Vacation to Matagorda Bay Beach

This was our first vacation since the babies were born. It was a lot of fun. We left Tuesday night so the babies would sleep and then stopped in Houston at about 3 am to sleep. Then got up and left at about 10 to drive the rest of the way to Matagorda, about a 2 hour drive. The beach was wonderful. Very clean and not a lot of people except for on Saturday. What I thought was so cool was we could drive right out on the beach park and open the truck right there where we were swimming.


Life at the campsite
We went with my family so we stayed with them in their large travel trailer. The kids slept together in a full size loft and we were below on a fold out couch. The RV park was very nice; right on the Colorado river. The kids loved to watch the big shrimp boats come in and out of the bay.

Here they are watching for boats one evening as the sun sets.

Aunt Anna found a hermit crab and is showing Clayton and Dylan. There were hermit crabs and ghost crabs all over. The kids were hillarious to watch chasing the ghost crabs across the sand.

Paw Paw bought the kids their own lawn chairs to sit in like the big people.

One evening they got their first taste of Smores. They loved it and ate it all up.

On The Beach

The first day we went to the beach the kids weren't sure about the water. They went out a little bit but thats about it. The second day they loved it. All three ran in and out of the water, dug in the sand, gathered sea shells. They had a blast.

Here is Hayla gathering shells.

Clayton and Dylan running in and out of the water.

Hayla running in the water with her Aunt Anna.

Daddy and his kids after they built their sandcastle. This was a task because all the kids wanted to do was tear it down.

Here the kids are feeding the seagulls. This is a new word they have added to their vocabulary.

Fishing

The guys went fishing most days we were there. One day they watched a man pull in this stingray. It took him 2 hours to get it all the way in. Then he gave it to us to eat. Not bad; they fried it and grilled it. I liked the fried better than the grilled.

Shane caught this hammerhead shark one day while surf fishing. They caught several sharks while we were there, both black tip and hammerhead.

Our Trip to the Dallas Children's Museum

This summer we have taken several trips to the Dallas Children's Museum. It was so much fun.
Everything is hands on learning for the kids and they just loved it.

Here they are looking at a snake in the backyard area.


There is a large water table that flows like a river. It has ducks and water wheels that the kids can play with.



There is a large area designated to farming. Here the kids are gathering eggs. They can also "pick" vegetables and milk a cow, ( that was so cool it actually felt like you were milking a cow.

Here they are pretending to be firefighters. There are little hats a firemen coats just their size to wear and then they can climb into the firetruck.

After the children's museum we went to the Museum of Natrual History to see the dinosaurs and other animals. The first time we went Shane wasn't with us so the next time we took him and the kids ran from scene to scene showing him the different animals.

Here they are sitting on Jumbo the Mammoths trunk.

Here they are showind Daddy a triceretops skull in the Dino dig area.

And I remember this from when I was a kid. Its a distant relative to the armadillo.

We are in Toddler Beds

The time has finally come. We knew it would! They never did figure out they could climb out of their beds, but last week when Dylan was hanging on the side that slides down, from the inside mind you, and it slid down. So we decided that it was time. We made a big deal out of it. We went as a family to Target and let them pick out new sheets and they all got a pillow for the first time and then we found pj's to match their sheets. Then when we got home they helped Daddy take the sides down and put up the roll bars.

Shane and I were so afraid it was was going to take for ever to get them to stay in bed and go to sleep, but it didn't. We went through out regular routine and after leaving the room the boys got out a few times but we put them right back in and after about 30 minutes all were asleep. No one fell out, no one got up out of bed at night and then at nap time the next day they all went to sleep and no one got out at all. Amazing simply amazing!
Dylan and his race car sheets and PJ's.
Clayton and his race car sheets and PJ's.
Hayla and her princess sheets and PJ's.

We Are 2!!!!

