To the BEACH!

About a month ago, Corbin mentioned to Michael that he wanted to go fishing in the ocean, so we decided, before school started that we would take a mini-vacation to Galveston! We left on Wednesday and got there right after lunch. We were out of the hotel within 15 minutes of getting there and heading across the street to the beach!!

When driving up and seeing the ocean, Gage said "Look! The waves are on!" He then continued to call it a "wave pool" for most of the trip. :) After getting salt water in their eyes and mouths, the boys opted for the hotel pool for most of our vacation.

Later that night, we grabbed a pizza and went fishing. Here is Corbin with his net to try to catch crab. (no such luck)

Gagey all ready to catch whatever came at him! :)

Here is the lone fish...a baby catfish that Corbin caught. It was ticked and drew blood on Michael.

Gage lasted about 10 minutes fishing, so mommy took him to the beach to wade in the water.

UGH....UGH...UGH. The next morning, at the butt crack of dawn, we headed to a boat to go bay fishing for 4 HOURS!!! The boys got bored fairly quickly, mommy was incredibly seasick the whole time and Michael caught one flippin catfish. This adventure is now on the top of my list of "Things I will NEVER do again"

Here is the reason I went bay fishing though...precious boy.

Corbin checking out the dolphins.

The boys loved watching all the huge boats and ships when our boat was heading to and from the fishing sites.

At about this point, I was very very happy to be getting off this effing boat. Our pier we were docked at wasn't too far away from the cruise ship in this picture.

Since I was still feeling kinda icky (2 hours) after the boat ride, I decided that seafood would be ok for lunch. Anyone that knows me knows that I HATE seafood. I was good by the time we ordered though so I got a sandwich that had this awesome orange bread with poppy seeds on it. Don't know what it was but it was YUM YUM! The boys and Michael had some fish and chips. :)

We ate on the patio at Fish Tales and had an amazing view of the beach.

Gagey wanted a picture of him with the beach, but instead I got him with the hotel in the background that was still messed up from Hurricane Ike damage.

Standing in front of the restaurant at a little boat sandbox.

At about 4:30pm, when it was still super hot out, we decided to rent a bike to ride around on. Michael and I were peddlers and the boys got to sit in the very front. We were completely exhausted and dripping with sweat after about 10 minutes, and then found out that Michael forgot to take off the emergency break. We were rolling after that and lasted about 45 minutes of our 1 1/2 hour rental. :)

Dinner, of course, was at the Rainforest Cafe! Michael and I got a couple of (well-deserved) margaritas while we waited for our seats.

Picture opportunities were everywhere around this place, so here are the two best pictures!

We left Friday morning, and were in Madisonville by lunch, so we stopped at Buc-ee's for some food, gas and bathroom breaks! This place was so cute and had the nicest bathrooms I have ever been in.

We got home and I was so excited that we were all out of that little hotel room and everyone was going to be in their own bedrooms that night...then our air conditioning went out and we all had to stay in one bedroom around a portable a/c unit. Oh well! Michael was able to fix it by Saturday afternoon!

Fun times!!! Now it's time to get Corbin all ready and organized for kindergarten next week. :(

Stay tuned...

4

Year 1: Now...I'm not going to lie. That first year was a rough one. I was once again, hugely pregnant, and on August 10, 2006 you entered the world and the birth was traumatic to say the least. Then at 4 months old, mommy had surgery and couldn't hold you for two weeks and then at 6 months, mommy decided to go back to school. It was a busy year, and although I was guilty most of that first year, and worried you wouldn't be a mama's boy...it all turned out fantastic! :)

Year 2: You are 150% boy! You love all things that go, mainly motorcycles and love doing anything and everything you can outside or in the garage with daddy. Corbin, at this age, was still a mama's boy, but you...were shifting towards daddy.

Year 3: About the same as year 2, but I notice that you are a lot more different than your older brother. You are laid-back, most of the time, you are silly and you still love all the same things. You did deal a lot with separation anxiety this past year, and mommy is hoping beyond hope that you will do better this next year. You love playing with Corbin and will do almost anything he says to get him to continue playing with you. You're an unbelievable sweetheart and you melt mommies heart when ya'll play well together!

I can't wait to see what new things I learn about you and from you this year. Currently, you love the song's "OMG" by Usher, and I can almost always hear you singing the country song "Lover..lover...you don't treat me no good anymore". You are also practicing learning the "dougie" dance and I absolutely LOVE watching you do it. You are the most kind-hearted snuggle bunny a mommy could ask for. Happy Birthday Gagey-Pagey Puddin' Lover!

I love you more than you'll ever know!
-Mom

A Pirate Party for Gagey's 4th Birthday!

What a fun time! Gagey's 4th Birthday Party was this weekend and he had a blast! He picked JumpnLand yet again (he has had 3 parties here), but since it's always such a big hit....we figure it doesn't matter. As long as lil man is happy in the end!

Sorry about my horrible pictures this year...every kid knows I'm crazy lady with the camera and will flat out refuse to look at me...plus the lighting was bad and I have no clue how to work the camera...

Yep...Corbin looks beyond thrilled I got my camera out.

Gagey wanted a "pirate" birthday party this year, so everything was skulls and crossbones.

Corbin even managed to talk Gage into getting a cookie cake instead this year. I made these cute lil favors for all the guests and forgot to take a pic. Lil custom treasure boxes with sugary "gold" inside!

Lincoln (cousin)

Seth (cousin)

Blane (cousin)

Corbin and his good buddy Carson...who isn't a cousin, just a friend. (even though Corbin always says they are cousins)

Hannah (friend)

The birthday boy himself...working up a sweat!

Gage and Dakota (cousin) It was really really hot inside this building and about 106 degrees outside!

Molly and Liberty having fun. Molly and Liberty are second or third cousins...I have no idea how all that works... :)

Molly

Is it just me or does it look like he wishes he could run me and my camera over?

Carter (friend)

Ella (another friend) Emma, her twin sister, would not look at the camera for anything and even gave me the evil eye a couple times. :( Got this picture by accident...she didn't see me coming!

Some skee ball between friends...I think the game room was a bigger hit than the bounce house room this year.

The best part! Gagey sang "Happy Birthday" with everyone else and when it got to the part with his name, I snapped the pic. He was so happy!

Seth saying "Cheese!" I think he was really happy about his cookie!

Liberty

Hi Mom.

Party was finally winding down and Gage officially looks fed up with pictures. :) He got some great gifts from friends and family and had a lot of fun with everyone!! Thanks for coming to the party!!

His official birthday is Tuesday and we will be heading to the waterpark probably and then hitting the beach soon after! Stay tuned!

Batter Up!!

Sunday afternoon, while I was out shopping, the boys and Michael went and got a bat, baseballs and gloves to play some baseball! When it got cooler out, I went with them to "practice". Unfortunately, I have no clue how to work my camera when it's dark, so the picture quality sucks. :(

Gage started out as "ball chaser", going after any balls that Corbin would hit.

It's a hit...notice the ball is a tennis ball...I think Michael was thinking that these balls would hurt a lot less if we got decked with one. :)

Cute lil glove on a cute lil hand.

My lil Babe Ruth.

An overly dramatic catch!

Gage played pitcher...

See those lil dots? Those are the boys catching balls that Michael hit to them.

Corbin got ticked at one point...look at him trying not to smile while being ticked!

Gagey's turn at bat...

We decided that Gagey isn't quite ready for actual baseball, so today we went to Target and got a practice t-ball stand. :) I think he'll have much more fun that way!

Gagey's birthday party is this weekend! Stay tuned for pics!