Monday, May 30, 2011

Memorial Day

Just returned from one fabulous family weekend on South Padre Island. It was full of sand-filled, sunshiney, g-rated fun! Unlike previous beach trips involving buckets of rum and sleeping in late, this one revolved around watching Toy Story 3 a gazillion times, building sand castles, and falling asleep at 9pm. Oh, and one day Violet and Vivian each peed on me.

Thursday. We decided to leave the night before, get a head start, and find a place to stay for the night before finishing the trip the next morning. All went as planned until we got to the room at (a swanky Motel 6 in Kingsville) at 11:30pm. Violet was not at all impressed, and started screaming saying "I want to go that way" pointing towards the door, and "I want to go to the beach!". And that was just the beginning. Vivian was screaming non-stop all night long - seriously all night. Jeff and I wondered where everything went wrong. And I'm sure the adjacent room was wondering who was being tortured.

Friday. Everything is better in the light of day (with a large cup of coffee). We made it to the beach.

Saturday. Breakfast at Isabel's Cafe and then to the beach all day. It's windy and the waves are crashing and the undertow is strong. Violet is fearless and I'm a nervous wreck. She loves running and jumping in the water, getting thrown around by the waves makes her laugh and ask for more. Vivian is content sitting in the shade watching all the activity. A great day!

Sunday. Saturday redux.

Monday. Wish we didn't have to come home, but the drive home went way better than expected. We only had to stop once and the girls slept pretty much the entire way.

We all came back a little bit more tan and a lot more tired. I'm already planning our next beach trip.

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Weekend Warriors

Already a fun weekend and it's only Saturday night. Olivia took the girls for a sleepover at her house last night, which meant that Jeff and I were able to enjoy a sushi dinner and take in a movie. But the best part was being able to get up in the morning and sit around drinking coffee. I vaguely remember this from the "pre-V" days. As lovely as it was, Jeff and I both missed our girls a lot and couldn't wait to go pick them up today.

This afternoon we co-hosted a crawfish boil at our neighbor's house. It was a ton of fun and all the little neighbor girls played so well together. So glad I took the time to get Violet changed into dry clothes - just in time for her to jump in the pool shoes, socks and all!

All-in-all we ate 35lbs of crawfish, and nearly floated a keg. I'd still be working on the keg if Vivian didn't insist on her bed time (lightweight!). Good times on Emmett Parkway!

Thursday, May 12, 2011

Violet 2.25 years, Vivian 6 months

It continues to be fun and truly awesome watching the girl's development. Lately Violet is talking up a storm and her recall is amazing - things we've done or told her - she doesn't forget a thing. She can drink from a "grown-up glass" and likes to try to dress herself. She's even starting to use the potty again. One of her favorite things to do is make up songs. Ask her to sing for you sometime, she will do it. She's a good listener, a great big sister, and she's very even-tempered.

Vivian will go for her 6 month well-check on Tuesday. I'm looking forward to her weigh-in since she has an insatiable appetite. We needed to start her on "solids" a month before Violet ever did, and she has never once NOT finished a bottle. Seriously...where does she put it all?!? She's completely sitting up and prefers to look at the world this way. She's also very alert, watching and grabbing at anything in her reach. She's still very bald, but as we know - bald is beautiful!

Together, they are a team. Violet loves to play with Vivian - bringing her toys and hugging her. Vivian lights up when Violet come around and never takes her eyes off her.

Jagger's face has turned even more gray.