Close Call...

In our effort to beat the heat, last Saturday we headed in town to check out the Children’s Museum for some indoor fun. 

Anna did not want to cooperate for a sibling picture as evidenced below…

So, Avery posed solo:

Headed inside – it got a little windy… Anna thought it was hilarious, and so did we!

Avery went right for the climbing exhibit:

And Anna went straight for the dancing one:

Avery got a little nervous inside…

So, she joined Anna for something more her speed:

The museum has an entire floor that was a city just for kids… a bank, grocery store, restaurant, city hall, news center, vet clinic… you name it, they had it!

Anna hit the forensics lab and was all business in the police car.  Sharing is not her strong suit at the moment, so taking turns with other kids who wanted to drive was a bit of a challenge:

I finally convinced her that she could push around a shopping cart if we headed to the grocery store.  She headed straight for the bakery, and I wish I had a picture of the giant loaves of bread that she insisted on cramming into her tiny basket.

Sis headed straight for the ice cream:

And Anna filled up at least three baskets with everything in reach:

We were totally enthralled by the fully functioning computer system at check out (Daddy gets totally distracted when computers are involved).  I pulled out my camera to snap a picture, looked down and realized that Anna was gone.  It seriously happened that fast.  If you look closely, you can see the bottom of her dress and her pink crocs strolling down the street, headed right to the ELEVATOR.  Yep, by the time we found her, she was stepping onto the elevator with total strangers.  Please don’t call CPS.

 

Let's move on...

The vet clinic was good times:

And since I almost lost one child while taking a picture, I took approximately one more photo the entire time we were there and only because everyone was seated and accounted for.  I snapped a pic of the static exhibit, which Avery thought was pretty cool. 

I’m sure most people thought that Anna had spent the day there (actually one lady did stop to ask me), but no, her hair naturally stands up that way.

 

Good times. 

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...