hoped for.
(Sorry for those of you we missed.)

The kids seated and enjoying their Starbucks water.
(a treat in their minds- shh)

Somehow I was unaware that we had 3 stops with a change of planes!
It was a long day but the kids did great with no naps!
We all slept great that night!

Playdate- @ Hap McGee park

Park playdate with Miss Janet, Enzo and Gianna

Girl Time

How cute is this place?!
I was able to have a few hours to myself for a coffee,
pedicure and catching up with my dear friend Amanda.
Amanda and I were children FREE!
Thanks to our parents for playing the kids so we could catch up.

Pink and blue toes
Amanda just had a baby girl 9 weeks prior

Enjoying the BEAUTIFUL colorful hills of the Bay

With all the rain the Bay Area hills were GORGEOUS!
Daffodils, yellow mustard and bright green grasses covered the hills.
BEAUTIFUL!!!!
Made me miss home all the more.

I had to grab a picture of the kids on this hill.
Good thing I did because the rest of the week it rained.

Bowling with the Cousins

Annabel LOVED bowling!

Kira, Beka, William, Timothy, and Caelyn
watching the ball move
ever.
so.
slowly!

GO Kira!

Kira, Beka, Timothy, William and Annabel
(missing Caelyn)
It was IMPOSSIBLE to get a group shot with everyone
looking at the camera. Here is the best one and
we only have 5 out of the 6!

After naps: storytime with Auntie Amber

Thrilling Thursday
We headed up to Truckee so we could join our playgroup friends for a
St. Patty's celebration.
I was a little worried we would not make it due to weather,
but we had safe travels and made it!
It was so much fun to see how mature all the kids are now!

Lunchtime

They even threw Dani and I a baby shower.

The kids enjoying the beautiful day on St. Paddy's Day

Traditional couch picture
There are currently NO babies- just tots and preschoolers.
We miss our Thrilling Thursday's!!!

Mom's Night Out!
It was wonderful to enjoy dinner with dear friends,
great conversations and YUMMY food!

Snowy Day

We stayed inside most of the day due to the crazy snowfall.
Annabel was found parked in the hall most of the morning creating!
It is fun to draw with water and watch it disappear!

William enjoyed playing "fire station" and rescue

Look at all the snow-
at this point of the morning we had 2 feet of snow and it was still falling
There is SO much snow. Out some of the windows all you see is snow!
It was beautiful!

The snow finally let up so we bundled up and went to enjoy it!

Not too sure of being left in the snow!

Snow Angels

A quick pause for a picture

If Papa and Grammy wanted a picture
they had to join in the snowfall fight

Trip to see Nonie

Our Final Night

Uncle D, Auntie Jackie and girls came over for one last dinner.
These cousins are WILD when they are together.
It is so fun (and exhausting) watching them play and be so silly!

Back at home
We left the rain, snow and cold weather behind,
only to be warmly greeted by 80 degree weather.
It was a shock to our systems!

Cooling off

Annabel is learning to "pump" her own legs
so I do not have to stand there and push her for hours!

We had a BLAST visiting family and friends.
Thanks to all of those who played with us!