4th of July weekend at the beach

We decided to take a last minute trip to the beach for 4th of July weekend. We arrived midday Saturday and the beach was beautiful - no seaweed, clear sand, warm water, plenty of sun. 

Steve mastered the logistics and we had quite the set-up. We tried to keep Dottie in the center of the blanket as far from the sand as possible. She really enjoyed being on the beach and was happy to play with her toys on the blanket.

Beautiful girl ready for some fun 

She's not crawling yet but getting SOOOO close 

Ella and Steve spent lots of time in the water boogie boarding 

We had a really nice dinner at a restaurant on the seawall, listened to music, and just enjoyed being out on a beautiful night. As usual, Dottie was the first one eating and the last one finished :).

Sweet patriotic girls 

We had a great view for the fireworks that night, and we were able to see them from several different spots at once

 

Pool on Sunday morning

 

Back at the beach

Steve and Ella went jet skiing

 

Ella was really looking forward to a sand crab hunt on Sunday night. She and I headed down to the beach that night. We collected a bunch of shells and saw several really pretty jellyfish like this - fortunately we had flash lights so we could avoid stepping on any of them.

 

Ella on the "hunt"

 

We looked and looked for crabs but didn't see any. After our walk and shell collecting, we headed back up the beach toward the hotel. I was a step or two in front of Ella and all of a sudden she said "I see one!" I stopped and looked around but couldn't see him anywhere. She said "I think you stepped on him!" Wouldn't you know, she was right and the poor guy was under my shoe. Sheesh!

 

We woke up early this morning to get home in time for work and camp, and had an easy drive back.

It was such a wonderful weekend - relaxing and fun family time, really like a little mini vacation. Perfect way to spend July 4th!

Schlitterbahn

I took a vacation day last Friday, and Ella and I went to Schlitterbahn down in Galveston for the day. We had so, so, so much fun! 

I left my phone in a locker all day so that it wouldn't get wet so I didn't get any pictures, but I did buy this one of us at the bottom of one of the rides to keep as a souvenir 

We spent the morning on the water slides, and then hours on the lazy river (which is actually not at all lazy and we did the whitewater section, the waves, the torrent river) in the afternoon. 

Dippin' dots at the end of the day 

It was such a fun and special day together, definitely one that I will carry as a really happy memory and I hope that we can make it an annual end-of-school year tradition. 

Last Day of School

Ella's last day of first grade was Wednesday, June 3. She had such a wonderful first grade year - she had the best teachers, lots of friends in her class, learned so much, went from a beginner reader to a fluent reader, and really enjoyed the year - as a parent I couldn't have wanted for any more for her out of the year. All that said, she was very very excited for her summer break and last day of school!

She wrote the cutest cards to her bus driver and teachers - 

Looking adorable on the last morning of school 

Very proud recipient of Perfect Attendance Award for the last 9 weeks of school. She set a goal and achieved it - she really, really wanted this award :) 

We celebrated the last day of school with Ella's pick - a Sonic picnic and ice cream! 

Summer break is officially here!

More summer pics (pre-Dottie!)

Catching up on the last of our summer pictures from before Dottie's arrival!


Fun playdate with Natalie








































After lots and lots of trying, Ella learned to blow a bubble gum bubble :)

Fun jumping off Addison's diving board 

We were shopping at BuyBuyBaby one afternoon and Ella had to stop and change her baby doll at one of the changing table stations, it was sooo sweet

Holding Alyssa's dog Ginger

Looking extra cute one morning before camp

One cool customer - and yes, is a selfie that she took!

Fun at Sana's house

 Preschool buddies!

Our completed shrinky dink fairyland, with Ella dressed to match

Sweet girl sleeping

Pool Party

We had a pool party the first Saturday after school ended, to celebrate the end of the school year and the official beginning of summer. So much fun with good friends, and the perfect summer kick-off!

Beach Trip

We took a quick trip to the beach the last weekend in September. We've had a ton of rain lately and this was another rainy weekend, but we knew it was probably our last chance for the season so we decided to go for it and headed down to Galveston after Ella's soccer game that Saturday. 

Excited and ready to hit the beach

Fun in the waves

In this one you can even see rain showers in the background

At the Rainforest Cafe for dinner

The best part of the trip was our visit to Pleasure Pier. It's usually so hot when we're at the beach so we've never been before, but this was the perfect weather for it and we went on all the rides and had a blast. 

Ella wasn't so sure about this one after it was over!

On the ferris wheel

View from the top

After the Rock and Roll (Flying Bobs)

And our favorite ride -- it was called the Texas Flyer and was a huge set of double swings that swung us out so high, way above the ocean. 

And here it is at the top, the lights are on the bottoms of the swings - you can see how much higher it was than the Ferris Wheel! We found out later it's the tallest swing ride in Texas. I couldn't believe that Ella wasn't scared of it - she loved it and so we all went back on it again.

We were out really late and went to bed as soon as got back to the hotel. But first Ella had to draw a picture of her favorite ride...so sweet!