First day of school and Beach trip

Madison started back to preschool at the end of August.  Here are a few pics just before we left for her first day of pre-K.

A couple of weekends ago we made a quick weekend trip to Galveston and met our friends, the Ruples, there.

Daddy and his girls.

Running to the water.

Playing in the sand with Bryson, Jason, and Courtney.

For some reason, Annabel spends the whole time covering herself in sand.

On Saturday, Annabel was exhausted, so Jared went driving around the island with Jason and I was going to get the girls to take naps in our room.  Well I put Annabel in her pack and play at the foot of the bed.  Then I laid down on the bed.  The next thing I knew she was patting me.  Somehow she managed to climb out of the play pen.  I scooted it away from the bed, but she was still shimmying up the corner and hanging over the edge about to fall out on her head on the tile.  Needless to say, I had no luck getting her to take a nap.  When Jared got back, I took Madison swimming, and Jared sat in the room with Annabel.  She ran around for a while and eventually just crawled up on the couch and fell asleep.

I am really hoping she doesn't start crawling out of her crib at home soon.  She is not ready for a big girl bed.

We don't even go to the beach without a blanket.

Maddie playing on the stairs at the condos.

Madison took this picture.  A fairly typical sight for us ... me chasing Annabel.  She is fast.

Sunday, before we headed home, we all went to the aquarium.

Madison loves taking pics, so I thought I would include a few she took of the fish.

In the cage to protect them from the sharks.

Madison is 4!

Madison turned 4 this week. She is so much fun and such a blessing to our family. She is slowly becoming a little less shy and a little more independent. She is a great big sister, loves to play and pretend, and has made some great friends. In a couple of weeks, she will be starting her pre-k program at preschool. I really can't believe we already have a 4 year old.

On Saturday, we celebrated her birthday. First, that morning, we went to her friend Whitney's party. They are in the same class at church and were in the same preschool class for half of the year last year. Their birthdays are 3 days apart. They had a great time celebrating together.

In the afternoon, we had Madison's party at Powersports, a local gymnastics place that also hosts birthday parties. This was the first time we had done a party outside of our home. It was a success. Maddie loved it, and I think all of the kids had fun. We invited a few kids from church and a few from her preschool class last year. My parents, Marci and Ben, and Jared's mom and Christopher were all able to come as well.

The kids spent the most time jumping into and rolling around in this pit of foam blocks.

Excited about her party.

The big trampoline was a hit with Reagan, Scarlett, and Olivia.

Bryson wasn't so sure (he had just woken up).

Even Annabel had a great time in the foam pit.

Madison has been very into the Little Mermaid and Disney princesses in general lately, so we had to have a Little Mermaid cake.

Getting ready to blow out candles.

Opening gifts

Back at home, loving some time with the grandparents.

Madison had gotten some money and a gift card for her birthday, so on Tuesday, her actual birthday, we went out to eat and headed to ToysRus to pick out a gift. She decided on this Tinkerbell bike. She has been riding it about as much as we can stand in this heat.

Jared managed to get this together. It actually has more decoration that we had on it at this time. This was as much as we could finish before her bedtime. It is amazing what all Tinkerbell needs on a bike: flowers, plastic leaves, a basket, a removable bag/purse, a thing with lights and music ... She loves it.

We also went to the doctor for Maddie's 4 year well check and Annabel's 15 month check

Madison

Height: 40.25 inches

Weight: 35.5 pounds

Annabel

Height: 31.25 inches

Weight: 21.75 pounds

Two healthy, growing girls. Praise God! Love them so much.

Nana, Grandpa Cris, and Christopher's visit

Jared's mom, and brother came to see us a couple of weeks ago, and we had a great time. The first weekend they were here, Jared's stepdad Cris got to come visit. Unfortunately, his mom got rear ended on the way here, but that meant they got to stay an extra week while the car was repaired. We had a great time.

The girls especially loved having Nana and Christopher around for so long. They each get a lot of individual attention that way. We played a lot of board games, play station games, cooked, and went to the Woodlands. I didn't have my camera out as much as I should have, but here are a few pictures from their visit.

Jared is 30!

Jared turned 30 on the 15th, so we went to Rockport for a long weekend to celebrate.

We went down the Thursday before his birthday and rented a house that backed up to a canal. Our friend Ryan flew in and my sister drove over from Austin. On Friday morning we all headed to Corpus. Jared and Ryan played golf while Marci and the girls and I went to the Aquarium. We did see fish and part of the dolphin show, but the girls were most interested in the Splash pad.

Maddie waiting for a large bucket of water to be dumped on her head.

Sweet sister fun.

Baby A playing in one of the water spouts.

After playing golf, Jared and Ryan ate some seafood at Water Street and also picked up some grouper and shrimp which they brought back to the house and cooked for dinner. It was so nice just sitting out on the deck, eating, and just enjoying the water.

On Friday evening, Chris and Barbara joined us. Then about 2:00 in the morning, my parents made it in.

Saturday morning, Jared and Chris took Ryan back to the airport in Corpus, but first they ate more seafood at Pier 99.

While they did this, Barbara, my parents, my sister, the girls and I went to the beach in Rockport. It actually opens into the bay, so the waves were not too big. Perfect for younger kids.

Madison so excited about the beach.

Marci and Annabel playing in the sand.

Madison playing with mom and dad. She kept pretending to either be a whale or to feed the whales.

Annabel was sure she needed sand all over herself, including her face.

Jared and Chris on the boat. The dock was in the back yard of the house.

Saturday night, we ate Cajun food at the Boiling Pot.

Then we came back for birthday cake ... well, birthday pie. Jared had requested key lime pie instead of cake.

Happy Birthday Jared!

Ring around the Rosies

I love it when the girls play together. Madison was teaching Annabel how to do Ring around the Rosies.