A Whole Bunch of Randomness

I have a bunch of photos that are just from things we did here and there and never blogged about, so I am throwing it all into one. Just quick pics I took and wanted to share.

When we were in Texas back in May the family and I had a extra day before the rest of our family arrived so we decided to take the girls to an aquarium they had in downtown Dallas. When we got there we the only ones there so one of the guys that worked there spent lots of time with Katie and Bree showing them all sorts of water creatures in this tank. Telling them all the details and letting them touch them. Bree didn't really want to touch but Katie was very interesting in them. This guy was super nice to them.

The aquarium was not very big it took us all of an hour to go through it, which surprised me, I would have thought Dallas' aquarium would have been really big. Maybe there is another we just didn't know about. Anyway, as we were leaving we walked by another place called The Butterfly House. Katie begged us to go in because they have been learning about butterflies at school and have a butterfly net in their class room so they can watch all the stages from a caterpillar to a butterfly. We went in and it was really pretty neat. The girls kept trying to get the butterflies to land on their fingers.

Chris and Bree inside the Butterfly House

Papaw and Katie playing checkers. This is Katie's favorite new game to play. They played lots of games when they were here for a visit.

There is always a trip to CEC when Nana and Papaw are here. Nana riding the virtual rollercoaster with Bree. Love Bree's expression.

One Saturday we went over to Wilmington to check out their mall. Wilmington is about 35 mins away so we don't go there often. We when walked in the girls saw a carousel....well it was actually a double decker carousel which I had never seen before. Of course they wanted to ride on the top deck.

A day in the life of Samson....poor guy just can't get away from the tutu's and bows. You can see the bow that is in one of his ears. He had on in the other but managed to knock it out.

He gets his rewards for being a good sport and dealing with the girls. He gets his beach time. He loves the beach.

Bree's class at school had Pirate Day. She came home with a pirate hat and eye patch she made. She cracked me up wearing this around and saying "Errrrr Matey". She is one cute pirate.

The girls and I went by a shop called "The Turtle Factory". Most of the shops around our house are one a tourist shop for all the beach goers or they are shops that sell all of the beach decor items or very unique things. We went into this shop and got a nice surprise. They have a pottery painting place in the back. Kids paint for free all you have to do is buy the pottery piece. Most of the ones for kids are 5 bucks or less. The lady who runs this part of the shop is very kid friendly. She took the girls and showed them how to paint them, helped them the entire time. Whats cool about this place is you don't have to leave the pottery and let them fire it before you can take it home. They have a spray they put on it and it just has to dry a few minutes and then it is good to go. They loved it and have been back one more time. Katie ask to go a lot....she is big into the arts and craft stuff.

My two cuties waiting for some fireworks to start on July 4th, while they wait they enjoyed their snow cones.

Family Visit

This post is a little overdue...a few weeks ago Uncle Kevin, Aunt Brandy and Matthew came to our house for a visit. We were excited to have them come to our house and get to spend some good quality time with them. We didn't have much planned for the week, which was nice. We enjoyed spending time just hanging out together and of course hitting the beach a few times.

Most of the evenings we would spend some time outside. . Uncle Kevin brought some kites. One of the evenings we had lots of wind so we took advantage and let the girls fly some kites.

The girls love their cousin Matthew and are always so excited to see him. One day after we got home from the beach I found them all cuddled together on the couch watching a movie. Love this photo of the three of them..

Group photo

A little sunbathing is a must when at the beach



Bree taking a stroll with Kevin and Brandy.

Katie riding the waves

Fun in the sand. Matthew was working hard to dig a pool of water to put his feet in. Somehow it ended up he made a pool for Katie and Bree to play in.

One evening after dinner we all ended up playing Katie's Just Dance for Kids Wii game. It was beyond comical. Brandy and I danced to "Everybody Dance Now". Kevin took video but I threatened his life if he showed anyone. I realized just how uncoordinated I really am and also how aerobic this game really was. Kevin and Matthew gave it a try. They picked a hard one....YMCA....don't hurt yourself guys.

On their last night there we went to get some seafood at a little restaurant on the water by our house. The food is so good. We had a great dinner and enjoyed our last night together that week.

We had a great week together. Lots of fun spending sometime with the family. So nice to be back closer to family and get to see everyone more often.

What A Day!

We a had a fun filled Father's Day around here. After two anxious little girls woke up their daddy and gave him their card and gift, we headed out to take Chris to a brunch before church.

Daddy and his two favorite girls.

The girls relaxing outside of Christopher's, where we took daddy for brunch.
After church the girls kept asking daddy to take them fishing on the pier. Katie has been wanting to fish since we moved here. Waiting patiently for a fish to bite.

