Vacation - Part I - Great Wolf Lodge

Well we finally took a vacation...a WEEK long!!! I haven't taken a week long of vacation since Tracy and I had our honeymoon 3 years ago (unless you count maternity leave, but I don't because that was NO vacation)!!

We started off the vacation by going to a place on the outskirts of Dallas called Great Wolf Lodge.

We had heard many good things about this place from Brian & Denise, as well as Kim & Lauren so we decided to give it a try. Let me tell you, it was an amazing place, and I really wish we had had more time to spend there. We got there on Sunday at lunch which was when we could start checking in and left about the same time the next day. Great Wolf Lodge is a huge indoor water park at a climate controlled 84 degrees, which let me tell you with the week long heat wave of 100 degrees or more each day, this place felt wonderful.

We started the time by going to the room and changing immediately. Abby felt the need to model her new swim suit for us!

Riley decided to test the waters and see how she liked it...of course she did!

We then kind of split off. Riley & Abby stayed with Tracy so that Austin and I could go and do more daredevil rides (i.e. really huge slides). Apparently Abby really likes the water (which we knew). The kids area had a beach like entry and she would crawl until she was under water and then pick her self up and keep crawling. I guess she isn't afraid. She even went down a little person slide. Riley has grown so much with the water from last year to this year. She went down several slides and had a blast in the wave pool.

We took a break from swimming to do many things. One was playing in the arcade...how could the kids walk by and not want to play games!

There was this really cool 'game' called MagiQuest. You bought a wand and then went on quests throughout the 8 story lodge. When you solved your clues you would find it in the lodge and wave your wand at it and it would tell you things or the next thing to do. I participated in this Sunday night for a bit and after climbing 7 stories and while holding Abby (who I might add fell asleep during all of this) I decided to bail. Riley lasted a little longer and then Austin and Tracy came back to the room ......4 hours later! It really is an addictive activity and Austin was a Master Magi by the time we were through.

Riley, Abby and I got some chill time while Austin was magic playing and Tracy was loading the vehicle before we left on Monday. It was an amazing place and we definitely needed another day!

Texas Reds Festival 2009

Okay...so it has been a while since I posted, and boy are you probably going to get tired of reading for a bit :). I FINALLY downloaded a bunch of pictures from the past few weeks. Since Austin and Riley have been here, I haven't really wanted to get on a computer (or had the strength because I am worn out each day :) ) and have been doing much of the email and FB stuff on my iPhone. So here come a few posts. I am doing a few posts so there is separation for each item and one item isn't a million miles long...so here goes:

As mentioned in my previous post, the first Saturday the kids were here we went to the 3rd annual Texas Reds Festival held in downtown Bryan. We go every year and they seem to be adding more and more stuff for the kiddos to do each year.

It was super hot that day, but the kids seemed to really enjoy themselves...even Abby!

Riley & Abby before the day began

Riley Smiley going down the big girl slide! She wouldn't do this one in previous years...she is really getting to be brave!

Austin thought he would give this mechanical bull a ride...but I think it gave him a ride...he ended up on the ground not too long after this picture.

Abby is thinking....man Bubba is a wimp, I could have lasted at least 4 seconds! LOL

Riley's favorite part was the petting zoo...she thought it was the coolest last year too and didn't want to leave it.

Abby & Grisham hanging at the Children's Museum...just having a ball

Abby...you are too funny (says Grisham)

Riley Smiley loves to shop! The Children's Museum has this cool grocery store area where you can pretend shop and check yourself out and all sorts of fun stuff.

Austin being crazy at the Children's Museum trying on different masks...I am a tiger..rawr!

Kiddos

Late, Late Thursday evening (really early Friday morning), Austin and Riley made their debut in College Station for the summer. Yesterday, Riley got to meet Abby for the first time and they seemed to hit it off. Riley showed Abby all the things big sisters are supposed to do....how to play peekaboo, how to tilt her head to the side, how to eat mac & cheese :).

