Happy Halloween!

Halloween costumes were a little rough this year. Regan isn't into the "little girl's" things or sizes anymore, but the women's and junior's sizes are WAY to provocative!! So, we had to really shop around to find one that she liked, and that I agreed to. The one she picked was WAY too short, but paired with black leggings, I figured it would pass. She really liked it, and was excited to be a "Zombie Bride". Riley decided about 2 days before Halloween that he wanted a horse head mask. Of course I couldn't find one anywhere and had to order it on Amazon, overnight (thank God for Amazon Prime!)

So, here's the little darlings on Halloween. Riley had a football game, so he got a late start. He only ended up going to a few houses, I think he just wanted to feel like a little kid again for one night. Regan went around with her friends while I stayed home and tried to keep Hunter from going crazy with all the doorbell rings. And I added a picture of Elise on her "first" Halloween! She had fun!

Destination America!

Regan's 5th grade had a special musical program, it was called Destination America. She was in a group that did a little song and dance, and it was cute. She has officially declared herself free of "stage fright." (I refused to believe that she ever had it). But, it was cute, Mimi and Papa came and then we went to dinner at Jason's Deli afterward. I'm trying to enjoy every little detail because it's really hitting me that this is my baby's last year in elementary school. Soon she will be in high school like Riley!

She's in the center, in a black v-neck with orange glasses on her head:

Safari Champ

Today my new Mom 2 Mom small group from church had a meet up at Safari Champ. It used to be called Jungle Java and I took the kids there all the time when they were younger. But now, everyone else in my small group has little kids but since it was a school holiday we all met up there so the kids could play. A couple of the kids are in Regan's 2 year old class that she works in on Sunday's, so she enjoyed playing with them. One little boy wanted her to carry him around the whole time, it was cute (and she did).

Regan had spent the night last night with Piper and Brooklyn, so I took them with us to play too. They all had fun, and we played for a few hours before coming home to a Minecraft marathon.

Regan still has a little bit of swelling, but she's starting to get a black eye. She's afraid her eyes are crooked now. 

(Riley had spent the night with his friend Yash on Sunday night too, so David and I had a church thing to do, and after that we went to see Gravity in 3D at this really cool theater that has motion seats. He hated the movie, but I loved it, but more than that, I loved the seats! They move you around so you felt like you were floating in space when they were floating in the movie, or when there was debris flying around, the seats vibrated, and made you feel like you were getting hit too. It was so cool.)

County Line

With Austin City Limits Festival in town, there's not much to do in Austin on the weekend that isn't super crowded and full of hipsters. So, we were at a loss as to what to do to get out of the house that wouldn't hurt Regan's head, and wouldn't get us stuck in a crazy crowd.

So we took Riley to Camp Mabry for his military approved haircut. Then we decided to have some BBQ and since we were semi close, and the kids had never been, we took them to County Line. We hadn't been since Riley was 1 month old and Walt and Linda were in town! (It looks the same by the way).  The kids loved it, I think Riley ate his weight in ribs and then we went out back and fed the turtles.  It's so pretty there, and the homemade ice cream was pretty good, too!

The Dangers of Trampolines

I had a Groupon for a Trampoline Park, so we took the kids for some Friday night, pre-long weekend fun. Well, that backfired. We weren't there one hour before Riley decided to brush up on his gymnastics spinning back flip skills and Regan got a shin to the forehead. She came over crying with her hand on her head, and David says, "It can't be that bad, there's no blood." Then she removed her hand and David said, "Oh my God!" there was a knot the size of a grapefruit on her forehead, that thing was huge! She was crying and I know it hurt, so I got her an ice pack and we went to sit in the car for a bit, then decided to have David bring us home, the lights and sounds were bothering her. I was afraid of a concussion but she wasn't nauseous or dizzy so we just laid around for a while and I gave her ibuprofen. She was very concerned about the swelling not going down by Tuesday for school, but I told her I would get her a Klingon costume for Halloween and she would be fine! (She doesn't know what that is, or she probably would have hit me). This was her before the bump, looking cute in her kitty ears (that she tells people are really wolf ears).

