Just Because...

19ish Months and A Big Fat Mess

So, I may or may not have skipped a couple of monthly updates lately... mainly because I'm too busy cleaning up things like this:

And this...

Thankfully that isn't blood.  However, it is nail polish - "I'm really not a waitress" by OPI in case you are curious... 

Messes aside, you have changed SO much over the past few months.  Your vocabulary has just exploded - you have more words now than I can possibly begin to count, and you will try to repeat almost anything.  You like to "sing" several songs too - we hear "Baby, baby, baby, oooooh" (Bieber Fever anyone?), and "Low, low, low..." (name that tune!) a lot.  You love pat-a-cake, ring around the rosie (mostly the ALL FALL DOWN! part), and Itsy Bitsy Spider.  You love reading books - we don't go a night without reading "Butterfly's Bath" and "Goodnight Moon".  You are obsessed with water too - we often find you in the toilet, at the sink attempting to wash your hands, or trying to drink out of a water bottle or big girl cup.  

You also love to wear my shoes around the house.  I catch you pulling shoes out of my closet daily!

You have also mastered throwing a fit.  Hello terrible 2s... a few months early.  It's really a good thing that you are so dang cute. :)

Beachin' It

This year we decided to take a week long vacation - somewhere close-by, since the littlest A gets carsick.  We headed to Galveston and rented a house on the beach with some of our closest friends, the Fawcetts!

Once we arrived, it didn't take us long to hit the beach... the kids were so excited (and let's be honest - so were we!), that we let them go fully clothed...

Anna went right for the water and had no problems getting dirty.  Here she is giving you some "cheese"...

Avery had no fear of the water, but she wasn't a huge fan of the "mud"... this is where we normally could find her - IN the water!  And yes, that would be a Hanna Andersson dress that is in the ocean:

Avery & Lily 

The view from our balcony! Minus the blue trash can, it was perfect!

And our house for the week...

So remember how I told you that Anna wasn't afraid to get dirty (again with the "CHEEEEESE")... 

Yep... good times getting these kids (and their clothes!) clean...

Luckily we got everyone cleaned up... just in time to go back for more:

We really thought that the kids would get tired of the beach, but they were so happy! Here is Avery rocking her side-ponytail.  She was very excited about her new hairstyle. :)

How jealous are you that you can't squeeze those chunky little thighs everyday???

I mean really...

Family photo attempt #892:

And sibling attempt #3,000:

Thankfully we kept trying because this is one of my favorites! 

Hi Girls!

The Mr. was determined to build a sand castle (too bad the kids were determined to destroy it - notice Anna sitting IN the hole):

Daddy built Avery a chair which she was pretty excited about:

Once again, Anna in a hole...

Evenings after our beach days were really fun too - the kids loved S'mores night!

Feeding seagulls:

And just hanging around the house...

Thinking the kids would get tired of the beach (which they surprisingly didn't), we headed into town a couple of days.  First stop -  the Moody Gardens Aquarium.  Below is the best group shot we could get, and notice their cutie little personalized beach shirts...

(Delaney, Lily, Anna (Are you seeing a pattern yet??), Avery & Devin:

The Rainforest Cafe was outing #2 - they actually had a water ride through the restaurant!  Avery was not a fan, so she's busy looking to see what the heck is going on around her:

And the gift shop was surprisingly more fun than we expected!

We even enjoyed an adult night out (thanks to our awesome sitters who drove down)!

And I'll leave you with this one... These sassy little divas are going to keep us on our toes!

We were so surprised by how much we enjoyed Galveston - so much that we plan to make this an annual trip!  We're already gearing up for next year...

July 4th Recap

Great holiday weekend at the lake house!  

Anna testing the water...

Lots of swinging (with cousins Abby & Mac):

Sweet cousins!

(Charlotte, Avery & Campbell)

Bounce House!  It was hot, so they didn't bounce long!

Chattin' with Charlotte:

The lake was super low this year, so we couldn't get the boat out.  

Thankfully the neighbors let us borrow the paddle boat!

(Kaitlen, Ava, Zane & Avery)

This year, my mom's oldest brother, Tom turned 70.  We threw a surprise fiesta for him and suckered all the little ones into dressing up...

Abby taught all of the cousins the Macarena to perform for Uncle Tom:

Kate, Luke & Anna practicing their dance moves:

Anna LOVED her Aunt Cherene!!

It got a little loud with all of the maracas!

Happy Birthday America... almost a month late... 

Beau

A couple of weekends ago, we headed to meet Jannie's horse, Beau.  Avery has always loved horses, and Jannie felt like Avery was finally old enough to go for a ride! Avery was super excited to wear her boots, and Jannie brought along a perfect purple helmet to complete her ensemble....

Anna didn't make it too far - this miniature horse stopped her in her tracks! She loved to look and point at the horses, but she had no interest in getting much closer than this...

We finally got her outside, and she thought Beau's neighbor was pretty cool too:

At last they meet... it was love at first sight:

Watching Jannie warm up Beau:

Anna loved hanging with Pops!! She thought it was really funny to make horse noises, and thankfully Pops thought it was cute too (since it happened over & over & over again)...

There they go!

Little sis' new obsession...

Avery rode for a little over an hour, and she loved every minute of it! Beau was pretty sweaty after the ride, so Avery thought he needed a bath:

Anna wanted to "help" too... more with the bucket and rags than with Beau.  And this one has no problem getting dirty (unlike her sister!!):

We had such a fun morning and are so thankful that Jannie, Pops & Beau live so close!  I think we have a cowgirl in training!