Zoo Lights 2017

 There are lots of traditional Christmas things that we just don't get in Texas. Snow, cold, fireplace fires, however we do get a whole lot of something else: Christmas lights. People have whole companies that offer Christmas light installation and storage for your house and yard. Everywhere you turn there is another light extravaganza just waiting for you to come and take a whole lot of dark photos with a camera you don't really know how to use in the dark.

We took the kids all the way downtown to the Houston Zoo which offers Zoo Lights during the holidays. It's a great mix of Christmas, Texas and not sweating to death in the middle of summer at the outdoor zoo. 

They take care of the traditional showing of lights, on tree limbs (these are 80 year old oak trees that line the streets in this part of Houston. They're huge, sturdy, and look amazing when lit up!), and on the cone shaped evergreen trees everyone thinks of when Christmas rolls around. 

As with everything in Texas, they also put their own spin on the holiday. If you haven't lived here, I'll bet you wouldn't know about the beautiful purple Christmas armadillo.

And most other places don't have a big showing of spring flowers in their Christmas decor. But alas, Texas does things it's own way. And were here for it!

Proof that we brought Graham. We really disliked the idea of a one-year-old on the loose in a dark place with lots of water features, so he stayed in the stroller.

We were joined by our friends the Robertsons who I credit with getting me out of my comfort zone to do these fun, after hours on a school night, activities. We had a blast, and look forward to many light shows in our future. 

Alex Turns 4!

Our little big guy turned FOUR! And we had his birthday party at his favorite place to go, Maximum Gymnastics. We have had other birthday parties here, it's a great spot because it's affordable, holds a whole lot of people and you have the entire gym to yourselves for the whole party. 

Lots of our buddies were able to join us in celebration and Alex was able to wear his favorite themed shirt to support Maximum. And we are always glad to have the Newhooks travel up from downtown to help us party! 

Even our littlest party-goer was able to crawl around and have a great time

Alex adores running into the foam pit and jumping on trampolines. The birthday boy spent so much of his time on these two activities. A birthday party that gets all of the energy out before the sugar rush is really the best of all worlds.

The grand finale of every gymnastics birthday party is the parachute circle. I remember this from childhood as being the greatest event ever as a little kid. Sitting in the middle of the parachute while everyone billows it around you is like sitting on a cloud for a 4 year old. It's always fun to participate in AND experience. 

Happy Birthday little man! There are so many great things lying right ahead of you!

First Day of School!!

It's time for school!! Every fantastic summer must come to an end, and even though the weather doesn't exactly feel like fall, school marks the end of summer vacation here in mid-August. 

 Gretchen has grown like a long-stemmed sunflower this year, she is all limbs and couldn't be more excited about starting first grade. While we love summer, it is nice to return to a life where everyone has peers to interact with and age-appropriate tasks keeping them busy. especially this book-a-holic that reads in every spare moment she can find. 

Alex will continue pre-school at his Spanish immersion school as we cross our fingers that the language he is learning will persevere through the summer season where he had very little exposure to Spanish. We were happy to learn that he will keep the same beloved Ms. Talia as his teacher this year in class. He adores her, and if you ever have the pleasure of meeting her, you would too. She is an absolute doll.

And Graham gets to have mom to himself for a few hours a day. Let's hope I can keep him busy and happy. 

Our beautiful girl, rockin' her new short haircut. 

Silly Face!!

The days are long but the years are short indeed. Enjoy your school year little ones, no doubt you will flourish where you're planted!!

Ithaca, New York

After wedding week was over, we wanted to maximize our time on the east coast by visiting friends. We coordinated a way to have Jon return to Texas, me to drive our three littles up to New Jersey to visit and stay with the Humkeys, and then Jon fly to Jersey, we all pack up the caravan and meet the Elys in upstate New York. These are the crazy lengths we go to in order to keep up with our friends. And it was due time, as two of the three families had new members since we had seen each other last! 

First things first, the 6.5 hour drive up to New Jersey. Lots of snacks, lots of help from Gretchen in distributing said snacks, plenty of movies on the iPad and one parking lot "rest" stop for mom, before we knew it we had arrived in this lush dream-property that the Humkeys call their backyard!

These two are 3 days apart in age, and got along just like peas and carrots

Our kids learned that they have been missing out on a Basement their entire lives

And then came time to bring the Elys into the mix. We rented a single house FOR FIFTEEN PEOPLE in Ithaca, NY. The house worked well, except for the loudest baby in the world (Graham) waking everyone up every single day. At the end of the day, I think everyone was pleasantly surprised at how well we all worked in relatively close quarters. 

We spent the morning at an Amish market that was a childhood dream. Popcorn, ice cream, and just enough peer pressure to let our kids eat whatever they want. Everyone had a great time with their built in buddies, it must be genetic. 

Gretchen is in her glory eating sweets and posing for pictures with the Ely clan.

The big dad-win of the weekend was letting each child buy a $1 used stuffed animal from the market. The moms were unanimously against this decision. The moms were wrong. 

