Andrew's Crazy Birthday Week

It has been a birthday bonanza week for Andrew. His birthday was on Wednesday, March 21st and we have been celebrating since then!

Andrew's favorite pre-school teacher is Ms. Gabi. She loves Andy and calls him "Scooby." So naturally when his birthday came around she gave him an appropriate gift - Scooby Doo!

On his birthday PawPaw came by with some presents for Andy! He got his own rod and reel and a tackle box ready for fishing.

And here he is with his PawPaw!

Then Andrew got to open his gifts from Wade and I. Imagine his surprise when he unwrapped a trashbag box! Mommy was hard up for boxes, ok?

It got better once he opened a Spongebob t-shirt. It says "My name is trouble" on the front - how appropriate!

Andrew's room is being decorated in a sports theme, so he got a very real looking football bank!

Next came his own baseball glove :)

He also got a Pirate of the Caribbean kickboard to use in the pool this summer.

And what goes better with the glove than a ball and bat! He also got a t-ball stand.

BUT, his favorite gift was his new Hotwheels bicycle! Doesn't he look cool on it?

Andrew gives the new bike 2 thumbs up :)

Not one to waste time, Andrew hit the streets right away on his new bike. He did very well pedaling himself!

He's definitely a big boy now!

Dinner for his birthday was at Chuck E Cheese - every kids favorite place and every parents worst nightmare :)

Avery had a good time too, in spite of her obvious birthday envy.

Just a cute picture of Avery on a ride!

The kids with Chuck E Cheese himself!

Bethany took Andrew out on Thursday for shopping at Toys'R'Us followed by another trip to Chuck E Cheese. Avery drowned her sorrow in a chocolate donut - see, it helped! Well, that, and Bethany promised to take her out for her birthday next month!

Here is Andrew and his godmother Bethany :)

Saturday was party day! Spongebob was the theme for this year and here is Andrew's cake (thanks to the lovely folks at Wal-Mart).

Who knew that the balloon kit I bought at the Dollar store would be such a hit? Aunts, uncles and grandparents all took a turn at making balloon creations!

Present time! This adorable Cars camo shirt was a gift from Nonny and Poppy, along with the UT shirt on his head!

They also gave him a bicycle helmet, a shorts outfit and some Spongebob swimtrunks :)

Nana and Papa gave him an adorable shirt and tie and some jammies! He wore the jammies last night :)

Uncle Adam and Uncle Alan loaded him up with Transformers and Star Wars toys!

Here he is opening a Transformer from Alan and Adam :)

More transformers!!

He got the Hotwheels Octopark from Angie, Brad and the boys. He also got a cool basketball outfits and an army transformer!

Aunt Amy gave him one his most requested gifts - Hotwheels Blast and Crash! He has been playing with it non-stop :)

Andrew got tons of other gifts not pictured here. His Uncle Robbie and Aunt Jen gave him his very own remote control truck and a Spongebob CD. That CD paired quite nicely with the CD boombox his Mimi and Grandpa Eddie gave to him!

Next was cake time!

And finally, here is our youngest partygoer! Our godson Caleb was quite interested in the stairs and made his way up pretty quick!

All in all, Andrew had a great birthday and has told me so many times. I am worn out quite frankly! I better gear up though - Avery's birthday is only a month away!

All Dressed Up!

This past weekend was busy. The most exciting thing that occured was Brandon and Amber's wedding! The wedding was gorgeous and the reception was awesome! The kids had a great time and so did we :)

Saturday Andy received a package in the mail. I remember that as a kid, getting ANYTHING in the mail was a big deal, especially a birthday present! His Aunt Wadine and Uncle Tim sent him a present and here he is opening it. He got 3 dinosaurs, a dinosaur bag (made by Wadine) and a watercolor book. He was SO excited!

Later on Saturday it was time to get dressed up for the wedding. Here are my two cuties all dolled up.

Avery is such a beautiful little girl!

And Andrew is my handsome little man.

On Monday, Jen had a prenatal check-up, so Sadie came home with us. All 3 of the kids rode cars until they wore out (the cars that is!). Yes, that is a stick attached to Avery's car with a Hello Kitty hairband. Why, I don't know, but Avery finds it necessary.

If I could imagine what Andy is thinking right now, it would be something along the lines of "Oh these girls are driving me crazy!"

It wasn't long before Andy and Sadie were riding together (Avery was off pouting somewhere....)

While Avery was still off in fit throwing land, Andy and Sadie headed out to the swingset to play. That teeter totter was getting quite a workout from these two!

