SB18

We are nearing the end of Spring Break 2018, and what a great week it's been! We started our break last Saturday with an afternoon at the Katy Trail Ice House patio with the rest of the Plano.  It was a beautiful day, and we all enjoyed relaxing. Sunday morning we got up and headed to Galveston for a family beach getaway.  Of course we had to make our inaugural stop at Buccee's. It's not a gas station, and it's not a department store, but it's whatever is in between those two. A crazy place, for sure, we had lots of fun looking around!

 We stayed at the San Luis on Seawall Road. Steve's parents had been there before and recommended it. We loved it and would definitely stay there again. We had a short walk across the street to the beach, and easy access to lots of shops and restaurants.

  Not to mention a tremendous pool and Gulf view!

The girls thought the stairs out front were fancy!

 We had nice weather, though the breeze was cool at times. We always opted to eat out on patios, and on our first evening Emma felt like this was the best way to bundle up when the sun went down. This was at Landry's - amazing crab cakes and lobster tails!

Next to Landry's is a Rainforest Cafe with a volcano on top that goes off every so often. We enjoyed watching it erupt, and you could really feel the heat from the fire!

 We walked the two miles along the seawall from our resort to Pleasure Pier. It was fun to stop and read various historical markers. I had never considered that Galveston was once considered the "Ellis Island of the South", but a marker said so and I guess it makes sense!

Getting closer to Pleasure Pier.

 We got to PP early enough to beat the crowds, and enjoyed not having to wait in lines for rides.  Steve and Sara battled in the big bumper cars while Emma rode the little ones.

This was Emma's favorite ride. When it first started, I was sure we'd be taking her off of it in tears, but she giggled the whole time as it flew wide and went in circles.

 Sara was hesitant, but finally agreed to ride the Iron Shark roller coaster with Steve. When I say it goes STRAIGHT UP, that is no exaggeration. The whole ride probably lasted twelve seconds, but it was intense. We were proud of Sara for being so brave!

 Sara pretended to enjoy the tea cups for her sister. PP reminded us a lot of the rides at MOA - instead of being inside a mall, they were on a pier over the water!

On our walk back from the pier, we enjoyed some great Mexican food at Salsa's and then hit a beach store for new cover-ups before heading to the pool.

 We dedicated one day entirely to the beach. We loaded a cooler, grabbed the soccer chairs that were luckily in the back of the car, some buckets and shovels, and spent the day enjoying the sand and surf.

No better place to finish a book!

 Steve and Emma were busy building most of the day. The first castle was washed away at high tide, and we all enjoyed watching it slowly go.

 Of course Emma couldn't leave without being buried.

 Toes in the sand!

 Our own town with a seawall!

 As soon as they saw that these were available, the girls were asking to rent one of these bikes. We had a fun time pedaling to the pier and back.

 No trip to the beach is complete without lots of ice cream, and these two had their share. 

 Not a bad spot for breakfast! None of us were ready to leave when our time was up (I even asked the front desk, with crossed fingers, whether our room was available for one more night) - I definitely think we'll be back. It was much needed relaxation and connection time for our family.

 Yesterday, the girls' Kansas cousins stopped by on their way to Waco. The girls had the best time together. The weather was beautiful, and we heated the pool so we could officially have our season opener. We were so glad they were able to swing by, and the time spent swimming was a much needed break for kiddos on a long car trip!

 Today we went to the park and the girls are swimming again. I'm also attempting to make corned beef and cabbage for St. Patty's Day. We're enjoying March Madness even as it proceeds for the first time in a long time without the Cyclones, and of course we're getting back into the swing of real life. Regular stress is seeping in, and the girls are back to fighting non-stop ... but it sure was a great SB18 while it lasted!

Spring!