National Night Out

Our HOA hosted a Pool Party/Fish Fry for National Night Out. I took Piper and Brooklyn and the kids and headed up there. The water was cold, but you know my kids, they are fish and did NOT care! There was a lifeflight helicopter there for the kids to look in, a fire truck came by, they had fried catfish and french fries and chips and cookies. Hey, I didn't have to cook, and got to lounge by the pool, it was a great night for me!

Sewing Practice

I bought a sewing machine off Craigslist a few months ago, mainly to sew patches on things. Well, I learned through trial and error how to thread the needle and bobbin, and so, to practice, I sewed all the leftover patches on Regan's Junior Girl Scout vest. She's not a Junior anymore, and all I had at the time was olive green thread for Riley's Sea Cadet uniform. So, I practiced and got all the patches on, then went and bought clear thread. Then I sewed all her patches on her NEW Cadette vest. I can't believe she's a Cadette! She found her old Daisy and Brownie vests and tried them on, and it was too funny, they are so tiny now!

Anyway, here's the front, I need to get a picture of the back now with all our Arkansas trip patches on, it's already getting full!

Schlitterbahn

Regan won 2 free Schlitterbahn tickets for selling so many Girl Scout cookies earlier this year. Well, it's been so crazy this summer, we never had a chance to use them! Riley got to go twice this summer, and Regan hadn't been able to go, so I promised her a girl's day where we would just take off and go the last weekend they were open. Riley and David were supposed to go to Brady Lake for a Sea Cadets/Young Marine's joint training campout weekend thing, and there was NO WAY on earth we were going to be able to drag Regan out there after we were so bored last year! So, it was going to be a great weekend to go.

Well, it rained a lot, so much so that Riley's event was canceled at the last minute, which worked out well for me so I didn't have to worry about what to do with Hunter. And then, come to find out, Regan's friend Marillah, who also sold more than 1000 cookies and won the Schlitterbahn tickets too, also planned on going to Schlitterbahn the same day! So we met up with them, and Amie and I got to chill a little and hang out in the wave pool while the girls got to ride every little thing they wanted to ride! It was the perfect day to go, there were not many people there and the lines were very short.

After we left, we went to dinner in New Braunfels, and got home late, and very worn out. But Regan enjoyed her girls day and loved Schlitterbahn. It had been so long since we had been, she didn't even remember ever going there!

My First Ink

And my last! I've always heard tattoos are addictive but nope, they're just painful! Well, I've always wanted a tattoo but I couldn't decide what exactly I wanted. I mean, I haven't even painted my bedroom because I can't settle on a paint color! How will I live with something forever!

Well, today is mine and David's 20th anniversary, and what better way to commemorate it than with a tattoo? David was surprised, he didn't think I would really do it. I met him for lunch at Mandola's Italian Deli and it was really good, and then I went to the tattoo place. Talk about out of my element! But they were super nice and it was pretty easy. I was surprised that it hurt as bad as it did, I'm Ms. Natural Childbirth and all, but wow, ouch! The outlining was bad, the filling in wasn't too bad, or I was just numb by then!

So, what do you think? I told David he's been a figurative pain in the neck for the last 20 years, now he's literally a pain in my neck! But, no matter what, he's stuck with me now. I figure if we can make it for the first 20 years, the rest of our lives will be easy!

I like it, the kids were shocked, Riley thinks it's cool, Regan wasn't too happy, but glad my hair covers it. 

Now it's David's turn. Maybe my name in big fancy letters across his chest?

HHS MCJROTC

That's a lot of initials! Hendrickson High School Marine Corps Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps. (I think).

Anyway, this was Riley's first day to wear his "uniform" to school. They wear the full gear one day a week, and have PT one day a week. He looked so handsome in his uniform! He did get a bigger hat though, because this one was a little small.