These stuffed animals brought hours of imagination and joy to the kids. The Ely children are pretty incredible and creative, they had stuffed animal weddings, stuffed animal veterinarian visits and outside of our rental house, a full on stuffed animal habitat. Total Win.

Ithaca is this beautiful town with a great mix of country and town, and has the added bonus of being part of the upstate New York wine country. We took a family tour of this beautiful winery, on a clear and sunny day. Moments after this photo was taken, Graham took his first steps on that green, green grass. 

The moms took a time out to visit a wine tasting room in town, where the front window has this cool collection of wine openers complete with corks attached. Someday, our dedicated wine room will have this kind of cool, eclectic detail.

Donuts for the win!!! Thumbs up all around!

This diner had one of the most unique features I've ever seen - a functioning, live, beehive with plexiglass walls so you can watch the magic happen. Mesmerizing. 

Before we bid Ithaca adieu, we took a hike in the Watkins Glen park to see some waterfalls. The paths were narrow and wet and dark AND I was wearing a baby so I didn't get many photos, but this side trip surpassed my expectations!

It was a fantastic weekend with friends, I hope we can do it again sometime soon. Take a look at the big girls holding babies in this group shot! And Alex is channeling his inner GC model pose. And if you look really close, you can see some of the stuffed animal habitat. 

Robbie & Courtney Get Married!

They did it! 2017 must have been the hot year to get married, because after Ted & Kyra tied the knot in February, Robbie & Courtney followed suit in June! 

This spectacular event was hosted at my parent's lovely home in the Northern Neck of Virginia. Their property was transformed by a year's worth of planning, weeding, trimming, planting and sweating, but WOW - it was worth every single detailed task. 

Courtney has been in Robbie's life for a few years, but we first met my future sister-in-law and her lovely daughter in 2015 when they visited us for Thanksgiving. She is a lovely, calm, friendly person and has raised the most perfect cousin for Gretchen. They were kind enough to include me, Gretchen and Alex in their wedding party. 

Setup at a private resident wedding is a bit complicated. The coordination between the vendors, my parents and the wishes of the bride and groom were made a bit tougher due to the very small town they live in, and the lack of resources to shop from. Through the lead-up to the big day, everyone did a great job of keeping calm and getting things done. 

And then it was the big day! These most handsome beautiful little people were ready to make their debut as ring bearer and flower girls. I'm not sure they could look any more excited. 

And they could not have executed their duties more perfectly.

It was a beautiful ceremony at the point overlooking the water that leads to the Chesapeake Bay. The weather cooperated, the backdrop arch was masterfully decorated, and Jon power-washed the pool deck to a sparkling shine. Alex created a moment of extreme levity when he took the pastor literally and repeated all of the vows from the front row. 

And the most important thing, Robbie and Courtney were married.

Then it was time to party! Another thing that my parent's house is perfect for, hosting a great party. There was dancing, food was plentiful, and we even got the lights to work and power to the DJ. 

It was lots of fun to get all dressed up and celebrate our family. It's ideal to do it all, and then have a vacation. Congratulations Robbie, Courtney and Peityn. You are sure to have a beautiful life together. 

Oh So He Grows!

Graham does many things, what he does not do is slow down. He went from a squishy newborn to a full-fledged baby with wants, desires and abilities in a blink. These beautiful blue eyes command the room and light up our hearts. 

By month three he was a smiley, giggly, hand-loving little guy. He has head and neck control and is built as tough as they come!

Down to his tailfeather, he enjoys being "worn" by mom and holding up his head. 

Graham wasted no time getting enough neck strength that he could use all of the fancy toys that we have for him. He enjoys a different bouncer in each room and a pack and play placed in the family room so that he doesn't miss a moment of the action.  

That face!!

There are such opposing forces happening as I watch our children grow, and it seems most apparent as I spend this quiet time with our third, and last, little baby. It is difficult for me to sit and enjoy the quiet - I want to be accomplishing something, working on "the list" for that day, or preparing something that I know I need to do later. The kind reminder of "cherish this moment, because it's gone before you realize" is true, but I never found it particularly helpful. When you are in the moment of having that little one that just wants to sleep on you all the time it's wonderful - and then an hour passes and the anxiety of not getting anything else done and you've got to pickup Alex from pre-school and then get home for the bus so you can get the big kids to swimming while Graham screams the whole way there and back - takes over, and it's really hard to cherish that moment of anxiety. 

So, I find that I'm constantly trying to remember to enjoy the moment, while simultaneously trying to remember everything else that needs to be done, while also counting the minutes until I can close my eyes and get some sleep. Pictures are such a treasure in this way. They help preserve the moment exactly as it was, and the tasks of the day don't attach to a picture, so I'm left with this beautiful sleeping baby clutching his elephant and losing grip on his ticker. And this is the moment I want to cherish.

And also this one, where the big kids enjoy having a baby brother, and share in the accomplishment of him sitting up on his own and rolling over and giving them smiles. 

Sitting up is yesterday's news. Now he focuses on leg strength.

Life is long and short all at once, and nothing brings that home like seeing your first baby feed your last baby with the same bottle you fed her with. Especially since feeding her feels like it took place last week.