Getting Into The Swing Of Things

The family unit and I headed down to Temple last weekend to visit Grandma and Uncle Jim. It had been a couple of months since our last visit, and we were all looking forward to the trip.

We loaded up the CX-9 on Saturday morning, and left our house about 9:00am. I was happy to see that the rain that had been forecast was keeping it's distance, and with traffic pretty light, we made really good time. We got to Grandma's house about 11:30am, and soon after unpacking, uncle Jim made his appearance.

As usual, the kids wanted to immediately go play in the backyard, but we all sat down and had a bite to eat first. After lunch, Jim and I set up the Pogo Swing, and the boys bolted outside and commenced playing properly. Here is a picture of uncle Jim sending Aidan for a ride on the Pogo Swing.


With all of the running around, the boys were a bit winded and decided to take a break. Here they are being nice to each other while sitting on the swing.


Grandma came out to join us, and I snapped a picture of her and the boys having some fun.


It was less hot in Temple than it's been in our neck of the woods, but I had forgotten how much more humid it is down there. You would think that 157 miles apart would not make much difference, but that's not the case. While it's not "Houston humid" (which is ridiculous by the way), it's still humid enough to make you rapidly perspire if you're not used to it. I'm not, and when Lori came outside and asked "Did you squirt yourself with the hose?", I knew that I would not be mistaken as a "local". Nope, I'll take hot over humid any day.

Because it was so hot, Jim and I decided to set up the small pool for the boys. As you might have guessed, there was no objection to this idea by our two aquatic monkeys. They were really excited, and were changed into their swim wear in record time. Here they are having some natatory fun.


Now I have told you in the past how rowdy Christopher can be, and here is a perfect example of his domineering personality. Now I'm probably just imagining things, but I thought I heard the words "you called down the thunder, now you've got it" come out of his mouth just before his pummeling of Aidan.


Now Aidan did not like that one bit, so here he is exacting his vengeance.


Oh.....the love of siblings...... Here is a shot of Aidan feeling empowered after his victory.


After swimming, the boys wanted to play on swings again. Here is a short video of both boys "just a swinging".


Mystic looks on inquisitively.


We stayed outside most of the day, and then retired to the air conditioned house for a couple of fierce games of dominos. After dominos and dinner, we were all tired and just relaxed. Here is my beautiful wife Lori having a cookie and relaxing.


Sunday was spent doing much of the same stuff as Saturday. When we all got nice and hot Sunday afternoon, we busted out the ice cold watermelon that Uncle Jim brought over on Saturday. MmmmmmMmmmmm it was cold, sweet, and yummy. It was a big hit with me and the boys.

We stayed until 7:00pm Sunday night, and then headed home. Once on the road, we ran into terrible traffic, and stayed pretty much bumper to bumper all the way home. Uhhhhhh....that makes for a long, stressful drive. After getting everyone home safe about 10:00pm, I lasted about 30 minutes more, and then hit the hay.

We all enjoyed ourselves immensely, and sure look forward to our next visit.

William

Zoo Know What? It's Hot!

It's been quite a while since I last blogged. Lori has been standing in nicely and she's done a great job with the last couple of posts. I am now however ready to return to the ring, and I'm looking forward to going a couple of rounds with keyboard.

Like I said in an earlier blog, it's been really hot lately. AFRICA HOT! Since we were already suffering the Serengeti like conditions, we figured what the hey, and decided to add the proper animals to the mix to make our Safari experience truly authentic. So, Wednesday morning, we loaded up the CX-9 bright and early and we headed West to the Ft. Worth Zoo.

The drive was not too bad even though the zoo is a good 50 miles from our house. We made it there in less than an hour, which was plenty of time for my three passengers to have a little siesta on the way. Not me though, oh no no no, I got to drive and stay awake........all by myself. Although it was only 10:45am by the time we arrived, it already felt like Prometheus had made a personal visit to the area. It was stinking hot, and just getting the jog stroller out of the back of the Mazda produced the days first sweat. Oh Joy! As I was getting out the stroller, Southside Johnny Cool stepped out of the ride, raring to go.


