Trip to Houston

Last weekend we decided to take a 4 day trip to Houston to let Ella Kate spend some time with the grandparents and also her cousins, Nanny, and Parrain.  It was a VERY busy weekend and we kept EK going almost non-stop the whole time.  Luckily she was in a great mood the whole time and loved everything we did!

On Friday afternoon we took Ella to the Houston Children's Museum.  If you are ever near Houston I highly recommend it.  They have a wonderful area for children from Birth to 35 months called the TotSpot and Ella loved it.  All of the activities in that area are for children in that age range and they can just run free and explor.

They even had an enlarged lite-brite which Ella loved.  Though really I think her daddy liked it just as much!

She was so proud of herself when she figured out how to stick the pegs in the hole!

After exploring the TotSpot for awhile, we decided to see what the rest of the museum had to offer.  All of the exhibits are great and I really hope to go back soon when my nephew is in town cause I know he would love it!

Even Parrain came and enjoyed the museum with us.  As usual he won extra Uncle points for braving the museum with us when he really didn't have to.  Thanks David!

Saturday of course was LSU football day, so after a busy morning of shopping with Granny, we headed out to Missourri City to play with the cousins and to see Nanny and Uncle Brad.

Two of my favorite little guys.  Easton was trying to stop Rowan from eating chalk.  Needless to say Rowan was not impressed at the intervention.

The Millers even made it out for some football and Jessica had a great time entertaining the older boys!  I will never get over that Easton and Gavin are only 3 weeks apart!  Their size looks more like 3 years!

Daddy with his little princess and his godson.  I am pretty sure shortly after this Ella had a breakdown cause daddy was holding someone besides just her.  We have really got to work on her manners :)

Saturday night the adults decided to go out to dinner.  It isn't very often that all 4 older boys are together in one place so of course I had to take advantage of the photo op.  We went to eat at a great restaurant in Sugar Land called Rouxpour.  We really enjoyed dinner and even more the company.  It was great getting out and enjoy a meal without having to chase kiddos around.

Of course EK had a great time being entertained my Granny.  She just loved climbing up and down the stairs and finally agreeing to just sit on the bottom step and relax with a huge bucket of spoons.  Of course the filled bucket only lasted a few minutes before Ella spilled it all over.

Granny even let her sit on the floor and enjoy some crushed ice.  This of course was to have her forget about the fact she had just ran into the table and bumped her head.  It's amazing how quick they forget!
Sunday afternoon Granny and Papi braved the crowds and took Ella to the zoo by themselves.  Unfortunately I wasn't feeling to hot so I stayed home and took a much needed nap!

They had not started Boo at the Zoo just yet at the Houston Zoo, but they were letting the kids decorate little pumpkins and EK got her hand stamped and got to pick a pumpkin for herself which she was very proud to show off!

They recently opened up the African exhibit at the zoo and Ella just loved it.  I am pretty sure she would sit and watch animals all day if she could and I can't wait to take her back to the zoo again.  Luckily I hear the zoo in Tyler is pretty good for the size of our town so I think we will be headed there next weekend.

As usual our trip was great and Ella Kate even behaved so well in the car (a first for her).  I find that trips are starting to get easier with her now that she is older and there are no bottles to bring and she can eat right off of our plates.  Luckily we have a few weeks off to recoup before our next big trip to LA for Thanksgiving!  Thanks again Granny and Papi for the fun!

Impromptu Trip to Houston!

We decided to take a quick trip to meet Keith in Houston since it was easier for him to drive there then all the way back to Tyler between jobs. Luckily a trip to Houston also means a trip to visit the cousins! We had Brad, Courtney, Easton and Rowan come over to my parents for dinner and hanging out. I had forgotten my camera, but luckily I was able to use my mom's and catch a few pictures of the kids.

Ella (6 months), Rowan (3 months), and Easton (3 years). Funny thing is it isn't Ella copying Easton in this picture but him copying her!

Rowan and Ella. I just know they are going to be the best of friends even though they currently live 3 hours away from eachother!

Little monster taking a quick bath in the sink. We have the same type of picture of Austin around the same age. It was so much easier bathing her in there than in the tub now that she can sit up!

We had a great quick trip down to Houston and hopefully be will be back again soon!

Ella Kate's First Road Trip

This weekend we decided to take a trip to my parents house in Houston. It was a last minute decision since Keith had the weekend off and we really were not sure how a 3 1/2 hour trip with a 5 1/2 week old would go but it went great!

Keith left work early on Friday and we hit the road around 2:00. We figured if we left right after feeding Ella Kate then it would make the trip a little easier and she would fall asleep (which of course she did). We made one stop around 4:00 to give the little miss a bottle and then finished out trip and got to my parents around 5:45. We were very surprised at how easy of a trip it was and were very glad that she slept the whole way there! We were a little scared that with all of that sleeping that she wouldn't sleep Friday night, but she was a champ and actually slept better than she had in 3 nights.

Saturday the boys went and played golf and mom and I did what we do best, SHOP! Ella Kate was a great shopper and either slept or looked around the whole time we were out. We even got her a few new outfits for being so good! Saturday afternoon Nebraska played Texas so we just hung out at home and watched the game with my dad (which was very disappointing for him). Saturday evening Brad, Courtney, and Easton came over for dinner and to hang out which was great since we don't get to see them that often. Below is actually the only picture I took all weekend. It is the first two Dicke great grandchildren (Courtney is pregnant with #3)! Unfortunately Ella Kate wouldn't stay still so she is a little blurry... who would have thought it would be easier to get a 3 year old to sit still than a 5 week old!