Our other little cutie waiting for a bite. They both really surprised me on how well they just sat and fished. I was for sure they would get bored after about 10 mins.

Daddy was the first one to get a bite. He got a little fish. Checking it out.

Daddy fishing with his girls.

Katie was so frustrated that she hadn't caught one fish. Both Chris and I caught a little fish but nothing for her. Chris decided to switch to the other side of the pier and help her try and catch something before we left. No more than 5 mins on the other side Katie had a bite. Not just a little bite.....she caught a baby shark.

Reeling in the shark....Oh my goodness she was so excited and she was reeling hard to get this little guy up. He may be small but he put up a good fight. He was about 2 feet in length.

The girls holding the big catch of the day.

A guy beside us helped us get him off the line and then he held the mouth closed so the girls could hold it. Doesn't she look proud hold her very first catch every!!!

Bree wanted to hold it too....she was not scared at all. She wanted to hold it all by herself but he was to wiggly to let her do that.

Katie wanted to keep it and bring it home. We had to explain that he wouldn't be a baby shark for long and plus we don't have a saltwater tank. So we had to let the little guy go and find his mamma. Katie was beyond thrilled that she caught not only a fish but a shark. She kept bragging that her fish was bigger than the ones Chris and I caught. She is not competitive at all. :)

The New Pad!

Ok, so finally I have gotten some pics of the house and posted them. Only two months later....but hey it has been pretty busy around here lately. These are a little out of order but you'll just have to go with it because my new laptop is not working with me very well this morning and I can't seem to get the pictures to post in the right order. Anyway.....here we go.

You can't really tell it from this picture but we have some flowers planted around the tree and up by the house. Katie is big in to wanting to plant flowers and grow a garden. I opted for the flowers as I am not a garden girl. Nanna helped out with the planting as I have a track record of basically killing anything I plant. So far so good....everything is still alive two weeks later....going on three. :)

This is our rec room or open room area, whatever it is suppose to be called. When you walk up our stairs it is the first area you come to.
The master bath room. No picture of our bedroom, all the pictures were turning out really dark.



The girls have been wanting their rooms painted and decorated for a while now, so I made it my first priority when we got to the new house. Here is Bree's room all decked out in Dora.

The girls have a jack and jill bathroom right between their bedrooms.

Katie's room. Painted purple with her black and pink zebra prints. She is such a girly, girl.

Eat in kitchen area

View to the front of the house from the living area

View from front door in to the house. Chris' office is over to the left (no pic becuase it is still a disaster) and the dining room is over to the right.

Dining Room\Samson Room

Living Room area

We have an extra bath and bedroom down stairs off from our kitchen. This is the bath, sorry the picture wouldn't turn for me. Bedroom is right beside it.

This is my office upstairs where I work each day.

The laundry room....I am showing our dirty laundry. This is upstairs which I LOVE so I don't have to carry laundry up and down the stairs since all of our bedrooms are upstairs.

And that folks is our new place.....still have pictures to hang, an office to organize and also get the garage under control.....but all in all we are pretty much moved in and settled. Getting used to live at the beach. :)

Memorial Day Beach Fun

Over Memorial Day weekend we went to the beach a couple of times. The weather was amazing, sunny and a wonderful breeze at the beach. My girls are becoming quite the beach babes. They would love nothing more than to spend everyday there and so would I. When they are at the beach they play so well together not one fight, no whining, no crying just all smiles. Don't know why that is but I'll take it.

This picture was from a couple of weeks ago but thought it was a sweet photo of them playing so nicely together

Katie has become a little surfer girl. She asked for a body board soon after we moved her so we got her and Bree one. This is what Katie does the entire time we are at the beach. She goes out and rides one wave after another in. I think I foresee surf lessons in her future.


Love that happy face

Daddy catching a wave with his girl

Bree on the other hand is more of a splash and play in the waves kind of girl. She will use her body board every now and then, but she mostly likes to just run and play in the water.

Chris taught her how to stand sideways when waves come so they don't knock her over. It so cute, everytime a big wave is coming she hops sideways and plants herself for the wave to hit her.

We decided to take a little break from the water and build some sand castles. We were having a contest it was Katie and Momma vs. Bree and Daddy. Katie said Papaw was going to be the judge.
This was mine and Katie's

This was Daddy's and Bree's. I think they were going for the Pyramid type of castle. Come to think of it Papaw never said who won...hmmm....I think he was trying to avoid that one. :)

By the end of the day the girls had figured out a new game. Pull each other on the body boards. Bree loved this. She would just laugh. Katie was a good sport pulling her everywhere. Daddy and I both ended up pulling them both around on the waves.

And when we are not playing in the water with the girls.......this is what we like to do best on the beach. Relax and watch our girls have fun.