Once inside, one would think that all of the trees would provide plenty of shade, and make the visit much more pleasant. Yes, one would think that....except in this case, they would be wrong. You see, when it's 99 degrees at 11:00 in the morning, that temperature is taken in the shade. Yes, the same type of shade that the zoo's trees provide. So it's still stinking hot, except, these big beautiful tress all around block any and every wisp of wind from reaching human levels. Oh the tops of the tress blow..........back and forth.........taunting you.........as if their saying "Hey there little man, sure is a nice breeze today huh"? Grrrrrrrrrr..... There was no breeze, and after the first 30 minutes, I looked like a contestant in a wet t-shirt contest. "Must find Icee" was suddenly my battle cry, and we set out with a purpose.

While looking for our Icee, we did manage to see quite a few animals. Christopher and Aidan both got a real rush from seeing the animals in their natural habitat, and zoo's always make me feel young. Here are some of the pictures that I took of the animals.


"Wow, did you see that gorilla mom"?

Note to self: Don't mess with lions! Got it.

We made it to the bird sanctuary, and Lori and Christopher went in, while Aidan and I stayed out and searched for our frozen Grail.

Christopher did not know what to think with that bird being so close, but he did know that he wanted to grab it. Luckily, Lori was quick enough to keep Christopher at bay, and we did not have any unfortunate bird incidents.

Aidan and I were finally able to locate our frozen salvation, and let me tell you, it was just in the nick of time.


After smiting the heat by downing our arctic beverages, we were indeed cooler, and the rest of our zoo visit was much more tolerable. Before we left, we were able to get one family picture. Here we are in Texas Town sitting in a real stagecoach.


Yep, it was hot in there too.

All in all a fun trip, well as fun as walking in a furnace with animals laughing at you can be. Laughing you say? I know good and well, if they could speak, they would be saying something like this: "Ummmmmm.....it's a 100+ degress outside. We're locked in, what's your excuse"?

William

PS. We traveled to Grandma's house last weekend, and I should have new pictures, movies, and stories posted by the end of the week.

Cuz'n Camp: Boys Gone Wild

We now have had Aidan home from Cousin Camp for 6 days and the normalcy of screaming, running around the house, and general chaos has returned. Aidan and his cousins were at Cousin Camp in Del Rio,TN in the Smokey Mountains , from June 23rd until July 5th. Christopher and I flew up up with the crazy monkeys on the 23rd and stayed for the first five days. The boys had an absolute blast getting outside, fighting, enjoying the scenery, fighting, helping with all of the farm animals, fighting, swimming, exploring, and creating outdoor adventures. The fighting amongst the boys was just a necessary part of having three boys together with two 7 year olds and one 10 1/2 year old. You can imagine the craziness I am sure but the fighting was usually short lived and then the fun would begin again.

First Day of Cousin Camp

Christopher & Nana Enjoying An Early Morning Donut

It is absolutely beautiful at the farm and it is easy to get lost out there, away from a lot of "civilization" so to speak.

View from the second story deck.

Shelly Rock Farm Creek

Nana's Flower Garden.

Christopher and I really enjoyed getting to be a part of the experience and being able to spend more time with Nana, Papa, Jackson and Wyatt. Christopher loved chasing and petting all of the 8 dogs, although some of them did not always appreciate his attention.


He also really took off with his language when he was around all of the animals, especiallye the horses, cows, & chickens. Christopher's favorite dog is Bear, a Great Pyronese that looks like a polar bear.


When he is not watching over the farm he likes to give big slobbery kisses. I also enjoyed visiting with Nana & Papa, although the time is never enough and the visits always seem short. It was wonderful to watch all of the boys delight in the outdoors especially when they were hiking, swimming, fishing, or working on their "Man Badges". The Man Badges were a list of badges they could earn while they were at Cousin Camp.

Earning their sucker badges.

Marco......Polo

How many boys can you fit in one tractor?

Christopher and I left for home leaving Aidan with his cousins, and Nana, & Papa. I felt very odd leaving Aidan behind but I knew that he was going to continue to have a wonderful time and that he was ready for some grown up boy time without Mom. William had stayed home so he was missing all of us as we were also missing him. I quickly learned how very strange it is to be home without Aidan. Christopher was no longer the pterodactyl and was much quieter without his big brother around. He was a bit confused though because he would continually ask and look for Aidan, then Nana, and then Bear. I even found myself looking at Aidan's empty room and missing him. I remember thinking what will we ever do when he goes off to college. Thankfully we have a little while to worry about that one. We would always talk to Aidan on the phone at night and hear the excitement in his voice talking about the fish he caught, the camp fire, working with the hay, and the most exciting thing: his rock collection from the creek.

