Monday, November 24, 2014

Time away - Just us

Philip and I dropped the kids off with his parents Friday night in Tyler and went and watched the newest Hunger Games movie Mockingjay Part I.  The kids were already asleep when we got home but we got to hang out with them Saturday morning before we left for Waco.  We went to The Baylor vs OSU game.  It rained nearly the whole time!  Luckily there were a couple of extra padded seats with backs next to our friends Josh and Jill so we went and sat by them after the first quarter.  Baylor played great and we left happy, wet and tired.  

We stopped by Chick-fil-A for a late night snack before driving straight to the airport.  We slept in our car in the airport parking garage and caught our 6am flight to Florida Sunday morning. Spending the night in a car will remind you how thankful you are for simple luxuries such as brushing your teeth, taking out your contacts, and washing your face of yesterday's makeup.

Sunday evening after checking out the hotel grounds, taking showers and getting ready we walked down to the other end of Duval street to meet our ferry to Sunset Key island for dinner at Latitudes.
The sunset, atmosphere and dinner at this place were all breathtaking! 
Philip's main course:

View from our table:
View from out on the pier:
We watched schools of fish in the water while we waited on our ferry boat back to Key West. 
On the way back to our hotel we stopped at an ice cream parlor on Duval.  Check out these cookies!
At 7:30 Saturday morning a shuttle picked us up for our fishing trip on Reef Runner I, with Captain John and Mate Jeff.
I was the only girl on the boat, so I spent most the time on the upper deck with the Captain learning about fishing.  I also helped point out when I saw a splash in the water from a fish jumping or birds diving so the Captain could check it out and Philip could catch more fish :) I saw tons of jelly fish, Portuguese jellyfish, a hound fish, and a flying fish and heard many fisherman tales!
In the meantime Philip was catching sea monsters like this:
This barracuda is on his way to taxidermy and we expect to have him back and mounted in our home in about 3 months.
They let most the fish they caught go, but     these guys weren't as lucky. That pretty pinkish one on the right end is a mutton snapper, the experienced fishermen seemed impressed that Philip caught it.  
These pelicans were hanging out at the port waiting on our fish leftovers.
We relaxed on a hammock on the beach at our hotel Monday afternoon. Before heading to dinner at Point 5.


After dinner we went to a different restaurant just for dessert!  I'm pretty sure we both left this trip a few pounds heavier :)

Tuesday morning we rented bicycles and rode all around key west! It's been awhile since I've been on a bike so it took a little getting used to!  We did the touristy thing and visited the southernmost point marker which was right by our hotel! 
We rode down to a public beach, rehydrated with a couple of snowcones, and then plopped down in the sand for a while and enjoyed the sun!
It was nice to see the not so touristy side of Key West on our bike ride.  

Tuesday evening we had dinner outside at a quaint little place just off Duval street called Onlywood Pizzeria.  Wednesday a cold front blew in and we checked out of or hotel and camped out in a little cabana at the tranquility pool before heading to the airport. 

I enjoy spending time just being his! So thankful!!!











 





Monday, November 17, 2014

Cameron turns 2!

For Cameron's birthday instead of throwing a large party, I decided to keep things quiet just like our lil guy.  I took Raegan to the toy store the week before and let her pick out gifts for her little brother.  She picked out an alphabet puppy and a yellow school bus, because "Cameron loves puppies and buses."  He also loves his big sister!

Cameron has graduated from his crib and is a great sleeper, if it wasn't for his sister in pretty sure he would like to sleep in ;) recently they've been taking turns sleeping in each other's rooms.  

I let the kids help Philip and I bake a cake, Cameron did not like the sound of the mixer! Raegan was set on the cake having sprinkles on top but we convinced her we could just put sprinkles on our individual pieces.  Cameron picked blue sugar sprinkles!  

He had his 2 yr check up today. He got one shot and didn't even cry and was so good for the dr the whole time.  

Quick stats:
Weight 25.8lbs (23rd percentile)
Height 32.5" (13th percentile)

Birthday pics:





Love you baby boy!




Tuesday, November 11, 2014

2nd annual fall trip to Oklahoma

We made a short trip to Oklahoma this past weekend to visit old friends and watch Baylor's football team dominate OU.

On the way we stopped in for lunch at the brand new Chick-fil-A in Ardmore, OK.  The place was packed with people, cows, and balloons!  My kids enjoyed all the extra excitement and Philip and I had the opportunity to meet the new Operator, David, and his wife Stacy. Some of Philip's old OKC operator friends had also come down to help with the grand opening of the store so he got to chat with them for awhile as well. 

Some of our children's adopted Chick-fil-A grandparents (we're all one big family), our dear friends, Mike and Susan, were away on vacation, but were so very generous to allow us to stay at their beautiful home.  They have many grandchildren of their own so there were lots of great toys both indoors and outdoors for our little ones to enjoy! PS- Oklahoma in the fall is so, so beautiful I wish I would have taken more pictures of the red, orange, and yellow leaves on all the trees!

We enjoyed a huge meal with aome OU fans at one of our old favorites, Yamato! (Why can't any place in Texas duplicate their Yum, Yum sauce for me!!) 
And after dinner a quick visit to our old stomping grounds, Sooner Mall.  Not too much has changed in the mall but these huge, ride-on stuffed animals are new and a bit crazy, but the kids obviously enjoyed it!
Saturday morning we gabbed breakfast at our favorite, Chick-fil-A, and then dropped the kids off with their old neighborhood friends, Lily (7) & Gavin (3) and a sitter before heading to the game in Norman with Chris and Charlotte.  
It was a chilly morning.  Our seats were up high but we had a great view of the field, the OU campus, and could even see downtown OKC buildings!  We were that high! The sun warmed our faces and I may have even gotten a slight sunburn!

After Bayor was clearly going to win the game, nearly all the OU fans quickly left the stadium and only the few Baylor fans that had traveled for the game were left, you could hear our Baylor fans cheering much better! After the victory we picked up our kiddos who had been playing and eating all day with their buds and visited our old neighbors, Payton (4) and Jackson (1), from across the street. The kids played outside while we caught up.  We do miss our friends and old neighbors in Oklahoma! 

After dinner back at Mike and Susan's house, we went next door to visit our friends and their littles, Mason (3) and Ethan (1).  It's amazing how much these guys have grown in a year!  Laura's littlest brother and his fiancĂ©, Darcy, were also in town visiting so we got to meet Darcy as well, which was a treat!
Sunday morning we got up early to go enjoy breakfast in downtown Norman at Syrup.  The wait was an hour long, for breakfast!  But oh, so worth it! I should've taken pictures of Reagan's cinnamon roll pancakes or Philip's waffle with peanut butter and bananas on it! But the name of the place is what Cameron was covered (seriously covered) in when we were finishd eating! Cameron really likes syrup! He was a sticky mess from his hair to his shoes! I had to wipe him down and change his clothes before putting him in his car seat to head home!  
And that sums up our trip it was covered with sweet, sugary blessings!