Yesterday was a get settled in day. I met the kids and Tracy for lunch at Casa Ole and then the rest of the afternoon was devoted to shopping. Tracy and I hadn't been to the grocery store in weeks and we desperately needed food ! After eating, the kids went to our neighborhood pool and seemed to have a blast.

Today we are going to the 3rd annual Texas Reds & Steak festival in downtown Bryan. They have Texas wineries to offer tastings, wonderful steaks, tons of music and vendors as well as tons of stuff for the kids to do. They block off a whole section of downtown. This will be Abby's first, but it may be cut short because of the heat. Yesterday the temp guage in our car said 101 degrees...sheesh it is going to be a long hot summer!

Max Allen Foster

Yesterday our good friends Chris and Sarah Foster welcomed their little bundle of joy to the world. His name is Max Allen Foster and was 21.25 inches long and 8 lbs 7 oz. Tracy has decided he will be calling him Maximus, so...Happy Birthday Maximus! Abby went to visit her new friend yesterday and thought he was really cool and looks forward to giving him a hard time and beating him up later :).

9 month checkup

My baby had her 9 month checkup today. There were no shots needed, but instead we got to hear what we thought....Dr. Neal told us she is still fat :). She weight 21.5 lbs and was 27 inches long. She is in the 95th percentile still for weight and in the 69th percentile for height. He said that she is meeting all her milestones and thinking she will be teething soon and walking before a year. The top picture is what Abby looked like within the first 24 hours she was born. The bottom picture is what she looks like now....a blur. My Abbykins will not stay still now to save our lives. She is always on the move and climbing on everything. Her bestest non human friend Rascal loves her and goes where she goes.

Today I went to Target and in the dollar section they had Abby stuff! I love it when I can find Abby Cadabby stuff!

9 months old!!

Abby is 9 months old as of yesterday. This is a picture Jamie took of her while they were at the park. I can't believe she is that old. She is turning into an animated little girl. She is constantly on the move and does NOT like to sit still. Right now she is staring at her reflection in the audio cabinet trying to speak to the little girl in the reflection. We have learned that she is not fond of anything green to eat :) (unless mixed with something sweet). This past week we have tried noodles and blackeyed peas and rice and real peaches.

I love you Abby bug! Happy 9 month birthday.

Teething...we think

So our little baby has been a monster lately. Her daddy even said he might consider giving her back if she continues like this! ...he was just kidding, but she has definitely had some issues. On Sunday night she woke up for 1-2 hours just screaming and would not calm down. I brought her to our bed and she still squirmed and fussed. Tracy finally went and fixed her a bottle and she gulped down 7 ounces without blinking. We have not had to feed this girl during the night since she was about 2 months old. Jamie said all day on Monday she hardly ate anything. Well on Monday night Miss Alex decided she wanted to wake up in the middle of the night and keep Josh & Jamie up for a couple of hours. We were hoping that this would be the end for these two.....

Well on Tuesday night Abby woke up around 1 and would not go back to sleep until a little after 3. She screamed unless you were holding her. She did NOT want to eat or sleep or play. We put her in bed with us and she finally went to sleep. She is just like Austin and Riley though...she will seek you out in her sleep and squish right up next to you and squirm all night. Needless to say I was a zombie yesterday. Everyone says that their kids started doing this right before teething so that is what we are hoping it is. Last night Alex woke up for a little while again. I don't know if those girls are chatting and thinking this is funny, but I have news for you little angels........IT IS NOT!!!! Abby on the other hand last night slept like a champ.

Today Jamie said she had 24 ounces over there which is a big deal considering all this week she has had about 11 over there each day. Tonight while changing Abby I looked in her mouth and you can see the teeth starting to come, so it won't be long. Luckily she went down kind of easy tonight (knock on wood) and hopefully will sleep all night...if not...it is daddy's turn :)!

Tomorrow......she is 9 months old!