Cricket flew up to take the second shift of Cousin Camp. She helped provide Nana relief after Nana and Papa had the boys for 2 days without additional help. Let me tell you the three boys are a full time job for anyone. Cricket had a great time at the farm and I know that everyone enjoyed her being there and being part of the festivities. Cousin Camp ended with an early birthday party for Papa and later that evening July 4th fireworks and festivities in Hot Springs, North Carolina.

The following day the 3 monkeys flew back home with Cricket. All of the boys seemed a little older, maybe a little wiser, a little crazier at least in the car, and they were already missing their Nana & Papa. Aidan was excited to see his Mom, Dad, and even his little brother much to his own surprise. Christopher was so excited to see Aidan that he immediately screamed and then began hitting Aidan with his Diego ball, definitely brotherly love.
Our quiet house had now been restored to the exhuberant and rowdy place with the pterodactyl and the monkey boy. Although Nana and Papa were exhausted after the monkeys were gone even they found themselves missing the constant activity and craziness.

Aidan and the boys are already looking forward to cousin camp next year and more time with Nana & Papa.


Thank you Mom and Steve for taking such good care of the boys and letting them come up and be boys in the mountains for 2 weeks! They all enjoyed themselves immensely and I know that they will always treasure their time at Cousin Camp. We all look forward to next year!

Lori

Three Score

This blog is long over-due but I wanted to take the time to pay tribute to an awesome lady, my Mom. We just celebrated her 60th birthday on on June 22nd, although by looking at her, you would never know it. I always have a hard time imagining her age as I always see the woman that would put animal barrettes in my hair after combing out the "rat's nest". I have so many wonderful memories over the years but what I remember most is all of the little things that she did to make us feel special. Things were not always easy and some days were harder than others, but we were always made to feel like the luckiest girls around. We were lucky to have a Mom that was always there for us. She made us costumes, helped with our homework, picked us up when we fell, put together the ever important Barbie pool, and she knew the value of sharing M&M's.

One of the first things that she taught me was that I could be anything I wanted to be despite the fact that I wanted to be a bunny growing up. Obviously I chose a different career path, but when someone would tell me that I could not be a bunny, I would emphatically respond that I could be whatever I want to be. Mom also taught me to stand up to bullies in the sandbox and to stand up for what is right. She taught me that you must have persistence and courage to achieve your dreams.
Most importantly she taught me about love and that no matter what disappointment or success that might lie ahead, she would always be there with us to share it.

Thank you Mom for always loving us even when we drove you crazy. Remember the time I "forgot" to tell you about my speeding ticket in San Antonio until my court date? I thought you were going to kill me by traumatic whip lash! And.... well there are a lot of other times like when I was going through my nasty 15 year old phase and I know that you could add plenty of stories. I will suffice by saying thank you for your patience and love through all of those moments. I love you very much and I am grateful for our memories and life together.

Now that being said on with the party! Cricket, Mom, and I originally started celebrating Mom's birthday on Saturday by having a fabulous time getting pampered at the spa. It was wonderful! We were pampered and relaxed and then proceeded for a much needed coffee break. Sunday of course was Father's day and we celebrated William and then proceeded to dinner at Abuelos for a combination Father's day and early birthday dinner. We took all the boys, so needless to say there was entertainment for everyone from the crazy toddler.

On Monday, Mom's actual birthday, we met over at her house she has around the corner from us, to get the much awaited festivities going. All of the boys had made special cards for Nana and we were putting them on display along with plenty of pink flamingos and 60 roses of course.

The boys even decorated the windows with the flamingo window gel stickers although Christopher kept trying to shred or eat them.....if we were not fast enough to catch him first. Cricket even put up a artistic version of Mom's baby picture to make the decorations even more special.

Decorations in place it was now time to open presents. The anticipation was mounting for Nana and all of us involved.

She first opened all of her beautiful birthday adornments including her sexy and sixty button. Next she opened her Nana M&M's.

You will have to look close at the photo to see the "Nana M&M's".

As I mentioned earlier M&M's are a big deal in our family, you can't beat them. One of her next presents was a digital photo frame filled with pictures of the 4 boys. It was done by Cricket the expert photographer, and she was able to catch the 4 monkeys sitting still and smiling for a few moments. Needless to say, she was excited.

She then opened her main present which was a watercolor picture of the boys framed on canvas and she seemed to be tickled. The final thing that we saved until last was all of the cards that all of her friends had sent.

