Inks Lake 2010

We made our annual family trip up to Inks Lake this past weekend.  We've been looking forward to it all year - it is just so pretty up there.  Andy's family has been going up there since the 1960's and its so neat to think how many generations have been having fun up there each year.  The next generation is quickly taking over - there are more & more kids up there each year - so fun.  We were originally thinking we would have to skip this year b/c Cannon is still so young and the heat can just be unbareable up there...but we decided to go and just stay one night.  We missed out last year b/c I was doing my cross country drive up to Canada the same weekend they had booked...so its been 2 years since we were last there. 

We had a good time and the weather was perfect - sunny the entire time...and of course hot hot hot!  The water felt great - very refreshing and cool - but not too cold to make it difficult to get it - yay!  It was a challenge with Cannon b/c he did not want anything to do with the water and he let us know loud & clear.  So he just hung out in the shade or when he got a little too warm, we just took him into the a/c cabins to cool him down - he usually just ended up crashing and taking a nap in there in his pack & play.

Brookie & Andrew had a blast - tons of time in the water and sun - they were worn out!  Andrew started to test out the waters with skiing - he did really well - if we could have kept practicing with him for another couple days, I think he would have been a pro!  We are so proud of him that he tried it and kept trying even though it was a lot more challenging than he probably thought it would have been.  Anyway...here are some pics of our weekend at the lake!

We also hiked up to the waterfalls on the other side of the park.  Wow - I am seriously out of shape - I thought I was going to die climbing up the rocks and today - my legs are killing me....so sad!  Anyway,  the falls were a lot of fun - there wasn't a lot of water flowing this time, but it was still enough for the kids to enjoy.  I decided to just stay on the rocks and take pics - I was scared if I got down there, I would never get back up...hahaha!

It is sooooo slippery on the rocks b/c of all the algae growing...so the only (safe) way to get down is sit down on your butt and just slide down.

The dry spots were the only spots you could stand on without falling - they were only a few dry spots left...

Then I just about had a heart attack b/c Andy & Andrew jumped in first leaving Brookie just standing on her little dry spot by herself....I thought for sure she would turn around and think she could run back towards me and totally wipe out....afterall - she does get her clumbsiness from me ;)

But thankfully she actually listened to her Daddy and stayed still until he told her to jump in the water to him :)  I breathed a huge sigh of relief!

Then it was time for some rock jumping into the water....Andrew showed us how its done!

And of course anything Andrew does - Brookie has to do too.  Obviously her jumping was revised for a 2 year old...hahaha.

Ice Cream, Swimming & Baseball

Can you get any more summer than those 3 things?  We've had another busy week and have had lots of fun.  At the beginning of the week, we were trying to think of some fun things to do with the kids.  My brother asked if I had ever been to the Blue Bell Factory in Brenham and since I hadn't we decided to make a trip of it.  To those that aren't familiar with Blue Bell ice cream - I'm so sorry....its only the BEST ice cream in the world!  It is just soooo good - I have yet to find anything that even remotely compares...it is just THAT good!  We have also heard from several different people about a pool that is right across the street that is good for kids b/c it has a splash pad area for small kids and a waterslide and other fun things to do for the older ones - perfect - a full day of fun!  Once again, Natalie & Blakelyn joined us at the pool - they had been there before and we had been talking about making it back out there sometime together so the kids could play.  We made arrangements for Cannon to go visit Andy's Aunt Judy since it was way too hot and sunny for him to be outside for any length of time so it was just Brookie, Andrew, my brother Michael and me.  We had a really fun time - we were worn out when we made it back home.  The kids played hard!  Here are some pics from that day.

Doing the customary tourist pose outside the Blue Bell Factory with the old time delivery truck

We had a lot of fun at the pool - I got a little too much sun on my back - I never got a chance to put sunscreen on my back b/c Brookie was running to jump in the pool the minute I got her ready.  That girl is fearless!  She was running everywhere - I definitely had a workout that day trying to keep up with her.  I realized very fast once we got there that I made a huge mistake in forgetting her lifejacket.  She's still not 100% with it but it definitely would have helped her (and me) out.

When we got home that afternoon, Andy called to tell me that he was given 4 free tickets to the Astros game on Wednesday night with a parking pass.  We haven't been to a game since I was barely pregnant with Brookie so its been awhile.  We used to go 3-4 times/ week prior to that but since we've had 2 more kids - we haven't been able to get down there.  So the next day we just rested at home trying to recoup from all the sun & water that we had the previous day before we had to head downtown for the game that evening.  Of course it was torrential downpours all day so getting downtown during rush hour was no small task...it was a mess!  Luckily right as we were pulling into the parking lot at the game, it stopped raining!  We totally lucked out and were able to walk to the park without turning into drowned rats.  We had GREAT seats - they were 14 rows up from the field behind home plate - I could get used to those - ha!  We only stayed until the middle of the 5th inning since we had Brookie & Andrew with us and we made the mistake of buying them cotton candy.  They were W.I.R.E.D.!!!!  Especially Brookie - she was just bouncing off the walls - it was way past her bedtime and she was full of pure sugar - not the greatest combination for a 2 year old!