Yes we have turned 2. They are growing up so quickly. Their vocabulary is so vast. I tried to count all the words they know and I ended up quiting at 120 because they are constantly adding new words all the time. They are makin 2 word sentences such as "daddy home" big bubble" "me go". They are drinking out of regular cups more and more instead of sippee cups. There aren't many foods that we have to cut up in tiny pieces. They eat like we don't ever feed them. As soon as school is out we are going to begin sleeping in big kid beds. When you ask them how old they are they say 2.

Hayla


This is Miss Mam. She is not shy and will pose for any and every camera you put in front of her. She is weighs about 24lbs now. She can count to 3 and can identify a set of 2. Shane has also taught her to read the word "ham", because she is one.

Clayton

Clayton now weighs 24lbs. He too is not shy and loves to have his picture taken. He can count to 3 as well. He has learned to identify the letter "B". He loves to climb and slide.

Dylan

Mr Dylan he loves his mama and is very shy. Whenever we are in large crowds or some where there are strangers he is stuck to us like glue. He weighs about 28lbs. He too can count to 3 and he knows the letter "W". He loves to wear hats and his cowboy boots.


Our Birthday Party!!!
We celebrated their birthday on Saturday at our home. We thought Christmas was fun because they had learned to open gifts this was so much more fun. As soon as they had opened one gift they were saying and making the sign for more. I had hoped to keep cards with gifts, yeah that didn't happen.

Buckets for our new sandbox.Our very own bikes.Our first pet, Parakeets. They love to watch the birds and Hayla tried to catch them outside. So their Aunt Katie decided they needed some of their very own.

Here is their cake. They love "Melmo" (Elmo) and Sesame Street. So we decided to make that the theme of the party. I made the cake!


We practiced blowing the whole week before our party and when the time came they each blew out their candles.


Outside playing in our new sandbox and on our new swing set. (These were birthday presents too.)

Sorry it has been so long

The last six weeks has been very rough on us. With all of the medical tests Shane has had to endure and him not being able to drive and then the babies had a bad upper respiratory infections, we were doing good just to get our everyday household chores done. Things are finally looking up. All of the Neuro tests and Cardiac test have come back normal. It appears his "pass out" was just that. We will go to see the Neurologist one last time in May to put a close to all of this. And the babies are off breathing treatments and feeling much better.

They are growing so fast. Its hard to belive they will be two in one month. They are talking up a storm. They can say so many words and understand even more. Just this week they started putting two words together like "big bubble" or "help me". They love to help with the dishes after dinner. I wash and they rinse and put them in the dish drainer. What is so great now too is that I can take them all to the store now by myself with out a stroller. We hold hands and walk in it is so great.

I have posted several new blogs with pictures from the last six weeks. Enjoy!!!

Easter

Easter morning after church.



Oh what fun this Easter was. So much better than last year. We began our Easter activites on Friday with baking birds nest cookies. This was something my mom did with us every year and I was so excited to be starting with my children.

Then after dinner we stripped them down and dyed eggs. This was quite fun. Hayla wanted to crack the eggs like she was cooking. We had to convince her that we weren't cooking. Then after they had it down they thought it would be fun to splash in the dye. Oh what a mess. Their hands were solid bule and green and purple, but hey they had fun. ( On Sunday we gave them one to eat and they didn't like them)


Easter goodies from Grandma and Grandpa. (Shane's Parents)


Here they are hunting for eggs. Due to the rain it was very mushy outside so we had to hide them in the house. Everyone hid the eggs and then we gave the kids their basket and said ok go find an egg and put it in your basket, and the went to it. We didn't have to tell them twice. They were filling their baskets and when they were full they dumped them and started all over. Then when they realized there was candy inside they thought this was a great game.

Riding Horses

It is so much fun having horses right in the backyard and the kids love to go and feed them. As I have mentioned before Clayton is out little horseman. He would ride for hours if we let him. It has taken the other two much longer to get up the nerve to ride but they are finally getting to where they like it.

Hayla and Daddy Dylan and Uncle KimClayton and Uncle Kim Dylan being "Mr Stunt Man". He is such a dare devil.