Sunday we hung out at home for the morning and then went to eat at Nico Nico's, the best greek restaurant EVER! Keith and I were so glad to get greek food since you can not find it in Tyler! We headed back around 2:00 and again the trip was extremely smooth! I sure hope Ella Kate is such a good traveler when she gets older.

Thanks Granny and Poppi for letting us come and visit!

Weekend in Houston

Well unfortunately I had to give up waiting for Keith and had to head down to Houston by myself on Friday evening as Keith got stuck working on Sunday... seriously his job stinks! I got down there around 10 and headed straight to bed cause I was exhausted and knew it would be an early morning with my brother, SIL, and nephew flying in at 7 in the morning.

The second the everyone walked into the door from the airport I was 100% Austin devoted. I just love the little guy so much... So here are a few pictures from the way to short weekend.

Here is the little guy (though not so little... 30 inches and only 7 months old!) He is such a smiler and just is the happiest baby there ever was. He is seriously going to break some hearts one day.

Rolling the ball with his dad... notice he is clapping... he is seriously his own biggest fan... every time he does anything he just claps and claps. It is the funniest thing ever!

This is my parent's dog Popeye. Poor guy is very old (like 93 or something like that in human years) and can't really see except for some light and has no hearing, but he is the happiest dog ever. He was actually bought for my brother 13 years ago, but my parents kept him when my brother went to college. So here are my brother's two boys meeting for the first time. Popeye just couldn't figure out where that weird smell was coming from, but he was really sweet to Austin and Austin even tried to pet him a few times.

Today we went out to lunch at Landry's since we were out in the Woodlands and that was about all we could agree on. Shawn of course wanted Cane's but I was outright refusing! For some strange reason, Shawn decided to let Austin chew on the cold salad plate and he just loved it!

Here is me and my favorite little guy. No my eyes are not closed, I just squint really bad in pictures!

Well that is about the extent of my weekend. I spent as much time loving on the little guy as I possibly could since it will be another 6 weeks or so until I see him... and who knows how big he is going to be by then!

I also just want to say Congratulations to Michal over at The Future Jones' as she is no longer the Future Mrs Jones' but THE MRS. JONES! Wish I could have been at the wedding but I just know it was beautiful... Congrats Michal!

Weekend on the Lake

I had a few minutes before I have to head out to Vacation Bible School so I figured I would make a quick post about my weekend on the lake!

I was invited to my friend Laine's parent's house on Lake Conroe for the weekend for a little fun in the sun and some catching up with the girls. Laine and I have been friends since high school but live too far away now to see eachother on a daily basis, actually I hadn't seen her since her wedding last year :(! It was the perfect excuse to escape for the weekend and I couldn't wait! Our friend's April and Kathryn who live in Baton Rouge met us there.

The picture below is the lizard that was hanging out on the steps one morning while I was laying out... I just had to get a picture! I know I am a dork Here is the beautiful view that we had from the deck. It was just the perfect deck to lay out on and we spent practically the whole weekend on it. (I have the slight sun burn to prove it)

Here are April and Kathryn hanging out in the lake. After a few hours of laying out we just couldn't take the heat anymore and we just had to jump in. Luckily there were some floatation devices that we could sit on so we didn't actually have to swim around the whole time.

Here is April and I hanging out on the big floaties that we found. We didn't last to long on them cause it just got way to hot. We finally just said screw it and hung out in the lake.

It was such a great weekend and I wish I wouldn't have had to come home on Sunday. The rest of the girls were lucky enough to be able to stay until tomorrow.

Thanks Laine for a great weekend and hopefully we can do it again soon!

Yeah I know it has been awhile...

But I have not had much to say and not much has been going on so I figured I would wait. But now after a fun filled weekend, I actually have something to post about!

We spent the weekend at my parents in Houston and we picked the perfect weekend to go as it was also Keith's cousin Brad's birthday, so we were able to see some of Keith's family while we were there which was nice!

So our weekend started off going here

and for those of you not from Houston or who have never visited, this is Star Pizza which has some of the best pizza ever! My parents are lucky enough to live within walking distance which is really nice when you want that pizza fix! We followed up our dinner with a visit to one of our favorite places, Houston's Laff Stop with some friends for Brad's birthday. We saw comedian Greg Warren who was wonderful! I don't think I have seen a funnier show there and we go just about every time we are in Houston.

Of course on Saturday Mom and I had to take a little shopping excursion, and though we were not successful at buying anything, we did have a good time. Since we were as close to Louisiana as it looks like we are going to get this summer, we decided to eat lunch at one of the best "cajun" restaurants in Houston.

MMM.... I can still taste the great gumbo (yes I ate gumbo even though it was 100 degrees outside. I have to eat it when I can get my hands on it!!!)

Saturday evening we went to a BBQ for Brad's birthday and to watch the LSU game (Go Tigers!!! Game 2 for them in the College World Series is tonight!) We had a lot of fun which was just topped off by LSU winning their first game. Here are a few pictures from that night.

Brad's Barney Birthday Cake cause his wife Courtney is nuts and thought it was funny!

Brad and Courtney's little boy, Easton, checking out his Uncle Keith.

Uncle Keith playing with Easton... sorry it's blurry, they wouldn't stay still long enough!

And this is what you get when you ask Easton to smile... he is such a Ham!

The birthday boy blowing out his candles!

Well that was our weekend! I love it so much that my parents are only 3 short hours away! Tomorrow I am headed to Dallas to see the nephew and I can't wait! My SIL is in Dallas for a conference and luckily brought the little guy with her so I could see him! Oh I can't wait!!! I have my fingers crossed that Keith will be off too so that he can see him! I should have lots more pictures to post on Wed when I am back!