This was our view - they were great seats!  Lucky for us it was far from crowded so even though Brookie didn't need a ticket/seat to get in, we were able to spread out and she didn't have to sit on our laps the whole time - that would have been a challenge!

And this was Brookie right before we left - on her sugar high - she was such a mess by this point....hahaha

Like I said...she was bouncing off the walls - this next pic was taken right before she hit her teeth on the chair in front of her....she was just so wired - she couldn't keep still.

Rainy Week Fun

Last week was my first official week on my own with all 3 kids since my mom is now back up in Toronto :(  I think we had a really good week - despite the weather the second half of the week.  It poured pretty much from Wednesday through to Saturday evening so we were stuck inside for most of that time.  Finding things to keep 3 kids (at totally different ages) busy was challenging.  Wednesday I got brave and ventured out with the 2 little ones to story time at our local library.  We met up with my friend Natalie and her daughter Blakelyn (same age as Brookie).  Yeah that was an adventure I'm not sure we will be doing again anytime soon!  I thought we were going to get kicked out within the first 5 mins of getting there.  They girls would NOT sit down and actually got called out by the librarian who stopped reading the story to ask them to sit down!  We both wanted to just run and hide under a table!  Then since the story was about a little rattlesnake, they handed out sealed envelopes with rice inside so the kids can rattle them throughout the story to sound like the rattlesnake.  Of course they were only supposed to rattle them at designated times..try telling that to 2 year olds....seriously?  Why give them out to the kids when you know they (or maybe it was just ours again) are going to go crazy with them.  Then at the end they got to color a paper snake which they loved.  Afterwards, we ventured into the kids section of the library to read some books.  Again - BAD IDEA!  They were like wild animals in there.  At one point we were sitting around a little table surrounded my wooden bookshelves looking at books.  Brookie went to the other side of the bookcase to get another book and when she wouldn't answer me when I called her, I got up to check on her - she was climbing up the bookcase!!!!!  What in the world was this little girl thinking???  She is just crazy!  So anyway as you can imagine we didn't stay too long and headed to McDonalds to eat lunch and let them burn off energy in the playplace.  Here's a few pics we managed to catch at the library with the wild ones

The next day we stayed home and I caught up on some major laundry - that stuff seems to multiply hourly!  Again - another rainy day so I broke out the finger paints and they had so much (messy) fun.  I am so thankful I haven't bought my new kitchen table yet.  As much as I dislike the one I have - its so nice b/c I don't have to worry what happens with it - I can just windex it clean.  I think its safe to say I will be hanging onto it for a few more years until the kids are older.

We also had a really fun long weekend - even though it was pretty non stop.  Saturday we were all over town visiting family & friends.  We didn't end up getting home Saturday night until almost midnight....so the kids got to bed really late.  But for once - they actually slept in the next day too - almost to 11am!  It was wonderful!  Sunday - 4th of July we went to Andy's aunt & uncle's house for a bbq and swimming.  We had a blast just enjoying the weather - it was finally sunny out again - yay!  I snagged some pics from my sis in law & her mother in law to post on here - I of course forgot my camera again.  Brookie & Andrew are complete water babies - they were in the water the entire time and having a blast. 

Cannon on the other hand decided that he didn't want any part of the water that day - it was pretty cold in the pool b/c of all the rain we had been having the last several days. So he only lasted maybe 5 mins if that. Andy got out with him and got him calmed down and took a little snooze.

Later that night we popped fireworks with a bunch of our neighbors outside.  Its definitely hard with the loud noises with a baby.  Brookie loved them and was outside for most of it but Cannon wasn't too much of a fan - way too loud outside and inside he was woken up by them.  Luckily I was able to get him to sleep at his usual bedtime and he slept through the rest of it.

Today we just ran errands and stayed around the house and the kids played on the waterslide outside.  And once again, I did a bunch of laundry - see what I mean that stuff just multiplies?  I can't even tell you how many loads I did again today.  Its a never ending battle!

Here's a cute pic I took the other day of Brookie & Cannon playing.  Cannon was in his jumperoo playing and he really can't touch the floor too well right now so Brookie gave him a helping hand (or body).  What a thoughtful big sister :)

And finally - just for Uncle Michael...lol.  He is a University of Michigan fan (not really sure where that came from but oh well) and I just so happened to pick up a tshirt a while back for Cannon just b/c I thought it was cute and just a simple shirt to throw on with his diaper when we are just hanging out at home.  And as an added bonus it is a great way to annoy uncle Michael as it is a Michigan State shirt lol  Needless to say Uncle Michael was NOT impressed when he saw his nephew sporting this tshirt earlier this evening...lol.

I'm not so sure Cannon was too sure about his wardrobe choice either....

Looking up at Uncle Michael trying to figure out what the big deal is.....

And then he decided that he didn't want anything to do with Michigan State either - he puked all over it and threw a fit!  Either that, or Uncle Michael willed his nephew to behave like that..lol!  I guess we will never know!