US Naval Academy

I know I'm late posting about the boys trip, but David just gave me the pictures to post! David took Riley over Labor Day weekend to Baltimore/Annapolis/DC for a boy's weekend.  Riley has always wanted to go to the Naval Academy, so we figured letting him go see the place right as he's starting off his high school "career" might light a fire under him to do well in school.

They left on Friday afternoon, flew to Baltimore, I think that's where their hotel was. They went on Saturday morning to Annapolis and met up with one of Riley's old motocross buddies who goes to the Naval Academy now.  Jordan gave them a tour of the place, and it was nice because they got to go a lot of places that aren't open for "public". They got to see the dorms, meet Jordan's roommate as he was preparing to go run with a 40 pound weighted vest, and just got a really personalized behind the scenes look at things. I asked David to take a lot of pictures, but I meant with Riley in them, and I got a LOT of pictures of buildings and cannons. Lots of cannons.

They went to DC the next day, spent most of the day at the Air and Space Museum, and then went to see the Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (he didn't take ANY pictures there, GRR!) And all the pictures at the Air and Space Museum are of planes. (Boring)

Anyway, they went  back to the Academy on Monday, I think to take more pictures. They ate some crabs, and came home super late on Monday night. Here are the best pictures, the ones with people in them :)

Naval Academy Trip

Hawks v. Raiders

Welcome to Texas High School Football, right? It was 100 degrees still at 5pm, HOT! And one side of the stadium is shaded, the home side thankfully, but everyone sat together to be in the shade anyway. It was Riley's first real freshman football game. I can't say I understood all that was going on, but you could tell it was a first freshman football game! There were fumbles, dead balls, etc. But, they all did great and there were some good plays. Riley is number 8, wide receiver and corner back. His undershirt kept coming un-tucked so you can tell which one is him because it looks like he's wearing a light gray fanny pack. I was surprised that most of the players seemed about his size. I always worry that he's going to be the smallest kid out there and get hit hard, but I think he's caught up with the boys his age (some of them) so he didn't look very small out there. Until the varsity football players came to watch the game, now those are some big boys! I dread our food bill if Riley keeps this up...

Anyway, here are some pictures from the game.  Here he is in the center, holding on to the other guy:

 Talking to the coach:

First Day of School

Can you believe we have a High Schooler?! I can't, that's for sure. Riley is starting his freshman year at Hendrickson High School, and he's pretty excited about it. He has a block schedule, meaning he has 4 classes each day. ROTC, football, French and Algebra, then English Pre-AP, football again, World Geography Pre-AP, and Biology Pre-AP. Some days he has to be at school early (7:30am) for football or ROTC, and most days he has football after school too, till 6:00pm, making for some very long days! He's excited about the new school, new schedule, and new opportunities. He will be starting math tutoring soon also. I found a math tutor that used to teach physics at Brentwood Christian School, which is the school I graduated from!

Regan started her last year of elementary school! She also has a new teacher, she's new to the school also, so we had no idea about her, but Regan was excited. She said she made the first day go by super fast, so that's a good thing! Regan is on Safety Patrol this year, and she will join choir again, and I think her friends have finally convinced her to join the dance club, and I'm working on her to join the photography club! She will also be getting math tutoring this year, we want to make sure that STAAR test in the spring is not going to be an issue for either of the kids!

So here are the obligatory first day of school pictures!

Day Six - Sick Day at Sea

Not much to report about this day. We woke up, and went right back to bed. Well, I did, I think David went to brunch! I got up and went to lunch, but only ate about half a burger, and then went back to bed. I was wanting to go see a show at 2:30, so I wanted to lay down for about 30 minutes and ended up sleeping for 3 hours. I don't know what we had, but it was fever, headache and body aches, pains, and stomach issues. Just not fun at all. Finally made it up for dinner and then took Regan to look at the pictures, then David took her to play some games in the arcade, and Riley was out playing with his friends all day. At least one of us was having fun! Regan would go out for a bit, but she just kept coming back.