She loved them. She laughed and enjoyed every card that she opened. The cards really meant a lot and helped to make her birthday that much more special. Here is a picture from one of the cards that I really thought was hilarious!

Overall I think that Mom had a fantastic birthday, and everyone there really enjoyed sharing it with her.

Happy 60th Birthday Mom! We love you!!!

Lori

Sure Is Quiet

The weekend was a lot of fun, and everybody had a great time at Nana's birthday party yesterday. Lots of cake was eaten, and Nana made out like a bandit.

I am now very lonely, and it's only been 2 hours since I dropped Lori and the boys off at the airport. Lori will be gone with Christopher until Saturday afternoon, and Aidan will not be home until July 5th. Wow it's going to weird without any of them here, but I know they are going to have a great time at Nana and Pawpaw's Smokey Mountain Cousin's Camp. Thank goodness we have a camera phone attached to the computer. At least that will allow me to see them each night when I talk to them.

Thoughts and Prayers for Lori about now are appropriate, for she is currently in mid flight with the ornery screaming Rooster Boy. Just thinking about it sends me into a cold sweat. Hopefully it's not as bad as I think it will be.

More later,

William

Blessings Counted

I have a wonderful family, and I am lucky beyond words. Thanks for making my day so special.

William

P.S. Happy Father's Day Dad. I miss you.

Fearless Leader, We Salute You

Since today is Father's Day I wanted to take the time to recognize William, as the wonderful man that he is day in and day out. He does not always get the recognition that he deserves. He constantly gives of himself to keep all of us happy, especially to keep me happy. I am extremely lucky and blessed in this regard. Whether he is taking care of the boys so that I can run, or taking care of getting the boys ready for baseball, he is always there without complaint.

William also takes every opportunity to try and teach the boys anything and everything to try and make them successful and find their independence. Not that our boys need a lot of help with independence, at least in their minds. I think both Aidan and Christopher are almost too independent in their thinking for their age. I know that eventually that will be a good thing, but I digress as I am supposed to be talking about William. William is always determined to take even the smallest thing and have Aidan, and Christopher to a degree, learn something to extend their minds and start them thinking. You can see the delight on his face when he realizes that the boys "get it".

One of the best things about William, aside form his large heart, is his zest for life and sense of fun. As he had still not fully grown up, (I am meaning this as a compliment) he always knows how to make things fun for the boys. Even when I am the "grouchy Mom" he knows how to break me out of it and make me laugh. How many Dad's would want a scooter that they could ride scooters with their sons? Probably not that many and he has been zipping along with Aidan ever since the scooter arrived. He also has some other antics that I don't think I will mention on the blog, that always make us laugh.

With all of that being said, we salute you William as a wonderful Father and husband and our fearless leader! Although he may not be so fearless when it comes to the little pterodactyl flying on an airplane or that really nasty blueberry poopy diaper, otherwise he is our fearless leaderThank you for always taking care of all of us and helping us all to enjoy all of life's moments. We love you.

Lori

Midnight Rider

So many things to do, so little time. Doesn't that statement seem like it's the general theme of each and every day now? Well, it is, and we cram as much stuff into the days as possible. Most of the time is a lot of fun, but sometimes it's a bit tiresome. Oh well, part of the joys of have two very active boys under the age of seven.

We are all giddy with anticipation for the arrival of Nana. She is coming into town today, and everybody is very excited. I'm quite sure that I will be hearing "is she here yet" about fifty times today.

Aidan is really excited because his Nana will be attending his last baseball game of the season tomorrow morning. Yep, it's gone by that fast. His last practice for the season was Wednesday afternoon, and let me tell you it was stinking hot. I'm talking Africa hot, and since Lori had to work, I had Christopher to entertain. Geesh, with all his whining, you would have thought it was a 100 degrees out there or something. Wait......um.....it was a 100 degrees out there, and I too was a bit miserable. After half the practice, I had to put Christopher in my truck and turn on the air conditioner. Luckily, the truck was parked within 20 feet of the practice field, so I could stand and watch Aidan's practice, while Christopher was relaxing in gelid comfort.

While Nana is here, we will be celebrating her birthday. It should be a lot of fun. We will also be celebrating Father's Day on Sunday. I have already gotten my Father's Day gift, and I am really stoked about it. I have been wanting to get one for some time, and I was finally able to find one that had all of the necessary features for a guy like me. "Necessary features" meaning "it will support my weight". Yep, and then some. So without further delay I present my XOOTR STREET scooter.