That's all for now. Andrew's birthday is tomorrow and his party is Saturday - Lots more pictures to come :)

San Antonio

We took our annual trip to San Antonio this week! We just got back today and I decided to post pictures before I got lazy or forgot :) Our first day (Monday), we arrived in SA at about 2 pm. Since we couldn't check in til 3, we went to Johnny Rockets on the Riverwalk for a late lunch. It was a beautiful day out on Monday and so we ate outside.

Here is Avery as she looks over the menu. She went all healthy and chose a PB&J sandwich with carrots and celery. That is SO not like her!

Andrew on the other hand went for a hot dog and fries - just as I would suspect!

At 3 we were able to check into the hotel - The Westin on the Riverwalk. It is a beautiful hotel and here is a shot of the room before the kids messed it all up! We were on the 9th floor and were lucky enough to have a riverview room!

This was the view from our balcony - that's the pool and the river down below.

Every year we go to the wax museum. Every year Avery takes her picture there with the giant T-Rex out front. Every year Andrew freaks out and runs away. The T-Rex moves around and roars. When I tried to take him in, he ran outside screaming. People on the street felt bad for him and some laughed at the scared little guy :(

One of our first stops was the Alamo! We took the kids to see the short IMAX movie about the Alamo so they could better understand why we go to see it. Avery is particularly intrigued (like her daddy!) and has learned a lot about Texas history this trip .

Here is a shot of me and the kids in front of the Alamo.

Our first evening HAD to include dinner at the Rainforest Cafe on the Riverwalk! As we waited for our table (almost 1-1/2 hours!!), I took this cute pic of Andy and Wade. If you put a goatee on Andy, wouldn't he look just like his daddy? I really see the resemblance in this picture.

Yes, Andrew is still scared of the many sounds of the Rainforest Cafe. It took a lot of coaxing to get him to take his hands off of his ears!

Avery is not scared at all! She loves every bit of the place.

We lied a bit and told the waiter we were celebrating Andrew's birthday. So it isn't til next week, who cares? They brought him an ice cream sundae and sang to him. Here he is blowing out the candle.

Just a cute picture of Wade and the kids as we were leaving the Rainforest Cafe.

And, for good measure, a picture of me with the kids! I think this is the first vacation in a while that I have actually been in a few shots :)

Tuesday was a rainy and gloomy day. We started off ok, but the weather got worse from there. Here is Avery and Wade at Schilo's Deli as we waited for our breakfast.

And not to be left out, here is Andy and me!

After breakfast we headed to the Alamo. Some nice lady offered to take a family picture for us and it turned out pretty good!

On the grounds of the Alamo Avery and Andrew took a picture next to a cannon.

On all of our trips to San Antonio, we have never gone to the missions. There are 5 missions in San Antonio that are still there, the Alamo being one of them. They were all built in the early 1700's and all (with the exception of the Alamo) are still used as churches! We only made it to one on Tuesday as the weather was too bad to continue. The one pictured above is Mission Concepcion.

This is just a neat picture I took at Mission Concepcion outside of the church itself.

Wade and Avery went to the Wax museum this year. Proclaiming it a rip-off and a waste of good money, Andy and I opted not to go. Here is Avery on the "set" of Oprah chatting it up!

Tuesday evening found Andrew quite tired. He was adorably asleep in mere minutes!

Wednesday's weather was faring better than the day before. Here is Wade and the kids in front of the historical and haunted Menger Hotel.

Here is a shot of the outside of the Westin Hotel where we stayed.

And another......

On Wednesday we continued on to the remaining Missions. Here are the kids outside of Mission San Jose. This is the most preserved of the missions and was really interesting to visit!

Again, at Mission San Jose. Wade and the kids posing at a well.

And the kids and me!

This is the church at Mission San Jose. It is beautiful!

The detail is amazing. Considering it was built in the early 1700's, it is hard to believe that it is so well preserved.

This is the inside of the church at Mission San Jose The painting on the arches is original and was restored a long time ago (the 60's I think). They removed decades of dirt and grime to uncover the paintings that you see here.

This is Mission Espada. It is a much smaller mission than the others!

And finally, this is Mission San Juan. Again, it is a smaller mission, but still beautiful.

On our last night we took the kids to the Hard Rock Cafe. Here is a cute picture of them as we waited for our food!

I asked them to make a funny face and here is Avery!

Not to be outdone, here is Andrew!

And finally, WADE!

The pool at the hotel was heated, so Wade took the kids swimming late Wednesday evening. The pool was quite full of people, but the kids had a blast.

We left for home this morning and it is good to be back! Vacations always fly by, but I am happy to be home. Wade is off the remainder of the week, so that will be nice too!