After dinner, I packed, and by pack, I mean I shoved everything we had into a suitcase. I was not in the mood to do any sorting so who knows where anything is at this point!

We had to get up at 7 the next morning for debarkation, so we went to bed early again, and I was happy about that!

Day 7 - not much to report. We got up, I finished packing while the kids and David had breakfast, we said goodbye to Erwin, and hit the dock. David got the car, we hit the road. We stopped in Elgin for BBQ sandwiches to bring home for lunch, grabbed Princess and made it home in time for a nap.

Day Five Cozumel and Dolphinaris

This is it! The event we've been waiting for! Honestly, I don't know if this was more for Regan or for me! No, really, it was for Regan. But man, this was awesome. So, we docked and got off the ship early (like, super early) and then had to wait for our shuttle bus, so we shopped around the cruise ship port a bit. Everything is a little over priced there, and really, it looked like Florida or something. Very touristy, and just not my idea of real Mexico, too polished.

But, it was pretty. The water, again, is amazing. We found some shirts that the kids wanted, and said we would come back so we don't have to lug anything around all day. We got on our taxi to Dolphinaris, and had to go through the spiel, no sunscreen, no jewelry, no sunglasses, no shoes, etc. Then we got in the super cold water with the dolphins and the trainer. We were the first session of the day, so it was nice. I was afraid it would be over before we knew it, but it was a nice long time. First he went over all the rules and the hand signals. We were in a group with another dad and his 2 kids, and just us, so it was a nice small group. He showed us the way to hold our hands and face, and have our dolphin, Simo, come over and give us a kiss on the cheek, and then to turn and give her a kiss on her chin. Then we got tol hold our hand out under her chin and pet her back, but not near the blow hole (which I always thought was just a hole, but it opens and closes like an eyelid or something). Then we got to pet her on her belly, and then swim across the lagoon and wait for her to come over and swim by us, we grabbed her fins and she swam us back to our spot on the other side of the lagoon. And Simo was fast! It was so neat. Then we got to put on masks and she would swim right under us so we could reach out and pet her and watch her swim. We got to pet her a lot as she swam by, and feel her tail and fins, and everything. It was neat, they are so soft and rubbery/leathery feeling.

We were in there for about an hour altogether. Then it was time to wash off and look at pictures. Of course, we are suckers, and how can you swim with dolphins and not have proof, right? (No cameras allowed in the pool, of course) so we worked a deal with them and managed to get all the pictures on CD, and get the DVD and 4 8x10 prints. The pictures are awesome though. I'm really glad we got them. And how many little girls can say their very first kiss was with a dolphin?

Then we had lunch that was included in our package, so we had fajitas and quesadillas and then decided to head back to the ship. We were still pretty tired from the day before, and David's knee was hurting, so we just went back a little early. We did stop and buy some t-shirts and our traditional magnet, and then managed to get back on the ship before the crowds returned. Regan, David and I took a nap while Riley met up with his friends.

Since we had some extra time, I made the kids dress up, I actually put on make up, and we went down for pictures before dinner.  The have picture booths set up all over the ship with different backgrounds and they aren't that expensive, and when are we ever going to get it together for a family photo again?! So much to their chagrin, we posed. They had a neat black and white background, and we were all in black and white, so we did some there, and then some in front of a cruise ship background, and some of the kids in front of a pirate background. They were pretty neat, and it was really hard to narrow it down to just a few! (But I did, one of all of us, one of me and David, and two of just the kids)

Then we went to a magic show that was pretty cool but Riley said had too much dancing. I think he was just upset that we were making him hang with us for a while and not with his new friends. Then we went to dinner where he came with us his one and only time, but left before his entree so he could go to his club Mardi Gras party!

David and I got a souffle this time, and not the warm chocolate melting cake, and maybe that's where we went wrong, I don't know, but that night David and I got so sick. But, we went back to our room, and went to bed a little early cause we were just feeling wiped out by that time.

Cozumel

Dolphinaris