How cool is that? Aidan loves riding his scooter, and now we can go riding together. We went for a long ride to the other day. We did a little over two miles, and it was a blast. Talk about something that makes you feel young again. Woo Hoo.....you don't find those things very often. Super Cool Gift!

I will have plenty of pictures to post in a few days, so stay tuned.

William

Oh Boy! Oh Joy! Oh .........#%*@!

We had great weekend, filled with runs(the jogging kind), ballgames, and birthdays. It absolutely flew by, as each day was packed with entertainment.

On Friday afternoon Lori took Aidan to his cousin Wyatt's pre birthday party. It was held at "Main Event" and all of the boys really had a lot of fun. There was plenty of things for them to do, and over the course of 3 hours, they wore themselves out. Because Aidan was so worn out when he got home, It would have made perfect sense for Aidan to go to bed early on Friday night. Yep, that would have been the "best" thing to do, but Lori and I, in our infinite wisdom, decided to let Aidan stay up late with us and partake in a rousing game of Monopoly. Oh Boy!

Aidan finally got to bed about 10:45pm with the firm intention of sleeping late. Yeah right, never gonna happen. Aidan must be part farmer, because that boy cannot sleep past 6:30am no matter what time he goes to bed. It's like he has to go tend to his cow or chickens or something. While other 6 year old in the city of Frisco is enjoying a peaceful somber at 6:30am on Saturday morning, Aidan is chomping at the bit to do something. Man it's annoying. The good news is that Lori was actually already getting up because she was scheduled to run in the Komen "Race for the Cure" 5k on Saturday morning. That meant that daddy was getting up too. Oh joy!

While Lori ran her race, I entertained the boys, and got Aidan ready for his 10:00am baseball game. Lori got home just before we were leaving for the ball field, and I was very grateful to have her home. Having her at the games really allows me to enjoy the spectacle. When she is not there, I am mostly chasing around Rooster boy, and I cannot really get into the game.

Well, like I mentioned earlier, the "best thing" to do would have been to have Aidan go to bed early on Friday, to be fully rested for his game. Nope, didn't happen, and it his lassitude on the ball field was painfully noticeable. It was completely our fault, and it will not happen again. He played OK, but he was not his normal "lights out" self. Lesson learned.

The rest of Saturday was spent doing mundane things like grocery shopping, and yard work. Woo hoo big fun. We all got to bed at a decent hour, and looked forward to an action packed Sunday.

Sunday was Wyatt's actual birthday, and he was having us over for a family only party. I snapped a few pictures at the party, and I thought I would share the glee. This one is of Christopher just as we arrived at Crickets house. I know this is just as we arrived, because he is still clean.


The same can almost be said of Aidan, so I snapped one of him before the craziness began.


Soon after this was taken, presents were opened, and delicious cupcakes that Lori made were being devoured.


Here is Christopher in all his ravenous glory.


Here is a great one of Aunt Cricket and the birtday boy Wyatt.


After everybody finished their cup-o-cake or two, the boys started playing with the toys that Wyatt received. While they were doing that, Cricket and I assembled the camping tent that we got Wyatt for his birthday. The boys wanted to play inside, and use it for the sleepover. While we were assembling, Christopher and Lori looked on with amusement.


Believe it our not, we got that bad boy done in about 5 minutes. I would like to say that it was our combined keen intellect that enabled us to get it done so quickly, but to be honest, it was by far the easiest tent to put together that I have ever seen. After it was up, the boys made a bee line to it, and it provided hours of enjoyment. That is, until somebody yelled BEAR! and startled Aidan out of his wits.


No not really. Actually I have no idea why he is making that face, but the Bear caption seemed to fit.

The party would start at noon and go for a couple of hours. That would be followed by a nap for the boys, and then a rocking sleep over was planned for a night cap. Yes, Aunt Cricket is a glutton for punishment.

Aidan and Christopher actually did take two hour naps, and they were raring to go. I stayed at home, and worked on a project while Lori and Cricket and the boys started round 2. I was sorry that I missed that, for it sounded like they had a really good time.

Needless to say, Aidan was a tired monkey today. He did get another nap, and he now looking forward to his next birthday party and his next sleepover. Next time though, it will be at our house. Oh.........#%*@!

