Season 3, Episode 11

- Hi there. I hope all you Texans had a wonderful spring break! It's amazing how the meaning of "spring break" changes as you transition from student to parent. I remember how we so looked forward to that glorious week in March. Had big plans, travels of all sorts, and tons of fun. Now it's more like Oh, it's spring break? Really! I wonder if anyone I know is doing anything cool. Hey, maybe we should do something cool too. Like uh, well, uh. Ok, life as normal. Pitiful, I know. Once the boys are in school it will change again, but for now, that's the summary of my thoughts on spring break. We did manage to have a little more fun than normal this past week though. So all was not lost. And we did traditional spring things like work in our yard, too. Yard work is one of those things that I never have the desire to do but feel so satisfied once I've done it. Living somewhere as green as The Woodlands makes yard work a little overwhelming. As in we could spend a few hours out there every.single.weekend and it would still not look completely kept. And as I've mentioned before, that's one of my husband's only dreams when it comes to home ownership: a nice yard. It looks even rougher than usual right now because it's still recovering from the sprinkler install. But maybe, hopefully someday....it will be the beauty of Mark's dreams. We're working on it!

- As I mentioned, we did have a little extra fun this week. And by "we," I mean "the boys." Their week was filled with lots of fun. The largest event being a fishing trip out to Uncle Kirk's ranch with Pa. I hung behind with Grant, because, well...Grant is not exactly lake behavior ready. (Code for "I would have spent the entire time trying to keep him from drowning.") Pa picked them up around eleven and they didn't make it home until after ten that evening. A full day of fishing fun! And from what I hear, they both hung in there like champs, never giving up or losing interest. Not surprisingly, my little competitive Kolbe loved it the most. They came home with stories of catching fish, riding in a paddle boat, riding a "real horse" (as opposed to the pony they rode at the rodeo), and getting to stop at McDonald's on the way home. Oh and some little tale of Kolbe going #2...in the forest. If only Pa would have managed to get a picture of that spectacle! I'm sure it would have been one for the scrapbooks. That Kolbe, he's a true man's man, I tell ya. Meanwhile, Grant and I ran several errands and I was thrilled to have a full nap time to get orders done without big boys interrupting. A chance to get ahead! But instead I spent the entire afternoon watching coverage of our new pope, Pope Francis. I'm so excited for our church and what's to come with our new shepherd! Sure, I may now be behind in filling orders but it was well worth it!

- Another fun thing we did this week was take a ride on The Woodlands trolley. We've been planning a trolley ride for roughly four years now. Since Kolbe was a baby! Every time we came to visit my parents we'd talk about it. Then when we moved here we talked about it even more! Just somehow never did it until now. It's just a fun, free twenty minute ride around the heart of The Woodlands. Some people who live down in the town center use it for public transportation too. It goes right by many common amenities like the grocery store and popular shops and restaurants. The boys loved it and I'm sure it won't be our last trolley ride!

Sorry for the picture explosion this week. Sometimes I can't help myself. :)

Two brothers on a trolley.

Three brothers and two grandparents on a trolley.

Three little wild guys on a trolley.

Cutest kid ever on a trolley.

The lady behind the camera and her crew on a trolley.

Rudy at the ranch on "the real horse."

My little anglers.

Riding the paddle boat with Pa.

Kolbe's big catch!

Rudy's big catch!

The other happenings for the week? Snuggling and acting silly in bed with mom.

Margaritas with my man.

Building monster trucks at Lowe's kiddie workshop!

Out to eat with several of my aunts and uncles who were in town. (Kolbe is my little twin.)

Visiting the koi garden this evening. On scooters, of course.

Rolling down one of the waterway hills. Bring on the summer!

And in case you haven't lost interest, here's a little video of my Grant-ness that I've just got to archive. In front of most people he says very few words. "Mama," "Dada," etc. But at home with me, he says all kinds of stuff! When I ask him to say the words for someone else (like Mark, for example) he'll never perform. So I tried to trick him and made a little video of us practicing his words. Animal is finally starting to communicate in English instead of various pitches of screaming. :)