After nearly two straight weeks of rain (and I mean RAIN), we are having a beautiful spring Saturday! Emma's team finally got back on the soccer field, and even though the ground was pretty soggy, they walked away with a big win.  We played at the park, and our windows are open.  It feels great!  I didn't mean to take a blog break for all of February, but then as the month went on, every time I thought about blogging, I started remembering last February ... aka #notmyFebruary. And although I'm not necessarily superstitious, I decided I'd go ahead and get through the month successfully before blogging again.  It seemed to work.

January ended with a visit to Signal Mountain to officially say goodbye to Grandma Lou.  It was a great trip, and I enjoyed the special time with my family.  I managed to hold myself together until the plane ride home, which came after a couple days of fever and hours of flight delay on top of the general emotions from the weekend.  We honored G Lou in a way she would have approved of, and I'm thankful for that weekend.  

Since then, we've been constantly on the go.  My sister came down for a great girls weekend, which now feels like years ago.  It's been cookie season, and Sara did a great job selling her cookies.  Our booth outside of Lowe's in the cold rain wasn't necessarily the most fun thing ever, but I enjoyed my time with Sara.  When a veteran came up to buy some cookies, he told the girls he would donate $20 for Troop 2 Troop if someone could name whose picture is on the Purple Heart. Sara knew that it is George Washington!  We extended our day date together with a trip to Starbucks (which she loved) and a trip to the grocery store (which she endured).

Both girls enjoyed their Valentine's parties at school.  Emma wasn't at all bothered by some of the extravagant card boxes that came in; she was super happy with her decorated brown bag. I love her free spirit.

 

Emma's Pre-K class performed a skit for the talent show. They had been practicing so hard and did a great job.  Having PK at school has added a whole new element, and everyone loves it. Some of the 5th graders helped them put this skit together, and the older kids were so proud of the littles!

 We have one more week of school until spring break.  We're doing something a little different this year and hitting the road just the four of us.  We will head to Galveston for a few nights, and then we'll be home for the last few days of break. I'm looking forward to going somewhere we haven't been, and more than anything, I can't wait to unplug and reconnect as a family.

 Now Sara is getting ready for a birthday party and Emma is begging me to come do a puzzle ... so I'm done for now. Will update again soon!

Book Talk

Guess what? I haven't been blogging but I have read a couple of books recently.

 One Station Away was a really unique story. I say 'unique' because it didn't feel like anything else I've read in a long time, which I think can sometimes be hard to come by.  It's about a neurologist in NYC and three women who play critical roles in his life. One is his mother, whose own life has become his baggage, one is his love, and one is a patient. I know that may sound formulaic, but the story wasn't at all.  This book was deep but easy to read, really well written and I was engrossed from the start.

 Snow Falling on Cedars is an older release that I somehow never read.  Such a great story - engaging, maddening, vindicating. It's about a small fishing town north of Puget Sound in the 1950s, where a well-liked fisherman is found drowned and a Japanese man is accused of his murder. Obviously this goes far beyond a court case, and there's much at stake beyond a verdict.

Elmet is hard for me to describe.  For some reason, it took me a long time to figure out when and where the story was taking place, and by the time that was cleared up, I had a different vision in my head. I think maybe I was just distracted when I was reading.  The story was interesting - narrated by a boy who lives with his dad and sister, the trio are happy with their simple life in a small home in the woods where they live off the land and occasionally receive some school-type lessons. A series of small events, plus a catastrophic one, rock their world and change their lives forever.  As I was reading, I felt like this book was written very artistically, if that's a thing.  I enjoyed it, but sometimes just wanted the author to get to the point. There was a lot of lead up to the *event*, and I would have liked more closure afterwards.

This week was Read Across America Week in honor of Dr. Seuss's birthday.  Probably the best reading I've done recently was to one of my third grade classes.  We had guest readers in every classroom today, but we were a few volunteers short, so I got to read "The Sneetches" to an awesome group of kiddos.  The best part of my week!

"You can find magic wherever you look. Sit back and relax, all you need is a book."

-Dr. Seuss