William

Shimmer Of Hope

As you know, we spent last weekend staying with our great friends Kenny and Hailey at their beach house in Galveston. It was a fantastic trip, and all of us are already stoked about a potential return trip in August. Our whole family just can't get enough of the ocean. As for Aidan and Christopher go, I find myself having to second check their feet to make sure they are not webbed. As much time as they spend in the water, one begins to wonder if somewhere down the line, there is some type of amphibian occupying a space in the family tree.

We left for the beach around 12:45pm on Thursday afternoon. I know what you are thinking...."Didn't Aidan have to miss school?" Well, yes....yes he did, and let me tell you, he was all broken up over it. Cried the whole way down. :-( Obviously, that is far from the truth, and in actuality Lori and I felt pretty guilty about his truancy. We just figured that he had only missed 1 day of school this year, and they were having the end of the year talent show on the day that he missed. Missing talent show = no big deal. He had perfect attendance for the first three, "nine week" sessions. Anyway, we made really good time with only one stop in Centerville on our way down. The good news was we made really good time getting to Houston. The bad new was, we hit downtown Houston at 4:45 in the afternoon. Uhhhhhh.....rush hour. All I have to say is their city engineer must have worked for Spiro Graph before being hired on by the city of Houston. You would not believe me if I tried to explain the complexity involved in finding and getting on the HOV route. That guy or girl should be fired on the spot.

Once we made it through the concrete maze in downtown, the traffic in the HOV lane was cruising south at a steady 70 mph. Wooo Hooo. We were passing some serious cars stuck in regular traffic, and suddenly the "labyrinth of frustration" did not seem so bad. We got to Kenny and Hailey's beach house in Sea Isle about 6:30pm. After unpacking the car, and getting our stuff upstairs, I made a trip to the closest grocery store, and bought a couple of frozen pizzas. We ate a quick dinner, hopped in Kenny and Hailey's ultra sweet jumbo monster mudd'in golf cart, and drove to the beach.

By the time we got there, the sun was just starting to go down. We did not have time to swim, but just being there and hearing the waves crashing and smelling that salty air made all of the anxiety of the trip instantly evaporate. We stayed for about 20 minutes, just enough time for Aidan to disobey our pleas to stay dry, so we headed home with one soaking wet boy. Hey, what are you going to do. Keeping a 6 year old out of the ocean while his dog is standing in butt deep water egging him on is practically impossible.

We got back to the beach house just in time to snap this:


Wow, just magnificent.

Kenny and Hailey got in town about 9:00pm, and after visiting for a while, we all made it to bed at a decent hour. We all knew the kids would be up an some ungodly hour in the morning repeating over and over....."when are we going to the beach"..."is it time yet"..."how much longer"....etc..

We got up early as expected, and Hailey made a scrumptious breakfast casserole. MmmmmmmMmmmmmm it was gooooooooooood! After digesting, Kenny and I headed out to purchase Friday night's steaks, and Saturday night's Shrimp. Lori and Hailey went to Wal-Mart to do some last minute grocery shopping. After everybody returned, we finally made it out to the beach.


Just seeing the look on Christopher face as he would run in and out of the water was simply intoxicating. He is such a little ham.


Aidan just flat out loves the water. 95% of the time we are at the beach, he is either submerged or riding his boogie board. Here he is making his way out of the water, with the ever protective and watchful Mystic not far behind.


She looks after those boys while they are in the water, like a Great Pyrenees watching his flock. We could not ask for a better companion for our children.

After we got back to the beach house, Kenny and I fired up the Charcoal and got ready for some serious steak grilling. Mmmmmm....Steak........
Lori and Kenny and Hailey went for the filets, while I stuck with my favorite...a delicious Rib-eye. Kenny cooked them to perfection, and with the addition of the roasted corn on the cob, salad, and sautéed mushrooms, we gorged ourselves. After dinner, while the kids were watching movies, I peeked over and noticed Aidan doing this,


while Christopher and Carley were doing this,


Yep, even the 4 year old, and the 21 month old stayed up longer than the uber tired 6year old.

After getting the kids to bed, Lori and Hailey and Kenny and I made our way downstairs, and played darts, drank, laughed, and smoked cigars into the wee hours of the morning. Good times. Our good friend Kirk drove in from Houston and got there a little after midnight, and it was certainly enjoyable seeing him again. We finally got to bed about 2:00am, as visions of the much anticipated annual Memorial Day Weekend horseshoe tournament danced in my head. Oh yeah, in a few short hours, it would be, once again, time for the "King of the Beach" to make his appearance. I'm sure most of the other entrants laid awake most of the night shivering in fear. Ok, maybe not....hell to tell you the truth, most of them had probably actually thrown a horseshoe in the last 365 days, unlike the current "King of the Beach"

Saturday morning started out beautiful, but as the morning wore on, an ominous dark presence was rolling in. Thunder clouds, with malice on their minds, slowly engulfed the blue sky. By the time the tournament started at "high noon" the question was not if it would rain, but when. That question was answered during the very first set of games. It rained hard on and off for about 2 hours, but that did not keep the 12 two man teams from competing. Some competed more than others, and it makes me sad to say, my partner and I were eliminated in the quarter finals. My "King of the Beach" title and trophy are now only distant memories. Vengeance will be mine.......next year! Here is a shot of the loser (me) getting ready to pitch some shoes.


While I was playing shoes, Lori had her hands full with the little Rooster boy. Luckily there were quite a few toys to capture his very short attention span, and he even had a little 3 year old girl playing companion to pass the time with.


Here is a picture of Aidan sitting on the back of Ken and Hailey's golf cart looking mirthful.


We stayed at the beach until late afternoon, and then headed back to the beach house about 5:30pm. We needed to start working on the shrimp, and dinner was to be followed with cupcakes that Lori made for Hailey's birthday. The 7 pounds of cream chess jalapeno stuffed shrimp we cooked turned out just as mouthwatering as it sounds. Lord they were delicious. After the feast, everybody went outside on the upstairs deck, and sang Happy Birthday for Hailey. Here she is blowing out the candles with eager children surrounding her.


Speaking of eager children, here is a shot of the children surrounding the cupcake dish.


It reminded me of watching the discover channel as the lion pride encircles the local watering hole. You just know that carnage is soon to follow, and follow it did.

After getting the kids to bed, we once again went downstairs, and celebrated life and friendship. Our friends are really quite something. You can not see each other for 6 months, and as soon as you are in each other's presence, the comfort level is immediate, and conversations flow like water. How great is that.

Sunday morning we woke to more dark clouds. There was a neighborhood crawfish boil scheduled on the agenda for the day, and showers would not be appreciated. 110 pounds of crawl daddy's were purchased and cooked, along with bags and bags of potatoes and corn. Yummy. The rains eventually did come, so after eating, we retired to the beach house and set up a water slide for the kids. As you can see from the following pictures, the kids had an absolute blast on the slide.


After getting out of the water slide, Christopher challenged Lori to a lightsaber (noodle) duel. On Guard!


We all were wiped out on Sunday night, but that did not stop us from have a great game of Texas hold'em. Hailey, Kirk, Kenny and Lori and I stayed up for hours playing. It was great, and for it being Lori's first time to play, she did remarkably well. It's a good thing that Aidan was already in bed, or he would have probably cleaned us all out. That boy is a card playing fool.

We got up Monday morning early knowing it was our last day. We set out for the beach at 9:00am in the morning. The weather was gorgeous, and the water was still. Lori snapped this picture of the boys right after we got there, and I thought it turned out fantastic. (click to enlarge) I call it "Shimmer of Hope".


Here is one of Lori, Aidan, Christopher, and the ever protective Mystic enjoying family time.


You know, the island has done a pretty remarkable job of cleaning up most of the debris left from the devastation left by hurricane Ike. Some stretches of the beach you would never even know that there was such a violent storm less than a year ago.


While others like this one are still waiting for repairs.


With the water so calm, Kenny broke out one of his rod and reels, and did his best to hook a lunker.


Aidan and I were content floating on our boogie boards and soaking up the sun.


In the mean time, Carley and Christopher we soaking up some Zzzzzz's in the back of the CX-9.


We stayed at the beach until a little before noon, and then made the sad journey back to the beach house. I started packing up our things, and after showering and having lunch, we started our journey home about 2:00. Just before we left, we shot a few parting pictures. Kirk and Christopher.


Our gracious host Kenny and Hailey with a portion of their sweet golf cart showing in the background.


And finally....the gang.


We got home a little over 5 hours later, and all of us were left longing. We can't wait to go back.

Once again Kenny and Hailey, thanks for having us down. It was awesome.

William